Not by our Wisdom and Power (John 3:1-17) (3/1/26)

Our God and Father, we come before you this Lord's

Day and this Lenten season to thank you for how

you have always provided for us. So we ask you

now to grant us ears that truly hear, minds that

truly understand, and hearts that joyfully obey

you. And so in keeping, let the words of my mouth

and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable

in your sight for the sake of our dear Savior

Jesus Christ. Amen. We're going through our Lectionary

readings and preaching through our gospel readings

today. We are with John chapter 3. Let us hear

John 3 · chapter mention

God's word There was a man of the Pharisees named

Nicodemus a ruler of the Jews This man came to

Jesus by night and said to him Rabbi we know

that you are a teacher from God For no one can

do these signs that you do unless God is with

it Jesus answered and said to him, Most assuredly

I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot

see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus said to him,

How can a man be born when he is old? Can he

enter a second time into his mother's womb and

be born? Jesus answered, Most assuredly I say

to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit,

he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which

is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which

is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel

that I said to you, you must be born again. The

wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the

sound of it, but it cannot tell where it comes

from or where it goes. So is everyone who is

born of the Spirit. Nicodemus answered and said

to him, How can these things be? answered and

said to him, Are you the teacher of Israel and

do not know these things? Most assuredly I say

to you, we speak what we do not know and we testify

what we have seen and you do not receive our

witness. If I have told you earthly things and

you do not believe, how will you believe if I

tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended

to heaven, but he who came down from heaven,

that is the Son of Man, who is in heaven. And

as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,

and even so the Son of Man be lifted up, that

whoever believes in Him should not perish, but

have eternal life. For God so loved the world,

that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever

believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting

life. For God did not send His Son into the world

to condemn the world, but that the world through

Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is

not condemned, but he who does not believe is

condemned already, because he has not believed

in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

And this is the condemnation that the light has

come into the world, and men love darkness rather

than light, because their deeds were evil. For

everyone practicing evil hates the light and

does not come to the light, lest his deeds be

exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the

light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that

they have been done in God." These are the words

of Almighty God. Receive them in your hearts.

There's three things that I want you to think

about as we go through the passage today. First

of all, God is the God of new beginnings. And

everybody in here said, praise God. Am I right?

God is the God of new beginnings. Second, we

must be born from above. We must be born from

above. And finally, Jesus departed heaven that

we might be saved. Jesus departed heaven that

we might be saved. I would like to remind everyone

here today that when you hear all the readings

that we do on a Sunday, They are all linked together.

Centuries ago, people in the church saw the ability

to put together a set of readings called lectionary

readings. And they're all linked. And I'll be

honest. Sometimes when I read them, I go on because

I read them each day of the week in preparation

for Sunday. And I'll start reading them. And

sometimes I'm like, oh, yeah, I see how it all

fits together. Other times I look at it and I

go. Well, I don't know what it was they were

thinking But you keep studying and you keep looking

and reading and you begin to see The great wisdom

that God has provided for us in his church You

know in our lives we often live within our experiences

and instincts When we find ourselves in new situations,

we make assumptions about many things It's like

a small boy who was walking on the beach with

his dad The boy runs ahead and falls into a pool

of water and the boy begins to panic because

his father is not right there to pull him up

out of the water. He begins to flail around and

the boy desperately reaches out for his father,

splashing about. He's so noisy that he could

not hear the voice of his father. Or maybe if

you remember the old Charlie Brown story, wah,

wah, wah, wah, right? He can't hear, though,

because he is so busy doing his instinctive thing.

I've got to preserve myself. I've got to reach

for my father. Finally, the boy does manage to

hear his father's voice. Stand up. The boy continues

to thrash about. And the father declares, stand

up. The boy then attempts to stand up, and he

finds that he stands up with ease, and that he

is standing in water that is only to his knees.

You know, many people love the universality of

John 3 .16. That is, God so loved the world,

but they hate the particularity of John 3 .16.

That is, that through Jesus, the Son of God,

the world is saved. They want God to love the

world, but they don't want to love Jesus and

submit themselves to the simplicity of calling

upon the Son of God to be saved. There's a simplicity

to calling on and believing in Jesus to be saved.

Many think their lives are complicated. You think

that about yourself? Do you think that you're

so sophisticated, that your life has so many

difficulties and angles against you, than to

turn to Jesus? And so, for the important, for

the prideful, for those who think they are above

the simple, they believe that they must be saved

by whatever means they as an individual deem

as fit. Our passage in John 3 brings to bear

God's point that it is in Jesus only that one

can be saved. Jesus is truly the only way, the

only truth, and the only life. Life in the first

Adam is simply frustratingly leading to nothing

but death. Like a person who's been bitten by

a fiery serpent a poisonous serpent unless the

person looks to the cross Death is fast approaching

No matter if we attempt to live our lives and

what we think is normal or our regular routines

That poison we've been bitten you can't continue

on you are definitely going to die We see that

Nicodemus in our passage comes to Jesus at night.

