WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.640 Last week we looked at Jesus' birth. 00:00:03.640 --> 00:00:06.799 The week before that we looked at John the Baptist's birth. 00:00:06.799 --> 00:00:10.359 And we end 2017 by looking at a different type of birth 00:00:10.359 --> 00:00:13.800 called the new birth. And 00:00:13.800 --> 00:00:16.839 Jesus in the Gospels always gives us 00:00:16.839 --> 00:00:20.440 metaphors to help us understand things that are difficult to understand. 00:00:20.440 --> 00:00:23.559 And one of the most famous metaphors that he gives us 00:00:23.559 --> 00:00:26.679 is the new birth, or being born again. 00:00:26.679 --> 00:00:30.600 And all of us know, as Nicodemus knew 00:00:30.600 --> 00:00:35.079 in this passage, that it is impossible for us to be born again 00:00:35.079 --> 00:00:39.000 physically. Nicodemus highlights that in the passage we read. 00:00:39.000 --> 00:00:42.920 That's not possible. And so immediately we know this is a metaphor. 00:00:42.920 --> 00:00:46.879 Jesus is talking about something different. He's talking about a new birth 00:00:46.879 --> 00:00:47.640 that takes place 00:00:47.640 --> 00:00:51.280 in the heart, in the inner self, in the deepest part of who you are 00:00:51.280 --> 00:00:55.240 in your desires. It's a different type of birth 00:00:55.240 --> 00:00:59.120 than a physical birth. And this idea, the new birth, 00:00:59.120 --> 00:01:03.439 the new birth that takes place in the heart and associating it with Christians 00:01:03.439 --> 00:01:07.520 is famous. It's not just something that people who have grown up in the church 00:01:07.520 --> 00:01:08.040 know about, 00:01:08.040 --> 00:01:11.240 or people who have read John chapter 3 know about. This is 00:01:11.240 --> 00:01:14.920 a pop culture wide. Everybody 00:01:14.920 --> 00:01:18.879 in the 21st century, as secular as our society might be, 00:01:18.879 --> 00:01:23.439 has heard of being born again. And part of that is because 00:01:23.439 --> 00:01:26.159 in the 20th century there was an evangelical 00:01:26.159 --> 00:01:29.200 sub-movement called the born again movement 00:01:29.200 --> 00:01:32.480 that filtered out into all sorts of areas, 00:01:32.480 --> 00:01:36.400 different groups and distinct parts of 00:01:36.400 --> 00:01:39.759 Christianity and people who confessed to be Christians. 00:01:39.759 --> 00:01:44.560 And on the inside of that movement, the insiders in this evangelical sub-movement, 00:01:44.560 --> 00:01:47.840 the born again movement, were really trying to express 00:01:47.840 --> 00:01:51.359 the idea that there's a difference between 00:01:51.359 --> 00:01:56.239 a real, genuine, life-changing experience, a conversion, 00:01:56.239 --> 00:02:00.120 and what many people would express as a nominal 00:02:00.120 --> 00:02:03.920 lifelong church-attending way of being a Christian, that there's a 00:02:03.920 --> 00:02:07.719 difference. But the movement 00:02:07.719 --> 00:02:11.360 began to be associated with all sorts of different groups and you can go find 00:02:11.360 --> 00:02:12.039 articles 00:02:12.039 --> 00:02:15.199 in the Appalachian country 00:02:15.199 --> 00:02:19.479 of the United States where lots of snake-handling 00:02:19.479 --> 00:02:23.079 cults refer to themselves as the true born-against, 00:02:23.079 --> 00:02:27.319 the truly born-against, and of course Billy Graham used the phrase all the time as well. 00:02:27.319 --> 00:02:30.839 So it grew and became really wide and distinct 00:02:30.839 --> 00:02:33.879 and it became to me something like 00:02:33.879 --> 00:02:37.079 a very immoral person that has had a 00:02:37.079 --> 00:02:40.399 life-changing experience and become a moral person. 00:02:40.399 --> 00:02:43.879 And in the eyes of the culture, that's exactly what it was, 00:02:43.879 --> 00:02:47.359 born-again Christians are the type of Christians that are really fanatic, really 00:02:47.359 --> 00:02:48.000 radical, 00:02:48.000 --> 00:02:52.039 and they've had the deepest experiences, they're the most emotional 00:02:52.039 --> 00:02:55.759 and they are the most traditional in values, they draw the sharpest lines in 00:02:55.759 --> 00:02:56.280 the sand 00:02:56.280 --> 00:02:59.520 that nobody can come across. What we have to do today 00:02:59.520 --> 00:03:03.719 is disentangle the term, 00:03:03.719 --> 00:03:08.159 the phrase, being born-again from the 20th century, 00:03:08.159 --> 00:03:11.479 and from the 21st century because what the 20th 00:03:11.479 --> 00:03:15.599 century says about it, what the 21st century says about it, is not what 00:03:15.599 --> 00:03:18.599 Jesus says about it, we got to come back to 00:03:18.599 --> 00:03:21.840 John chapter 3 to a first-century man and listen to 00:03:21.840 --> 00:03:25.879 what he has to say about what it means to be born-again. 00:03:25.879 --> 00:03:29.599 And so if you're a non-Christian today, if you're coming and exploring the claims of faith, 00:03:29.599 --> 00:03:32.719 I invite you to come and listen to what Jesus has to say 00:03:32.719 --> 00:03:36.560 about this idea. And this is for Christians too, this is for my Christian friends 00:03:36.560 --> 00:03:40.159 here too, there's much here that you'll see that is of help. 00:03:40.159 --> 00:03:43.599 And so what we're gonna do is ask three things, who needs it? 00:03:43.599 --> 00:03:47.120 Who needs the new birth? What is it? 00:03:47.120 --> 00:03:51.000 And how do you get it? Okay, so first, 00:03:51.000 --> 00:03:53.879 who needs it? Now if you look at verse 7, 00:03:53.879 --> 00:03:59.439 verse 7 is the emphatic statement, do not marvel Jesus says that I say to you 00:03:59.439 --> 00:04:00.199 Nicodemus, 00:04:00.199 --> 00:04:03.359 you must be born-again. 