(prayer)
There are four books in the
New Testament that we identify within the genre of "gospel" -
narratives about events of Jesus' life and comments about their meaning and
significance.
Although each gospel is
written anonymously, within a few hundred years, each was associated with a
person from the earliest years of the Christian movement: either a direct
follower of Jesus (Matthew, John) or someone who came into the early church
shortly after the resurrection (Luke, Mark).
Most biblical scholars
point out to us, that there is no compelling evidence to conclude that the
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John of history had anything to do with the actual writing
of the gospels, because we don't start hearing the names associated with the
gospels until the late 3rd century.
This name-dropping likely has two reasons: (1) some of the story origins
might actually be associated with these elders of the church (the author of the
fourth gospel claims to be an eyewitness - Jn21:24), and (2) it added
credibility to these writings by attributing them to people from the early
years of the church.
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Do you know the famous poem
that begins "make me a channel of your peace..."?
It first appeared in 1912
and was anonymously written in French.
During World War 1, the poem quickly became associated with the 13th
century italian cleric St. Francis of
Assisi, even though it is absent
from his known writings.
Almost no historian will
argue that Francis had anything to do with the poem, nevertheless, we all know
it as The Prayer of St. Francis. And an association with this dedicated man of
faith who founded a religious order based on simple living and service to the
poor, adds credibility to this 20th century poem.
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By the time the fourth
gospel (the one we now call John)
found written form and was being read by early churches, sixty or more years
had passed since Jesus had walked the earth.
Matthew, Mark and Luke had
been around for 15 to 20 years and were likely becoming better known as the
generally accepted stories about the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.
It is most likely that the
author of John was well aware of some or all of the other gospels texts, and...
intentionally wrote this new gospel with a very different style.
The gospel of John is
deeply metaphorical - even as it tells stories that read like reports of things
that Jesus did and said.
It is fair to say that - in
John - the meaning is always more important than the details. To borrow phrases from Marcus Borg, there is
a more than literal aspect to what we
read in the fourth gospel. Sometimes,
John is explicitly metaphorical. For
example, chapter one begins with obvious metaphor: In the beginning was
the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the
beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not
one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the
life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the
darkness did not overcome it. (Jn1:1-5)
//
There are a few John
passages that have parallels or references from Matthew, Mark or Luke narratives, but much that we read in the fourth gospel is
unique to that text.
And above all, no matter
how a story is told, the author of the gospel is always about who is the Risen Christ for the reader of
the gospel right now. John is full
of memorable short-handed descriptions of who the late first century church
believed who Jesus was for them: word of God; light; bread of the world; true
vine; the way, the truth and the life; the door to the sheepfold; the good
shepherd; the resurrection and the life.
How does John put these statements in the text? He makes them quotes of
Jesus: I Am the light of the world.
In the other gospels, when
Jesus speaks it is usually about the Kingdom of God as a way of getting a
message across; John prefers a more direct style.
But the "I Am"
statements have a very important more
than literal meaning beyond what might appear to be Jesus bragging about
himself.
In the Hebrew tradition,
the actual name of God was spelt with four letters: yod, hay, vov, hay (יהוה). It was
considered too sacred to even pronounce when reading scripture, so the word
adonai (lord) was read in its place.
Scholars speculate that the name of the hebrew God was probably
pronounced Yahweh and is related to
the verb "to be" (h'yah).
Remember the story of Moses
and the burning bush: Moses says 'They will ask me, “What is [this god's] name?” what shall I say to them?’ God said to Moses, ‘I AM who I AM.’ He said further, ‘Thus you shall say to the Israelites, “I AM has sent me to you.” ' (Ex3:13-14)
//
From Exodus chapter three
and from the four letter spelling of God's name throughout the Old Testament,
the nature of existence - being itself - was associated with God: Yahweh, I Am.
Readers of the Gospel of
John (who were familiar with this aspect of Jewish tradition) would have
connected Jesus' use of "I AM" as a statement that meant... Jesus was God. It's a little more subtle than chapter one:
the Word was with God and The Word was
God... And the Word became fresh and lived among us; but the more than literal meaning is the same as
the "I Am" statements. A less
subtle version of this assertion comes in John 10:30 where Jesus is quoted as
saying...
