By the Son and Holy Spirit, the Father gives life.

 

Sermon for Trinity Sunday, May 30, 2021

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!  How unsearchable are his judgments and how untraceable his ways!  To Him the glory, and from Him grace and peace to you.  Amen.

John 3:1-15  ¹ There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council.  ² He came to Jesus at night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one can do these miraculous signs you are doing unless God is with him.”  ³ Jesus replied, “Amen, Amen, I tell you: Unless someone is born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”  ⁴ Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old?  He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?”  ⁵ Jesus answered, “Amen, Amen, I tell you: Unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God!  ⁶ Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh.  Whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit.  ⁷ Do not be surprised when I tell you that you must be born from above.  ⁸ The wind blows where it pleases.  You hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it is going.  So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”  ⁹ “How can these things be?” asked Nicodemus.  ¹⁰ “You are the teacher of Israel,” Jesus answered, “and you do not know these things?  ¹¹ Amen, Amen, I tell you: We speak what we know, and we testify about what we have seen.  But you people do not accept our testimony.  ¹² If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?  ¹³ No one has ascended into heaven, except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man, who is in heaven.  ¹⁴ “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, ¹⁵ so that everyone who believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (EHV)

By the Son and Holy Spirit, the Father gives life.

Dear friends in Christ,

            It is well-known that Jesus and the Pharisees were not close friends.  In fact, for much of Jesus’ ministry on earth, that self-righteous bunch was intent on getting rid of Jesus.  All that being true, this prominent Pharisee, named Nicodemus, came to Jesus with apparently honest intentions, seeking answers to questions he never got around to asking.  Nicodemus may have wanted to ask Jesus about His mission, or why Jesus was doing what He was doing, but a more common question was at the root of Nicodemus’ perplexity, even if he hadn’t yet considered it.  Still, before Nicodemus asked even one of his questions, Jesus gave him the answer that is most important for us—By the Son and Holy Spirit, the Father gives life.

Now, from most of our experiences reading the Gospels, we might assume that Nicodemus was on a secret mission to trap Jesus in some statement that the leaders of Israel might use against Him.  However, in this instance, that doesn’t seem to be the case.  In fact, Nicodemus’ confession, as he comes secretly to Jesus, indicates that at least some of the Jewish leaders understood that there was something special about Jesus.  Nicodemus recognized that Jesus’ miracles were signs of His relationship with God.  It might make us ask, even more, why so many of Nicodemus’ colleagues chose to reject the signs Jesus did and to reject Jesus in the process?

Nicodemus “came to Jesus at night and said to him, ‘Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one can do these miraculous signs you are doing unless God is with him.’”  The implied question is “What are You doing here?  What message did God send You to give to the people of Israel?”  It is an understatement to say that Jesus’ answer startled the Pharisee for he was shocked.  The Pharisees had long understood the writings of Moses and the prophets to be a rule book telling Israel how to please God and receive His blessings.  Furthermore, the Pharisees were more than a little proud of their efforts to placate the idol of their imaginations. 

Thus, that most common question at the back of Nicodemus’ mind that had led him to question Jesus is the simple query, “What must I do to be saved?”  That question is the reason Jesus answered as He did.  The Pharisee expected more commands, or perhaps, threats and warnings.  Jesus not only perplexed the man, but He surprised Him.  Jesus answered, “Amen, Amen, I tell you: Unless someone is born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”  Jesus hit Nicodemus at the root of the problem.  The Pharisees, and most other people throughout history, believed that we get to heaven, or get Paradise on earth, by pleasing God.  Jesus, on the other hand, dashes all those hopes to hell.  Jesus’ point is that sinners cannot save themselves.  Inheriting the sins of our fathers, we can only repeat the sinful ways that lead to destruction.  Rather than more laws, threats, and warnings; we need a transformation.  We need a total change from death to life.  We need rebirth from a different Father, the holy One in heaven.

Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old?  He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?”  The ago old problem we all face; Nicodemus’ mind was set on earthly things.  He couldn’t imagine any other kind of birth than what is ordinary to the world.

Jesus answered, “Amen, Amen, I tell you: Unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God!  Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh.  Whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit.”  Our birth establishes a connection.  When we are born of our earthly parents, we inherit their sinful condition—and we inherit the condemnation that sin deserves.  Therefore, when we sinners expect to somehow work our way to holiness, we always come up short of God’s expectation.  However, Jesus brings us a different birth—a spiritual birth—that gives us a connection and family relationship with His Father in heaven.  Simply put, being born of water and the Spirit is baptism. 

