John 3:1-21 | Born Again

If you have a Bible, go and grab it and open it to the book of John. We will continue to make our way through these three chapters in the very beginning of the book of John. Last week, we saw Jesus go into the Jewish temple and flip tables because of his anger, genuine anger at people's disobedience and not valuing the house of worship.

Now, in John chapter 3, we see Jesus interact with one of the leaders of the Jewish community, one of the teachers of the law, and engage with him to talk about the main mission that Jesus has in coming to the earth. So we'll be looking at John chapter 3, verses 1 through 21. I'll read it for us, and then I'll pray.

There was a man from the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to him at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one could perform these signs you do unless God were with him.” Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” “How can anyone be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked him. “Can he enter his mother’s womb a second time and be born?” Jesus answered, “Truly 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, and whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I told you that you must be born again. The wind blows where it pleases, and you hear its sound, but you don’t know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” “How can these things be?” asked Nicodemus. “Are you a teacher of Israel and don’t know these things?” Jesus replied. “Truly I tell you, we speak what we know and we testify to what we have seen, but you do not accept our testimony. If I have told you about earthly things and you don’t believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven —the Son of Man. “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 may have eternal life. For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Anyone who believes in him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God. This is the judgment: The light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the light and avoids it, so that his deeds may not be exposed. But anyone who lives by the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be shown to be accomplished by God.” — John 3:1-21 (CSB)

Let's pray. Lord, we want to believe the truth. And we know that if you don't help us, we'll be as in the dark as Nicodemus was. So we ask, Lord, that your Spirit would speak to us this morning. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.

The Challenge of True Belief

What does it mean to believe in Jesus? What does it mean to actually believe in Jesus? There are all sorts of people in society today that will profess to be a Christian, to follow Christ. In fact, I've yet to meet someone who straight up disrespected Jesus or didn't like him as they read him in the Gospels. Even Gandhi would say that he loves Christ but hates Christ followers.

Maybe you think of following Jesus as witnessing greatness, to acknowledge the great things that he's done. After all, isn't Jesus a good example for us to follow? You see Jesus performing great signs even here, and you may be able to acknowledge that Jesus does things that other people can't do. He teaches things that other people have not taught. He's an example of a great way for you and I to live. I'm not trying to dispute whether or not Jesus is a great person. But what makes Jesus different than any other great person in society that you admire? Whether it's George Washington or Shohei Ohtani or Yo-Yo Ma.

In our passage this morning comes a reputable man named Nicodemus who goes to Jesus with a sense of belief. He thinks that he believes in Jesus. And Jesus in turn looks at Nicodemus and challenges him on whether or not he actually believes in Jesus. This is going to be our main idea for this morning: Believe in the Son of Man, lifted up for sinners. Jesus challenges Nicodemus with two statements, two qualifications that Nicodemus lacks as they're having this conversation. If you want to truly believe in the Son of Man lifted up for sinners, you need to do two things. First, you must be born again. And number two, you must believe in the Son of Man. You must look at him.

The Necessity of Being Born Again

Let's start with point number one: You must be born again. Read with me again from verses 1 to 2.

There was a man from the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to him at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one could perform these signs you do unless God were with him.” — John 3:1-2 (CSB)

A man named Nicodemus comes to Jesus. Last week, we saw at the end of our passage that Jesus is in Jerusalem performing signs which people witness and believe in his name. And Jesus does this all throughout his life and ministry. In fact, at the end of John, he says that Jesus did way more stuff than I wrote about in this book, and if I wrote all those things down, there would not be enough books in the world to contain all the things that Jesus did. So John cleverly adds a little footnote to add in a massive amount of ministry that Jesus is doing. He is in the city of Jerusalem. He is performing signs and miracles, and people are seeing it, and they are believing in his name.