I and the
Father are one.
We get it, author of John:
you think Jesus was God-incarnate.
//
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Now, with all of this metaphoric
aspects to literal stories in mind, let's spend some time with today's reading.
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Nicodemus is a person that is only
mentioned in John's gospel. He is
described as a pharisee and a member
of the Sanhedrin: the governing
Council associated with the Jewish torah.
The Sanhedrin was the recognized authoritative voice of hebrew people in
Jerusalem. So this was a person of prominence seeking an audience
with Jesus.
John places this encounter early in the
gospel narrative: chapter 3. Two stories
about Jesus were told in chapter two:
1 Jesus turning water into
wine at a wedding; and
2 Jesus driving out
sacrificial animals (that were for sale in the Temple courtyard) and turning
over the tables of money-changers scattering their coins all over the ground.
The second story is one that has
parallels in the other gospels, but John has moved it from the day after Palm
Sunday (near the last days of Jesus' life) to the beginning of Jesus'
ministry... but remember, for John, it is all about the message and meaning
rather than literal inconveniences like chronology.
//
These are the four literal details in
the Nicodemus-Jesus encounter:
1 It is night when Nicodemus comes;
2 Nicodemus knew about the wedding wine
(or some other wondrous signs Jesus has done);
Nicodemus saw the holiness of God in the things Jesus has done;
3 Jesus said to his guest that to see the Kingdom of God, a person must be
born again. Nicodemus took that
phrase literally: but I can't re-enter my
mother's womb; Jesus clarified his
sermon to talk about there being a difference between a physical (flesh) birth
and a more elusive spiritual birth.
Jesus compared this elusiveness to the wind.
4 Nicodemus asked for more information
about this and Jesus sort of insults his knowledge as a teacher of the
people; Jesus again drew further
comparisons between earthly views of things and heavenly ways: the latter of
which even teachers like Nicodemus don't always understand.
The fuller passage today follows
these Nicodemus-Jesus details with some editorial comments from the author that
give us a foreshadowing of Jesus' death and resurrection and the ultimate
purpose of why Jesus came into the world in the first place.
My focus today will stay mostly on
Nicodemus and not so much on the assertion that Jesus (the son of man) ascended
into heaven after being sent into the world as an act of love by God who seeks,
not to condemn the world, but to save it.
That would be a whole other sermon... in fact, I preached one on the latter
verses of today's reading from John on March 18, 2012 (still on the church website if you want to stroll down memory lane).
//
//
//
If there is one thing that we can be
certain of when reading from John,
the literal details are holding deeper meanings: some of which we might be able
to figure out easily; others which might be subject to more diverse
interpretations.
//
So, let's look at those four details of
Jesus' visit from Nicodemus.
1) Nicodemus comes at night. That's a literal detail. Many preachers have speculated about this
detail. Was this a secret meeting - out
of the view of public scrutiny? Was the
pharisee doing some reconnaissance for others?
The text gives us no hint as to why it was night when Nicodemus came to
Jesus. Maybe, it was just a scheduling
conflict. This was the only time they
both had free.
Beyond the literal, there may be a very
compelling reason for that detail that we can discern from the rest of the
story.
John's gospel begins by saying that the
Word was responsible for life that is the
light of all the people. John 1:5
... The light
shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.
Metaphorically, Nicodemus' visit is one where the "Light of the World" [i.e.
Jesus] shines in the darkness. The
pharisee's questions are ones seeking illumination.
So, I don't get too hung up on
speculating whether Nicodemus was too afraid or too embarrassed to meet Jesus
in the light of day and I appreciate the word-crafting of the gospel's author
who is letting chapter one, verse five come to life in the narrative: The light shines
in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.
2) Before the meeting gets going, we hear Nicodemus acknowledge the legitimacy
of Jesus as a teacher of God. This
allows us to see Nicodemus and Jesus more as equals rather than an established, recognized leader and a small town wannabe.