Some have suggested that Nicodemus came by the

cover of night so that he would not be embarrassed

or discovered talking to Jesus. I don't think

it's that at all. I think we see later, just

a few chapters later, Nicodemus defends Jesus

to the Sanhedrin. Now they ignore him. We also

see at the end of Jesus's ministry when he dies

that Nicodemus is there requesting for Jesus's

body No, Nicodemus is not an unfaithful or doubting

Jew He is likely meeting Jesus at night because

Jesus has swarmed during the day. We read that

all over the place, right? The crowds come in

You see he comes at night when Jesus has a little

time And because it was common to sit on the

roof at night, in the cool, and relax, and have

long conversations. I don't think that Nicodemus's

interaction is just this short little passage.

This is what the Holy Spirit wants us to hear.

But I'm pretty certain that Nicodemus was there.

I mean, if you were there with Jesus, would you

come to your two questions and then get out?

I think not. As a matter of fact, Nicodemus declares

his faith in Jesus as a godly rabbi. He says

this, rabbi, we know, so there's him and some

others, that you are a teacher come from God.

For no one can do these signs that you do unless

God is with him. Now, I certainly think that

the gospels, as we find them in the scriptures,

are written in chronological order. In other

words, the way we see them, Matthew, Mark, Luke,

then John, that is the order in which the gospels

were written. But if we want to just narrow it

down to John, we've got to say, well, what signs

is he talking about? So we see in John 1, we

learn of the eternal creator son in whom there

is life, and that that life is the light of men.

and the light that shines in darkness, and the

darkness didn't comprehend it. So we know that

Jesus is revealed as the light to the world.

And we know that John the Baptizer came before

Him proclaiming His coming. In chapter 2, we

find that Jesus is commissioned in His baptism,

and He calls His disciples. We also find in John

2, Jesus' first miracle. That is where he takes

these stone pots made for ceremonial washing.

They fill them up so they can ceremonially wash

people, particularly the dust off their feet.

And he transforms those waters into wine. What

is wine? Wine is glorified water. You want to

understand that better? I worked at a vineyard.

We can talk later. But Jesus presides over the

water to make glorified water. Chapter two of

John continues, and we see that Jesus is in Jerusalem

for the Passover, and he cleanses the temple

for the first time. You know, this is priestly

duty. That's what he was ordained for in his

baptism to be the priest, to be the right and

true high priest, the final high priest. And

part of his duty cleans dirty houses. So he goes

and does his priestly duty to cleanse the temple

from all the unclean and ceremonially dead things

John 2 ends saying that many believed the signs

that Jesus did They believed in the sign, but

they didn't believe in him It says this though

it ends chapter 2 ends with this but Jesus did

not commit himself to them those people that

just believed in his signs But because he knew

all men and he had no need that anyone should

testify of man For he knew what was in man. He

understood the duplicity that our sin does to

us Jesus did not trust in men's acknowledgement

of who he was He knew what was in the hearts

of men Jesus rather trusted in the words of his

father who declared Jesus as his son in whom

I am well pleased. It is with these signs that

Nicodemus, a member of the Sanhedrin, the ruling

council of Israel, declares that Jesus is teaching

and doing all these signs because God has sent

him. Jesus, of course, is unfazed to have a member

of the ruling council and a teacher Actually

the teacher of Israel before him Jesus refers

to him as the teacher So it's probably that he

is one of the prominent teachers of Israel Jesus

provide this God -fearing Jew the understanding

of the fulfillment of God's salvation to the

world Now of course Nicodemus knew the Old Testament

after all he was a teacher of Israel and so he

knew that God was the God of new beginnings.

After all, there was a new beginning after the

flood. In our Old Testament reading today from

Genesis 12, we heard of God's call to Abraham.

