Born of Flesh

​Holy Trinity Sunday – B                                                                                LSB #’s 596, 578, 585
Text – John 3:6
 
That which is born of the flesh is flesh, & that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 
 
BORN OF FLESH
 
 
As you sit in your chair this morning,    whether here in person  or somewhere else by livestream,  do you see the kingdom of God?    A 2nd question for you is this: Do you recognize that  as a dangerous question to answer? 
If your answer is no,  you don’t see the kingdom of God,  that tells me something about you  that you might not want  your pastor to know.    If your answer is yes,  you do see the kingdom of God,  the danger is  that I may ask, “Where  do you see  the kingdom of God?” 
Nicodemus wanted to speak to Jesus & introduces himself with these words, “‘Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God,  for no one can do these signs that you do   unless God is with him.’  Jesus answered him, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again   he cannot   see  the kingdom of God.’”  (John 3:2-3 ESV) 
Now,  the danger of my opening question comes into clearer focus.  If you tell me  you cannot see the kingdom of God,  I might draw the conclusion  that you are not a child of God.   And if you tell me that you can  see the kingdom of God,  I might call your bluff  & ask you to point it out.   Show me  where  you see the kingdom of God. 
From the Gospel reading in John,  it would appear that Nicodemus is not a child of God, but he is asking about it,  &  he’s asking the right person.   In the world of thought in which Nicodemus was trained,  being born a physical descendant of Abraham was everything.   Jesus describes that as being born of the flesh,  & He blows apart that kind of thinking:
“Truly, truly,  I say to you,  unless one is born of water & the Spirit,  he cannot enter the kingdom of God.  That which is born of the flesh is flesh,  & that which is born of the Spirit  is spirit.”  (John 3:5-6 ESV)   In other words, being a descendant of Abraham is worth nothing  unless one is also born of water & the Spirit.   That which is born of the flesh  is simply flesh,  & our culture is putting that on full  display.  Everything that the Word of God teaches  is good, right & salutary  is being denied  by the leading institutions of our nation. 
When Jesus came to earth,  the leading institutions of His day were each denying God’s teaching as well.  The Roman government was completely pagan,  & Jesus referred to the religious leaders of the Jewish people  as children of the devil.   Nicodemus was one of them,  & this new Rabbi was turning his entire world  upside down. 
Still,  Jesus was performing miracles that Nicodemus realized  could not be done  unless God is with the person doing them.  The signs were there,  but the things Jesus emphasized in His teaching  did not line up  with everything Nicodemus had been taught.  Even the signs, such as healing people on the Sabbath, though it was forbidden, Jesus made it a regular habit. 
Yahweh had chosen the people of Israel to be His light in the darkness of the world.  They were set apart to follow Yahweh & Him alone,  but the concept of the Trinity had gotten lost over the years.  Deuteronomy 6:4, known in Judaism as the Shema, says, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.”  (ESV) 
Many had interpreted this to mean that Messiah, when he came, could not be fully God.  If they had heard that Yahweh is Three in One – Father, Son & Holy Spirit – it would not have gone over well.  The Jewish people crucified Jesus for blaspheme because He claimed to be God. 
Yahweh had chosen the people of Israel to be His light in the darkness of the world,  & they had failed  miserably.   Jesus came to take the place of Israel,  to be the son they failed to be.   Nicodemus was struggling with everything he’d learned in Judaism,  & with everything he saw in Jesus.  In the context of his upbringing, his birth to Jewish parents made him a member of the chosen people, the nation of Israel.  The Jewish leaders summarized this thinking with the saying, “Abraham is our father.”  For them,  that trumped everything.  Jesus contradicted that by saying, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh,  & that which is born of the Spirit  is spirit.” 
He knew the reality,  that to be born of the flesh  is to be born of failure,  & to be confined to failure,  by The Fall into sin.   To be born of the flesh is to be condemned to hell.  Israel had failed to be  what God called it to be,  & if anyone was going to be saved,  Yahweh Himself had to do the saving.  Thus,  the birth, life, death & resurrection  of Jesus Christ. 
When he came to Jesus that night,  Nicodemus was only thinking in the terms of his upbringing, the context in which he grew up.   In what ways has the life you have lived, shaped & molded your thinking about Jesus?   Have you been taught to see the kingdom of God?  Have you been born of the Spirit?   Those are legitimate questions for you to answer. 
Nicodemus came to Jesus because of the signs he saw.  If he wants signs, Jesus will give him a better one.  He sends him back to the Torah, to the bronze serpent that Moses hung upon a tree.   If Nicodemus is interested in signs that Jesus is the Christ,  eventually he will need to confront the sign of the cross at Golgotha. 
That is the greatest demonstration of God’s power, glory & kingdom.  There, Nicodemus would see Jesus lifted up on the cross,  & Nicodemus would gently bring Him down  & bury Him.  It was a grisly sign of brutality & suffering.    Yet,  to those born of the Holy Spirit, it is the greatest sign of love, that God would offer His life while we were yet sinners. 
In the OT reading, Isaiah heard the Spirit of God & replied, “Here I am!  Send me.”  (6:8 ESV)   In the Gospel reading, Nicodemus isn’t there yet.   What about you?   Are you hearing the Spirit of God?  Are you seeing the kingdom of God?   What is your response?   Are you still confused about all the “things” of Christianity, all the doctrine or the teaching?  Even if you only come to Jesus at night,  that is a start,  but neither is it the finish line.  The Gospel of Mark gives us a picture  fairly similar to what I believe  we are seeing in our nation today:
“And on the Sabbath [Jesus] began to teach in the synagogue, & many who heard Him were astonished, saying, ‘Where did this man get these things?  What is the wisdom given to Him?  How are such mighty works done by His hands?  Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary & brother of James & Joses & Judas & Simon?  And are not His sisters here with us?’  And they took offense at Him.  And Jesus said to them, ‘A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown & among his relatives & in his own household.’  And He could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people & healed them.  And He marveled because of their unbelief.”  (Mark 6:2-6a ESV) 
 
