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1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicode'mus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do, unless God is with him." 3 Jesus answered him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God." 4 Nicode'mus said to him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?" 5 Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born anew.' 8 The wind blows where it wills, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know whence it comes or whither it goes; so it is with every one who is born of the Spirit." 9 Nicode'mus said to him, "How can this be?" 10 Jesus answered him, "Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand this? 11 Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen; but you do not receive our testimony. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven but he who descended from heaven, the Son of man. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life." 16 For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. (John 3:1-17 Revised Standard Version Bible)
A Happy Monday to you all, ConCafe Family! And may wonderful, unexpected blessings be yours, dear Friend is my prayer for you. May our prayers today be for our pastors. I know October is set aside for Pastor Appreciation Month, but let us pray for those who, in our tradition (United Methodist Church) who are already aware of new assignments they will assume this summer; others are nervously awaiting news; still others wonder about their future as they face the challenges of reality, i.e. fund shortages, decliining memberships, etc. May God bless each and every one of them should be our prayers today, and really, all days. Pray for one another; make time to pray for yourselves.
We tend, or at least I tended to lump the Pharisees in one category. The name itself for a long time held a certain disdain; they were, after all, one of the chief groups who led the charge against Jesus, to trap and catch Him as one who was opposed to the Jewish faith, and a large credit can be theirs for the arrest, trail, conviction and murder. Yet, in all fairness, not all Pharisees were in agreement with their decision to kill Jesus. One of them was named Nicodemus, respected leader of this sect, who studied and followed Jesus, and who questioned if Jesus was from God or not; in fact, reading the passage again, we can see he did believe Jesus was from God. Verse 2: "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do, unless God is with him." Again, pardon my reffering back to The Chosen, the tv series on the life of Jesus, but it is an awesome show! In that show, while visiting Capernaum, Nicodemus comes across a woman who is demon-possessed and while so, causes the Roman soliders to be worried about her behavior and disruptions she causes, and orders Nicodemus to do something about it. Nick tries an exorcism and fails. He says all the prayers he knows and is repelled by the power of evil. Soon, word gets to him that this woman is now a different person. Thinking that perhaps, his effort did work, he looks for her and finds it was not him, but someone else who was able to deliver her from this evil. He learns the name of this man is Jesus, and he becomes very interested in finding Him and trying to learn all he can about him, even calling for this night meeting where he was able to question Jesus about Himself. Jesus speaks to Nick about what is real and necessary to truly under Him and His ministry. The first thing, Jesus says, you cannot understand anything I do, if you are not spiritually connected to God. This rebirth, or being born again, means to be born spiritually anew; knowing that staying strictly carnal or physcially connected limits your understanding, it is best to be born from above, so that your mind will better understand the spiritual.
Jesus speaks also to Nick about speaking of what we know, and how easy it is to witness what we see, but yet, if we are not connected spiritually with God, we cannot understand the testimony and works of God. Jesus asks, "If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?" We see His point. One who does not spend time in prayer, worship, Bible study, Christian fellowship, and other disciplines geared to make us truly spiritual people, we will not truly understand spiritual things. I compare it to my being able to fully understand and enjoy soccer. I know nothing about soccer, and only enjoy the Spanish announcers yell, "Gooooooooalllll!" But, please don't ask me about the cards the referees hold up, or even how much time is left in a game. Nada. It reflects just how much time I have devoted to that sport. Nada. Sadly, there are various areas of my life where I have the same level of knowledge; ask my grandson about gaming; I know nothing about Minecraft, Halo, and other of his favorite video games; and hand me a controller and I will not know the first thing about how to jump, move, run, fight, shoot, etc. The time I devote to God blesses me in the things of God. The things Jesus was sharing with Nick are precisely the things that intrigued him and ultimately made him a believer in Jesus. Nick knew about Moses and the serpent, and soon Nick learned about Jesus being lifted up in the same way, but for eternal life. And then Jesus gives Nick the nugget that has blessed you and me, and so many; "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life." And further, "For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him."
Not a bad meeting for old Nick. He sought answers and he received them in the form of wonderful blessings that I know he did not expect. His perception may have been of a renegade rabbi who was doing and saying disruptive things, whom the Pharisees believed might be leading people away from God, but instead, Nick found that Jesus was doing the exact opposite, speaking life, eternal life, to all who might listen and believe. And, Jesus was speaking love and the fullness of life, which to this day, the Pharisees in my opinion, have not embraced nor understood. One can seek to hold onto tradition and customs and miss the entire point of God's plan. If you don't believe me, next church council meeting you have, propose, just for fun, that you tear down your present worship space to make a new one in another part of your town to reach new people. I'll bring the popcorn!
Seriously, the night was a night of transformation. Nick wanted a meeting; Jesus gave him an encounter. (Jesus is good at thiese! Ask Saul!, now Paul). If you seek Jesus on your terms, get ready to meet Him on His! Jesus has some amazing ideas on how to best live your life, and the only way to discover those is to be born again!
PRAYER: Loving God, help me in my spirit to be born new every morning. Life comes at me hard and sometimes I find myself giving in to human perspectives, like worry, doubt, despair, anger, regret, and a number of other worthless things; help my mind to be new with Your eyes and views. This prayer becomes that of those who seek and want the same for themselves. I want to konw You from my spirit; I want to be born again to know Your love better and deeper and to truly serve You in ways only You can share. In Christ Jesus I pray, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord. Show others what a truly born from above life is all about!
Receive my blessings of love and joy,
Pastor Eradio Valverde
