Second Sunday of Lent & Baptism
“Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen”
Summary
When I had my first child I knew nothing. I had not attended any classes, I had read nothing, learnt nothing, been told nothing. I didn’t have a clue what to expect. What I did have was trust. I trusted that the medical team and I trusted my Mum, a midwife, who was by my side. I trusted them because they had done this before.
This morning Nicodemus knows nothing. His knowledge, his learning, his intellect will only take him so far. When Jesus says: “are you a teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things?” he is not mocking him for his lack of knowledge, he is pointing out that you cannot live a life of faith by knowing, only by doing. We will never know what it is like to have a child until we have had one (and even then we only know what it is like to have that one child, the next one will be altogether different).
A life of faith, like giving birth, is a risk, a leap into the unknown, you do not know what the outcome will be, you cannot know what it will demand of you, until you do it. Nicodemus is unable to take the risk, he comes to Jesus in secret at night wanting reassurance but Jesus cannot tell him what his path will be. He can only assure him that he, Jesus, has done this before. He has descended from heaven, he will ascend to heaven. Jesus does this not in knowledge but in trust, that God is love and perfect love casts out fear.
If we want a life of faith, a life of grace, a life of purpose we need to take the risk of trusting the spirit of God to lead us where it chooses, knowing only that it chooses love.
GOSPEL
John 3.1-17
Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. He came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with that person.” Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?
“Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen, yet you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And just 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.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved through him.