00:04:03.359 --> 00:04:06.359 Now there's two key words in Jesus' 00:04:06.359 --> 00:04:09.799 sentence there, the first is must. 00:04:09.800 --> 00:04:13.840 You, he says, must be born-again. 00:04:13.840 --> 00:04:16.879 You must be, in other words, 00:04:16.879 --> 00:04:21.160 we know right out from the gate that the new birth is necessary. 00:04:21.160 --> 00:04:25.160 And he says it's necessary if you want to see the kingdom of God, 00:04:25.160 --> 00:04:29.160 which in verse 15 he equates with having eternal life. 00:04:29.160 --> 00:04:34.199 If you want to live, the new birth is necessary. And the second key word here 00:04:34.199 --> 00:04:38.080 is the word you. And he says you 00:04:38.079 --> 00:04:41.120 must be born-again. Nicodemus, 00:04:41.120 --> 00:04:46.000 you must be born-again. He's saying this to Nicodemus. 00:04:46.000 --> 00:04:49.839 And Nicodemus, we know a few things about Nicodemus. 00:04:49.839 --> 00:04:53.159 Nicodemus is an old man, which is very important 00:04:53.159 --> 00:04:57.039 in first century culture. He's a man, which is also very important 00:04:57.039 --> 00:05:00.680 in first century culture. He's a Pharisee, 00:05:00.680 --> 00:05:04.199 more properly he's a ruler of the Sanhedrin. 00:05:04.199 --> 00:05:08.360 And that's a big deal. He is a 00:05:08.360 --> 00:05:13.839 culture maker. He is wealthy. You were wealthy if you were in this position. 00:05:13.839 --> 00:05:18.480 He is on the top of his game when he comes here to meet with Jesus. And if he was alive 00:05:18.480 --> 00:05:19.039 today, 00:05:19.039 --> 00:05:23.199 he would have gone to Harvard. He would be a public intellectual 00:05:23.199 --> 00:05:28.199 riding a weekly column, a daily column, for something like the Times or the Herald. 00:05:28.199 --> 00:05:31.399 He would be a mover and a shaker, a culture maker. 00:05:31.399 --> 00:05:34.879 He's the head of the religious order of his day. 00:05:34.879 --> 00:05:39.079 He's a moral guy. He's a good citizen. You should like him. 00:05:39.079 --> 00:05:42.879 He's not being bad here. He's a good guy. He's respected. 00:05:42.879 --> 00:05:46.959 And he's coming to Jesus and showing Jesus some respect in this passage. 00:05:46.959 --> 00:05:51.879 Not only that, but we know that he was a leader 00:05:51.879 --> 00:05:56.759 among the upper class religious leaders. Jesus actually says to him, 00:05:56.759 --> 00:06:01.839 are you not the teacher later in verse eight or nine? Are you not the teacher of 00:06:01.839 --> 00:06:02.399 Israel? 00:06:02.399 --> 00:06:05.800 With the definite article there, I mean Jesus is saying he's actually 00:06:05.800 --> 00:06:09.719 amongst the rulers of the rulers in the Sanhedrin. 00:06:09.719 --> 00:06:13.000 And not only that, but don't miss this. In verse two, 00:06:13.000 --> 00:06:18.759 he says, we know Jesus that you are a rabbi teacher, come from God. 00:06:18.759 --> 00:06:22.599 And he uses the first person plural there. 00:06:22.600 --> 00:06:27.000 We know. And what that means is that he's coming to Jesus at night 00:06:27.000 --> 00:06:31.280 and he's representing a faction. He's not coming just on his own. 00:06:31.280 --> 00:06:35.280 He's coming as the leader of a party within the Sanhedrin 00:06:35.280 --> 00:06:39.960 and saying, there's a group of us that think you are something special. 00:06:39.960 --> 00:06:44.879 He's willing to say to Jesus, 00:06:44.879 --> 00:06:49.879 rabbi. And if you know the culture of the first century, you know 00:06:49.879 --> 00:06:54.079 that rabbi is a designation you don't get until you're old, 00:06:54.079 --> 00:06:58.480 established, you've done a lot, you're very successful. It's light becoming a 00:06:58.480 --> 00:06:59.399 professor 00:06:59.399 --> 00:07:03.639 in the modern day university. It's a big deal. And Jesus is a young man 00:07:03.639 --> 00:07:07.600 in this passage. And he has no credentials. He's a carpenter. 00:07:07.600 --> 00:07:10.879 He's born of a poor family. And he's respectfully saying, 00:07:10.879 --> 00:07:15.399 rabbi. He's willing to go that far with Jesus and show him that much respect. 00:07:15.399 --> 00:07:19.159 And what that means, 00:07:19.160 --> 00:07:23.000 what all this means is that Nicodemus is coming 00:07:23.000 --> 00:07:26.160 at night and it's probably 00:07:26.160 --> 00:07:29.480 a stormy night of Jesus when he 00:07:29.480 --> 00:07:33.720 says the wind. You can hear the wind. It blows where it wants to. 00:07:33.720 --> 00:07:37.680 It's probably because the wind is blowing and whistling right around him, right at the very moment. 00:07:37.680 --> 00:07:43.360 So Nicodemus, the ruler of rulers, the richest of the rich, the wealthiest of the wealthy, and the moral, 00:07:43.360 --> 00:07:46.800 and the religious of the religious, he's a moral guy. He comes 00:07:46.800 --> 00:07:49.800 at night on a stormy, dark, 00:07:49.800 --> 00:07:53.319 cloudy night to meet with Jesus secretly saying, 00:07:53.319 --> 00:07:59.639 let's make a deal. I'm representative of a faction and I want to make a deal with you. We can work together. 00:07:59.639 --> 00:08:03.600 We think you're something special. We know that we're religious, we're holy, we're moral. 