Adventures in Missing the Point

Nearly 20 years ago, Tony Campolo and Brian McLaren teamed up to write a book entitled “Adventures in Missing the Point.” Their book was a thought-provoking and challenging look at the way that the church in America (and generally the church in western culture) has developed. It’s been a while since I read that book and frankly disagreed with some of their conclusions, but as I have been preparing for today, the title of their book kept coming to mind - so I borrowed it. Campolo and McLaren wrote their book as a wake up call to the church. Our passage today is a wake up call to those of us who think we have all the answers.

Up to this point in the book of John, we’ve been introduced to

Jesus as the Word of God made flesh (prologue)

John the Baptist, Jesus’ forerunner. We got to witness...

The calling of his disciples

The first sign of his identity (changing the water to wine)

and his shake up at the temple.

All of these encounters are playing into John’s larger narrative of putting Jesus on display so that we will understand who He is - the Son of God - and then in response - believe in Him - resulting in life (John 20:30-31).

Today, as we look at John 3, we get a little different encounter as Jesus engages with one of the religious leaders - a man named Nicodemus. Rather than trying to establish an outline for us to follow, let’s read through the text and consider it in bits and pieces - there are really so many interesting elements to this encounter. We’ll conclude with some points for us to ponder and apply.

So, if you have your copy of Scripture, let me encourage you to turn to John 3. There may be a few places where some notes in your bible might be helpful. The text will also be on the screen.

So, let’s begin with some...

Reflections on the passage

John 3:1 ESV

Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.

As a Pharisee, Nicodemus was a devout Jewish leader and a part of their ruling council called the Sanhedrin. The Pharisees generally tried to put rules and expectations in place in order to help people live out the law of God. They often get a bad rap for being legalistic. He likely knew what we call the Old Testament very well.

John 3:2 (ESV)

This man came to Jesus by night...

There are some who want to make a big deal of the fact that Nicodemus in coming to Jesus at night. It could be that this was the time that Jesus was available. It could also be, as some have surmised, that he was trying to meet with Jesus in secret, under the cover of darkness. We have no way of reading into his motives and have to conclude that it was simply after sundown when they met.

The verse continues with Nicodemus’ first comment.

John 3:2 (ESV)

...and said to him, “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.”

There are a couple of terms that are quite interesting here.

Rabbi - Jesus did not have a formal education. He was not brought up in the way that most Rabbi’s were. Nicodemus might be placating Jesus or may be sincere in his respect for Jesus’ ministry. Jesus had obviously caught the attention of clergy and commoners alike.

We - Who is the “we”? Is he referring to himself and his own disciples or is he referring to the Jewish leaders? If the religious leaders, then is he speaking for all of them - do they agree with his sentiments? It seems like he is alone with Jesus, but it is quite possible that he would have had a group of students or disciples with him nearly any time.

signs - Nicodemus seems to concede that the signs he is seeing from Jesus are pointing clearly to something more - some divine initiative. But - up to this point in the narrative of the book of John, we have only seen one sign. Indicating, that there were more signs than what John has told us so far or this actually happens a bit later in the ministry of Jesus. What we can conclude is that Nicodemus was aware of the signs and was noting their significance.

So, Nicodemus doesn’t really raise a question, he just makes a comment. To which Jesus replies.

John 3:3 ESV

Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

So, Nicodemus is aware that Jesus is at least doing things because God is with him, then Jesus lays down a gauntlet by stating that people must be “born again” just to truly “see” the Kingdom. I wonder if Jesus is affirming Nicodemus’ burgeoning faith.

The Greek word that is translated “again” can also be translated “from above.” It’s as though the word has multiple streams of meaning.

Nicodemus obviously heard Jesus one way...

John 3:4 ESV

Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”

He was clearly hearing Jesus refer to a repeat event. He was missing the point. Jesus explains.

John 3:5–6 ESV

Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

So, Jesus seems to be indicating that he means “from above” instead of “again.” We all need both kinds of birth. We can’t have a spiritual birth unless we first have the physical birth - or water birth. We can’t see or enter into the Kingdom of God unless we have a new, spiritual birth.

