1Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. 2 He came to Jesus by night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God." 3 Jesus answered him, "Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above." 4 Nicodemus said to him, "How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother's womb and be born?" 5 Jesus answered, "Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. 6 What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not be astonished that I said to you, 'You must be born from above.' 8 The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit." 9 Nicodemus said to him, "How can these things be?" 10 Jesus answered him, "Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things? 11 Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. 12 If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man."
THOUGHTS from Ben Masters, senior at GMU:
I feel for Nicodemus. He's a smart guy, and even though John's gospel doesn't paint a very nice picture of the Pharisees, my scant knowledge of history reminds me that at their best they helped people interpret the right way to live according to the Torah. But he's going to Jesus at night, undercover so to speak, presumably so that the people who see him during the day won't be scandalized by his association with such a questionable character. Who knows? Maybe during the day, hanging out with some other Pharisees, Nicodemus plays along with their dismissal of Jesus as crazy, or a threat, or a simple-minded peasant. Maybe it's only at night when he can approach Jesus with his questions: I know you're from God, so what's going on here? Who are you? What does this mean?
These are my questions, too. But Jesus evades the kinds of easy answers that I got in Sunday school. Instead, he replies with ambiguous statements about being "born again", "water and the Spirit", and "the wind blows where it chooses." That last one gets me: the wind blows where it chooses, and even though I can feel it I can't predict it, I can't control it. Jesus says that people born of the Spirit are like this: they can't be controlled.
Jesus won't let me control him; he won't speak the words I tell him to say or put his stamp of approval on my conclusions about him. And even though Jesus gives Nicodemus a hard time, maybe he wants the questions to be asked so that we can wrestle with them and not try to manipulate cheap answers from him. Perhaps part of Jesus' challenge to Nicodemus is that he ask these questions in broad daylight, where people try to control the Spirit. It's risky business, sure, but if that's what being free entails maybe it's worth it.
PRAYER:
Liberating God, you sent Jesus into the world not to condemn it but to save it. Send Jesus to me now, under the cover of night, so that he might help me walk freely in the day, living in right relationship and asking my questions. AMEN
These devotions are provided by Lutheran Campus Ministry at George Mason University . Feel free to share them with your friends! For more information on our ministry and events, see http://gmu.edu/org/lutheran
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