If you're Jesus and you're starting a movement in the city of Jerusalem, and you're meeting with a political strategist trying to create a movement of influence, Nicodemus is target number one. He is the ideal candidate. He is the guy that you want to convince. He is a Pharisee, which means that he is in the highest rung of piety, an extra holy person who will put rules on top of God's law just to make sure that you don't break God's law. And he's widely respected in society. Not only that, he is a ruler of the Jews. He has power. He has influence. In other words, Nicodemus is a respectable guy.

And it seems like what Jesus has been doing in his ministry in the city, performing his signs and doing his teaching, has also convinced that respectable man that Jesus is respectable as well. Nicodemus is impressed. You could see him express his respect towards Jesus, calling him a teacher who has come from God. Think about how massive of a deal that is. They have a teacher of the law, someone who's at the strictest rung of piety, look at Jesus and call him a teacher, a rabbi. After all, the evidence is irrefutable. He looks at these signs that Jesus is doing and he's having to acknowledge, "You would not be able to do those things unless you came from God."

For many, this would be considered ideal: a man of high places recognizing that Jesus comes from a high place. It's even clear that Jesus has made an impact on this guy's life, even so much that he's willing to go out of his way at night to have uninterrupted conversation with Jesus. I wonder for you and I, as you share the gospel with people in your community, or your family, or your friends, or your kids, whether that would be considered a win to you, right? To get the admirable to admire Jesus.

After all, there's a lot to admire in the practice of Jesus. He cares for people, and he tells them to focus on their hearts, not just their hands. He cares about the least of these. He rebukes the high and mighty. He cares for the poor and the prostitutes and the beggars. He could almost function like a Jordan Peterson, showing you a better way to live your life, a way that you could elevate yourself, a good example to challenge the common attitudes of society today. You can even admire the abilities of Jesus, that Jesus is able to heal the sick, turn water into wine. I mean, imagine hearing stories about Jesus saying, "I'll believe it when I see it," and then you go into the city of Jerusalem and you meet Jesus and he's just doing it. You can see it with your own eyes as Jesus is performing these signs and miracles. You see Jesus heal the lame, heal the leper, heal the unclean woman. And you have no idea how he's doing it, but you have to respect his game. This guy is doing things that no one else can possibly do. You have to acknowledge his majesty. But is that enough? Would that quantify true faith in Christ?

Nicodemus does all of those things, and Jesus is not satisfied. It's no wonder that Nicodemus comes to Jesus at night because this conversation coming from this teacher of Israel to the teacher of Israel reveals that Nicodemus is completely in the dark. Admiration is not enough. You can see that in verse three.

Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” “How can anyone be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked him. “Can he enter his mother’s womb a second time and be born?” — John 3:3-4 (CSB)

Nicodemus hears from Jesus that whatever he just said is not good enough. If you want to see these signs of God and you want to enter into the kingdom of God, you must be born again. It's a phrase that we hear a lot in Christian circles, right? "I'm a born-again Christian," "I've been born again." It's something that you hear all the time if you grew up in the church or in Christian circles. But let's have some sympathy for Nicodemus here. This is the first time anyone has ever heard that phrase. As he's hearing "born again," he is thinking, "Born again doesn't make any sense." He's in the dark. How can someone be born a second time? No one does a second lap with their mom. It doesn't work like that. Jesus isn't talking about a physical birth. He's talking about a spiritual one, which he explains in verse 5.

Jesus answered, “Truly 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, and whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I told you that you must be born again. The wind blows where it pleases, and you hear its sound, but you don’t know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” — John 3:5-8 (CSB)

Think about what Jesus is saying here. How you're born determines who you are. If you are born from a deer like Bambi, guess what you are? You are a deer. If you're born an Israelite, you are an Israelite. But Jesus isn't operating within categories of species or ethnicity or any other earthly category. He provides two categories that all of humanity fits under: flesh and spirit. And everyone is born of the flesh. All of us sitting here have flesh. We're not ghosts. You are born of flesh. But in order to see the kingdom of God, you must be born of the Spirit. In other words, you must be born again. There is a second birth that you need.

