John 3:1-21
Jesus Teaches Nicodemus
1 Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”
3 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”
4 “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”
5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
9 “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.
10 “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? 11 Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. 12 I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? 13 No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. 14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.
A Kingdom that is full of grace and compassion and, at the same time, full of mystery...That is the Kingdom of God...Jesus, the Traveling Rabbi, who went from village to village in Israel explaining to people what the Kingdom of Heaven is like and what heaven is like -gives me more questions...And as I read the gospel and what He tells us I do not understand many things about the Kingdom of God, yet there is this satisfaction in what He says and what He does...Jesus somehow is soothing and brings a peace to the human spirit...And I do not understand this either...Why is there some satisfaction and peacefulness in something I cannot understand...And yet there is...
And Jesus tells us His Kingdom is near, His Kingdom is like pearls, His Kingdom is like a great banquet, His Kingdom is like kneading yeast –none of which makes much sense to me in understanding any details of the Kingdom of God...Yet, this paradox, this vagueness, this mystery, this ambiguity for me still is something that for some reason fills a need in me, that earth and the things on earth cannot fill...It is very much like His conversation with Nicodemus, who came at night for answers to his questions from Him, yet leaves, I believe with more questions than answers...Yet I think, Nicodemus also left with a sense of fulfilled mystery and a peace that there is more to life than just this earth and its earthly ways... There is this way to enter the Kingdom of God, and Jesus tries to explain it to Nicodemus...
One has to ask how can this happen?...How can one be fulfilled and yet still be surrounded by a Great Mystery...The answer is that He is from above and we are from below...No one has ever gone into heaven except the One who came from heaven...He is Divine, with a Divine Kingdom...