Jesu Juva
St. John 3:1-17
March 5, 2023
Lent 2A
Dear saints of our Savior~
I checked with Barnes and Noble, and they’re still just as popular as ever. The “For Dummies” book franchise is still going strong. Surely you’ve seen some of these books: Beekeeping for Dummies, Investing for Dummies, Pickleball for Dummies. Nothing is out of bounds. Now, to invest in books like these you do have to buy into the notion that you are a dummy—that you are completely ignorant at least on one particular subject. I’m also aware that you parents are probably trying hard to teach your children not to call each other names—like “dummy”—so I’ll try not to overuse it this morning.
But when it comes to theology—when it comes to understanding God—we all have to admit at the outset that we are natural-born “dummies.” Apart from what God teaches us in His Word (and He has a lot to teach us), what we can know about God by our own reason and senses doesn’t amount to a hill of beans—much less a “For Dummies” book. Sure, we can look around at creation and conclude that there must be a God, and that this God must be very big and smart and powerful. But drawing upon our own brainpower, that’s really about as far as we can go.
Now Adam and Eve had perfect knowledge of God; they were no dummies. But they traded it all away for a tantalizing taste of forbidden fruit. Seeking to become wise like God, our first parents became dummies (if you will) when they decided that being like God was a better idea than knowing God perfectly. And so, as we heard last Sunday, Adam plunged all of humanity into a perpetual state of “dummyhood” in all matters relating to God. And we can’t change that sad fact no matter how many books we read or how many classes we take.
Nicodemus was no dummy when it came to religion. He was an educated Pharisee, schooled in the Scriptures, a member of the Sanhedrin—the ruling Jewish council. But Nicodemus came to Jesus at night for a little rabbi-to-rabbi
powwow. But why did Nicodemus go to Jesus at night? Well, in John’s gospel, there’s often a double meaning attached to things. In John’s Gospel “night” doesn’t only refer to the hours from sundown to sunrise. Night also carries the idea of ignorance and unbelief and spiritual darkness. If you’re a dummy it probably means that you’re “in the dark” on some particular subject—you are unenlightened. (The artwork on the bulletin cover today uses darkness and light in clever ways.)
Darkness is the dummies’ native habitat. Have you noticed how the absolute worst ideas always make the most sense in the dark—at about 2AM ? Some night when you can’t sleep just turn on your AM radio and you’ll see what I mean. Nicodemus may have been a good man, but he was a dummy. He was in the dark about Jesus.
Of course, God has a track record of dealing with darkness. God does some of His best work where there’s darkness and chaos and ignorance. In the beginning—back when darkness covered the face of the deep—God spoke His strong Word: “Let there be light.” And light there was in the darkness. God fills darkness by the light of His Word. So it’s not always a bad thing to be in the dark—to be a dummy. Dummies are teachable. When you’re a dummy, there’s nowhere to go but up—up to enlightenment and wisdom and faith.
The people in real trouble are those who think they know everything. It’s those who bristle at the thought of being in the dark who are really the dumbest of all. It’s those who rely on their own understanding—their own reason and strength—who are likely to remain unenlightened when it comes to Jesus and faith and the whole kingdom of God. God’s Word brings light, but some people won’t listen—or they only listen sometimes. These are the “cafeteria Christians.”
Cafeteria Christians pick and chose what teachings from the Bible they believe and what teachings they don’t believe. Original sin? I’m a poor miserable sinner? I’m really not so bad. Sex only within the bonds of marriage? Marriage is the lifelong union between one man and one woman? Sounds a little old fashioned. God created the heavens and the earth in six days? Well, my biology teacher taught me something different so I might have to re-think the whole creation thing. It’s that kind of thinking—the thinking of cafeteria Christians—that actually keeps them in the dark, unenlightened, misguided—following pop culture and social media and internet memes to guide them down the path of enlightenment. But in truth, that path will only take you from “dumb” to “dumber.”
What Jesus wanted for Nicodemus, He also wants for you and me. Jesus wants to lead us out of the darkness and into the light. So out of the blue, Jesus told Nicodemus: I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again. We’re too dumb to realize it; but it’s true. You and I must be born again. To see the kingdom of God requires a second birth. Your first birth—as momentous as that was—was a birth into the darkness of death, thanks to Adam. Thanks to Adam, your trip down the birth canal was just the beginning of a long, downward slide that will eventually deposit you six feet under. That’s why. That’s why you must be born again—born from above.
About this time Nicodemus is really in the dark—more confused than ever. “You’re talking nonsense, Jesus. How can a man be born when he is old?” So Jesus pushes him further: No one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Water and the Spirit. What do you hear Jesus saying? What do “water and the Spirit” refer to? If you’re thinking “Baptism,” then right you are. You’re no dummy. But that’s precisely because you’ve been baptized. You have been born again by water and the Spirit. That Holy Spirit has called you by the gospel, enlightened you with His gifts, sanctified you with the holiness of Jesus Himself.
Nicodemus is still struggling, but Jesus won’t give up on him. Jesus is determined to drag people out of the darkness and into His light and life. Jesus gives Nicodemus a snippet from the book, Old Testament for Dummies. Remember when God told Moses to make a bronze snake and lift it up on a pole so that all who looked at it could be saved from death by snake bite? Jesus says that’s a picture of Him in action on the cross. He would be lifted up in death like that snake on a stick, so that everyone who trusts in Him would have eternal life.
Nicodemus needed to wise up and recognize that Jesus wasn’t just a miracle-working rabbi, but the Son of God, the Messiah, come to be crucified for the life of the world. Jesus is THE expression of God’s love for the world. God loved the world in just this way: He gave His one and only Son so that whoever believes in Him (whoever is born again by water and the Spirit) would not perish but have eternal life. This is why the Father sent His Son. This is why Jesus was born, suffered, died and rose again—not to condemn the world but to save the world through His dying and rising.
Let’s be clear on that: Jesus did not come to condemn the world—didn’t come to improve the world, or to fix the world, or to eradicate poverty and stop climate change. Jesus didn’t come to make the world a nicer place to live. He came to save the world through faith in Him. And He did it by dying on the cross, lifted up for all. Nicodemus was there when Jesus died. The next time we hear of Nicodemus it’s when he and Joseph of Arimathea retrieve the dead body of Jesus from the cross. Seeing Jesus dead on the cross, Nicodemus saw Jesus for who He is and why He came.
You have been baptized into Jesus’ death. You have been born again by water and the Spirit. No one asked you if you wanted to be born the first time; and no one asked you the second time either. You don’t remember being born the first time, and you probably don’t remember being born again. Why? Because God did it all. He loves you. Jesus has drawn you out of the darkness of sin and death. You will live forever in the light of His resurrection. In Jesus you’re no dummy. In Jesus you are wise. In Jesus you will not perish but have eternal life.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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