Jesus is demanding a new kind of birth, a birth of Spirit and of water. And what does he mean by this idea of being born of water and Spirit? He's not talking about baptism. He's also not talking about two different births, like a water birth and a spiritual birth. He's actually calling back to a specific passage in the Old Testament. So we did this last week, I want us to turn back again to Ezekiel chapter 36. Jesus is looking at this teacher of the law and making a specific reference to something that the prophet Ezekiel prophesied from God that will happen for the Israelites. Ezekiel chapter 36, we're looking at verses 25 and 26. This is God talking to his people. He says this in verse 25:

I will also sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. — Ezekiel 36:25-26 (CSB)

You see what God is doing here through the prophet Ezekiel? What he's talking about? He's talking about a new renewal, right? He's saying that you will be sprinkled clean with water and that you'll receive a new heart and a new spirit: water and Spirit. And what God is talking about isn't like a leaky shower when it's talking about cleansing you, right? It's just a sprinkling; that's not exactly what you would call a full bath. What he's talking about is a ceremonial spiritual cleansing. God is prophesying through Ezekiel to those that are exiled away from the promised land that they will receive a new promise that he will sprinkle them clean to cleanse them from all unrighteousness. And that heart of stone, that heart of disobedience that has stayed with Israel from day one, would finally be replaced with a heart of flesh. They would receive a new spirit or a new breath. They're getting new life. In other words, they are getting born again.

Jesus is saying, unless you have that kind of birth that Ezekiel talked about in chapter 36, you cannot see the kingdom of God. Not only that, that kind of spiritual birth is utterly unpredictable. See, when someone is actually pregnant, like someone in this room, there is a runway to it. You know it's coming. And the way that you know it's coming is because you have nine months to know that it's coming. As a side note, if you ever want to know when it's appropriate to ask someone if they're pregnant, the answer is never. That being said, there will be signs, right? You can see it. No birth happens out of nowhere.

But things are different when it comes to spiritual birth. The wind blows where it pleases, and you don't know where it's going to be. This new birth happens instantly. In other words, you cannot know who or where someone is going to become a Christian. You cannot be a Christian based on genetics. This is not something that you inherit by physical birth. If you're a child and you're here and you're very happy to get dragged to church with your parents and zone out while the preacher is preaching, I'm very glad that you're here. I just want you to hear as clearly as I can possibly say: you are not a Christian because your parents are; you just aren't. You cannot be. That's not something that is passed down through the X or the Y chromosomes. You do not receive Jesus by looking up to him as a good example. You don't look up to Jesus just because you read the Bible every night at home. Those things do not determine whether or not you are a Christian. You must be born again.

Spiritual birth isn't something that you can predict. It's not something that you could look at someone and go, "Unless you're Jesus and say you are not far from the kingdom of God." Not something where you could look at someone and go, "Oh, just let them cook for another couple months. I think they'll become a Christian." It's not how this works. It can't be inherited. It can only be seen. Something that's observed like the wind. You can't see the wind. You can't take a photograph of the wind, but you can see the effects of the wind. You can see a tree bend. You can hear the leaves rustle. The same way with the Spirit. You can't see the Spirit, but you can see what the Spirit does. A Spirit-born life looks different than the world. You won't know, but there will be signs. There is no dove that descends from heaven when I came to know Jesus. There is no supernatural experience that happened in my heart where my gut started shaking viscerally or I started praying in tongues. Nothing like that happened in my life. But my life was completely changed. Are you truly born of the Spirit? Would you say that that change has happened to you? Has that breath come into your lungs? Or would your coworkers be surprised to find out that you're a Christian? Do your kids roll their eyes at the thought of their parents going to church again, pretending that everything is okay? Jesus says in Matthew 7 that "you will know them by their fruit." You must be born again.

