Between now and Palm Sunday, the lectionary takes us through some of the highlights of Jesus’ ministry as described in John’s gospel. In John’s gospel, Jesus does a great deal of talking. John has recorded a lot of extended conversations and monologues of Jesus. Today we look at the dialogue Jesus has with Nicodemus.

Now I have to admit that Nicodemus isn’t a character I particularly remember hearing about while I was growing up. I don’t know if he wasn’t addressed in my Sunday School classes or if I was absent that day or if he was overshadowed in my memory by the more colorful characters of Joseph, David, or John the Baptist. But as I looked at this passage and the other references of Nicodemus in John’s gospel, I think I began to see why I didn’t hear too much about Nicodemus.

Nicodemus is a mixed bag as far as followers of Jesus go. He is a Pharisee, which means that he strictly follows the laws. He was also a well-educated man for the time. But he comes to Jesus under the cover of darkness and as we read the ensuing conversation, we see that in many ways Nicodemus doesn’t seem to understand what Jesus is saying. Now darkness in John’s gospel is more than a time of day. Darkness is symbolic of not understanding or ignorance. In John’s well-known prologue, we hear about Jesus as the light shining in the darkness. So isn’t it ironic that this well-educated man comes to Jesus in the darkness of ignorance.

So Nicodemus comes to Jesus and they have this conversation. Nicodemus begins by telling Jesus what he knows. "You are a teacher who has come from God." But Jesus’ response doesn’t seem to fit with Nicodemus’ declaration of knowledge. What Nicodemus seems to know doesn’t seem to matter that much to the ensuing conversation because through it, we realize how much Nicodemus does not know.

Jesus responds to Nicodemus’ declaration of knowledge by telling Nicodemus that no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above. If you read this verse in the New International Version, it reads that no one can see the kingdom of God without being born again. So what is Jesus trying to say here?

From Nicodemus’ response, it is obvious that he understood Jesus to be talking about being born literally again. But the word that Jesus is using here means more than that. It means being born again and being born from above. Jesus could have certainly cleared up his meaning if he had wanted to but he leaves the double meaning and intends his statement to be read with both meanings in mind.

Jesus goes on to tell Nicodemus that one needs to be born of water and Spirit. Then he goes on to talk about the wind blowing where it chooses. Once again, Jesus is using double meanings. In Greek, the same word means both wind and Spirit. Just like the movements of the wind, the Spirit blows where it chooses and doesn’t tell you where it’s going.

Nicodemus is now thoroughly confused. "How can these things be? How can one be born of the Spirit?" Jesus then talks about earthly things and heavenly things, neither of which Nicodemus seems to understand in Jesus’ mind.

Then Jesus makes reference to an event that is recorded in the book of Numbers. The Israelites were wandering around in the wilderness and were afflicted by poisonous snakes. Moses was instructed by God to make a serpent out of bronze, put it on a stick and lift it up over the people. Those who were bitten by the poisonous snakes and looked at the bronze serpent would live. But Jesus compares the lifting up of the bronze serpent to how the Son of Man will be lifted up. Once again Jesus is using double meanings in this passage. The word lifted up can also mean raised up. So this word is a dual reference both to Christ’s crucifixion and to the resurrection.

So in this passage, Jesus uses three words that have double meanings: (1) being born again or born from above, (2) wind or Spirit, and (3) lifted up or raised up. In each of the uses of these words, Jesus intends for his hearers to keep both definitions in mind.

In his descriptions in this passage, Jesus is talking to Nicodemus about change. Nicodemus begins his conversation with Jesus by saying that he knows "he is a teacher who has come from God." But throughout the conversation, Jesus is moving Nicodemus toward a new understanding. Nicodemus’ birth into the community of the Jews isn’t all there is to the kingdom of God. He must also undergo a birth from above. This birth does not come about by human activity but through God’s activity in the movements of the Spirit.

Last Sunday many of us truly felt the wind. We could hear it moving through the trees and some of us even lost power due to the movements of the wind. And though meteorologists and climatologists can tell us about the various jet streams and atmospheric conditions that make the wind blow harder in certain areas at certain times, there is still a great deal of mystery concerning the wind. Weathervanes can tell us the direction of the wind and other devices can measure the speed but these things can’t tell us where the gusts of wind that we feel on our faces or hear rustling the trees will end.

So it is with the movement of the Spirit. We might be able to hear some of the movements that the Spirit is calling us to make but in many ways we don’t know where the Spirit will lead us. We can look at the spiritual weathervanes in our lives to get an idea of the movements of the Spirit but when it truly comes down to it, if we are truly open to where the Spirit will take us, we don’t know where we will end up on our spiritual journey.

This Lenten season, we have been talking about the theme of spiritual renewal. In this passage, Jesus is calling Nicodemus to renew his spiritual life. Nicodemus has come searching for knowledge in the darkness of ignorance. Jesus is calling him to look beyond heady knowledge and toward a re-birth within his spiritual life so that his movements and his life may be lived with an ear listening for the movement of the Spirit within his life.

At the conclusion of our passage, Jesus speaks the words that are probably the best known and most quoted verse in the entire New Testament: John 3:16. I’ve driven along highways and seen hand painted signs nailed to trees reading simply "John 3:16." I’ve seen license plates and bumper stickers that read "John 3:16." I’ve seen vans that have the logo of some company painted on them that also have "John 3:16" written on the side of the vehicle. It almost seems as though the reference John 3:16 gets more attention than the actual verse. This was probably the first verse I memorized growing up along with the golden rule.

"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."

This familiar passage of scripture captures the enduring love God has given and continues to give to the world. But it isn’t with this pivotal verse of scripture that our passage ends. John 3:17 also tells us a great deal about the love God has for us. "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."

The spiritual renewal we continue to talk about this Lenten season is not accomplished through any merit of our own. It is because of God’s love and grace that the Son of Man was lifted up and is raised. This has enabled us to have the opportunity for eternal life. Though danger may bite at our ankles, if we keep our eyes upon the One who was lifted up for our sakes, we can feel the movement of the Spirit upon our faces and follow God’s calling to the place of God’s choosing.

We read from the book of Genesis this morning about when God called Abraham to leave behind all that he knew in order to go to a land that God would show him. With a healthy faith in the movements of God’s Spirit, Abraham left the land that he knew, stepped out in faith and became an agent of God’s will.

Our Lenten journey isn’t just a time when the hymns might be a bit more somber or the church draped in purple but our Lenten journey is essentially a journey to the foot of the cross. When on Good Friday, we stand at the foot of the cross, looking up at the one who did not come for our condemnation but came for our salvation, then perhaps we will be able to look back and see the movements of the Spirit within our lives and ways that we have been born again from above. Perhaps then we will hear where God is leading us to next.