In his culture, Nicodemus was raised to look for signs from a prophet but he was taught to believe that such a Messiah could not possibly be God Himself.  In our culture, young people are being raised to look for signs, not from Christianity,  but from the gods of science. 
In times of crisis, people throughout history have turned to their gods for help.  During the Covid 19 pandemic, what did we hear over & over from our leaders?   Science!  Follow the science!    In the Traverse City area, Jan & I saw numerous signs, though not the miracle kind.  Those signs read, “Thank you, Governor Whitmer,  for saving us!” 
Is Jesus marveling at the unbelief in our nation today?    I hope that each of you is able to see the kingdom of God  right here & now.  Jesus Himself told us in Matthew 18:20, “…where two or three are gathered in my name,  there am I among them.”  (ESV)   And wherever Jesus is there is the kingdom of God.   So you can point to this gathering  if someone wants proof. 
In V. 5 of the Gospel lesson, Jesus answers Nicodemus, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water & the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”  (ESV)  Not all Christians take that as a reference to baptism,  but confessional Lutherans certainly do. 
If you have been baptized in the name of the Father & of the Son & of the Holy Spirit, the kingdom of God is in you.  “…that which is born of the Spirit,  is spirit.”  (John 3:6 ESV)   The Holy Spirit creates faith, through baptism & through hearing the Word of God.  Where there is faith in Jesus as Savior from sin,  there  is the kingdom of God.   Does hearing the Word of God convict you of your sin?  Does hearing the Word of God comfort you with the knowledge that Jesus has forgiven your sin?   Then, you are hearing the Spirit of God. 
There are certainly times when Satan tempts us to demand signs, in what we do & in what others do,  to prove that we are children of a God who loves us.  That type of demand should be called out for what it is – temptation straight from hell.  Corrupted with sin as we are, none of us has perfect vision to see proof of faith in what we do. 
Our proof, the only valid proof, is in  what Christ Jesus has done.  That’s why He points Nicodemus to the bronze serpent that Moses hoisted onto a tree in the wilderness.  That event foreshadows Jesus being hoisted upon a tree on a hill at Golgotha.  His death is all the proof any child of God needs  to show the works of salvation.  Jesus has taken our place to do them. 
While being questioned by Pilate, Jesus tells him that His kingdom is not of this world.  Seeing the crucifixion of Jesus as the redemption of human beings  is to see the kingdom of God.  In baptism, the Holy Spirit brings us into the death of Christ  & that is how we are born of the Spirit, through dying to sin, in Christ.   Faith in that work of God is an expression of God’s reign. 
Living eternally in paradise will be the ultimate expression of God’s reign.  Until we get there, our Creator does not leave us to struggle on our own power.  He knows we’d be lost,  so Jesus sends the Holy Spirit to live within us,  to watch over us,  to guide & direct us,  & to call us back to Himself  whenever we stray  from the love of God. 
In the Gospel lesson, Jesus invites Nicodemus & John invites us, his readers,  to trust that the gracious work of God the Father is transforming this world,  through His Son Jesus Christ, & through the power of the Holy Spirit.  By sight, it’s not easy to focus on & see the kingdom of God in the brokenness of this world.  That’s why God’s children live by faith.  Amen.
Thy strong word did cleave the darkness;  at Thy speaking it was done.   For created light we thank Thee,  while Thine ordered seasons run.   Lo, on those who dwelt in darkness,  dark as night & deep as death,  broke the light of Thy salvation,  breathed Thine own life-breathing breath.   From the cross Thy wisdom shining  breaketh forth in conquering might;  from the cross forever beameth  all Thy bright redeeming light.  Alleluia, alleluia!  Praise to Thee who light dost send!   Alleluia, alleluia!  Alleluia without end.  Amen.  LSB 578:1-2, 4.