It's part of the reason why we don't baptize babies. I feel an obligation to say this in preparation for the evening. I love my Presbyterian brothers and sisters. I'm so grateful that we share the same gospel together. It's a privilege to be able to fellowship with them like we're going to do tonight. It's a privilege to go out and share the same gospel. I know whenever I sit at a lunch table at Cal State Long Beach, if I'm sharing the gospel and there's a Presbyterian brother that sits next to me, we will probably be sharing the exact same gospel to a non-Christian wherever we sit. That being said, we believe something different than them, being that if you want to join the covenant community, that does not happen by having Christian parents. You don't baptize children just because their parents are believers. Because whether or not you join the covenant community of the church is determined not by your physical birth, but by your spiritual birth. In other words, I love baptizing infants. I only baptize spiritual infants. People who have been born again because the dividing line between those who are born of the Spirit and those who are not, those who are born again and those who are not, is based on whether you believe, whether you've seen the Son of Man.

Believing in the Lifted-Up Son of Man

Which brings me to point number two: You must believe in the Son of Man. Look at verse nine.

“How can these things be?” asked Nicodemus. “Are you a teacher of Israel and don’t know these things?” Jesus replied. “Truly I tell you, we speak what we know and we testify to what we have seen, but you do not accept our testimony. If I have told you about earthly things and you don’t believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven —the Son of Man. — John 3:9-13 (CSB)

Nicodemus is still in the dark. He doesn't understand because he doesn't listen to what he's heard. He's not able to believe beyond what he's seen. He's taking things too literally. He's looking at the matter in front of him. He's not able to comprehend what Jesus is saying. He relies ultimately on what he can perceive with his own eyes. He is going with an "I'll believe it when I see it" kind of faith. He can acknowledge. He can even admire, but he can't believe because he doesn't know. Because if your faith comes down ultimately to what you can see, what you perceive, you won't be able to see at all. Because all of us are limited from being able to see heavenly things. I have never been to heaven. You have never been to heaven. All those New York Times bestsellers, none of them have been to heaven either. And you won't be able to explain it because you have never experienced it.

I remember in fifth grade, I think in elementary school, we had to go up the mountains for camp. It was the first time I was away from my parents for more than a night. And for a lot of the kids that were in my bus, it was the first time they had ever seen snow in their life. Can you imagine trying to explain snow to someone who grew up in the Amazon? How would you do that? It's like a fluffy thing, but solid, but it's not solid. And if you touch it, it'll melt. It's like water, but not water. How do you explain that to someone who's never seen it before? And if you've never been and you want to genuinely learn about it, you need to have the humility to listen to someone who is more experienced and who has seen more things than you have. You need to listen to someone who has greater understanding than you do. You can only learn about snow from someone who's actually seen it, from someone who understands. In other words, Jesus is looking at this teacher of Israel and trying to explain to him, "You don't know, man. You just called me a teacher. We're at the same level. I've seen things that you have never seen. I know things that you will never know." Not only that, I have a title that you will never have. He calls himself the Son of Man.

You see that phrase, Son of Man? That is more than just a title that Jesus applies to himself. That is fulfillment of prophecy in Daniel chapter 7. A specific prophecy about who Jesus is and what he came to do. This is what it says in Daniel 7. Daniel prophesies:

I continued watching in the night visions,and suddenly one like a son of man was coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was escorted before him. He was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, so that those of every people, nation, and language should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will not be destroyed. — Daniel 7:13-14 (CSB)

In other words, Jesus is far more than what Nicodemus thought that he was. He is greater than Nicodemus in every single way. Jesus is not just another teacher. And Nicodemus, the teacher of the law, doesn't understand that Daniel 7 is talking about him. And so, he doesn't know what Jesus knows. Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews, can't compare to the Son of Man, the king of every people, nation, and language. You see what Jesus is doing when he's applying this title of Son of Man to himself? Everything that John describes Nicodemus as: a teacher and a ruler. Jesus is saying, "I am greater than you. You don't understand. I do. You need to sit down and listen to me." Not only that, if Jesus is saying you need to be born again in order to enter the kingdom of heaven, and it says in Daniel 7 that he is receiving a kingdom and a dominion that will never pass away, Jesus is trying to explain to Nicodemus, "I have the keys to the kingdom and you don't. If you want to enter into this kingdom, if you want to be born again, it doesn't start with your own understanding. It starts with me."