00:08:03.600 --> 00:08:08.280 Let's make a deal. We can work together. I'm here to barter with you, to respect you. 00:08:08.280 --> 00:08:11.639 And Jesus says, whoa, 00:08:11.639 --> 00:08:14.639 not so fast. You don't know what you're talking about. 00:08:14.639 --> 00:08:18.240 Just stop talking. He interrupts him. 00:08:18.240 --> 00:08:22.039 Truly I say to you, you can't see the kingdom of God. 00:08:22.039 --> 00:08:25.240 You want to make a deal with me? You can't even see the kingdom of God. 00:08:25.240 --> 00:08:29.439 The religious of the religious, the moral of the moral. 00:08:29.439 --> 00:08:33.360 And what that means is that being born again 00:08:33.360 --> 00:08:38.519 is not about morality. It's not about 00:08:38.519 --> 00:08:43.840 morality at all. If anybody didn't need it, it was this guy. If it's about morality, 00:08:43.840 --> 00:08:47.040 it's what Jesus is saying to him is that 00:08:47.040 --> 00:08:50.840 you need it in the exact same way 00:08:50.840 --> 00:08:55.360 that the prostitutes and the sinners need it. You come 00:08:55.360 --> 00:08:59.360 from the exact same places they do. All of you 00:08:59.360 --> 00:09:05.560 need to be born again just as much as the worst of the worst 00:09:05.560 --> 00:09:09.360 and as the best of the best. And Nicodemus was the best of the best. 00:09:09.360 --> 00:09:14.360 And so that's why commentators will say that if you know anything about the book 00:09:14.360 --> 00:09:15.159 of John 00:09:15.159 --> 00:09:18.879 and you pay attention to the structure in the book of John, 00:09:18.879 --> 00:09:23.720 John really makes clear his points just in the structure of the book. 00:09:23.720 --> 00:09:28.399 If you look down at verse 1, John uses one little word to introduce this 00:09:28.399 --> 00:09:29.159 passage. 00:09:29.159 --> 00:09:33.600 It's translated here as now. It's a Greek conjunction 00:09:33.600 --> 00:09:37.120 day and it more often means 00:09:37.120 --> 00:09:41.639 and. And what's it doing there? The reason it's there is because 00:09:41.639 --> 00:09:46.360 John is continuing his thought from the previous two verses. 00:09:46.360 --> 00:09:50.360 This is not a new section even though that the modern English, 00:09:50.360 --> 00:09:53.840 the Medieval's put a new chapter here at chapter 3. 00:09:53.840 --> 00:09:57.600 It might have been better to start it at chapter 23 because this is not a new 00:09:57.600 --> 00:09:59.120 section. This is and. 00:09:59.120 --> 00:10:02.399 And what is the and talking about? 00:10:02.399 --> 00:10:07.039 Look at verses 23 to 25. Now when Jesus was in Jerusalem at the Passover 00:10:07.039 --> 00:10:07.480 feast, 00:10:07.480 --> 00:10:10.679 many believed in his name when they saw the signs he was doing. 00:10:10.679 --> 00:10:14.199 Many believe they saw him do stuff, 00:10:14.199 --> 00:10:18.959 miraculous stuff and they believed. But Jesus, it says, did not 00:10:18.959 --> 00:10:23.240 entrust himself to them because he knew it was in their heart. 00:10:23.240 --> 00:10:27.360 That it wasn't actually faith. They didn't actually get it. 00:10:27.360 --> 00:10:31.360 They just trusted him as a teacher because of his miracles. 00:10:31.360 --> 00:10:35.519 And then it says and Nicodemus. In other words, John saying, 00:10:35.519 --> 00:10:39.840 the story of Nicodemus is exhibit a in 00:10:39.840 --> 00:10:43.440 the issue of people coming and saying look at all the signs he's performing. 00:10:43.440 --> 00:10:46.440 He's a great teacher. He's a wonder worker. He performs many signs, 00:10:46.440 --> 00:10:51.279 but Jesus did not give himself to them because they didn't actually know who 00:10:51.279 --> 00:10:52.279 he was. They didn't actually 00:10:52.279 --> 00:10:56.240 have true faith. And what John is saying is Nicodemus is exhibit a. 00:10:56.240 --> 00:11:00.600 That's the story I'm telling you of a person that was just like this. 00:11:00.600 --> 00:11:05.000 Commentators will also say that every single major 00:11:05.000 --> 00:11:09.440 theme that John is trying to teach us in the book of John 00:11:09.440 --> 00:11:12.399 is exhibited already in the prologue, the first 00:11:12.399 --> 00:11:16.279 18 verses of the book of John. And just listen 00:11:16.279 --> 00:11:19.840 to the prologue verses 10 to 13. This is what he says. 00:11:19.840 --> 00:11:23.519 Jesus came into the world and the world was made through him, but the world did 00:11:23.519 --> 00:11:24.480 not know him. 00:11:24.480 --> 00:11:28.000 He came to his own and his own people did not receive him, 00:11:28.000 --> 00:11:32.200 but to the ones who did receive him, who believed in his name. 00:11:32.200 --> 00:11:36.360 He gave the right to become a child of God. But how? 00:11:36.360 --> 00:11:40.759 They weren't born of blood or of human will or of the flesh, 00:11:40.759 --> 00:11:45.120 but only born of God. In other words, Nicodemus, if anybody had the right 00:11:45.120 --> 00:11:49.480 to be a child of God, of the flesh, by his bloodline, 00:11:49.480 --> 00:11:53.200 by the will of man, the things that he has done, it was this guy. 00:11:53.200 --> 00:11:57.559 It was definitely this guy. He deserved it. But Jesus comes to him and says, 00:11:57.559 --> 00:12:01.119 stop talking. You can't even see the kingdom. 00:12:01.119 --> 00:12:06.319 You haven't even started. You haven't even gotten to ground zero yet. 00:12:06.319 --> 00:12:10.239 Because being born of God 00:12:10.239 --> 00:12:14.719 is not by anything you do, no matter how bad or how good, 00:12:14.719 --> 00:12:19.679 or by your bloodline or of the flesh. And that's what he's talking about when he says 00:12:19.679 --> 00:12:20.839 he must be born again. 