John 3:1-21
(New Living Translation)
1 There was a man named Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader who was a Pharisee. 2 After dark one evening, he came to speak with Jesus. “Rabbi,” he said, “we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you.”
3 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again,[a] you cannot see the Kingdom of God.”
4 “What do you mean?” exclaimed Nicodemus. “How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?”
5 Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit.[b] 6 Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life.[c] 7 So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You[d] must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.”
9 “How are these things possible?” Nicodemus asked.
10 Jesus replied, “You are a respected Jewish teacher, and yet you don’t understand these things? 11 I assure you, we tell you what we know and have seen, and yet you won’t believe our testimony. 12 But if you don’t believe me when I tell you about earthly things, how can you possibly believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 13 No one has ever gone to heaven and returned. But the Son of Man[e] has come down from heaven. 14 And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life.[f]
16 “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.
18 “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son. 19 And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. 20 All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. 21 But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants.[g]”
Mike's thoughts:
Nicodemus wasn't just any man. He was the best of the best. He was the guy Jesus talked about in the last reading, that if we aren't better than him then there is no way we can get to heaven. BUT, he was unclear on what it meant to be born again. His problem is like ours. We want to understand all the W's (who, what, when, and how)-ok so there is an H in that. Jesus simply says it doesn't matter. You first have to trust him with earthly things before you can even begin to get the heavenly things. Maybe we should try to live for him with the earthly things and then the heavenly things will become clearer. So let's start there, do you give him of your T's (time, treasure, talent)? Do you trust him with your life on earth and the decisions you make here? If you do then you are in more of a position to trust him with the heavenly stuff like eternity. You can't trust God for eternity if you don't trust him for the now.
Prayer:
God thanks for what we have now. Thanks that you came to earth and lived your life. Thanks that you recorded and protected trustworthy documents that we can read and even see your life. Thanks that you have given us instructions on life while we are on this earth. Help us to trust them. Help us to not get too far ahead of ourselves and only live for heaven when you have given us great opportunities here on earth. --amen
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