Jesus continues his comments. As we move forward, I’m going to change a couple of words in order for us to understand the Greek a bit more clearly - because in English - we say “you” to mean both a single person or a group of people. So for these next few verses, Jesus moves back and forth between singular and plural, which we miss in our English Bibles without some help.

John 3:7–8 (ESV)

Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘[You all] must be born again.’ 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.”

Though talking to Nicodemus, the statement ‘You must be born again’ seems to be directed at more than one person (y’all) - again - maybe Nic’s disciples, fellow Jewish leaders or maybe simply meaning everyone except Jesus.

The point that Jesus seems to be making is that it is the Spirit, the breath of God that gives this new birth. The Spirit initiates it. It’s not something we can earn by following religious laws or listening to teaching. The Spirit must move in its mysterious way in order to bring life.

Nicodemus is beside himself, and replies...

John 3:9 ESV

Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?”

As I mentioned in the midweek email, I just don’t get the ins and outs of electricity. I don’t understand the relationship between watts, amps, kilowatt hours, etc. I miss the point.

Nicodemus is the same way. All of the things that he has been taught up to this point, everything he has learned is being called into question.

To which Jesus replies:

John 3:10–15 (ESV)

Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but [you all] do not receive our testimony. If I have told [you all] earthly things and [you all] do not believe, how can [you all] believe if I tell [you all] heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

So, Jesus seems to be responding directly to Nicodemus about certain things but then broadens his rebuke to a bigger “You all” - the challenge is - who are “y’all”? I think it’s likely the religious leaders, since they resisted Jesus’ influence and teaching so fully.

But the main point that Jesus is making is that they have had “earthly” things - earthly teachers, laws, covenants, expectations, etc. - as a means of instruction - and they missed the point. They can’t understand heavenly things - they do not have ears to hear.

What’s more, Jesus seems to be telling them that they have to go to the source - One who come from heaven to get the information about the Kingdom of Heaven.

Ultimately, he is pointing to the cross with his statement about being lifted up.

Then the commentary continues with some of the most famous and familiar verses in scripture.

John 3:16–17 ESV

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 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.

So here, we get a clearer picture of why Jesus, the Son, came. He came not to condemn the world, but to offer a means of salvation. It is out of the love of God that he willingly sacrificed his own Son as a propitiation or replacement for our sins.

But notice that this theme of condemnation is introduced. The next verse provides a dividing line for us:

John 3:18 ESV

Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

Here we get to see that there are two kinds of people

the saved (vs. 17)

the condemned (vs. 18)

For those who are saved, what are they saved from? Well simply they are saved from condemnation.

Which then begs another question: Why are the condemned, condemned?

The next couple of verses provide that answer:

John 3:19–20 ESV

And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.

People are condemned because of what they did with the light. They can choose recognize and accept the light - or reject it. There is no middle ground. There is no fence sitting. The condemned are condemned because they have rejected Jesus.

This brings up some language that we got introduced to in the first chapter - the prologue:

John 1:4–5 ESV

In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

John 1:9 ESV

The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.

So now Jesus, the Son, has come into the world as a means of light, of life giving light. He illumined the way for us to understand how to live. He provided the means of us being able to have a relationship with God through his death, burial, and resurrection. In many ways, he provided the means for us to live rightly before God.

This passage concludes with this comment:

John 3:21 ESV

But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

When we step into the light of God’s love as we get to see it in Jesus Christ, his light reveals that it is God working in us. We are able to do good works because God enables us to do good works.

and yet our salvation is even of his doing…

Ephesians 2:8–9 ESV

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

The Apostle Paul talks about it this way:

Galatians 2:20 ESV

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

There is really a lot more we could unpack in these verses, but let’s conclude our time with some...

Points to ponder:

New birth is required to see the Kingdom (John 3:3)

Jesus said that unless one is born again or born from above, he or she can’t see the Kingdom. For people who are not born again, the things of the Kingdom might seem like haphazard coincidences. Eternal life seems like wishful thinking.

But not only is new birth required to see the Kingdom...

Spiritual birth is required to enter the Kingdom (John 3:5)

Jesus said that we have to be born of water (flesh) and be born of the spirit in order to be a part of God’s kingdom. So many people think that they want to earn their way into the Kingdom.

But let me ask you, how did you come into the world?