00:12:20.839 --> 00:12:24.519 John already has introduced it, you see, in the prologue. He's already 00:12:24.519 --> 00:12:27.559 taught us what he's trying to get at at the very beginning 00:12:27.559 --> 00:12:32.720 of this book. And that's why Nicodemus comes at nighttime. 00:12:32.720 --> 00:12:39.639 Yeah, he comes at nighttime for practical reasons, of course. He wants to make a deal 00:12:39.639 --> 00:12:43.960 in the dark stormy night. But 00:12:43.960 --> 00:12:48.120 John refers to nighttime four times in his book. 00:12:48.120 --> 00:12:53.199 And three of them are metaphors. This is the only one that's literal. 00:12:53.200 --> 00:12:57.759 And the other three times, let me just give you an example from chapter 11 verse 10, 00:12:57.759 --> 00:13:03.360 if anybody walks in the daytime, he does not stumble because he walks 00:13:03.360 --> 00:13:07.120 in the light. But if he walks in the nighttime, 00:13:07.120 --> 00:13:11.840 he stumbles because the light is not in him. He walks in the darkness. 00:13:11.840 --> 00:13:14.960 And J.B. Lightfoot, one of the great 00:13:14.960 --> 00:13:18.840 past century New Testament commentators, he says this, 00:13:18.840 --> 00:13:23.800 doubtless Nicodemus approached Jesus at night, 00:13:23.800 --> 00:13:28.280 but what he would find out is that his own night 00:13:28.280 --> 00:13:31.800 was blacker than he ever knew, his own heart. 00:13:31.800 --> 00:13:35.160 He came at Jesus' night. Why? Because he doesn't want the light of the world to 00:13:35.160 --> 00:13:36.680 expose him. 00:13:36.680 --> 00:13:39.399 And that's exactly what the light of the world does. The light of the world 00:13:39.399 --> 00:13:41.560 exposes him. 00:13:41.560 --> 00:13:45.400 The moral teacher needs new birth and so do you. 00:13:45.399 --> 00:13:49.000 Now, I started this point to close point one, 00:13:49.000 --> 00:13:53.240 which is the longest point by the way. You'll be comforted by that. 00:13:53.240 --> 00:13:59.079 Close point one, when it says in verse seven, you must be born again. 00:13:59.079 --> 00:14:04.120 The word you there is actually not directed directly toward Nicodemus. 00:14:04.120 --> 00:14:07.319 You can't see this in English. We don't do this in English. You can't. 00:14:07.319 --> 00:14:11.960 It's impossible to see in English. It's in Greek, it's plural. 00:14:11.960 --> 00:14:16.920 And so what Jesus is saying is not Nicodemus, you must be born again, 00:14:16.920 --> 00:14:21.560 but he says all of you must be born again. 00:14:21.560 --> 00:14:25.320 The faction you represent must be born again. The prostitutes in the centers must 00:14:25.320 --> 00:14:31.080 be born again. The worst of the worst must be born again. And you, all of you, and me, 00:14:31.080 --> 00:14:35.240 will not see the kingdom of God unless you're born again. 00:14:35.240 --> 00:14:39.879 The new birth is not for a type of person. 00:14:39.879 --> 00:14:43.559 It's not for a movement, a born again movement, 00:14:43.559 --> 00:14:49.559 a sub-evangelical culture. It's not, that's all secondary. 00:14:49.559 --> 00:14:56.679 It's what you need to see eternal life. It's not for any type of person. 00:14:56.679 --> 00:15:02.759 So secondly, what is it? What is the new, what is it then? 00:15:02.759 --> 00:15:06.039 It's still a difficult metaphor to understand. 00:15:06.039 --> 00:15:09.959 Now verse three, this is one of Jesus's many 00:15:09.959 --> 00:15:15.719 strange interruptions in the gospels where he does interrupt people 00:15:15.719 --> 00:15:19.399 and gives what kind of seems like a non-sequitur 00:15:19.399 --> 00:15:23.559 a comment that does not follow in the conversation that doesn't, 00:15:23.559 --> 00:15:27.799 it's a conversation stopper. It doesn't really seem to make sense. 00:15:27.799 --> 00:15:31.240 Nicodemus comes and says, I know you're a great teacher. I know that God is with 00:15:31.240 --> 00:15:34.839 you. And Jesus says, you can't see the kingdom of God. 00:15:34.840 --> 00:15:38.360 Well, how does that relate? How does that follow? It seems like it doesn't 00:15:38.360 --> 00:15:43.800 follow at all. And of course Nicodemus immediately doesn't get it. 00:15:43.800 --> 00:15:47.960 How can a man be born a second time when he's old? 00:15:47.960 --> 00:15:51.720 That doesn't seem to, the physics doesn't make sense there. 00:15:51.720 --> 00:15:55.080 It doesn't seem to work. But what he doesn't catch, of course, 00:15:55.080 --> 00:15:59.960 is that this birth is not something that the five senses can see. 00:15:59.960 --> 00:16:05.240 This is not a birth that's apparent or visible to our five senses. 00:16:05.240 --> 00:16:11.400 What Jesus is saying, it's not a non-sequitur at all. 00:16:11.400 --> 00:16:20.600 Jesus is saying this, you are looking for a teacher and you think you found one. 00:16:20.600 --> 00:16:25.639 And a teacher gives moral renovation. A teacher comes to help you understand 00:16:25.639 --> 00:16:29.320 how to change, how to get better. You don't need a teacher. 00:16:29.320 --> 00:16:33.240 You need something much more radical than a teacher. 00:16:33.240 --> 00:16:39.080 And so commentators will say, and this is in a footnote in your Bible, 00:16:39.080 --> 00:16:43.640 should be, that the better way to translate Jesus' command, 00:16:43.640 --> 00:16:47.560 you need to be born again, is actually you need to be born 00:16:47.560 --> 00:16:51.879 from above. And we're going to come back to why it's important that it's actually 00:16:51.879 --> 00:16:56.600 from above in just a second. But this idea of being born from above, 00:16:56.600 --> 00:17:01.800 it's part of a family of metaphors in the New Testament. 