John 3:1-17
Today is the second Sunday in Lent and we’re going to continue my project of asking what the scriptures tell us about Jesus and his mission and purpose. This may be a familiar scripture to you – at least the last few verses. For many of us John 3:16 may be the first Bible verse we memorized in Sunday School. (For God so loved the world…) Before we take a magnifying glass to the end of this passage, let’s think a bit about what the beginning tells us. It sets a context for our examination.
Nicodemus is a Pharisee. What does that tell us about him?
He is a man of wealth and influence who cares deeply about the Jewish religious tradition.
He’s already somewhat of a reformer. He’s not a Sadducee, the traditional party, but a Pharisee, the more progressive thinkers of the factions of the first century.
He already believes in eternal life. (The Sadducees did not.) But his understanding of eternity is going to be very different from our twenty-first century view. He would expect eternity to be spent on earth with all the folks resurrected and enjoying the reign of God right here. And if the Messiah comes and begins that reign soon enough, he would expect to live in that reign without ever dying.
When Nicodemus hears the rumors circulating about Jesus, a new rabbi preaching about a new way to understand God, he’s intrigued. He wants to know more about this man and what he thinks. So he seeks Jesus out to have a conversation and see if they are on the same page. He comes by night because he doesn’t want to ruin his reputation by consorting with radicals. He’s not ready to publicly support this new teacher. But he takes the risk of showing up in Jesus’ camp.
Nicodemus and Jesus have a theological conversation. What we have in our Bibles isn’t a transcript of that event, but a summary written by the author of this gospel. It reflects the way generations of Jesus followers have thought about the interface between Jesus and the Pharisees, who by the time the gospel is written down, have become the leaders of the Jewish faith in exile after the destruction of Jerusalem. They are the religious leaders of the author’s time and so it’s important for new followers of Jesus to know how they are related.
What this conversation tells us is that Jesus was willing to go farther in reforming the faith of his day than even the more radical religious leaders. It’s like being born again and starting over. It’s something completely new in comparison to what they’ve always known. It’s waking up to a new reality. Think of it like those times in your life when you changed your mind completely about something – changed political parties, gave up red meat for a plant-based diet, decided to join a gym and actually showed up each day to exercise. It’s not a small tweak; it’s a radical reorientation. Being born again.
Today’s language might be becoming “woke.” Awakening to facts that were always there but not widely acknowledged. Seeing systemic racism for what it has always been. Waking up to the seriousness of climate change. Coming face to face with the realities of the world that you’ve ignored all your life and deciding to do something about them.
Jesus is telling Nicodemus that he can’t just live the relatively comfortable role of a Pharisee with its perks of wealth and prestige. His religion doesn’t need an upgrade, it needs a complete overhaul. It’s time to become really radical – born again to a new way of living and thinking.
Then Jesus tells him what that new way looks like – like the ministry he’s leading and the message he’s teaching, based firmly in God’s love. God so loved the world that he sent Jesus to tell everybody.
The tradition of the Pharisees said God ruled the world by giving the law to be followed. God, through Moses, interpreted by the Pharisees, sent hundreds of rules and if everyone could only follow them, the reign of God would come. Do everything perfectly and it will trip the key and unlock heaven on earth. But the problem was, the rules were a heavy burden and very expensive and time consuming. The peasants Jesus hung out with couldn’t possibly keep them. They couldn’t afford the dishes and other supplies to keep kosher. They couldn’t spend the time for all the ritual prayers and washings because they had to work long hours to feed their families. They couldn’t make the multiple journeys each year to the Temple in Jerusalem or pay for the sacrifices. Religion the way the Pharisees defined it was out of their reach.
Instead Jesus walked among them, helped them by healing disease and providing food, and told them God’s main characteristic wasn’t rules, it was love. God loves you. Not because you keep the law but because you are loved. Not because you get everything right, but because you are loved. Right here and now in the first century under Roman rule when life is hard – God loves you. Right here and now in the twenty-first century when life is hard in new ways – God loves you.
God has sent Jesus not as judge but as savior. Over time that has come to mean that if you believe in Jesus you go to heaven. That’s a good promise. In the first century it also meant that if you believed Jesus’ message, your life could be better right then. This saying is about faith in God, but it’s also about trusting that what Jesus says is true. Some scholars suggest that it’s about confidence in Jesus and his message. Trusting him enough to change – to be born again – and to try to live by his teaching. Trusting Jesus enough to care for one another, love enemies, share your bread and your extra coat, form a new kind of community based on love.
Being born again isn’t just about what you think about Jesus. It’s also about living the way Jesus lived. Seeing other people the way Jesus sees them. Treating others the way Jesus treated them. Trusting that when Jesus says God loves everyone, it’s true. Being confident that God’s love doesn’t depend on keeping rules – anyone’s rules. It’s just love and it’s for everyone.
God so loved the world, God so LOVES the world, that God sent Jesus to tell folks they are loved. And to invite them to be born again into a new way of living. To live based on love, which is the way the reign of God has always come among us and still does.