Night has fallen on the city. All is quiet. A man steps out of the shadows. That man… wants to talk to Jesus.
Our Gospel for today really goes more with Pentecost than with Holy Trinity Sunday. Holy Trinity Sunday wasn’t standardized for this day, a week after Pentecost, until the 1300’s AD, and John 3 was being read on this Sunday for more than a thousand years before that.
And yet, it works really well. This mysterious meeting is a great setting to contemplate the mystery of the Trinity. Nicodemus was no fool. He was surely a very intelligent man. But his reason could not grasp the things of God. It wasn’t just the darkness of the night that was obscuring his vision. He was also blinded by spiritual darkness. Only Jesus could enlighten him. Only Jesus could reveal who God really is, and what God does.
And so what a great text this is for us to study on Holy Trinity Sunday. Out of his great love, God the Father has sent his onlybegotten Son, who died and rose for our salvation. And from them the Holy Spirit proceeds, to work in us joyful believing hearts. Yes, our Triune God reveals to us heavenly things for eternal life.
Nicodemus was a Pharisee. When we hear that we have a picture in our heads right away of someone who is self-righteous and proud of it, someone who is completely opposed to Jesus. Nicodemus wasn’t like most of them. Very early in Jesus’ ministry he decided that he just had to meet with Jesus. But at the same time, he was afraid of what people would say if they found out, so he went at night, like some sort of thief or murderer. Jesus could have called him out for this, but he didn’t.
Nicodemus started the conversation with a question that wasn’t really a question. He said, “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.”
There are quite a few things we can point out in this statement. He calls Jesus “Rabbi,” and not in the mocking way that some of the other Pharisees do when they are trying to get him to say something that they can use against him. He truly regards Jesus as a teacher from God. Perhaps even a prophet, as he points out the miraculous signs that Jesus has been doing. He also said, “We know that you are a teacher who has come from God.” He lumps himself with the other people who are turning to him and listening to him. And perhaps he’s also hinting here that even the other Pharisees who are opposing him are doing so out of jealousy and not because they honestly believe he is saying anything wrong.
Truly, how could any intellectually honest person come to any other conclusion than that Jesus must be from God? The reason his teaching was so authoritative was because it was all drawn directly out of Scripture. And what prophet had ever performed so many powerful miracles? “Ah yes, Pharisees, this Jesus fellow must be a dangerous man. Look at the things he’s doing, like healing people, and driving out demons, and raising the dead to life, all such terrible things!”
Nicodemus was absolutely right to think that he ought to listen to what Jesus has to say. We also ought to be very careful to listen to what Jesus has to say! But at the same time it appears that Nicodemus was holding back. Oh, he’ll call Jesus “Rabbi.” Maybe Jesus is even a prophet. It’s clear that he’s from God and that God is with him. But what Nicodemus says about Jesus is very different from what the disciples said about him. “We’ve found the Messiah!” “You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”
Nicodemus didn’t ask a question, but there was a question implied. Who are you really? What do you have to say about yourself? And what Jesus said completely baffled Nicodemus.
3Jesus replied, “Amen, Amen, I tell you: Unless someone is born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
4Nicodemus 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?”
5Jesus answered, “Amen, Amen, I tell you: Unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God! 6Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh. Whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7Do not be surprised when I tell you that you must be born from above. 8The 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? 11Amen, 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. 12If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13No one has ascended into heaven, except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man, who is in heaven.
He wasn’t a stupid man. I’ve read that the standard education for Pharisees included memorizing the whole Old Testament. I couldn’t do that. These were very smart people. But no matter how smart you are, God is infinitely greater. And the work of God for us is something that is far beyond our understanding.
The thing with Nicodemus is that he should have known better, not because of his own brilliance as a thinker, but because his whole purpose as a Pharisee was supposed to be keeping the word of God. They studied it. They memorized it. But they focused all their attention on academic arguments, on human traditions, and on works of self-righteousness, and they completely lost sight of the Gospel. The Old Testament promises that God the Father would send his Son. The Old Testament says that he must die and rise again. The Old Testament foretells the work of the Holy Spirit by Word and Sacrament, and the new heavenly birth that is ours by Holy Baptism.
Nicodemus, don’t you see? There is only one true God. And God is three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And all through Scripture he has revealed himself for you. He has shown to you his work for your salvation. Why are you sneaking around at night? Why are you so afraid? Your glorious and gracious God has come to earth to save you from sin and death.
I suppose we’re all like Nicodemus at times. We look at the things of God in frustration. “How can this be?” “We worship one God in three persons and three persons in one God.” It hurts my head to think of it! Am I not smart enough to be a Christian? Can I believe when I don’t understand?
But the Gospel is the promise of our Triune God’s love for you. The Gospel is the gift of his grace. You are not a Christian because of how smart you are. Even the greatest thinkers cannot reach up into heaven to grasp the things of God. No, you are God’s own dear child because he has chosen you. He has called you by the gospel. He has given you a new birth from above. He has sent the Holy Spirit into your heart and has directed your darkened eyes to the brilliant light of Jesus’ cross.
Jesus said, 14“Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15so that everyone who believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Nicodemus saw this fulfilled. He saw God’s love for him on the cross with his own eyes. He was one of the two men who took Jesus’ body down from the cross to bury him. And for Nicodemus and for you and for me Jesus rose, so that we might no longer be lost in the darkness of sin and unbelief, but to tear the veil between us and God and to reveal to us glorious heavenly things for eternal life.
Don’t go creeping through the shadows. Come out into the glorious light of Jesus. Rejoice to know your Triune God and his great salvation. Amen.