00:17:01.800 --> 00:17:05.799 Light to darkness, you must become a new creation. 00:17:05.799 --> 00:17:08.920 Your old self had to be transferred to a new self, 00:17:08.920 --> 00:17:13.319 is the one that Paul often uses. You need to have your mind renewed. You need to 00:17:13.319 --> 00:17:17.960 have the washing of regeneration. All these metaphors are metaphors that 00:17:17.960 --> 00:17:22.039 are talking about the same thing. The new birth, being born from above, 00:17:22.039 --> 00:17:26.920 the washing of regeneration, a new self, new roots, all of it. 00:17:26.920 --> 00:17:30.200 The New Testament, we're talking about the same idea. 00:17:30.200 --> 00:17:33.799 So what exactly is it? And let me just tell you three 00:17:33.799 --> 00:17:37.799 very brief things that I think it is. And we get this from all over the 00:17:37.799 --> 00:17:42.440 New Testament, really. And the first thing is that the new birth means getting 00:17:42.440 --> 00:17:48.359 new roots. In other words, it is a radical transformation, 00:17:48.359 --> 00:17:53.159 not moral renovation. You see, now when I say it's a radical 00:17:53.159 --> 00:17:58.039 transformation, I don't mean radical in the modern 00:17:58.039 --> 00:18:03.399 cool way. That radical means wild and crazy or something like that. 00:18:03.399 --> 00:18:07.639 Radical has a much better meaning and an older, classic meaning. 00:18:07.639 --> 00:18:11.240 And radical comes from the Latin term radix, which means root. 00:18:11.240 --> 00:18:16.119 So radical simply means at the root of things. So what Jesus is talking about 00:18:16.119 --> 00:18:18.679 here is you need, the first thing the new birth is, is 00:18:18.679 --> 00:18:23.000 radical transformation. In other words, you need to be replanted. 00:18:23.000 --> 00:18:26.759 You need new roots. You need a gardener to come along and pull you up 00:18:26.759 --> 00:18:30.039 and put down entirely different plant, entirely different tree, 00:18:30.039 --> 00:18:37.479 new roots for you. Tim Keller talks about, on a different topic, 00:18:37.479 --> 00:18:42.359 about it. Think about it like this. If you have an apple form, 00:18:42.359 --> 00:18:46.679 and you decide this year after farming apples for however long in your life 00:18:46.679 --> 00:18:52.359 that you want oranges, and you go out to your apple farm and 00:18:52.359 --> 00:18:55.799 you work harder than you've ever worked before, 00:18:55.799 --> 00:18:59.399 and you make sure those trees are clean, that the 00:18:59.399 --> 00:19:03.319 the bugs aren't getting to them, you water it like it's never been watered 00:19:03.319 --> 00:19:07.639 before, you give it the best of whatever the most recent 00:19:07.639 --> 00:19:10.279 people who work on these things are saying, the best food for it. 00:19:10.279 --> 00:19:12.599 You pour it all into the ground, you do the best work you've ever done on your 00:19:12.599 --> 00:19:17.879 apple trees, and at the end of the season, you get bigger apples. 00:19:17.879 --> 00:19:22.119 You don't get oranges, right? It's simple, it's obvious, but the only way 00:19:22.119 --> 00:19:25.399 to get oranges, if you want oranges, is that you got to rip up the trees, 00:19:25.399 --> 00:19:28.680 and you got to put down a completely different plant all together, and that's 00:19:28.680 --> 00:19:31.399 what the new birth really is, is it's radical, 00:19:31.399 --> 00:19:34.759 radix transformation. It's transformation at the root. 00:19:34.759 --> 00:19:38.359 It's not doing things better. It's not moral renovation. 00:19:38.359 --> 00:19:42.919 It's not simply a prostitute stopping what she does, or the worst of 00:19:42.919 --> 00:19:46.519 sinners stopping what they do. It's complete and total transformation from 00:19:46.519 --> 00:19:51.479 the root, and that's why we we talk about the difference 00:19:51.479 --> 00:19:56.439 between reformation and transformation. 00:19:56.439 --> 00:20:00.199 What's reformation? Well, reformation is something we all want to do in life. 00:20:00.199 --> 00:20:04.919 It's change. It's renovating ourselves. It's 00:20:04.920 --> 00:20:09.160 making New Year's resolutions. That's reformation, 00:20:09.160 --> 00:20:12.360 but Jesus isn't talking about reformation. 00:20:12.360 --> 00:20:16.279 No New Year's resolution can give you what he's talking about here. 00:20:16.279 --> 00:20:21.880 He's talking about transformation, and that means you can't do it. 00:20:21.880 --> 00:20:26.440 A gardener has to come and do it for you. Okay, so the second thing that the 00:20:26.440 --> 00:20:30.920 new birth is, is it's not only getting new roots, but when you get new roots, 00:20:30.920 --> 00:20:34.039 you get what Paul talks about in relation to the new birth. 00:20:34.039 --> 00:20:39.079 You get a new self, and when Paul says that what he's talking about is a new 00:20:39.079 --> 00:20:44.839 identity, a new consciousness, a new way of thinking, new desires, 00:20:44.839 --> 00:20:48.359 a new heart, wanting things differently, being totally new 00:20:48.359 --> 00:20:53.240 in your identity. I was recently, I was reminded this week 00:20:53.240 --> 00:21:00.359 of a famous story that comes to us by tradition, not through primary text 00:21:00.359 --> 00:21:05.559 research, unfortunately, but hopefully it's true, of St. Augustine, the great 00:21:05.559 --> 00:21:10.119 bishop of Hippo in North Africa, who many people regard as the best 00:21:10.119 --> 00:21:15.319 theologian that's ever lived in the fourth and fifth centuries. 