Sermon – Lent 2 -" Leave Your Credentials Behind" – John 3:1-17 – 2/17/08
February 18th, 2008Click play to listen to the audio version of this sermon.
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From now until we arrive at Palm Sunday, we will hear of four encounters that Jesus has with various people on His way to the cross. Today, it is an encounter with a man named Nicodemus. Next Sunday, Jesus will meet up with a woman at a well outside of Samaria. After that, His path will intersect with a man who was blind from birth. Then Jesus will be summoned to a village called Bethany for a meeting with a man named Lazarus who lay dead in his tomb.
In each of these encounters, it will be important that we watch and listen carefully for two things.
First, we must carefully watch and listen to Jesus. As He makes His way to His cross, each encounter along the way tells us something more of what He has come to accomplish and whom He has come to save by His death on the cross. With each encounter, Jesus is revealing Himself, opening the curtain wider and wider to us, so that when the nails pierce His hands and feet and the sword pierces His side and the curtain is finally torn in two, we may know that He has reconciled us to God.
Second, we must be sure to see ourselves in each one of these whom Jesus encounters. Nicodemus, the woman at the well, the man born blind and Lazarus each bear a striking resemblance to us in many ways. Most importantly, just as Jesus has revealed Himself to them for their salvation, He has revealed Himself to us for our salvation.
Today then, we watch and listen carefully to the encounter between Jesus and Nicodemus.
"Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews."
Nicodemus was a man with credentials. He was a "Pharisee" and "a ruler of the Jews." Since so many of the encounters that Jesus has with men and women on His way to the cross involve Pharisees, it might be good to take just a minute to clarify just who these Pharisees were.
To understand the Pharisees, you've almost got to start with a word about the "Rabbis" and the "Scribes." "Rabbis" were religious men who were dedicated to be teachers of religion. The Jewish religion is based upon the Old Testament and in particular, the first five books of the Old Testament. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy were all written by Moses and are known as "The Five Books" or the Pentateuch. The five books contained the 10 Commandments – the law of God. "Rabbis" taught their disciples the Law and how to live by the Law.
The "Scribes" were religious men who dedicated their life to collecting all of the teachings of the Rabbis and recording it. As you can imagine, in doing so, the "Scribes" became the known as experts in the Law. "Scribes" assembled the teachings of the Rabbis and put it all together into rules for daily living. Eventually, these rules for living according to the Law of God were written down and became permanently established in what the Jews call "the Talmud." There are 613 of these rules for daily living. If you keep these 613 rules, you can be sure that you're keeping the 10 Commandments.
Which brings us to the "Pharisees." "Pharisees" were religious men who dedicated their life to living by these 613 rules. As you can imagine, these rules touched on every aspect of daily life. Living according to the Law of God permeated a Pharisee's every thought and every action of every minute of every day. To become a Pharisee required a total commitment to a religious life. Among the religious men and women in Jesus' day, a Pharisee was the most religious and most very well respected of them all. Nicodemus was a Pharisee.
But Nicodemus was not just a Pharisee; he was also "a ruler of the Jews." The "rulers of the Jews" were those religious men who occupied a seat on the ruling council, which was called, "the Sanhedrin." The Sanhedrin was made up mostly of Sadducees. Sadducees were religious men who were dedicated to supervising the conduct of worship at the Temple. So, Sadducees, Scribes, a few Zealots and Pharisees made up the Sanhedrin. These were the "rulers of the Jews." Nicodemus was one of them.
Nicodemus came to Jesus with credentials.
"This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him."
It is rather remarkable really, that Nicodemus, the pious, respectable, elder statesmen that he is, would address Jesus, a young man with no real credentials to His name, as "Rabbi." But Nicodemus knows how to be polite and play the game. Such flattering comments from Nicodemus, would certainly be met with corresponding flattering comments from Jesus in return. According to good, middle eastern custom, Nicodemus would certainly expect Jesus to respond by saying something like, "honorable sir, I am flattered that a man of your great devotion and high status would be willing to seek me out and listen to what I have to say. You are truly a most gracious and open-minded man."
This is, after all, how the game is played, isn't it? I say something complementary about you and I expect you then to say something complementary about me.
We are a lot like Nicodemus. We too come to Jesus with our credentials. We're good; law abiding people who take our religion seriously. We may have our own interpretation of what it means to keep the law of God, our own private Talmud that we follow. But of this much we are sure, we take our own interpretation of religion very seriously. We're sincere. We believe with our heart. And isn't that what really matters?
