Lent 2, 2020--John 3:1-17--"Born from Above"

Babies don’t know anything about how they’re born. Children have no choice in the matter. They’re conceived by their parents, carried by their mothers, and brought out of the comfort of the womb—all without giving consent. They cannot conceive themselves, for there’s no one there until after conception. The mystery of our spiritual birth is every bit as profound, and we had no more choice or opportunity to become God’s children than we did in becoming our parents’ children. We became children of our heavenly Father because

Born from Above

Sermon Theme: Christ came down from heaven to give us new birth from above.

Text:

Other Lessons: ; ; ,

Goal: That hearers gain confidence that the Son of Man came down from heaven to give them new birth leading to eternal life and are moved to live out their new lives here on earth, giving glory to God and service to their neighbor.

Rev. Walter P. Snyder, pastor, Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Emma, Missouri

Liturgical Setting

The Old Testament Reading and Epistle both emphasize faithful reception of God’s good gifts. The Psalm’s opening verse can lift the hearers’ eyes upward in anticipation of watching the Son of Man descend from heaven to protect and save his captive people.

Relevant Context

John’s chronology isn’t linear, making it difficult to determine when this meeting took place. A fair bit of evidence must have accumulated, since Nicodemus spoke glowingly of Jesus doing “these signs,” while evidently he’d discussed the events with others, since he told the Lord, “We know that you are a teacher come from God” (v 2).

Textual Notes

V 1: Although both the Pharisees and “the Jews” are frequent antagonists and often targets of Jesus’ barbs, here we meet one of the rulers—a member of the Sanhedrin—whom John presents in a more favorable light.

V 2: Opinions vary as to why Nicodemus comes “by night.” Is it the only time both are free? Is it fear of the council? Could John be drawing attention back to the previous light and dark comparisons (1:1–18)? The simplest explanation is probably best, but perhaps John also points out the darkness to note subtly that while Nicodemus believes in much that Jesus is doing, he isn’t a believer in Jesus as Messiah.

Therefore, we have no idea of the sincerity of Nicodemus’s greeting or whom he considers like-minded in this assessment of Jesus. In most other instances in the Gospels, when Jewish leaders said, “We know,” it preceded a challenge to his authority or teaching, sometimes done with flattery, sometimes antagonism.

Vv 3–4: Note just how incongruent Jesus’ reply is compared to v 2. The Lord appears to have heard something completely different from what Nicodemus said. Nicodemus praises him as teacher and doer of signs; Jesus replies by speaking of being born into the kingdom of God.

Nicodemus, a son of Abraham, born and circumcised into God’s covenant people, must assume that his place in the kingdom is secure. Now this charismatic rabbi is telling him that he must be “born again.” Or is Jesus intentionally talking past Nicodemus by using anōthen, which can mean either “again” or “from above”? Nicodemus obviously hangs on the former interpretation, and we can practically hear the incredulity—if not outright sarcasm—in his response. Note, too, how “a man” is the principal actor in Nicodemus’s idea of new birth.

Vv 5–6: Jesus moves Nicodemus to see beyond earthly birth—even rebirth. He parallels v 3, substituting “born of water and the Spirit” for “born again/from above.” He wants Nicodemus to start seeing God as the author of salvation and starts developing his theme in what we might term “Third Article language.” Rebirth is birth from above; birth from above involves water and the Word. Flesh (sarx) generates fleshly things; the Spirit generates spiritual things. Therefore, no man can regenerate himself and become right before God.

Vv 7–8: Jesus comes back to that sticking point of anōthen, pointing out that the work of the Holy Spirit in creating saving faith happens where God pleases, without the invitation or consent of man. These verses, together with vv 11–12, tie nicely with Article V of the Augsburg Confession, wherein we confess that “through the Word and Sacraments, . . . the Holy Ghost is given []. He works faith, when and where it pleases God [], in those who hear the good news” ().

V 9: The old expression “You can teach them but you can’t learn them” comes to mind here. Stanza 2 of the hymn “These Things Did Thomas Count as Real” (LSB 472) parallels the situation the Lord faces with Nicodemus, whose own skepticism blinds him to the truth of Jesus’ words.

V 10: Jesus takes Nicodemus to task for presuming to teach Israel without rightly knowing Israel’s God. While not the focal point of this particular outline, pastors and teachers in Christ’s Church do well to remember that our preaching and teaching begin and end in the Word of God, especially in the Gospel of his Son.

