Have you ever walked into a movie theatre and watched a movie in the middle of a sunny day, and at the end of the movie, instead of walking back out the normal theatre entrance, people exited right out the side door, the Exit door, that dumped you right out into the parking lot?  I don’t know if security protocols really allow that anymore, but you can imagine if with me for a second.  You’ve been in this dark room for a couple of hours, and all of the sudden the light is bright and is shining right down in your face.  What do you do?  Well, some people might turn right around and come back into the theatre.  Some people will just stand right by the door and let their eyes adjust before going out into the sunlight, and some people just barrel out into the light, squinting, holding their hands up to block the direct light, and they are on their way.  But think about this for a second...you are essentially blinded by that light for a moment.  Your choices are to let your eyes adjust and move forward or to retreat into the darkness.

I heard that analogy years ago and it has stuck with me - it is a great representation of what is happening here in today’s reading in John chapter 3, in this story with Nicodemus.  He came at night so as to be secret and not to tip off his fellow Jewish leaders, he came because there was a sense in him that Jesus might actually be the person He says He was, and he came because he wanted to know the truth.  So, Jesus gives him the truth.  Jesus tells him that he must be born again, and that he has been doing it wrong...his faith.  Jesus doesn’t chastise Nicodemus, He doesn’t beat him up, just answers the questions and tells the truth.  And it was a lot for Nicodemus to handle...after all, he was rich, he was powerful, he was revered...if Jesus was right, Nicodemus was going to have to essentially trade that all in for his salvation.  That’s a tough pill to swallow.  That’s like stepping into the light after 2 hours in a dark movie theatre...he can retreat back into the darkness and pretend everything he needs is in there with him, or he can stand there in the light and wait for his eyes to adjust.  It may take a bit...but they will, and once they do, he’ll see everything he has been missing.  That’s what Jesus essentially offers all of us.  He had the choice between the life he knew, which was comfortable, which had him in a level of power, where he felt somewhat in control, and where he was pretty sure he knew the outcome, and the life that included God, which was new, unknown, which cost him that control and that autonomy and that power.  This is a choice we all have to make...and that we have to make repeatedly.

And Jesus knew this...so, He doesn’t stop there.  He explains further, as we will read tomorrow.  Jesus tries to take the edge off of that news just a little, and to clarify to Nicodemus, this rich young ruler, what He is all about.  It some of the most famous Biblical text, and it is fun to read in this proper context.