Nicodemus needs to put some respect on Jesus's name because the Son of Man doesn't just rule, he also saves. So Jesus goes to Nicodemus and tries to connect the dots for him in verse 14.

“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 may have eternal life. — John 3:14-15 (CSB)

I want us to turn back in our Bibles one more time to Numbers 21, verses 4-9, which is exactly the story that Jesus is talking about: this time where Moses lifts up the snake in the wilderness. This is after Moses leads the Israelites out of the nation of Egypt. This is as they're wandering around the wilderness for 40 years before they enter into the Promised Land. And as they're wandering around, people begin to complain. In Numbers 21, you see a rebellion break out amongst the Israelites against Moses, against God. You can see it in verse four.

Then they set out from Mount Hor by way of the Red Sea to bypass the land of Edom, but the people became impatient because of the journey. The people spoke against God and Moses: “Why have you led us up from Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread or water, and we detest this wretched food!” Then the Lord sent poisonous snakes among the people, and they bit them so that many Israelites died. The people then came to Moses and said, “We have sinned by speaking against the Lord and against you. Intercede with the Lord so that he will take the snakes away from us.” And Moses interceded for the people. Then the Lord said to Moses, “Make a snake image and mount it on a pole. When anyone who is bitten looks at it, he will recover.” So Moses made a bronze snake and mounted it on a pole. Whenever someone was bitten, and he looked at the bronze snake, he recovered. — Numbers 21:4-9 (CSB)

Wild story. People are bit with poisonous snakes because they complained against God. Their tune changes real fast: "Moses, please intercede for us. We'll do anything to not die." And so God tells them to form a bronze snake and lift it up on a pole. So they're bit with poisonous snakes and he lifts up a bronze snake. And the reason why he's lifting up a bronze snake isn't because God is creating an idol for these people to worship. That's not the idea. The idea of using snakes that bite these people to death is lifted up on a pole is no accident. If you remember in the Exodus story, if you remember from watching *The Prince of Egypt*, when Moses meets with Pharaoh in Exodus 7, when Moses and his brother Aaron confront Pharaoh, Aaron throws down his staff and the staff turns into a serpent. The image is really clear. God is trying to show that Pharaoh is a serpent king. And when Israel begins to complain to Moses and God and say, "We were better off back in Egypt," he is saying, "Okay, well, if you prefer being under the serpent king, how about you experience the serpent's bite and see how you like it?" So, they're bit with poisonous snakes, and they all come to death.

This venomous death of theirs shows the effects of the serpent king's rule and more than just Pharaoh. It points all the way back to the Garden of Eden, doesn't it? When the serpent comes and deceives Eve and Adam to sin, by extension, leads them to their death. Friends, rebellion against God always leads to death. So the people repent. They go before God and Moses and ask him to intercede, or stand before God and ask for forgiveness on behalf of God's people. And Moses intercedes by lifting up this bronze snake, mounting it on a pole. If anyone was bitten, they could look at it, look at this bronze snake, and survive. Picture this scene, right? Imagine you're in the wilderness and then a poisonous snake bites you, after you've accused Moses and God of killing you, and the only hope that you have is to look at a hunk of metal on a stick. There's nothing that you can do in order to save yourself, is there? There's no antidote. There's no EpiPen that you could stab into your own body to counter this venom that's running through your veins. The only remedy that you have is to look. This is more than just witnessing or glancing. This is an act of faith.