Now, to the natural man, baptism doesn’t look powerful.  At best, many think it can only symbolize a spiritual cleaning, and if baptism were a human-devised ceremony, that would be true.  However, baptism was not devised by man, nor is it powered by human effort, nor is it merely ceremonial.  In baptism, God is active through the power of the Spirit to cleanse away our toxic sin and implant in us a new life and a new connection with our Father in heaven.  Baptism is God reaching down to earth to claim a new child for His kingdom in a personal adoption.  Because this activity is God’s work, done at His command and by His power and authority, we can confidently baptize new-born babies, knowing that in baptism God is claiming the helpless sinner as His own, giving life to the lifeless, and holiness and hope to one who doesn’t even yet know it is needed.

To the skeptic, Jesus says, “Do not be surprised when I tell you that you must be born from above.  The wind blows where it pleases.  You hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it is going.  So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”  The human mind wants to understand how everything works.  This is commendable in earthly things.  However, when it comes to spiritual things, we simply must bow before God’s authority.  By the power of His spoken word, God brought into existence every created thing.  Since we believe that, why should any believer question whether God can give forgiveness and everlasting life through His spoken promises?  The answer, of course, is that we should simply believe God.

YET, “How can these things be?” asked Nicodemus.  So many people have questioned every part of God’s Word in the same exact way.  How could God create the world in six days?  How could Jesus die yet return to life on the third day?  How can our Savior be both God and Man?

Jesus answered the reluctant hearer, “You are the teacher of Israel,” Jesus answered, “and you do not know these things?  Amen, Amen, I tell you: We speak what we know, and we testify about what we have seen.  But you people do not accept our testimony.  If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?”  Finally, it must be admitted that no one can believe any of this on his own ability or strength.  No human could imagine God’s salvation plan.  No mortal could develop the system of Christianity and make it work.  However, “Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message comes through the word of Christ.” (Romans 10:17)  Or, as St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.  We preach Christ crucified, because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.” (1 Corinthians 1:24-25)

The answer as always is Jesus.  He told Nicodemus, “No one has ascended into heaven, except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man, who is in heaven.”  Dwelling now in heaven above, yet remaining continually with us through faith, Jesus has the answers because He is God’s Son.  Why should anyone accept the arguments of ordinary men?  Why give credence to the temptations of spirits who want nothing more than to destroy you?  Reject all such thoughts, because we have a sure and reliable witness to God’s plan to save us: the testimony and life of God’s Son, for “[Jesus] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation, for in him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, things seen and unseen, … all things have been created through him and for him.  He is before all things, and all things hold together in him.” (Colossians 1:15-17)

So that there can be no doubt about God’s plan to save sinners, Jesus gave Nicodemus a hint of things to come.  He said, “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”  This forecast leads both to our salvation and the surety of our hope.  In these words, Jesus explains God’s long-term plan.  Since the beginning, and even before that, God had a plan in motion to save sinners like you and me.  Though all of us would sin against God and deserve eternal punishment, God works out our salvation through faith in His Son as our Savior—a faith the Holy Spirit works in us through the Gospel in Word and Sacrament.  Thus, the message of our text: By the Son and Holy Spirit, the Father gives life.

Jesus pointed Nicodemus to the account of a time in Israel’s forty-year wilderness wandering when they were afflicted by deadly snakes.  At God’s command, Moses molded a bronze serpent and mounted it on a tree.  Whenever a person was bitten by one of those deadly serpents, he was to look to that bronze snake believing God would heal him, and he would live.  Those who refused to look or did not believe would surely die.  The history says that is exactly what happened.

The same is true for us and Jesus.  God’s Son made Himself in our image by taking on human flesh.  Holy and perfect in Himself Jesus was lifted up and nailed to a cross to suffer and die for our poisonous deeds.  Those who believe in Jesus are granted healing and total forgiveness, while those who reject the Son will surely receive eternal death in hell. 

Dear friends, this morning, we celebrate the Holy Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—three persons in One God—working in unison to rescue sinners like you and me from the power of the devil, death, and our own personal weaknesses and sins.  God the Father sent His Son, Jesus, to be our everlasting Savior.  The Son gave His life and rose again so that we may live forever.  The Spirit gave us the Word and works saving faith in us through that Word of peace.  Therefore, we are saved because God brought us to faith in that perfect One who fulfilled all of God’s plan for our salvation.  Believe it and rejoice; By the Son and Holy Spirit, the Father gives life.  Amen.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore.  Amen.