TRINITY SUNDAY B
Text: John 3:16
In our gospel lesson this morning we read one of the most mysterious yet wonderful passages in all of the Bible. In it we are taught about the new birth, or as they say in theology, regeneration. Most of us have heard the phrase “born again Christian”, and of course this phrase and concept come for this teaching of Jesus. So this morning I would like to spend a few minutes reflecting upon this passage.
I imagine that Jesus and his friends are sitting around in the evening, I don’t know where, but they are relaxed after a long day. John tells us that Nicodemus, who is a Pharisee and a leader of the Jewish people, comes to discuss theology with Jesus. The Pharisees were very interesting people. They were not the evil and conniving people that we Christians often make them out to be. Through the development of Jewish history and religion, they were a party of people who took seriously the keeping of the laws of God. As in any group of people, there were various types of Pharisees. Nicodemus clearly is an open minded person who is seeking truth and clearly this time with Jesus changed his life. After Jesus is killed, John tells us that this very same Nicodemus helped take care of the body of Jesus along with Joseph of Arimathea.
Nicodemus, along with others, recognized that there was something very powerful about Jesus. He acknowledges that Jesus is a teacher come from God because of the signs, or miracles that Jesus had performed. What has always been interesting to me in this passage is that Jesus ignores the niceties of conversation and goes right to the heart of the matter, or right to what he knew Nicodemus needed to hear.
John 3:3 ( NRSV ) 3Jesus
answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the
The first thing to note in this
response is Jesus saying “Very truly”.
The King James translates this “Verily, Verily”… The words literally
are: Amen.. Amen…in the Greek. In essence, Jesus is saying, listen up because this is truth that you need
to hear and pay attention to. No one, Jesus says, can even see the
Three times in this discourse Jesus
states that a person, to see and to
enter the
“Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the
“Very truly,
I tell you, no one can enter the
Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must
be born from above.’
What is this new birth? Well clearly it is a work of the Spirit of God. Jesus says that what is born of the flesh is flesh, but what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Jesus then likens the working of the Spirit to the wind… you don’t know where it is coming from or where it is going, but you can experience it.
There are several things that are
radical about this teaching of Jesus. First, Jesus is saying that religious
works or good deeds are not the path to spiritual enlightenment, or salvation.
In a real sense, what Jesus says here
sets the foundation for the teaching of the Apostle Paul. Nicodemus, a good, pious, religious person is being told
that one does not enter the
We see this teaching of Jesus echoed in the Apostle Paul in Romans chapter 8. Paul is often called the Apostle of the Spirit. In the passage that we read this morning Paul teaches us that we are children of God when we are “led by the Spirit of God.” This whole chapter is an incredible theological expansion on the teaching of Jesus about the new birth. The true Christian life is not one of rules and regulations, or religious good deeds, rather it is a life full of the Spirit.
When Jesus says that what is born
of the flesh is flesh, and what is born
of the spirit is spirit, he is teaching us that there is no evolution from
flesh to spirit, or a process of
enlightenment through human effort.
Rather salvation, or the spiritual life, comes as a result of the Spirit
of God coming into the heart and soul of the individual and implanting a new
principle, a new Spirit. This teaching goes against almost all, maybe all, religions of the world, which teach that our standing with God is a
result of doing good deeds and performing certain religious exercises. If we
pray 7 times a day, or if we fast, or if
we go to church, or if we are nice to others, etc. then we will enter the
Another element that is really radical about this teaching of Jesus, at least for me, is that the image of the wind coming and going teaches us that we don’t control the Spirit of God. In other words, there are no rites and rituals that we can do to get God to do what we want God to do. Human religion always involves us doing something, offering up a sacrifice or dancing or praying or performing certain rituals, all designed to get the gods to act favorably on our behalf. So, if I attend church, give a little or a lot, do a little or a lot of good deeds, then God is obligated to give me a healthy and prosperous life. But this teaching of the new birth strips all of this away.
The Christian teaching is that God already loves us. There is nothing that we can do to earn or merit the love of God. Our role in all of this is simply to receive the love of God, not do something to earn it.
Listen to this verse from the first chapter of John.
John 1:12 ( NRSV ) 12But to all who received him,
who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of
the flesh or of man, but of God.
The words John uses here are “receive” and “believe”. In other places Jesus talks about “coming to him”, or “drinking of the water of life”, or “following him”. All of these images are used to help us understand, ( and let me repeat myself)
that our role is simply to receive the love of God, not earn it.
I know that I say this again and again, but it is so vitally important to understand. It is so against our human nature that we have to hear it again and again.
Let me mention one more thing about this concept of new birth and that is it brings great comfort to sinners. The image of being born again has in it that of a new and fresh start. Like a new born baby, spiritually we can have a fresh start. Down through the ages, myself included, people have experienced the new birth as the opportunity to begin a whole new life. No matter what we have done, or where we have been, we can let go of the past and begin again. And once we receive the Spirit of God into our lives, day by day we will be renewed and led.
Today is Trinity Sunday, a day that church sets aside to honor and recognize this distinctive Christian doctrine, that God is revealed to the human race as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This morning it seemed to me that the lessons led us to concentrate on the reality of God being with us, and even in us, through the Holy Spirit.
When I grew up going to church, I don’t remember thinking much about the Spirit of God, much less really experiencing the Spirit in my day to day life. It is my belief that we need to recaptures and be open to the presence and working of the Spirit of God. I wish I knew exactly how to have the Spirit of God come into our presence right now in great power. But you know what, I really think the truth is the Holy Spirit is present right now. The reason we don’t experience His presence is our lack of openness and receptiveness.
In the first chapter of Genesis we learn that creation begins with the wind, or spirit of God moving over the face of the earth. This is a great image. I like to imagine the Spirit of God hovering over all of humanity in love right now, desiring to come into the hearts and minds of every person, to give them a new birth, a birth from above. Our role is simply to receive, or believe, or come, or drink in of the Spirit. I know that these can seem to be vague and abstract concepts, but the key seems to be an open and seeking heart. I believe that many, many times the Spirit whispers to our souls. At times the Spirit knocks harder, and to some, blows right into our lives. But we have to receive, to humble ourselves and surrender our selves before God. Of course this is a life long, day by day process, but somewhere along the line, at some point in our life, we have to willfully and consciously make a decision to allow the Spirit of Jesus to work in our lives.
I am sure that there are some of you that know, deep down, that you have not really been all the serious about your Christian faith. Maybe you have been sensing the calling of the Spirit. I pray that God would give you the grace to open up your heart and make the decision to follow Christ. And wherever we are in our spiritual journey, whether we are new or old Christians, I pray that all of us that we might receive anew the gift of new life that comes through the Holy Spirit of God. AMEN!