Did you earn your way?

Did you work for it?

No.

We came into the world as a product of love. When the time of our physical birth came to fruition, we had nothing to do with it. It was all on our moms. They experienced the pain. They endured the labor.

Spiritual birth is much the same way. We don’t earn it. It’s a product of the love of God. Jesus endured the pain of the cross - paying for our sin. He labored on our behalf. The Holy Spirit now works to draw us to Him.

In this passage, we also learn that...

We must be willing to receive the testimony of the Word - because it comes from God (John 3:10-14)

There is a sense in which we must be willing to admit that we don’t know what we don’t know.

In 2002, the Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld made this statement regarding some activity in Iraq.

Reports that say that something hasn't happened are always interesting to me, because as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns -- the ones we don't know we don't know. And if one looks throughout the history of our country and other free countries, it is the latter category that tend to be the difficult ones.

I bring that up because there are times when we think we might know everything about God. I think Nicodemus and the Pharisees knew that they knew how to live and how to teach. But Jesus seemed to step onto the scene as an “unknown unknown” bringing information and insights about the Kingdom of Heaven. We must be willing to receive His testimony, because he is instructing us about the Kingdom.

Outside of simply impacting our view of the Kingdom and salvation, we need to continually look to God to help us understand how to live and act as believers. Submitting our actions, politics, etc. to the Word. It is so easy for us to get caught up into things that sound “Christian” or seem “biblical” without verifying that it is.

For example, someone asked me one time: “Where is the verse that says that ‘God helps those who help themselves’?” - to which I had to reply - “It’s not in the bible.” It sounds good. It’s even catchy - but it runs completely counter to biblical truth.

I think this also means that when we read the Word, we truly read it and not just glance over it assuming we already know what passage says. Let it sink in. Read is slowly, attentively, reflectively. Read it each time as though it’s the first time.

We could go on, but I want to encourage us to submit everything that we “think” might be biblical to the Bible. Check it out, verify it. Pray for understanding and receive the Word of God, not the clever words of man.

Another point to ponder is that...

Belief in the Son and His work is the mode of new/spiritual birth (John 3:16-21)

As we mentioned before, the way that we come to the new birth is through the Son. Through his finished work on the cross. Through His death, burial and resurrection.

Have you received his free gift by repenting of your sin and entrusting your life to him?

That is why he came. He came to bring life. But it’s not automatic.

There is one final point I’d like for us to consider:

As long as we have breath, there is hope for those who miss the point (John 7:50-51; John 19:39)

Nicodemus seemed to be one of those guys who just didn’t get it. If we were to leave this conversation between Nic and Jesus at this point, we would assume that they parted ways - potentially agreeing to disagree. But there is hope.

There was a time later in Jesus’ ministry, Nicodemus stood before the Sanhedrin in defense of Jesus - calling people to give him a chance to be heard...

John 7:50–51 ESV

Nicodemus, who had gone to him before, and who was one of them, said to them, “Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?”

Still later on, after Jesus death on the cross, Nicodemus joined Joseph of Arimathea and prepared Jesus body for the tomb.

John 19:39 ESV

Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight.

It seems that Nicodemus finally got it.

As long as you have breath, as long as Christ doesn’t return - there is still hope for you to come, for you to turn, for you to trust in Him.

Do you know when your last breath will be?

Call on Him today!

Let’s pray.

Benediction

2 John 3 ESV

Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father’s Son, in truth and love.

Sources:

https://archive.ph/20180320091111/http://archive.defense.gov/Transcripts/Transcript.aspx?TranscriptID=2636#selection-1053.10-1053.485

Burge, Gary M. The NIV Application Commentary: John. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2000.

Carson, D. A. The Gospel according to John. The Pillar New Testament Commentary. Leicester, England; Grand Rapids, MI: Inter-Varsity Press; W.B. Eerdmans, 1991.

Crossway Bibles. The ESV Study Bible. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008.

McLaren, Brian D., Tony Campolo. Adventures in Missing the Point: How the culture controlled church neutered the gospel. Grand Rapids, MI. Zondervan, 2003.

Milne, Bruce. The Message of John (The Bible Speaks Today). Downers Grove, IL. Inter-Varsity Press, 1993.