And we do expect that Jesus will appreciate what He sees in us. Like Nicodemus, we are more enamored with ourselves than we are with Jesus. We do think that Jesus should be pleased with us, if not maybe a little impressed with us. Impressed with our decision to accept Him as our personal Savior. Pleased that we are so wise as to strive to live by God's law.
"Jesus answered him, 'Truly, truly I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
In the language that Jesus spoke, the word is a[nwfen. We have words in English that have different meanings for the same word. They're called "homonyms." Take the word "bow" for example. It can mean something you shoot an arrow with or something you tie on a package. Greek as the same problem. a[nwfen can mean either "again" or "above." Nicodemus chooses "again."
"How can a man be born when he is already old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?"
The Pharisee is afraid that there may be a new teaching from this new Rabbi, which must then be added onto the list of 613 rules for living. But this would be the most difficult rule of all to keep. How can a man be born again?
But of course, Jesus did not mean "again." He meant "above." Which is no better than "again." "Above" is beyond our reach. It's out of our control. "Above" is over our head and not something that we participate in. "Born from above," means that this is not something that is controlled from here below. It means that we don't have a say in the matter and that we must simply rely entirely upon God who is above to take care of things and bring us into His Kingdom.
And there stands Nicodemus with all his credentials. And we, like him, with all of ours. And they are all completely worthless.
So, instead of flattering compliments, Jesus responds with words that are meant to shatter every last hope within you that your credentials will save you. "Amen, amen." "Truly, truly I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God." With Jesus however, there is not only shattering, there is also renewing. He not only tears down but He also restores. In fact, Jesus tears down and shatters us just so He may renew and restore us. He puts us to death so that He may make us alive.
The water and Spirit that Jesus speaks about here is the water and Spirit of Holy Baptism. Through baptism, all that Jesus has accomplished by His cross and resurrection is given to you and without your decision you have died with Him and been raised with Him. Through baptism, the Kingdom of God is opened to you and before you even begin to understand what happened to you, you've been taken up into God. By water and the Spirit, all of Jesus credentials are given to you – freely, by grace alone, not because of your good works, but for Christ's sake alone. A new life from above, holy, righteous, eternal life. Luther famously puts it this way. Christ takes everything that is yours and gives you everything that is His.
This is the way it is with the Kingdom of God. Everything centers around Jesus and only Jesus. You either loose yourself in Jesus and His credentials or your lost. You cannot ascend into heaven by holding onto your credentials. You must let go of them for they are nothing but filthy rags. And there are no filthy rags in the Kingdom of God. Sadly though, we will not let go of them, nor can we. It is, after all, because we will not and cannot let go of our credentials that Christ is crucified.
But by His crucifixion, you may, you must be sure of this. God does not desire to condemn you but to save you. "For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him." Through Him and His merits. If it was by you and your merits He could have saved Himself a great deal of suffering and pain. "For God so loved the world that He gave his only Son…" that whoever clings to the Son and the Son alone, "shall not perish but have eternal life."
Even this faith that clings to Jesus, you cannot claim as your credential, "it is a gift of God." "I cannot by my own reason or strength, believe in my Lord Jesus Christ or come to Him. But the Holy Spirit has called me by the gospel, enlightened with His gifts, sanctified and kept me with Christ in the one true faith."
How do we like to sing it? "Nothing in my hands I bring; simply to Thy cross I cling." (LSB #761). As Martin Luther lay dying on his bed, his final words to the doctor at his side were these, "we are beggars, all of us."
This is the way it is with the Kingdom of God. We do not ascend into heaven by our credentials. There is only one who has ascended into heaven. It is He who has descended from heaven and come to you. It is He, who was lifted up as a serpent on a pole that you may look to Him and be saved. It is He to whom Nicodemus came to at night. And He, who comes to you this day, through His Word and water and bread and wine to give you all of His credentials. He has kept the law perfectly, for you, on your behalf.
So relax. Rest in peace. You have been baptized. You have already been born from above. The Kingdom of God is already yours.
Related Entries:
» The Season Of Lent» Sermon – 1st Lent – "What Kind Of God Is This?" – Genesis 22:1-18 – 3/1/09
» Sermon – Pentecost 3 – "Do Not Receive The Grace Of God In Vain" – 2 Corinthians 6:1-10 – 6/21/09
» Sermon – Lent 2 – "Your House Is Forsaken" – Jeremiah 26:8-13 – 2/28/10
» Sermon – 2nd Last Sunday – "Christ, Risen For Our Salvation" – Hebrews 13:20 – 11/19/06
» Sermon Index – Lutheran – LCMS
