The conflict

When Nicodemus came to Jesus to extend his hand of generous knowledge, he came in the night. Some suggest that John was underlining a key point: Nicodemus was in the dark about Jesus’ nature. Others suggest that he was afraid of the Pharisees and was hiding under cover of darkness.

Both interpretations work well, especially considering how John frequently uses light as an analogy for Jesus. Nicodemus was in the dark and Jesus was the light.

But what happened to Nicodemus? He gets the John 3:16 discourse and we aren’t told the end of the story. Yet.

Later in the book of John, we meet Nicodemus again. The Pharisees were in a froth because of Jesus’ words at the temple and wanted him arrested. They bemoaned those who believed. In 7:50, Nicodemus confronted the Pharisees about a point of law: our law doesn’t judge without a hearing, does it?

They accused him of ignorance. Ironically, their point was that the Messiah will not come from Galilee but their own lack of knowledge – that Jesus was born in Bethlehem – revealed their own ignorance.

And, for Nicodemus, hearing Jesus' version of knowledge allowed him to stand up to the Jewish authorities after Jesus’ death. He was the man who helped Joseph of Arimathea anoint and bury Jesus.

To touch a dead man would defile a Pharisee and to openly align himself with Jesus ended his alliance with the religious leaders. Nicodemus, who originally came to Jesus to make peace (dare I say “seek approval”?), made a stronger stand than did the disciples.

They feared the Romans and the Jewish leaders. Whom did Nicodemus fear? I’d suggest that he only feared failing Jesus. He stood in the face of human rejection. Why?

We’re told in John 2 that Jesus knew what is in a person. Immediately afterward, he sat down with Nicodemus to correct his knowledge. Did Nicodemus, through this encounter, come to understand what was in a person?

Jesus didn’t entrust himself to people and, in the end, neither did Nicodemus. They knew that people are proud, selfish, emotional, moody, arrogant.

It’s a lesson we ought to learn. Not only am I weak, but so are you. Should I work to earn your approval or should you speak words that please me? Should your criticism crush me? Should my standards control you?

Jesus did not fear people’s opinions. His approval and direction came from the Father and he knew what people were truly like. Nicodemus learned. How’s our knowledge doing?

Our knowing

Nicodemus knew a lot. He told Jesus so. He knew Jesus did miracles and only God could do miracles. So Nicodemus logically deduced that Jesus was a teacher sent by God.

He thought himself expansive. He hadn’t trusted rumors and second-hand information. He had done what we should all do: gone to the source. He came to inform Jesus of his open-mindedness.

We know, he told Jesus, that you are could not do these miracles except God’s hand was on you.

As a Pharisee, he knew the ancient writings intimately. And he missed the point. Jesus might be a teacher or a prophet. But he might also be the Messiah, and Nicodemus never considered that.

So what he knew was limited to his own preconceptions. He “knew” what the Messiah would look like, and it wasn’t this man. Yet Jesus responded with compassion, addressing exactly that point in his response.

You can’t see the truth without being changed, Jesus told him. You don’t have the ability to know truth in your present state. The change must be as radical.

Here was the kingdom of God standing before him, and Nicodemus’ knowing was pretty thin. He couldn’t see who Jesus was.

Jesus revealed truth, compassion, salvation to Nicodemus. John 3 contains an amazing theological discussion about the nature of knowing, the mission of the Messiah, the personality of belief.

Yesterday we talked about Jesus knowing what was in a person in John 2. The message flows into John 3 where Jesus reveals that our knowing is nothing like his. He knows what is in us while we don’t even know what is in ourselves.

We think belief comes by seeing – miracles, charisma, signs – but Jesus made it clear that enduring belief does not come from within ourselves unless we are changed. It’s like being born a second time or like having the wind of the Spirit blow through.

Our knowing can’t even produce belief. We need help.

Next: a conflict of knowing

Knowing

Jesus had just had an amazing set of encounters in Jerusalem. He’d drawn whips to chase the merchants out of the temple. He’d compared himself to the temple, shocking the Jews. He’d performed many miraculous signs, causing many to believe.

Yet, in John 2:24, we’re told that he did not entrust himself to the people.

Why not? Hadn’t he done the signs to stir belief? Hadn’t he revealed his zeal for God’s house in cleansing the temple? Hadn’t he confronted the religious leaders?

The people responded with belief. And he didn’t believe their belief.

Rightly so. Even the disciples believed and then didn’t and then believed and then didn’t throughout Jesus’ ministry. At the end, when he was arrested, they scattered like lightning bugs in the light.

Jesus didn’t entrust himself to the people for he knew what was in a person. He hadn’t come to this earth to befriend them or to set up a fraternity but to save them. He wasn’t fishing for approval or even understanding.

He knew what was in us and his mission was rescue. He wasn’t a church planter or a consensus-builder. He came because he knew our sin nature, that we are incapable of even belief apart from him.

When did the disciples finally come to the place of commitment and courage? After Pentecost, when they were indwelt by the Spirit of God.

We can’t do this alone. In that early chapter of John, many people believed Jesus’ signs and his words. But Jesus never sought their approval. He knew it would waft in the wind like fog off the river.

He didn’t come to be approved but to save.

Next: our knowing

Friday Five: Halel Yah!

Halal=to praise, boast about. Yah = the Lord

Hallelujah!

Praise the LORD.
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
his love endures forever.

Psalms 106:1

Praise the LORD.
How good it is to sing praises to our God,
how pleasant and fitting to praise him!

Psalms 147:1

Praise the LORD.
Blessed is the man who fears the LORD,
who finds great delight in his commands.