God called Abraham to a new beginning. A new

beginning that the word says would bring blessing

to such an extent that all the kindreds, nations,

and families of the world would be blessed. Nicodemus

knew there was a new beginning at Sinai where

God establishes covenant people He knew that

there were so many new beginnings for the people

of Israel because they continually were unfaithful

and then they would fall into God's gracious

judgments and Then Israel would call upon the

name of the Lord God would then lovingly redeem

and restore them into another new beginning Israel

at the time of Christ and once again fallen into

coven grievous covenant breaking sin and So we

heard first from John the baptizer and then later

Jesus that the kingdom of heaven is in hand that

the acts of God is laid to the root of the tree

of Israel and When we think of that tree being

chopped down and the new beginnings found the

tree being chopped off in judgment we hear Isaiah

11 there shall come forth a rod from the stem

or root or stump of Jesse and a branch shall

grow out of its roots the spirit of the Lord

shall rest upon him remember the spirit came

down on Jesus the spirit of wisdom and understanding

and the spirit of counsel and might the spirit

of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord His

delight is in the fear of the Lord and he shall

not judge by the sight of his eyes nor decide

by the hearing of his ears But with righteousness

he shall judge the poor and this word poor here

could be very well understood as the humble and

contrite Because the next verse goes on and says

this and He will decide with equity for the meek

of the earth He shall strike the earth with a

rod of his mouth And with the breath of his lips,

he shall slay the wicked. So here we see Jesus

is bringing the new and final beginning. From

the root of the foundation of all the promises

of God to redeem his people, Jesus is fulfilling

and completing this work. All these promises

that God made, all the way from the Garden of

Eden until that time. and even now is fulfilled

in Jesus. Now Jesus declares this new beginning

in verse three. Jesus answered and said to him,

most assuredly I say to you, unless one be born

again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus

said to him, how can a man be born when he is

old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's

womb and be born? And Jesus answered, Most assuredly,

I say to you, unless one is born of water and

the spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and

that which is born of the spirit is spirit. Do

not marvel that I said to you, you must be born

again. Now children, everybody look up here.

I stopped by all the Sunday school classes this

morning and spoke to you briefly. All right,

you remember that? I said, pay attention or take

notes. Right that one of the reasons that your

Sunday school classes go over the readings and

particularly the younger ones the gospel readings

So we're hoping that your your family at home

will read those readings with you in the week

You get it again in Sunday school, and then you

hear it in this worship service We're trying

to drive something home to you Children are you?

Because here's something very important in this

text Jesus says most assuredly That's not really

a very good translation. What Jesus is actually

saying, if you look at what he said, it is amen

and amen. Now, I have a question. At the end

of our service, children, what do we sing? We

sing the threefold what? Say it out loud for

me. I can't hear you. Amen, the threefold amen.

Right after you receive that blessing that I

sing, right? Right why do you think you sing

the threefold amen? Because the word amen means

let it be so Let it be so let it be fulfilled

so you are responding to that blessing that I'm

giving you Right I sing it Representing Christ

to you, and then you respond let it be so God

let it be so That's what you're singing with

that threefold amen and Jesus here is saying

This. Amen and amen. Let it be fulfilled. Let

it be fulfilled. So he's saying. Here's the new

beginning. Let it be fulfilled. He is transitioning

from the old creation to the new creation. Now

Nicodemus understood his status as a son of Abraham.

He was found that way in the flesh and the covenant

and all the sacrifices. So what is Jesus doing?

He's going to be the fulfillment and deliver

him from the sin found in the flesh. He's delivering

them from all the old covenant ceremonial rules.

And he's the final sacrifice doing away with

all the other sacrifices. Now, this phrase, born

again, again, is something that's been very popular

in the United States since the 1970s, probably

popularized by a book called Born Again by Chuck

Colson. Again, we have another thing looking

at how this is translated. This phrase everywhere

else except for this one is translated as born

from above, born from above. Above. This is important.

God's distinction here, of course, you see that

there's some confusion by Nicodemus, because

how do you go back in your mother's womb? You

can't do that. But you see, born of above. Remember

at creation how the waters above from the waters

below are divided? But even before that, what

happens? The waters are there. And who is hovering

over the waters? The spirit. is hovering over

the waters. What happens from the spirit hovering

over the waters? As we go through the days of

creation, the land, the dirt, comes up out of

the waters. Who's made out of the dirt? Adam.

We are. That's part of why we say at the very

end of all things, we do a funeral. If you go

to the grave side, dust to dust, earth to earth.

We return to these things. But it was there,

the spirit. And so by the spirit, the land sprung

forth and the waters. And on the sixth day, Adam

was made out of the dust of the ground and given

the very breath of life from God. The first Adam's

sin brought death into creation. And all through

the Old Testament, we read. of God using water

to cleanse ceremonial death from his people.