This is God forcing the Israelite people to let go of their understanding and their own strategy and their own preferences and submit to God's rule. You have to look. You can't understand. You have to listen to what God says and look at this bronze snake in order to live. In other words, you need to trust. Another word for trust is faith. You look at the bronze snake. You place your faith in what God has provided. And Jesus could not be clearer in John 3: Just like that bronze snake was lifted up in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up so that everyone who believes in him may have everlasting life. This is the good news of the gospel: that all of us, like the Israelites in the wilderness, have rebelled against a good and holy God. None of us in this room are exempt from that kind of grumbling, right? And if we're born of anything, we are born of sin. And the venom of sin and death runs in our veins. All of us are cursed with the curse of sin and are dying because of it. And the only hope that you and I have is to look at the Son of Man who was raised on a cross. This Son of Man who was treated like a serpent, condemned by God. Jesus bore the wrath in our place. There is no other hope for you and I. There is no other way. What determines whether or not you will be saved is whether or not you humble yourself, let go of your own understanding, and look at the Son of Man who was lifted up for you. And when you do, you won't receive God's judgment. Instead, you receive his mercy.

God's Love, Humanity's Choice

More than that, when you look at the Son and you believe in him, you don't just receive his forgiveness, you receive his love. That's what Jesus talks about in verse 16 in John 3. It says:

For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. — John 3:16-17 (CSB)

Some of you might be wondering whether or not our church translation of John 3:16 is wrong. "That's not how I heard it, it's supposed to be 'For God *so* loved the world'." John says, "For God loved the world in this way." But the word "so" that you're used to hearing in your Bible, "for God *so* loved the world," it's not talking about degree. In other words, this isn't trying to say, "God loves you so much that he gave his one and only Son." It's actually, "For God loved the world *so*," or "God loved the world *in this way*." In other words, it's talking about the manner in which God loves. God demonstrates his love for us. He shows his love. He loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, the only Son begotten from eternity past, so that sinners like you and I won't perish, but have everlasting life. That is God's heart for you. That God is not some evil dictator with crossed arms in the heavens. He sends his Son because he loves the world. So anyone who turns from their sin and trusts in Christ can come to know him by looking at the Son of Man sacrificed for them.

And this promise is not just made to Israel but the entire world. There's a reason why Jesus says, "God so loved the world" to the teacher of Israel. His point is that it doesn't matter where you come from. It doesn't matter what your background is or what your parents did or what your own history determines. It doesn't matter what you've done, your regrets, your shame, your hesitation, your background, your genetics. All of you can look at this Son and believe and have everlasting life. Because what determines whether or not you're saved isn't whether or not you're good, but whether you've placed your faith in the only one who is good. He concludes in verse 17. Let's read verse 17-21.

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Anyone who believes in him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God. This is the judgment: The light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the light and avoids it, so that his deeds may not be exposed. But anyone who lives by the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be shown to be accomplished by God.” — John 3:17-21 (CSB)

Jesus is repeating really the same idea at the end of the last chapter: that anyone who doesn't believe is already condemned because of stuff that you've done, by their deeds. It says here that people love darkness because their deeds were evil. I've had so many conversations with people that reject Christianity for all sorts of reasons. I've had plenty of long intellectual conversations with people weighing the philosophical truthfulness of Christianity, and I love having those conversations. One thing that I try to make a point of doing, though, at the end of any of those conversations, is to remind them, "Hey, if what I'm saying is true, taking the intellectual side to stuff to the side for a second, if it's true, do you realize that you have a massive sin problem?"

And often times when people walk away from the Lord, underneath sincere theological inquiry and quest for truth, or people's rejection of Jesus when they've never heard of him, underneath those quests for what's true is also a seduction to a different kind of love. You love evil deeds. You choose not to follow Jesus because you love the things that you're doing. Jesus is super clear here that choosing not to follow Jesus is not delaying condemnation. If you claim to still be on the fence as you're thinking about whether or not you need to give Jesus your whole life, Jesus is absolutely clear: You are not delaying your decision. You are already condemned. It says you're already condemned. There is no middle ground. You are either in the light or you are in the darkness. And that difference is determined entirely based on how you respond to the light, how you respond to Jesus. If you come to Jesus, you will believe in him. If you don't follow Jesus with parts of your life and you are not wholly dedicated to him, then you are not following him. That's the idea. You have to submit to the Son of Man. And if you do, then you have the promise of everlasting life, a full, meaningful, light-filled life.