00:21:15.319 --> 00:21:20.439 Augustine was a mess of a person before his conversion. 00:21:20.439 --> 00:21:24.519 He was, he says this himself, that he was a sex addict. 00:21:24.519 --> 00:21:31.480 He was, he was a man that was pretty wild, and he slept with many 00:21:31.480 --> 00:21:37.799 different women in his younger years, and he gets radically converted, and he 00:21:37.799 --> 00:21:43.799 comes to a city after he's converted, and one of the women that he had 00:21:43.799 --> 00:21:47.879 had a relationship with for over a year, ongoing comes and sees him, 00:21:47.879 --> 00:21:52.599 sees him in the streets in the city, and she says, you know, waves at him, and he 00:21:52.599 --> 00:21:56.919 walks past her, and he doesn't acknowledge her, 00:21:56.919 --> 00:22:00.279 and she supposes that he just simply didn't see her, 00:22:00.279 --> 00:22:06.839 and so she says, Augustine, Augustine, it's I, it's I, and he turns around and 00:22:06.839 --> 00:22:14.679 says, oh, I know, but it is not I. It's no longer I. 00:22:14.679 --> 00:22:20.359 It's no longer I who live, but Christ lives within me. It's an, I'm a new self. 00:22:20.359 --> 00:22:25.319 That man that I was is gone. My desires are different. I don't want it 00:22:25.319 --> 00:22:28.359 anymore. I don't want what we had. I want 00:22:28.359 --> 00:22:32.759 transformation. I want a new self and a new identity. 00:22:32.759 --> 00:22:35.879 The new birth is new roots, and it's a new identity. 00:22:35.879 --> 00:22:41.159 It's new desires. It's a new self, and then thirdly and finally, in this point, 00:22:41.159 --> 00:22:45.399 and the centerpiece, actually, of what Jesus says here about the new birth, 00:22:45.400 --> 00:22:51.640 is that the new birth is a new vision. Now, so he tells Nicodemus here, 00:22:51.640 --> 00:22:56.680 you cannot see the kingdom of God unless you are born again, 00:22:56.680 --> 00:23:00.519 and this is why I mentioned that it's so important that we see 00:23:00.519 --> 00:23:05.080 that it's actually, or should probably be translated as born from above, 00:23:05.080 --> 00:23:08.600 instead of born again, because what Jesus is doing here is he's not, he's 00:23:08.600 --> 00:23:12.840 saying that the new birth is not an end to it in itself. 00:23:12.839 --> 00:23:16.359 The goal of the new birth is not the new birth. You see? 00:23:16.359 --> 00:23:19.879 He's saying, you need to be born again if you want to do what? 00:23:19.879 --> 00:23:25.879 See the kingdom. And so the new birth is a means to actually getting the kingdom 00:23:25.879 --> 00:23:30.039 of God. The kingdom of God is the ultimate goal, not the new birth. 00:23:30.039 --> 00:23:33.639 And so the kingdom of God is actually the most primary aspect, the most central 00:23:33.639 --> 00:23:37.159 concept that's in this passage, and he mentions it over and over again. 00:23:37.159 --> 00:23:41.000 The whole talk about the difference between the flesh and the spirit, what's 00:23:41.000 --> 00:23:43.079 born of flesh is flesh was born of spirit to spirit. 00:23:43.079 --> 00:23:47.079 He's talking about the difference in the kingdom of God and the kingdom of this 00:23:47.079 --> 00:23:49.880 world. And so the fundamental difference is that 00:23:49.880 --> 00:23:55.319 you must be born from above in order to have a vision to see the kingdom 00:23:55.319 --> 00:23:59.720 of God. What he's saying here, in other words, 00:23:59.720 --> 00:24:05.160 is that all of us are born children of a particular kingdom. 00:24:05.160 --> 00:24:08.920 The kingdom of this world, as John puts it in another place. 00:24:08.920 --> 00:24:12.920 Now, you need to know this, that what's being talked about here 00:24:12.920 --> 00:24:20.360 is not an antithesis between flesh or physicality 00:24:20.360 --> 00:24:24.920 and spirituality. That's not what he's talking about at all. 00:24:24.920 --> 00:24:28.600 So he's not saying, you're born of the flesh, you're born of material, you're 00:24:28.600 --> 00:24:31.960 born of flesh and bone, but flesh and bone is bad. You need to be born of the 00:24:31.960 --> 00:24:36.680 spirit. No, he's not setting flesh, corporeality, 00:24:36.680 --> 00:24:40.600 against spirituality, not at all. What he's doing is he's setting two different 00:24:40.600 --> 00:24:44.519 kingdoms against each other. The kingdom of God, which is the kingdom 00:24:44.519 --> 00:24:48.200 of light and life, what the ancients thought of as the kingdom 00:24:48.200 --> 00:24:52.120 above, which is why we need to say born from above. 00:24:52.120 --> 00:24:56.440 The kingdom of life, where God reigns in the heavenlies, 00:24:56.440 --> 00:25:01.080 versus the kingdom of this world, which is the kingdom of a world that is broken 00:25:01.080 --> 00:25:04.680 by sin, by darkness, by the dominion of Satan. 00:25:04.680 --> 00:25:08.039 And so that's the antithesis that he's talking about here. 00:25:08.039 --> 00:25:12.039 He's setting these two, Augustine called it the two cities, the city of God and 00:25:12.039 --> 00:25:15.640 the city of man, the two kingdoms that's been talked about 00:25:15.640 --> 00:25:18.920 in the past, and he's setting them against each other. And so being awoke and 00:25:18.920 --> 00:25:22.360 being born again gives you a new vision to see the kingdom. What is seeing the 00:25:22.360 --> 00:25:27.400 kingdom mean? It means understanding the 00:25:27.400 --> 00:25:32.519 missio day, the mission of God, understanding the purpose of this 00:25:32.519 --> 00:25:37.960 world, that the ultimate end of this world is Ephesians 1, 00:25:37.960 --> 00:25:41.400 10, one of the best verses in the New Testament, 00:25:41.400 --> 00:25:46.119 that Jesus Christ came to unite the kingdom of heaven 00:25:46.119 --> 00:25:50.920 with the kingdom of earth. Not to set them against each other, 00:25:50.920 --> 00:25:54.200 but to bring them together ultimately, fully, and finally. 