Second Sunday in Lent (A)
March 1, 2026
Text:
John 3:1-17
“How can
these things be?” (John 3:9; ESV).
We should take Nicodemus and his question seriously. True, as a teacher of Israel, Nicodemus
should have known. But he did not
know. And neither would we, apart from
the Lord’s gracious revelation in His Word.
Why? Because we are flesh
born of flesh. That is, fallen
flesh born of fallen flesh. And
so, as Paul says, we are unable to accept the things of the Spirit of God, and,
in fact, we consider them folly, foolishness, unless and until the
Spirit brings us to new spiritual birth.
Because the things of the Spirit are spiritually discerned (1 Cor.
2:14), and we are not spiritual (as in, receptive to the things of the Spirit)
unless the Spirit undertakes a radical demolition and renovation of our mind,
our heart, our soul… our very being; what we call, conversion. That is, to be born again. Born from above.
“How can these things be?” Nicodemus is confused. A Pharisee.
A ruler of the Jews.
Nevertheless, a man of the flesh.
He thinks one’s fleshly birth counts for a lot, and is
ultimately determinative of his standing before God. He is, after all, a son of Abraham. He is a righteous Jew. A member of the ruling council, the
Sanhedrin, he is a meticulous keeper of the Law. He does the right things. Associates with the right people… and not with
the wrong people. And he knows Jesus is
a teacher come from God. The wisdom and
miracles make that obvious. But he can’t
figure Him out. We know why. The things of the Spirit are only spiritually
discerned. But it bothers
Nicodemus. Like a rock in the shoe. So, he comes for a visit. Under cloak of darkness, in the middle of the
night. Why? For fear. Can’t let anyone see me checking this Guy
out. And, because that is his
spiritual condition. Nicodemus is in
the dark.
But he’s asking the right questions…
fundamental questions. And Jesus
is answering. In fact, before Nicodemus
can even ask a question, Jesus obliterates all his theological assumptions with
His opening statement: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again
he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). Now, that one’s a head-scratcher, isn’t
it? “How can a man be born when he is
old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” (v.
4). I am of the opinion that a man of
Nicodemus’ intellectual capacity is not asking the Lord how a grown man can
climb back into his mother’s belly to pass through the birth canal a second
time. His hyper-literalism is, rather, a
theological response to Jesus. As if he
is saying, “Look, we know, you’re either born into the covenant people, or
you’re not. There is no second
birth. We’re not worried about the
Gentiles coming into the covenant. And
we, who are born into that covenant by our natural birth from Mom, just have to
stay in it by being circumcised and strictly obeying the Law.” Sounds like a good Pharisee, doesn’t it? Also sounds like our own Old Adam.
“No,” says Jesus. “No. You,
Nicodemus, in spite of all of that, cannot enter the Kingdom of God, unless you
are born again. Yes, even you. Born from above. Born from God. Born from the Spirit. Your genetic pedigree and all your
Law-keeping are not good enough.
You are still flesh. Fallen
flesh. And, therefore, for you to enter
into the Kingdom, there must be a fundamental change. In you.”
Our Lord could say the same thing to
us. “You, O fallen man… even you,
O Churchgoer, O Missouri Synod Lutheran… you, O defender of family
values, O cultural warrior, O scrupulous moral exemplar… you, in spite
of all of that, must be born again, born from above. From God.
From the Spirit.” That is to say,
you must have the new life that comes only in and through this Jesus Christ.
And you do. It is all God’s gracious action. He gives you this life. He brings you to this birth. Graciously.
You don’t earn it. You don’t
merit it. You don’t decide for it. You can’t reason your way into it. You do not do it. Just as you do not bring yourself to natural
birth, or earn being born, or decide to be born. This birth is a gift of the Holy Spirit.
