Trinity Sunday – June 3rd,
2012 – John 3:1-17
In the Name of the Father and
of the Son and of the Holy Spirit +
All sin, when it boils down to is, is nothing but idolatry
– indeed, it’s nothing but self idolatry.
All sin is nothing but having your eyes focused not upon the Triune God
and His Will, but rather the fleeting and vain whims and wishes of your own
heart. This is the problem. Has been since the Garden, has been since we
listened to Satan and starting thinking that things would be so much better if
we were the ones who were like God, if we were the ones who were in
charge. So, what is God to do? His creation has been tarnished, wrecked,
bound for destruction. His Adam, His
Eve, His you, His me… lost and condemned.
Shall He just shrug? Shall He
just let us get the punishment we deserve, shall He let us remain in our
self-destructive self-idolatrous ways?
No. The Father, out of His love,
sends His Son to win us salvation, sends His Spirit to turn our eyes off of
ourselves and rather onto His salvation.
With this Sunday, we are entering the Trinity season, the season of
teaching, the season where week in and week out God’s Truth, over and against
our self-created idolatry, will be shown.
For the rest of the Church year, week in and week out we will see the
impact, the implications of what having the Triune God get involved in our life
means.
And we begin this task with our Gospel lesson from
John. “Now 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 come from God, for no one can do the signs that you do unless
God is with him.’” At first
blush, one might look at Nicodemus and say, “Eh, that’s not bad. That’s a pretty good answer.” Jesus gives him no praise. In fact, Jesus smacks him down hard. “Truly, truly I say unto you, unless one is
born again he cannot see the kingdom
of God.” That’s a smack down. When Jesus begins by saying, “truly, truly I
say unto you” – that’s the way of saying, “buddy, you are wrong, and let me tell
you how.” And Nicodemus was off. Jesus knew that at that moment that Nicodemus
was full of fluff, knew that Nicodemus was blind. Nicodemus’ approach to Christ was
terrible. First, Nicodemus comes at
night – when it’s hidden. He says, “Oh,
we know” – but he slinks in at night, doesn’t want any of his good friends to
know that he’s daring to talk to this Jesus fellow. And what does Nicodemus know – that Jesus is
what? A Teacher? A teacher Nicodemus is embarrassed to be seen
with. And also, while being a teacher is
a highly respectable thing – teachers don’t do signs … they don’t perform
miracles. That is at least a “Prophet”
thing. But do you know what the
difference in Jesus’ day would have been between a teacher and a prophet? A teacher would have been answerable to the
rulers of the Jews… a prophet answers to God.
So what you have Nicodemus really saying is, “Okay, I don’t want other
folks to know, but You are just a teacher, and you should be working for us,
because we are the ones in charge… and if I get control of you first, it will
be good for me.”
“Truly, truly I say unto you, unless one is born again he cannot see
the kingdom of God.” You are blind, Nicodemus. You are caught in self idolatry. You are stuck elevating yourself – you try to
elevate yourself over Me even as you hide from your peers and fear their
disdain. At best you think I might give
you some insight that you can use in your powerplays. No.
You don’t see who I am, Nicodemus.
Unless you are born again, unless you are born from on High by God, you
will not recognize the Kingdom of God, you will not see that it is no longer
about you and your petty desires – I am God, and I have come to establish My
kingdom of love and mercy and forgiveness.
And without the Spirit, you won’t be able to see it.
And Jesus is right. “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?’” That’s a
swing and a miss. Nicodemus has no
clue. Christ Jesus has spoken to him of
that which is wondrous and Spiritual… and Nicodemus, I don’t want to even think
where his head is at. Christ alludes to
the Kingdom of God – but Nicodemus isn’t interested in
that. No, tell about this born thing…
does it involve women? It’s utterly disgusting
and self-serving. Of course, what we too
must admit, we who have been given eyes to see by God, that our sin, even the
thing we try to brush off as small and minor are just as disgusting and
self-serving. All sin is disgusting and
wicked… even the sins we in our old sinful flesh enjoy.