00:25:54.200 --> 00:25:58.200 And so what he's saying is you need to be born again 00:25:58.200 --> 00:26:02.119 if you want to see the ultimate purpose of all existence. 00:26:02.119 --> 00:26:05.879 The unity of the kingdom of God with the kingdom of this 00:26:05.879 --> 00:26:10.359 earth. That's the ultimate purpose from creation 00:26:10.359 --> 00:26:14.039 to recreation, and that's what the new birth is about. It's about seeing it. 00:26:14.039 --> 00:26:19.559 It's about giving eternal life. It's about getting the kingdom of God. 00:26:19.559 --> 00:26:26.199 And so just to close this point, he says it this way just as a nice little 00:26:26.199 --> 00:26:32.039 pithy summary. You have to be born of water and spirit. 00:26:32.039 --> 00:26:37.399 Now what in the world does that mean? Roman Catholic theology 00:26:37.399 --> 00:26:41.879 and Eastern Orthodox theologians have always taken that to mean you need to 00:26:41.879 --> 00:26:46.440 be baptized to be born again. But what they've missed is that this is 00:26:46.440 --> 00:26:53.079 actually a citation of Ezekiel chapter 36 verses 25 to 27, the passage we read 00:26:53.079 --> 00:26:59.639 earlier, where God comes down and says, I will wash you in water. 00:26:59.640 --> 00:27:07.080 The water of regeneration and I will give you my spirit. 00:27:07.080 --> 00:27:10.520 In other words, getting the spirit and being washed with water 00:27:10.520 --> 00:27:14.040 for giving your sins is the exact same thing. 00:27:14.040 --> 00:27:21.400 It says Ezekiel 36. And that's why it's only the spirit that can do this. 00:27:21.400 --> 00:27:25.480 Only the wind, the wind by the way in Hebrew 00:27:25.480 --> 00:27:30.279 is the exact same word as the spirit in Greek is the exact same word as spirit. 00:27:30.279 --> 00:27:34.839 So Jesus is playing, he's the pund here. You can't see the wind, you can only 00:27:34.839 --> 00:27:38.279 hear it, it blows where it wishes, but you can also translate it as you can't see 00:27:38.279 --> 00:27:41.079 the spirit. It's the same word, the spirit goes where he 00:27:41.079 --> 00:27:46.279 wants. Only the spirit can do this. Now we know this 00:27:46.279 --> 00:27:50.279 just to close with our final point very briefly. 00:27:50.279 --> 00:27:58.759 Why does he use the metaphor born again? Well born from above. 00:27:58.759 --> 00:28:03.720 How much do babies contribute to their birth? 00:28:04.279 --> 00:28:10.920 I've been to three births so far in life and I can tell you 00:28:10.920 --> 00:28:18.680 that the mom does all the work. The baby doesn't do anything. 00:28:18.680 --> 00:28:24.200 And that's precisely why Jesus chose this metaphor. 00:28:24.200 --> 00:28:31.960 Because you can't do anything to get this. So how do you get it? 00:28:31.960 --> 00:28:35.880 Just two or three minutes and we'll be finished here. 00:28:35.880 --> 00:28:39.960 Nicodemus comes to Jesus and says, you're a great teacher. I 00:28:39.960 --> 00:28:45.000 recognize that. And Jesus says to him, you can't even see. 00:28:45.000 --> 00:28:48.680 You don't know what you're talking about. And what Jesus is saying to him is, 00:28:48.680 --> 00:28:52.759 you don't need a teacher. Teachers are for moral renovation. 00:28:52.759 --> 00:28:58.920 You need a savior. You don't need a teacher. You don't simply need to get 00:28:58.920 --> 00:29:02.920 better. You need a savior. That's what he's saying to him when he 00:29:02.920 --> 00:29:07.400 says you need to be born again. And so the passage closes with an 00:29:07.400 --> 00:29:12.200 enigmatic illusion to Numbers chapter 21. Jesus 00:29:12.200 --> 00:29:18.920 closes the passage and says, just as the bronze serpent was lifted up on a 00:29:18.920 --> 00:29:23.080 pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up. 00:29:23.080 --> 00:29:29.640 What is he saying here? In the wilderness, people because of their 00:29:29.640 --> 00:29:34.200 sins had been bitten by poisonous snakes, the Hebrews, the Israelites. 00:29:34.200 --> 00:29:38.519 And God told them, if you will look up and look at the serpent, 00:29:38.519 --> 00:29:43.079 the representative, the bearer of poison 00:29:43.079 --> 00:29:49.480 up on the pole, you will be saved from this physical death. 00:29:49.480 --> 00:29:55.720 And so the Son of Man too, Jesus' favorite phrase for himself, the Son of 00:29:55.720 --> 00:30:00.440 Man, must be lifted up like a dead serpent 00:30:00.440 --> 00:30:08.039 on a pole. And you must see him if you want new birth, 00:30:08.039 --> 00:30:11.720 new roots, the kingdom of God, eternal life. 00:30:11.720 --> 00:30:14.839 In order to see the kingdom of God, what do you have to see? 00:30:14.839 --> 00:30:18.200 You got to see the King. You got to see the King of the Kingdom. 00:30:18.200 --> 00:30:23.000 And where is he? Jesus is forecasting it. It's a foreshadow. 