We see it in Numbers 8, Numbers 19, Numbers 31,

all of this getting rid of the ceremony. If you

did something that made your ceremony unclean,

you were dead and not able to enter into the

sanctuary, the place where God was. And so you

had to go and be washed. The water was poured

over you. But we especially see this in Ezekiel

where God describes a new people by the spirit

and water Ezekiel chapter 36 says this for I

Ezekiel 36 · chapter mention

will take You from among the nations and gather

you out of all countries and bring you into your

own land Then I will sprinkle clean water on

you and you shall be clean. I Will cleanse you

from all your filthiness and from all your idols

Will give you a new heart and put on put a new

spirit within you I will take the heart of stone

out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh

I will put my spirit within you and cause you

to walk in my statutes And you will keep my judgments

and do them So Nicodemus was familiar and I understood

the cleansing from ceremonial death by water

And Jesus is declaring that the work of the Spirit

in the waters of baptism, bringing about being

born from above. The kingdom of heaven cannot

be entered into unless a man is a new creation

by the water and Spirit. Otherwise, a person

is only born by flesh, which is an atom, and

it is already doomed by the poison of the fiery

serpent. Jesus tells Nicodemus do not marvel

that I have said to you you must be born again

He's saying do not stand in all and Wonder now

this again you've heard me talk about this before

But if you're you're new I want to remind you

of all this That many times in the Greek and

the New Testament There are two kinds of use

There's the singular you There's the plural you

if you had a old King James Bible it would say

ye for the plural one So we actually have two

different types of use here Jesus says the Nicodemus

he says don't stand in awe and wonder that you

singular Nicodemus Plural that all y 'all must

be born from above Jesus was pointing out as

he will continue to do that merely being the

biological sons of Abraham does not gain the

people of Israel into the kingdom of heaven All

men including the Jews must receive the Sun by

water and the spirit a new heart Removing the

dead heart of stone and receive a new life with

a new beginning in the flesh and God will give

his people new affections Remember, he said,

I'm going to give you that new heart, and then

what's going to happen? Then you'll be able to

obey my statutes. You'll be able to do what I

had told you to do, your statutes and your judgments.

You'll be able to walk in them. Now, for the

unbeliever, the law brings death. Romans 7 tells

us, for when we were in the flesh, the sinful

passions which were aroused by the law were at

work in our members to bear the fruit of death.

But now, having been delivered from the law,

having died to what we were held by, so that

we should serve in the newness of the Spirit

and not in the oldness of the letter or the letter

of the law. Jesus brought us to a new beginning

when he, like Abraham, left his home in heaven

and came in faith, proven by faithful obedience

to his father. So Jesus left heaven. not just

obedience, but also in faith, believing that

he will obey his father and then go and do his

father's will and bring deliverance to the world.

Jesus is that promise that was given to Abraham

in Genesis 12. Read this now with Jesus in mind.

I will make you a great nation. I will bless

you and make your name great. What does God the

Father say to Jesus? In Psalm 2, if you ask,

I'll give the nations to you as an inheritance.

And you shall be a blessing. Is Jesus a blessing?

And I will bless those that bless you. And I

will curse him who curses you. And all the families

of the earth shall be blessed. In who? Well,

in the fulfillment of the promises God made to

Abraham in Jesus. Jesus once again declares children

are you listening? Jesus again declares most

assuredly so that is amen amen so be it may it

be fulfilled That he will be lifted up as Moses

lifted up the bronze serpent During the wilderness

days of the people of Israel What happened there

Israel was short with God they were impatient

in God's provision and So they sin and vexed

God greatly Are you ever... Are you ever impatient

with God's provision for you? Are you ever impatient

for how He is working in your life? For the challenges

and trials He lays in your life? Don't be surprised

when fiery serpents come your way. They are the

judgments and the grace of God. Now Moses lifted

up that bronze serpent and all who looked up

believing in God received healing and all those

who down and Look up what happened to them? Many

died For all the reasons that they could conjure

up No, it can't be so simple as to look to that

bronze cross that dag on Moses who brought us

out here to die I don't care of all the proof

that God has put in my life to show me that He

is God, that He is the one to deliver, that He

is the one to bring grace and mercy. I don't

care about that. God, I'm calling into question

your sovereign provision for me. They wouldn't

do the simple thing and believe God in His mercy

and grace. so they perished in their unbelief.

Dearly beloved, the simple thing to do is this,

to hear the words of God found in Christ Jesus,

and believe God's promises, and so not perish,

but have everlasting life. And it's in this context

that we hear, for God so loved the world, that

He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever

believes in Him should not perish. that have

everlasting life. For God did not send His Son

into the world to condemn the world, but that

the world through Him might be saved. Dearly

beloved, Jesus departed from heaven to bring

a new beginning that we would be saved, having

been born from above by water and the Spirit.

Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we ask that you

would surely grant us comfort in the work of

your Son Jesus on the cross. We thank you for

sending Jesus, for bestowing your Spirit upon

us in the cleansing waters, and having granted

us a new heart. We ask you to help us, O Lord,

to follow Jesus and complete the good works that

you have prepared for us to do. We ask all this

for the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord,

who reigns with you in the Holy Spirit. World

without end.