But Christ, in His wondrous love and patience, answers
Nicodemus. “Truly, truly I say unto you,
unless one is born of water and the Spirit, He cannot enter the kingdom of God.” Let’s look at this part first. Christ here points to Baptism, where you were
washed of water and the Spirit. And what
were you given at your baptism? You were
brought into God’s Kingdom, you were restored once again to His rule, to where
His love and mercy and forgiveness reigns over you. You are no longer bound to Satan, but you are
bound by Baptism to Christ. You are in
His kingdom. And this is a wonderful and
radical thing. How radical? “That which is born of the flesh is flesh,
and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” You had been nothing but flesh – flesh is
that word for creation under the impact of sin, creation doomed to die. That’s all you were – but you have been born
again, called by God out of the darkness of this fallen world and into His
marvelous light. You have been made a
new creation in Christ – you are spirit.
Again, it’s a small part of the Nicene Creed that we often overlook –
the Holy Spirit is the Giver of Life.
Spirit is always tied to life – Spirit in both Greek and Hebrew refer to
a movement of air, of breath, of breathing, of life. Which is why Christ continues, “Do
not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The Wind [or Spirit] blows where it wishes,
and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the
Spirit.” The word there for Wind
and Spirit – the exact same. The two
ideas are tied together – this is why in last week’s Epistle when the Holy
Spirit descends upon the Apostles there is a sound like a mighty wind. And the contrast is set up. It’s not about you being in control,
Nicodemus. You do not get to control
God, you don’t get to control God any more than you get to control the wind,
the breeze. God works when and where He
wills. And here is the thing – those who
are born again, they realize that it is not about their will, not about their
wishes. The Spirit gives life and
rescues from sin, rescues from that self-idolatry. What does such baptizing with water
indicate? It indicates that the Old Adam
(the flesh) in us should by daily contrition and repentance be drowned and die
with all sins and evil desires, and that a new man (who is spirit) should daily
emerge and arise to live before God in righteousness and purity forever. So it is with everyone who is born of the
Spirit.
And then Nicodemus asks the kicker. “Nicodemus said to Him, ‘How can these things
be?’” How. How is a terrible question of doubt. It implies that what you have heard is
impossible. How is *that* supposed to
happen? And sinful man loves to doubt
God. Just How is God supposed to do all
this, Jesus? “Jesus answered him, ‘Are you the
teacher of Israel
and yet you do not understand these things?
Truly, truly I say to you, we speak of what we know and bear witness to
what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you earthly things and you do
not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except He who
descended from heaven, the Son of Man.” How? How? Maybe because I’m the Son of God,
brainiac. Do you not confess that God is
almighty, teacher of Israel? Then why do you keep telling God what He can
or cannot do? No, I have come from
heaven, come from the Father, come to bring the Kingdom of God
to this world, and by My Spirit working through My Word, to bring people into
that Kingdom. And what does this look
like – let me give you an example, a parallel that you should be familiar with,
Nicodemus. “And as Moses lifted up the
serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever
believes in Him may have eternal life.”
When the people rebelled and grumbled against God, the fiery serpents
came. But when they looked at the bronze
snake on a pole as God had commanded them, they lived. This was all foreshadowing, Nicodemus. The serpent has you – not the fiery one, but
the old, evil serpent - Satan. And to
destroy the kingdom
of Satan, I will be
lifted up upon the Cross, I will enter into death’s domain and I will rip it
asunder, and all who believe in Me will live forever.
That, dear friends, is what the Kingdom of God
looks like. It is Christ crucified for
your sake. As you suffer the agony of
sin, as you deal with guilt and sorrow and pain and anger and hatred and all the
other consequences of sin, Christ calls your eyes to behold Him crucified for
you. See, your sin is no more, it is
done away with – now lift up your hearts and rejoice, for the Kingdom of God
has come, and you have been brought into it.
Your sins are forgiven, your eyes behold Christ, by the power of the
Holy Spirit you have been given eyes to see and ears to hear, and you are now
restored to the Father, you now even may approach Him in prayer. This is how God loves the world – not with
petty baubles or riches that fade, the Triune God loves the world in this way –
the Father sends the Son to the cross, and the Spirit makes us to behold the
Son so that we might not perish but have eternal life. And that is where we live, that is who we
are. That is whom God has made you to be
– for you are a new creation in Christ, born again by water and the
Spirit. Christ Jesus comes, and He
blasts apart sin, blasts apart your sin, and He draws you unto Himself, gives
Himself to you, even His very Body and Blood, so that you might have eternal
life. This is the Triune God’s love for
you, this is how He rescues you from sin and Satan and even from yourself. All thanks and praise be to our God now and
forever. In the Name of the Father and
of the Son and of the Holy Spirit +
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