Thankful that God is Merciful in Jesus to Foolish and Clueless People like Me

I have prepared a Bible Study to present at the church convention of our Northwest District of our Lutheran denomination on Saturday, June 11. My assignment is to study Nicodemus, and see how God worked in the person of Jesus to bring love, and to give purpose to Nicodemus. As I have studied the accounts of Jesus’ interactions with Nicodemus in the Bible (John 3:1-21, John 7:45-53, and John 19:38-40), I have discovered that in many ways Nicodemus was clueless about who Jesus was and about how God was working.

The only recorded conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus is found in the first 21 verses of John 3. Nicodemus was an educated man. He took His faith seriously and was part of the sect of “Pharisees.” The Pharisees are usually described as people who exhaustively studied God’s Word and tried vigorously to keep God’s law. The Bible often portrays Pharisees as men who are sure of their own righteousness before God, because they trust their own keeping of the law. And, Nicodemus was not only a Pharisee, he was a member of the Jewish ruling council, the Sanhedrin. He was one of 70 men who ruled the nation in religious and community matters. In other words, Nicodemus was an important, educated man.

Yet, for being educated and accomplished, Nicodemus is full of questions. He seems to have trouble understanding Jesus’ answers. Nicodemus first question to Jesus is about who Jesus is. “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” (John 3:2) Nicodemus and other religious leaders have seen the miracles and signs Jesus has performed. They want to know who Jesus is and how He performs these miracles. They should know about the coming Messiah, but they don’t understand Jesus.

Jesus responds to Nicodemus and explains about why He is performing His miracles. He explains in a way that affects Nicodemus personally. “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3) Jesus teaches Nicodemus that a person needs new life, life in the Spirit, the life of faith given by the Lord Himself, in order to enter the kingdom of God. And, the reason Jesus came was to usher in the kingdom of God.

Nicodemus is caught off guard by Jesus’ answer, and goes from one question to another. “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” (John 3:4) Nicodemus does not understand the idea of new life in God and thinks of the physical birth he experienced when an infant. He is lost. So, Jesus responds with more explanation. “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind 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.” (John 3:5-8) New life comes in baptism. New life comes when God’s Spirit works faith in our hearts. This life of faith, this life of the spirit, is a mystery. Actually, Jesus gives Nicodemus a way out of his conundrum. Jesus is telling Nicodemus that often people do not understand the ways of God.

But this Pharisee, this educated leader, doesn’t want to be in the dark. He asks a third question, “How can these things be?” (John 3:9). Therefore, Jesus lays out the truth of Nicodemus’ own spiritual blindness. “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? 11 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. (John 3:10-11) Jesus tells Nicodemus that He ought to know about the life of faith, but this Pharisee who trusts his own righteousness has refused to hear what Jesus has been teaching. Nicodemus’ lack of understanding, to a certain extent, lies with himself. Again, Nicodemus is “clueless.”

On Monday I went golfing in Palmer with my son, Andrew, and my friends, Pastor Tony Schultz and his wife, Ronelle. As I finished on the first hole I swung my putter to put it into my bag. But, somehow I hit myself in the mouth with my putter, breaking a tooth. I texted my wife, “I’m a dummy.” Two weeks earlier I needed repair on the tooth next to the one I had just broken while golfing. I chipped the first tooth biting on fishing line. These dental repairs are expensive! How can I be so accident prone? I felt “clueless,” like Nicodemus.

Being again reminded of my own lack of wisdom, I find comfort in Nicodemus. I’m thankful that Jesus taught, “The wind 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.” We don’t always understand how God works.

I am thankful that Jesus taught, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) God gives hope in Jesus in spite of our failings. We don’t earn eternal life. God gives love and life as a gift, through faith, in Jesus. I am also thankful that Jesus taught Nicodemus, and encourages me, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” (John 3:17) If God were to hold me totally accountable for all my foolishness, and my sin, I’m not only clueless, I’m lost and hopeless. But, in Jesus God has mercy. Our Heavenly Father puts our sin on Jesus so that, in mercy, we have eternal life. Jesus came, not to judge me, but to save me, if I will receive it.

My dentist, Dr. Lindstrom, fixed one of my teeth for the second time in 3 weeks. She advised me against another similar visit in the near future. If I’m foolish, I know she is there. But, I am trying hard to be more careful.

Nicodemus listened to what Jesus told Him in John 3, and later stood up for Jesus in John 7:50-51. Nicodemus came to believe in Jesus, and in the end helped to take Jesus’ dead body off the cross, bringing costly spices for His Lord’s lifeless body in John 19:38-40. In other words, Nicodemus learned to trust the love and mercy of His Savior, Jesus, instead trusting of himself. I know I can be careless and “clueless.” I am thankful for the love and mercy of Jesus in my life!