Psalms 112:1

Hallelujah!
Salvation and glory and power belong

to our God,

Rev 19:1

And again they shouted:
"Hallelujah!"
Rev 19:3

(Photo courtesy of Eagle's Eye Photography. Check out the site for other great photos. Thanks, Ann!)

Choices

I had already waved at our son, Nathan, who was 11 at the time and standing out in the front yard, when Becky, 6, came rushing out of the house carrying a big stick and a bread basket, nearly knocking my tools out of my hands.

“What’s all that for?” I asked.

“Oh!” The excitement lit her face. “Nathan says that you can see for 3 seconds after you get your head chopped off so we’re going to go find out.”

Ah, the rush of choice.

This, by the way, was the same energetic daughter who climbed a tree at age 2 and hung by one hand some four feet from the ground, calling for me to rescue her.

I think God made many of us parents so that we’d understand his nature slightly better.

God is no protectionist. He laid the ripe fruit in Eden and warned against it. He calls our name but never sedates our heart.

When Nathan and Becky rushed out for their guillotine experiment, I went to the kitchen to make supper. I trusted their good sense, partly because I had not rescued a little girl a few years before.

They knew the limits of choice. Freedom may look boundless, but we must learn our own limitations. My daughter did get herself down from that tree. She didn’t stop climbing trees but she learned to test the branch and gauge the height before starting. And the kids didn’t come to supper headless that night.

We understand that choice allows us to worship freely. It also teaches us to trim our sails and navigate this life in the abundance that God promises us.

Keepin' on

When Diane found the lump, we all held our breath for a month until the doctor declared it benign. Jack drove through a tire blow-out and coasted to a heart-pounding stop at the shoulder of the busy highway. Maya is fighting cancer. Mike is trying to get his cholesterol below the red zone.

We get bone-jarring reminders that this life is short, like a mist drifting off the river valley, disappearing in the morning sun.

I’m like you: I want to make the most of the days God has given me. I want to be focused on his best and not live in the smoke of emergencies that seem to need tending.

So I’m always testing the wind, trying to read the signs. Recently I’ve seen several bloggers take a break from their writing routine. For some, the demands of teaching their children have sopped up their extra time. Others have run out of topics or sense a new ministry whispering. They are trying to maintain their focus on God’s best. They know a rich life is attentive.

For me, too, the call of the classroom has whispered. I teach my children, adults, senior citizens. Was it time to set down the pen and pour new time elsewhere? Once, God sang to my heart a poem about writing. Was that song done? Was it time to move on?

Yesterday I shared with you a blog award from Writers…Interrupted. The news revived my resolve just before I got a rejection letter from a publisher. Then, today, I discovered I have been given another award.

The Mathetes Award originated at management by God. Mathetes is a Greek word, so you know this is my kind of blog! Mathetes means “disciple” and is given to those seen as “acting in the role of a disciple of God.”

This award came to me from Lisa at The Preacher’s Wife. Lisa is a dedicated disciple of God and offers an online Bible study, “I AM…So You Don’t Have to Be.” She shares her heart for her Savior in a vibrant warm way and I am honored by this award. Thank you, Lisa!

But the timing of this award is what is most amazing. As I have laid Sumballo before the King and asked, “What next?” I have felt his voice clearly: keep on keeping on. And so I’ll be writing on. I want my voice and my pen to do one thing: lift up the King of kings.

“You who bring good tidings to Zion,
go up on a high mountain.
You who bring good tidings to Jerusalem,
lift up your voice with a shout,
lift it up, do not be afraid;
say to the towns of Judah,
"Here is your God!"

Isaiah 40:9

I’m passing this award on:

In Pursuit of What is Good by Sarah

Refresh My Soul by Angela

Scraps of Glory by Maxine

Small Scribbles by Kate

Ben Witherington

They are all an inspiration to me in different ways and their passion for the Lord is invigorating.

Words of encouragement

And God said “let there be…” and it was. John identified Jesus as the Word, the logos, the statement or speech of the Father. God chose to communicate himself and his nature through words.

And he gives us the same privilege, to use words to communicate about God and his nature. I am fascinated by words, for we know they are powerful. A statement of criticism can overwhelm many pats on the back. Yet a well-crafted note can stir our spirits to new heights.

How we use words makes all the difference. James warned us that the tongue is a fire, able to burn away chaff or ignite a movement. It reveals our hearts and our deepest intent.

For whatever reason, God has given me a love for words. My library is stuffed with books about grammar and style and usage. I spent my 16^th summer writing a novel on an old black manual typewriter, zoning out chores and Mom’s voice to pound out the movie running in my head.

As my relationship with God grew, I knew this talent would be wonderful in his kingdom. He’d be so glad to have me as one of his scribes. (We spell this: a-r-r-o-g-a-n-c-e.)

But as my heart has been broken by my own pride and greed, I have given this writing to God. It is his to do with he wants, and I cringe when he says, write. Sometimes I compare rather than obey and so I am stricken. My words seem like dishwater at a table of rich wines.

Recently, he told me it was time, and so I wrote about the miscarriages that broke my heart. Now, those articles have helped earn Sumballo the Blog of the Month award from Writers…Interrupted.

Maybe someone bearing the pain of miscarriage might be touched by His eternal compassionate touch.

I am honored, and I am encouraged to trek on. When God is at work, you never know what’s next.

Angela, thank you for nominating me. I am grateful to receive this award and I want to share the joy. Check out the website.

Words are powerful and we wield them only by God’s grace.