Daily Devotional • August 12
A Reading from John 3:1-31
3 Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, 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 Nicodemus 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 Nicodemus 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. 18 He who believes in him is not condemned; he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For every one who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21 But he who does what is true comes to the light, that it may be clearly seen that his deeds have been wrought in God.
Meditation
A lot of bad things can happen at night, but a lot of good things too. One thing about nighttime encounters is that you usually have more privacy and freedom from interruptions or distractions. Countless romantic songs praise meeting someone special at night; think of “Tonight, Tonight” from West Side Story, for example.
For whatever reason, the Pharisee Nicodemus comes to visit Jesus at night for a private talk, the only such nocturnal visit in the Gospels, because he believes that God is with this man somehow.
Jesus tells him that a person must be “born anew” to see the Kingdom of God. Nicodemus asks how a person can re-enter the womb to be born all over again. He is highly educated, not dense. He is keeping the conversation going in the way that Pharisees did when discussing the Scriptures. Jesus replies with a discourse on the Spirit, the mission of the Son of Man, and the universality of God’s love for the world he created. It is the Spirit of God that will enable a person to be born again into the Kingdom. Jesus’ mission, once he descended from Heaven, is to tell the world these “heavenly things” and to offer people who believe in him life in the Kingdom. His coming into the world is the testament of God’s love; his purpose is not to condemn us but to save us. But he warns that judgment comes also because some will prefer the darkness they already live in to the light he is bringing.
This passage, especially verse 3:16, is often called “the little Gospel.” Sermons and dissertations cannot plumb all the depths of meaning one finds here in Jesus’ words, all because someone wanted to talk to Jesus alone — one on one. As you read, imagine yourself alone with Jesus. Listen to what he is saying to you, and then believe his words and let the Spirit give you new life right here and now.
The Rev. Dr. Jean McCurdy Meade is a retired priest of the Diocese of Louisiana, formerly the rector of Mount Olivet Church, New Orleans.
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Daily Devotional Cycle of Prayer
Today we pray for:
The Diocese of Idah – The Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion)
The Episcopal Church in Wyoming