Reflections for Youth - Jesus, Nicodemus, and John 3:16
I do some of my best thinking and sometimes get the best ideas in the middle of the night. But the middle of the night is also when I do the most worrying and have the most questions.
I think Nicodemus was the same way. Nicodemus was a Pharisee (Jewish folks who believed in strict adherence and interpretation of the law). He had a lot of questions so we went to see Jesus in the middle of the night.
Read John 3: 1-17
Nicodemus was a leader. In the passage, Jesus refers to him as a "teacher of Israel." So, maybe his late-night visit was because he didn't want anyone to see him talking to Jesus. But I think maybe his questions were keeping him up at night so he decided to find some answers.
But, first things first. This is the story in scripture that contains the verse that is probably the most widely-known known and recited. Verse 16: "“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life."
This is a well-known stand-alone passage. Someone could argue that this passage is really all you need to know. For many Christians, The whole Gospel can be summarized into these worlds. We've all seen the folks at sporting events with their "John 3:16" signs. Some athletes literally wear these chapter and verse numbers as an outward declaration of what they believe. But, I wonder how many of them remember or realize that this passage comes from a conversation where Jesus is teaching a questioning Pharisee.
In this scripture story, Nicodemus wants to know why Jesus can do all these amazing things. He calls him "Rabbi" (which means teacher) and acknowledges that no one could do the things that Jesus has done unless they were connected to God. Jesus tells Nicodemus about being led by God’s Holy Spirit. And he tells him that being truly lead by the Holy Spirit is like starting over. He talks about being "born from above." He's talking about at looking at things in a different way and starting at the beginning again - like a newborn baby who has to learn all the things.
It's like when you are building a tower with blocks or LEGOS. Perhaps Jesus is telling Nicodemus that he has to have God at the base of his tower to keep it from tipping over so much. Being "born from above" or being born again means to knock down your tower and build it again while listening to God.
This is a passage that sometimes freaks many of us Presbyterians out a little bit. More evangelical folks talk interpret the verses in this passage to reinforce the idea that you must be 'saved" or "born again" and believe in Jesus to have eternal life - or get into heaven. That's one way to look at it. But I think maybe Jesus is talking about how when we recognize what God is doing in the world and what God is doing in our lives, things might look a lot different.
"Some Christians, however, understand faith or 'believing in Jesus' to be simply what one does with one's mind. In John's Gospel, being born from above and believing in Jesus are clearly not so much about what one does with one's mind as about what one does with one's heart and one's life," says George W. Stroup's "Theological Perspectives."
Believing and doing go together in John's Gospel.
Rebuilding, changing, and transforming our towers while listening to God.
Maybe being "born from above" means that when we learn from Jesus how to pay attention to God, some things are probably going to be different in our lives. Listening to God will help us to do some of the same things that Jesus did and perhaps Nicodemus wanted to do. Things like forgiving and sharing God's love.
I know, I used a whole lot of maybes. But it's something to think about in the middle of the night - right?
Change - transformation is scary. It's not fun to start over on building a new tower when we have worked so hard on the first one.
But, what if we, like Jesus, tells Nicodemus, trust God to help us rebuild when we have questions or when our towers are tipping?
Maybe our towers will be better than before.
Questions to think about:
I think Nicodemus was the same way. Nicodemus was a Pharisee (Jewish folks who believed in strict adherence and interpretation of the law). He had a lot of questions so we went to see Jesus in the middle of the night.
Read John 3: 1-17
Nicodemus was a leader. In the passage, Jesus refers to him as a "teacher of Israel." So, maybe his late-night visit was because he didn't want anyone to see him talking to Jesus. But I think maybe his questions were keeping him up at night so he decided to find some answers.
But, first things first. This is the story in scripture that contains the verse that is probably the most widely-known known and recited. Verse 16: "“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life."
In this scripture story, Nicodemus wants to know why Jesus can do all these amazing things. He calls him "Rabbi" (which means teacher) and acknowledges that no one could do the things that Jesus has done unless they were connected to God. Jesus tells Nicodemus about being led by God’s Holy Spirit. And he tells him that being truly lead by the Holy Spirit is like starting over. He talks about being "born from above." He's talking about at looking at things in a different way and starting at the beginning again - like a newborn baby who has to learn all the things.
It's like when you are building a tower with blocks or LEGOS. Perhaps Jesus is telling Nicodemus that he has to have God at the base of his tower to keep it from tipping over so much. Being "born from above" or being born again means to knock down your tower and build it again while listening to God.
This is a passage that sometimes freaks many of us Presbyterians out a little bit. More evangelical folks talk interpret the verses in this passage to reinforce the idea that you must be 'saved" or "born again" and believe in Jesus to have eternal life - or get into heaven. That's one way to look at it. But I think maybe Jesus is talking about how when we recognize what God is doing in the world and what God is doing in our lives, things might look a lot different.
"Some Christians, however, understand faith or 'believing in Jesus' to be simply what one does with one's mind. In John's Gospel, being born from above and believing in Jesus are clearly not so much about what one does with one's mind as about what one does with one's heart and one's life," says George W. Stroup's "Theological Perspectives."
Believing and doing go together in John's Gospel.
Rebuilding, changing, and transforming our towers while listening to God.
Maybe being "born from above" means that when we learn from Jesus how to pay attention to God, some things are probably going to be different in our lives. Listening to God will help us to do some of the same things that Jesus did and perhaps Nicodemus wanted to do. Things like forgiving and sharing God's love.
I know, I used a whole lot of maybes. But it's something to think about in the middle of the night - right?
Change - transformation is scary. It's not fun to start over on building a new tower when we have worked so hard on the first one.
But, what if we, like Jesus, tells Nicodemus, trust God to help us rebuild when we have questions or when our towers are tipping?
Maybe our towers will be better than before.
Questions to think about:
- What keeps you awake in the middle of the night?
- What are your questions for Jesus in this moment of your life right now?
- When you have really important questions, who do you ask?
- In what ways does Jesus answer and not answer Nicodemus' question?
- What do you think being "born from above" means?
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