Vv 11–12: Jesus then returns to the heart of his message. Evidently Nicodemus has heard the testimony and holds it intellectually while denying it spiritually. Perhaps he is like many today who treat Jesus as a great moral teacher but cannot release themselves from attempts to merit favor and earn righteousness through works.

This is also a good time to connect the verbal Gospel with the Sacraments. Christ takes “earthly things”—water, bread, wine, and flesh and blood people—and makes them instruments and means of his grace. He blesses his Church with the “heavenly things” through the voice of Holy Absolution, the water of Holy Baptism, and the bread and wine of Holy Communion.

V 13: In the next two verses, Jesus emphasizes a vertical understanding of anōthen in two different contexts. He first professes that he is “from above,” since he “descended from heaven.” Yet in the divine economy of the Trinity, the Son is in constant ascension to his Father while, as the Word made flesh, his prayers continually ascend on high. This verse may then remind the Gospel’s reader of Jesus’ earlier words to Nathanael, “You will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man” (1:51).

Since Nicodemus has already praised Jesus for the God-given signs he does (v 2), the Lord appears to be urging him to “connect the dots” and realize that as these signs have their source from above, so also the birth of which he speaks comes from above.

Vv 14–15: While most translations begin a new sentence, the kai at the beginning certainly allows us to treat vv 13–15 as one complete thought: the Son of Man came down from heaven in order to be lifted up above the heads of sinful men and thereby to bring salvation to mankind.

Again, human effort is completely discounted. The bronze serpent sat in Israel’s encampment for all to see. No one cured himself of his snakebite; God effected the cure. So also, when we look upon the One who was pierced (cf. ), who has now ascended into heaven, we are healed of sin-sickness and eternal death. By “looking to Jesus” (), we are blessed with eternal life.

V 16: Jesus makes clear that salvation is a gift, for the Son of God is himself a gift that God gave. No restrictions are placed upon the recipients, for “whoever believes” lives. The Son of God come down at Christmas finally fulfilled his mission on Good Friday.

Luther here emphasizes the personal union in Christ. He notes that while earlier Jesus spoke of the Son of Man, he now shows that “God’s Son and Mary’s Son is only one Person. He appropriates both natures for the work of salvation and redemption from eternal death” (LW 22:351). It is not a mere man who saves us, nor is it God exercising his unbridled power. Instead, the God-man Jesus Christ conquers through surrender and saves his people from sin, death, and devil.

V 17: We know that Christ will return in judgment, but at this time, Jesus doesn’t mention God’s alien work of condemning and crushing through the Law. Instead, he focuses completely on the unmerited favor God shows the world. While not explicit in this verse, anōthen remains implicit, for God sent Jesus from above into his creation, “in order that the world might be saved through him.”

Sermon Outline

Introduction: Babies don’t know anything about how they’re born. Children have no choice in the matter. They’re conceived by their parents, carried by their mothers, and brought out of the comfort of the womb—all without giving consent. They cannot conceive themselves, for there’s no one there until after conception. The mystery of our spiritual birth is every bit as profound, and we had no more choice or opportunity to become God’s children than we did in becoming our parents’ children. We became children of our heavenly Father because

We would not think about God.

We could not move toward God.

B. We could not move toward God.

We had no place in our hearts for God.

C. We had no place in our hearts for God.

As the psalmist says, we stood helpless and confused before this world’s troubles until “the Lord, who made heaven and earth,” came to our rescue ().

B. Like Abraham, we had no idea of a new and better place to live until Christ came and called us to new life (v 13).

Like Abraham, we had no idea of a new and better place to live until Christ came and called us to new life (v 13).

C. Like the Israelites dying of snakebites in the wilderness, we were doomed until God raised up his Son to die on the cross (vv 14–15).

Like the Israelites dying of snakebites in the wilderness, we were doomed until God raised up his Son to die on the cross (vv 14–15).

Being reborn from above leads us regularly to repent and return to God (connect to the Fourth Part of Luther’s explanation of Holy Baptism in the Small Catechism).

Being reborn from above moves us to live our new lives in the worship of God and the service of others.

B. Being reborn from above moves us to live our new lives in the worship of God and the service of others.

C. Being reborn from above sets us on the path of eternal life with God (vv 16–17).

Being reborn from above sets us on the path of eternal life with God (vv 16–17).

Unknowing mockers stood around the cross, jeering at Christ and saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself” (). Actually, Jesus could have come down and saved himself. Instead, he stayed put to save us, thereby giving us new birth and new life from above. As he was raised from the dead and up to heaven, so he will raise us up on the Last Day to live forever with him.

_____________________