“Conversion of the Heart”

Main point: Jesus comes from heaven to show us the way to God and for us to understand him and what he's doing, we need a change in the way we think about everything.

Introduction

Today we encounter Nicodemous - a religious leader -  a Pharisee - and one of the 70 most esteemed elders of the Jewish people in Jesus’ day. He could tell something was unique about Jesus. Something was different, but he didn’t have the eyes he needed to see exactly what it was. So he comes to Jesus by night. He makes his introductions and asks his questions.

To understand this little interaction between Nicodemous and Jesus, I want to share with you a bit of context.

As a Pharisee, Nicodemous had very particular expectations about the way God works in the world, what's expected of him, what's expected of his people. According to the way Nicodemus saw the world God’s people were being oppressed by the Roman Empire because they were not obeying God's law. The way for them to get back on God’s program was for all of his people to take God's law seriously and do what is written in it. Once they did that, then Israel would be rescued and restored. This was his hope: God would come and declare the Jewish people righteous and would judge harshly the nations around them.

The problem, as Nicodemus say it was twofold: 1) His people weren’t obeying God’s Law and 2) The nations around them (or the world) needed to be judged.

This is why when Jesus tells Nicodemus that God loves the world - he’s certainly saying something wonderful in general, but he’s also saying something particular to Nicodemous. He’s saying, “Nicodemous, God is not just for one group of people - your group of people. God loves the whole world. God is not in the business of condemning the world, but of saving the world through the Son.”

In essence, Nicodemous had the wrong idea. He was sincere, but misguided. And to get back on track, he would need a rebirth from heaven. Nicodemous needed what we would call in the 90s a “paradigm shift”. He needed a totally different way of thinking if he was going to get on board with what God was doing right in front of him.

This is what Jesus told him. It was bold. It was truthful. And Nicodemous didn’t get it.

But before we judge Nicodemous to harshly, I have to ask… How many of you, when faced with wildly new information, walk away from that encounter and say, “Why, thank you very much. I’m so glad we had this talk. You’ve entirely and completely changed the way I think about myself and life in general and I am so grateful.”?

NOT. VERY. OFTEN. Am I right?

There is nothing in the story to indicate that Nicodemous was “born from heaven” in that moment, but his story doesn’t end there. The Gospel of John mentioned Nicodemous three times: 

• The first occasion is here when he visits Jesus by night with his questions. 

• The second occasion is in John 7 when the Pharisees try to condemn Jesus and Nicodemous speaks up to question the legality of condemning Him without a fair hearing. He doesn’t exactly stop them, but he slows them down.

• The third occasion is in John 19. Immediately after Jesus' death Nicodemous brings burial spices and to wrap his body. The money he spent would equal about $200k in today’s money. 

In the end, Nicodemus comes around. Over time, Nicodemous was more and more convinced that Jesus was the Anointed One from God and he was born from above. Nicodemus had a conversion of the heart.

Conversion of the Heart

The longer I thought about this progressive change in Nicodemus, the more I realized my own need for change in my own heart. There are things in me that don’t align with God’s plans. 

• I still try to get God to come and do my plans instead of asking God what his plans are.

• I still try to shortcut God's work in the world by doing it my way.

• I still give up on the best stuff and settle for the easy stuff.