The Simple Act of Looking and Living

And so Jesus ends the conversation with Nicodemus and ends the conversation with you as well. The wedge is clear. There is a fork in the road. You have to make a choice. It's not enough to admire. You have to come to the light. You have to choose. You have to believe. You have to look. It's exactly what Nicodemus chooses to do. In John 7, Nicodemus defends Jesus before his fellow Pharisees. They're plotting and voicing their disgruntled nature with him. And by the time you get to the end of the book in John chapter 19, Nicodemus is the man who comes to take the body of Christ with Joseph and anoints him with myrrh and aloes. Nicodemus chooses to look at the crucified Christ and placed his trust in him. And so can you. It's not from seeing Christ's miracles, but from his mercy on the cross for you.

That's precisely what makes the Lord's Supper so powerful and so meaningful for us. I'm not in a rush when it comes to things like celebrating the Lord's death in communion, not because I believe that the cracker is holy or because the juice has some special juice in it, but because I am looking in faith and reminding myself of what Christ has done for us. Whenever we take the elements, we are looking at the Son of Man lifted up on behalf of sinners. If you're not a Christian here today, that promise is here for you, too. Are you willing to look at him? I'd love to talk to you more at the door about what it looks like to follow Christ.

But I want to end the sermon with a story. There is one man who did look precisely because of this passage. His name was Charles Spurgeon. He tells his own testimony like this. He describes walking through a blizzard, miserable, thinking about his own sinful state where he walks into a United Methodist church. He came from a Presbyterian background. Walks into a United Methodist Church, gets converted, becomes a Baptist preacher. Interesting guy, right? As he walks into this sanctuary and sits in the pews, he sees a deacon give what he described as a terrible sermon in terms of skill and oratory. But as he sat in the back row and he listened, he writes this. He says, "There was, I thought, a glimpse of hope for me in that text." The preacher began thus, "My dear friends, this is a very simple text indeed. It says, 'Look.' Now, look and don't take a great deal of pain. Ain't lifting your foot or your finger. It's just look. Man doesn't need to go to college to look. You could be the biggest fool, yet you can look. Man needed to be worth a thousand a year to be able to look. Anyone can look. Even a child can look." We had gone to about that length and managed to spin out 10 minutes or so. He was at the end of his tether. Then he looked at me under the gallery. "I dare say with so few present, he knew me to be a stranger. Just fixing his eyes on me as if he knew all my heart. He said, 'Young man, you look very miserable.'" "Well, I did, but I had not become accustomed to have remarks made from the pulpit about my personal appearance before. However, it was a good blow struck right home and continued, 'And you will always be miserable, miserable in life, miserable in death if you don't obey my text. But if you obey now, this moment, you will be saved.' Then lifting up his hands, he shouted, as only a Primitive Methodist could do, 'Young man, look to Christ. Look, look, LOOK. YOU HAVE NOTHING TO do but to look and live.'" "I saw at once the way of salvation. I know not what else he said. I did not take much notice of it. I was so possessed with that one thought. Like as when the brazen serpent were lifted up, the only the people only looked and were healed. And so it was with me. I've been waiting to do 50 things. But when I heard that word 'look,' what a charming word it seemed to me. Oh, I looked until I could have almost looked my eyes away. There and then the cloud was gone. The darkness had rolled away in that moment. I saw the sun. I could have risen that instant and sung with the most enthusiastic of them of the precious blood of Christ and the simple faith which looks alone to him." Look at the Son of Man lifted up, condemned for you, so that snakes like you and I could be adopted as sons and daughters of the King. Believe in the Son. Look at the Son of Man.

Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for this good news that we have in Christ. We pray, Lord, that you would help us to look to him alone for salvation. And we thank you that his sacrifice is enough, that the bronze serpent is enough to cleanse us from all unrighteousness and to give us everlasting life in him. We thank you for that precious gift in Jesus' name. Amen.