00:30:23.000 --> 00:30:28.759 You need Nicodemus. You'll need to look up, but not all the way to the 00:30:28.759 --> 00:30:33.639 heavens, not yet. You'll need to look up and see 00:30:33.640 --> 00:30:40.360 a Savior, not a teacher, die for you. And look, John 00:30:40.360 --> 00:30:43.160 chronicles the story of Nicodemus through the rest of the book. Did you know 00:30:43.160 --> 00:30:46.759 that? Two more times, very subtly, Nicodemus 00:30:46.759 --> 00:30:50.040 is mentioned. In chapter seven, Nicodemus stands up in the middle of the 00:30:50.040 --> 00:30:53.000 San Andrian and defends Jesus and says, we need to give this guy 00:30:53.000 --> 00:30:56.040 hearing. I'm not sure if we need to just cast him away. 00:30:56.040 --> 00:30:59.160 But then at the end of the book in chapter 19, 00:30:59.160 --> 00:31:05.560 Nicodemus was there. He was at the cross. And he looked up, 00:31:05.560 --> 00:31:09.880 and he saw the Son of Man lifted up, and he finally got it. 00:31:09.880 --> 00:31:13.320 This is what he was talking about. And you know how we know he got it? 00:31:13.320 --> 00:31:18.440 Just listen to what he does at the crucifixion, at the end of it. 00:31:18.440 --> 00:31:23.240 After these things, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, 00:31:23.240 --> 00:31:26.840 but secretly for the fear of the Jews, asked Pilate if he could 00:31:26.839 --> 00:31:31.399 take away the body of Jesus. And Pilate said yes, he gave him permission. 00:31:31.399 --> 00:31:36.759 So he came away at night, took his body, and Nicodemus also, who earlier had 00:31:36.759 --> 00:31:41.480 come to Jesus by night. And he came bringing a mixture of myrrh 00:31:41.480 --> 00:31:45.480 and allows and about 75 pounds in weight, and they took the body of Jesus 00:31:45.480 --> 00:31:49.319 together. Not just Joseph, but Nicodemus too. 00:31:49.319 --> 00:31:52.759 And they bound it in linen cloths with spices, and they buried 00:31:52.759 --> 00:31:57.480 him as was the custom of the Jews. Now you got to understand 00:31:57.480 --> 00:32:04.440 that this is the ruler of the Sanhedrin, and this is the Passover, 00:32:04.440 --> 00:32:07.960 the holiest day of the year. 00:32:09.079 --> 00:32:14.920 And you cannot be unclean on the holiest day of the year. 00:32:14.920 --> 00:32:20.200 And Nicodemus touches a dead body on the holiest day of the year. 00:32:20.200 --> 00:32:23.080 The most important day that you are never to do anything that makes you 00:32:23.080 --> 00:32:25.799 unclean. And this is the day Nicodemus does it. You see what he's saying? 00:32:25.799 --> 00:32:30.440 I reject the customs. I'm born again. I believe. I saw the Son of Man lifted up. 00:32:30.440 --> 00:32:32.680 He's mine. He's my savior. He's not my teacher. 00:32:32.680 --> 00:32:38.279 He's my savior. I confess it. I will be unclean. I don't care, because he 00:32:38.279 --> 00:32:44.759 became unclean for me on that cross. You see? He got it. He was born again. 00:32:44.759 --> 00:32:48.759 Now you're sitting here, and this is literally the last minute, 00:32:48.759 --> 00:32:53.000 saying, am I supposed to simply twiddle my thumbs until some spirit comes and 00:32:53.000 --> 00:32:57.480 saves me? Is that what you're saying? And I'm 00:32:57.480 --> 00:33:00.920 saying this. The Bible says yes, and the Bible 00:33:00.920 --> 00:33:04.599 simultaneously says something else. Listen to how John puts it in another 00:33:04.599 --> 00:33:10.279 verse. Everyone who has been born again of God 00:33:10.279 --> 00:33:14.200 has victory in this world, overcomes the kingdom of this world. 00:33:14.200 --> 00:33:18.039 That's what we just learned from this passage. And this is the victory 00:33:18.039 --> 00:33:22.920 that overcomes the world. Your faith. 00:33:22.920 --> 00:33:26.680 So John equates the two. You want to be born again? 00:33:26.680 --> 00:33:29.480 You can't do it. 00:33:30.279 --> 00:33:33.240 How are you born again? What does it mean to be born again? 00:33:33.240 --> 00:33:37.319 Your faith. To be born again, it means you have victory over the kingdom of this 00:33:37.319 --> 00:33:39.960 world. Faith means you have kingdom over the 00:33:39.960 --> 00:33:46.759 victory of this world. Believe. Look up. Be willing to be like Nicodemus, 00:33:46.759 --> 00:33:51.960 and you will be born again. And both are true at the same time. 00:33:51.960 --> 00:33:56.039 Look, Christian friends, if you're not a Christian today, obviously this is 00:33:56.039 --> 00:34:02.119 for you. This is a call for you. This is eternal. This is what it means in 00:34:02.119 --> 00:34:05.000 the Christian witness to have eternal life. But, 00:34:05.000 --> 00:34:09.559 Christian friends, this is not just for non-Christians. 00:34:09.559 --> 00:34:13.000 You don't just say, I am a born again Christian. 00:34:13.000 --> 00:34:17.159 You have to see the kingdom. And seeing the kingdom means living like a born 00:34:17.159 --> 00:34:20.199 again Christian. You know, when Jesus becomes your savior, 00:34:20.199 --> 00:34:26.679 he can also be your teacher. The Sermon on the Mount is kingdom ethic. 00:34:26.679 --> 00:34:31.000 Seeing the kingdom. Once he becomes your savior, 00:34:31.000 --> 00:34:35.480 you have to live like you are born again. It's for all of us. 00:34:35.480 --> 00:34:39.960 Let's pray. Father, we thank you for this passage. 00:34:39.960 --> 00:34:43.800 We pray now for anybody that's struggling or doesn't have faith, 00:34:43.800 --> 00:34:47.559 that you would give them the gift of faith through the new birth, 00:34:47.559 --> 00:34:51.000 and for us Christians that we would desire to live 00:34:51.000 --> 00:35:11.559 like kingdom citizens. We pray this in Christ's name. Amen.