3) Time of day and mutual admiration
notwithstanding, the heart of the story is the conversation, which begins with
a proclamation by Jesus' visitor: "Your signs and
wonders make it clear that you are a teach come from God".
Jesus takes that as an invitation to
teach: "No one can see the Kingdom of God unless
they are born again".
The pharisaic style of learning was to
seek deeper clarity by asking questions.
So, it makes sense that Nicodemus continues the lesson with a
question: "Born
again? Is that even possible?"
Now, this is the point where a lot of
preachers will point out that the greek word for again in the gospel text also can mean from above (or by the
head/top). Maybe Jesus meant no one can see the Kingdom of God unless
they are born from above. That would be a fair interpretation of the
literal conversation if there was any chance that Jesus and Nicodemus were
talking in Greek... which they almost certainly weren't. In either hebrew or aramaic there is no word
for again that also means from above.
So, let's accept that (in the literal
details of the narrative) Nicodemus did understand what word Jesus used (...again...) and that he interpreted Jesus'
words literally.
I love the irony of that. As I said the entire Gospel of John has these
two layers of meaning: a literal narrative and a figurative message behind that
narrative. The Nicodemus encounter is
very obviously one where bible study should not get stuck in the literal - and
here is an example where a teaching is heard literally when it was (most
certainly) meant to be metaphor.
Jesus goes on to explain this: "When I say born again I mean a spiritual birth, not a
flesh birth".
This is a time when the
literal detail of the story also matches up with the author's intended
metaphoric meaning. We have a physical life that began as we exited our mother's womb; but
we are more than flesh; we can also be born of God... in spirit. And it is through that spiritual life that we
will know the Kingdom of God.
That is Jesus' teaching for
Nicodemus and John's message for the early church who would read the
gospel. The readers (who did have the
greek word to guide them) would have had less trouble that Nicodemus in
figuring out that being born again, meant being born from above.
4) The final detail of the story is
Jesus' attempt to further open the pharisee's eyes about a spiritual life. In a phrase that echos a conversation Jesus
had with Peter in the other gospels, Jesus tells his guest: "You, Nicodemus (and the other established leaders), are
focusing too much on human (or earthly) things and not enough of divine (or
heavenly) things".
//
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All of this flesh and spirit dichotomy
would make perfect sense to the late first century, greek-reading first
recipients of the Gospel of John. Greek
philosophy and culture still held a great influence in the regions of the Roman
Empire where the gospel was being read.
In his Theory of Forms, Plato claimed that everything we see and perceive
in the world is merely an imperfect shadow of a perfect version that exists in
a different realm that is beyond our ability to fully understand.
It is an oversimplification of this,
but (by extension) there is a separation and distinction between the body and the mind; between thought and
action; between flesh and spirit. A person can focus primarily on what our
senses can evaluate about our surroundings - physical sights, sounds, smells,
texture, taste.
But the argument of philosophers and
preachers like Jesus was that there is more.
We are not just creatures of flesh.
We connect to God in a more elusive
way. Like the wind, it interacts with
our senses for brief moments and we get hints or reminders of our spiritual
nature, but they are hard to hold and capture alongside the flesh.
We are creatures made in the image of
our God. And as such, we are more that
physical beings, we are spiritual as well.
//
Our spiritual natures experiences
heavenly things differently than we know earthly things.
//
//
I suspect that (like Nicodemus) we
might be intrigued by this teaching, but (like the wind), it is hard to really
grasp clearly.
What does it mean to be born again?
I know that some Christians use that
phrase (born again) to speak about making a personal commitment to being a
faithful follower of Jesus. But... I
don't read John 3 as being that specific or limiting.
For me, being born again, is to allow
ourselves to be alive in the spirit.
Birth is the beginning of life.
We don't exist of our first breath, but at the moment of our next breath.
I hear Jesus' challenge to Nicodemus as
a call to be attentive to the presence of the holy in the midst of the earthly
distractions around us.
//
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We are body and spirit.
Let us live as fully as possibly as
each.
//
Let us pray:
Loving God, sometimes we are too
scared to trust. Open us up to the
mystery of your presence. Amen.
#642VU “Be Thou My Vision”
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