“How can these things be?” You will only believe this if you are a
spiritual being, one already born anew, from above. Otherwise, this will sound like utter
foolishness. But, here’s how… water
and the Word. Water and the
Spirit (v. 5). Holy Baptism. That is the new birth. No, Nicodemus, it’s not climbing back into
Mom so you can pass through the birth canal a second time. No, Old Adamic Pharisees, it’s not when you
finally get your act together and meticulously keep the Law. No, dear Christian, it’s not when you make
your decision for Jesus and finally, by your own fallen volition, let Him in to
your heart. It happens at the font. In many cases, you are carried there by your
parents and sponsors, and that really shows that this is God’s act of
grace. You had nothing to do with it. You just laid there in someone’s arms,
probably screaming and spitting up and other things we’d expect of
sinners. You were a passive receiver,
in other words. But that is actually
true even if you came to Baptism as an adult.
You may have come forward on your own two legs, but that is because the
Spirit had already carried you to faith by His Word.
And that is the answer, too. The Word. The Spirit blows in by the preaching of the
Word. Jesus breathes His Spirit into
you when you read and hear His holy Word. And that Spirit captivates you… possesses
you. That is what Jesus is talking
about when He says that the wind blows where it wills (v. 8). The word for wind is the same as the
word for Spirit. The Spirit
blows where He wills, and just like the wind, you hear His sound… the
sound of the Word, and it is that Word by which the Spirit
creates faith in you, and sustains faith in you (which is why you want to be always
in the Word, hearing the Word, reading the Word, studying
the Word, meditating on the Word, because that is what keeps you in the
faith, keeps you in Christ). You can’t see
the wind, but when you hear the sound of it, you know it is windy. You can’t see the Spirit, but when you
hear the Word, you know He is present. I would be remiss if I didn’t make reference
to Article V of our Augsburg Confession in this connection: “So that we may
obtain this faith, the ministry of teaching the Gospel and administering the
Sacraments was instituted. Through the
Word and Sacraments, as through instruments, the Holy Spirit is given [John
20:22]. He works faith, when and where it pleases God [John 3:8], in those who
hear the good news that God justifies those who believe that they are received
into grace for Christ’s sake. This happens not through our own merits, but for
Christ’s sake.”[1]
That we may obtain this faith… God
gives the Word and Sacraments… by which the Holy Spirit works faith, where and
when He pleases, in those who hear… so that all who believe are justified. That is our Holy Gospel, isn’t it? That is everyone’s favorite verse, John 3:16:
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever
believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (NKJV). (The word “begotten” is important to get in
there, by the way. God has many
sons. We are sons of God in Christ. But Christ is the only begotten Son of
God. So that is my quibble with the ESV
for the day.) But that is how
these things can be. God gave His
only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life,
or in other words, the Kingdom. And one
comes to believe in Him by this spiritual birth from above, by the Holy
Spirit, Water and the Word, Baptism, Preaching. It is the Good News that God does not condemn
the world. God does not condemn you. He sent His Son to reconcile the world
to Himself. To reconcile you to
Himself. You have now heard the Good
News. Believe it, and you have
it.
“How can these things be?”
(ESV). Nicodemus was confused. But something happened that night with
Jesus. He heard the preaching. The Seed may have taken some time to
germinate. But next we encounter him, in
John Chapter 7, he is defending Jesus’ rights to a fair trial before the
Council (v. 50). And near the end of the
Gospel, there he is with Joseph of Arimathea, taking our Lord’s body down from
the cross, and preparing Him for burial (John 19:39). At great personal risk, we might add. In other words, he came to love the
Lord. And so, we may safely assume, he
came to believe in Him. Thus, Nicodemus
lives. Eternally. And so us. “How can these things be?” We know.
Because we’ve been born from above.
Baptized into Christ. His Word
ringing in our ears, a sure indication that the Spirit is present and blowing
through. And there is His body and blood
for us to eat and to drink, delivering all the benefits of His death and
resurrection for us. Sins forgiven. Justified, righteous. We haven’t eared it. We didn’t decide for it. We just believe it, thanks be to God, and so
receive it. We believe God, and it is
counted to us as righteousness (Rom. 4:3).
That is how these things can be.
And that is how they are.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son X, and of the Holy
Spirit. Amen.
[1] From "Article V. The
Ministry" in The Augsburg Confession, Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions,
Pocket Edition. © 2005, 2006 Concordia Publishing House.
Source:
https://bookofconcord.cph.org/en/augsburg-confession/chief_articles/article_v/
