Embrace Your Spiritual Curiosity To Find Spiritual Truth.

In the Flesh Dan Hamel
John 3:1-18 January 7, 2024

Imagine being in a classroom as a student again, either high school or college, and you are in a class to learn. You have a great professor and it’s fascinating subject matter. You are sitting next to three students. One student is bright, but arrogant. He thinks he knows all there is to know about the subject already, so he doesn’t really pay attention; he’s pretty much checked out. There’s another student who doesn’t care about learning at all. He’s only there because he has to be there. He doesn’t take notes. He’s totally disinterested. He doesn’t ask questions. He’s bored and often falls asleep on the desk. There is a third student who is eager and loves to learn. This is a subject that he believes he will put into practice in his vocation one day, so he’s all in. He makes constant eye contact with the teacher. He takes vigorous notes, dialogues with the professor when there is opportunity, and reviews the notes when the class is over. He really, really wants to learn. Which of those three students is going to get the most out of the class? Which of those three students do you think will do best on the test? Not the arrogant student who thinks he knows it all. Not the distracted, disinterested student who has no interest in learning. We all know that the engaged, committed, eager student, has the best way to approach education.

Now, let’s zoom out. It’s not a classroom anymore—it’s life. The goal is not to learn about mathematics, philosophy, or history; we have to discover how to live, what’s important, what’s true, what’s good, what really matters, if there is a God, if so, how to know him, if we have a soul, if there is eternal life, if so, how do you find it. These are questions that matter more than words could ever express. In the classroom of life, where the stakes matter immensely, what kind of student have you been? How much interest and diligence have you shown? Have you been arrogant because you think you already figured it all out? Have you been distracted and sleeping through class? Or have you been eager, humble, engaged, wanting to learn everything you possibly can? What kind of student have you been? What kind of student do you want to be?

Today, as we open up God’s Word and continue our series in the book of John called In the Flesh, we are going to meet Nicodemus, a man who exemplified the ideal posture of learning as he came to Jesus and asked him questions about the most important aspects of life. Let’s take a look at their interaction:

“Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, ‘Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him’” (John 3:1-2). There are several things we learn about this man right away. First, we learn he is a Pharisee, which meant he was one of the most educated as well as one of the most religiously committed and conservative people in the entire country. He’s also a member of the Jewish ruling council. This was the most elite and powerful group in Israel. There were 71 men, chosen as the wisest throughout the entire nation, who served in a role like the US Senate and the US Supreme Court combined. So he is educated and brilliant, religiously committed and theologically conservative; he’s wealthy, powerful and connected.

We also see that he came to Jesus at night, which tells us that he was going out of his way to meet with Jesus and that he wanted the interaction to stay off the books, to be on the down low, because a man of his status couldn’t be seen publicly interacting with someone as politically fringe and potentially dangerous as Jesus. Finally, we see that he respects Jesus. He calls him “Rabbi” and says, “We know you are a teacher who has come from God.” The other religious leaders saw Jesus as a threat, so they treated him with hostility; Nicodemus comes with both honor and humility.

Jesus cuts right to the chase: “Jesus replied, ‘Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again’” (John 3:3). Jesus basically tells him, “You are right—I have come from God, and if you want to understand who God is and what his kingdom is like, you have to be born again.”

This was rather confusing to Nicodemus. “‘How can someone be born when they are old?’ Nicodemus asked. ‘Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!’” (John 3:4). He’s thinking in physical terms, but Jesus is talking about a spiritual new birth. “Jesus answered, ‘Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit’” (John 3:5-6). This is an unbelievably important concept that Jesus is unpacking! He is talking about the flesh and the spirit—flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. He is saying that we all have bodies and a spirit. We have this flesh, and with our bodies we can procreate and make children. But we also have a spirit, which will live on after our bodies are dead and buried. By procreating, our bodies can bring new physical life into the world. That’s within our control and ability. But there is nothing we can do to bring spiritual life into the world. Only the Spirit, capital S, only the Holy Spirit can give life to a person’s spirit.

Jesus continues: “‘You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit’” (John 3:7-8). Jesus is saying you cannot see the Holy Spirit with your eyes, just like you can’t see the wind. But you can go to a place that has been struck by a tornado and see the path the wind took. It’s unmistakable. It’s undeniable. The same thing is true when the Holy Spirit comes into a person’s life. They don’t need a new driver’s license photo afterward, because some things don’t change. But in reality, they are an entirely different person! Jesus is giving him incredible insight into heavenly realities.

I love how Nicodemus responds: “‘How can this be?’ Nicodemus asked. ‘You are Israel’s teacher,’ said Jesus, ‘and do you not understand these things? Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man’” (John 3:9-13). Jesus is telling him that if you want to understand heavenly realities, you need to listen to the one and only person who has come from heaven. We have a guy in our life group who is from Cameroon. We got to spend some time together over the holidays and he told me what it was like growing up in his village. He didn’t have electricity or running water. Their village has a king who runs things. It’s a lifestyle I knew nothing about. I needed someone who came from there to tell me about it. Jesus is the one and only person who is qualified to teach us about heaven—what it is like and how to get there—because he is the only person who has come from there.

Look at what Jesus says next: “‘Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him’” (John 3:14-15). At this point, Jesus is making a connection to what happened in Israel’s past. This event is recorded in Numbers 21. At that time, God’s people were journeying through the wilderness and many of them were bitten by poisonous snakes. People started dying. God told Moses to fashion a snake out of bronze, put it on a pole, and lift the pole into the air, then anyone who looked up at it would live. Jesus is saying just like the Israelites had to recognize their need and look up for help, Jesus will one day be lifted up, literally nailed to a cross and raised into the air, and as people look to him, they will find life.

Though it seems strange that this horrible death would happen to the Son of God, Jesus says this is the very reason he came into the world.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. (John 3:16-18)

Jesus came into the world so that everyone could escape the penalty of sin and death and receive eternal life. This is a picture of a courtroom. God the Father is the judge and all of humanity is in the courtroom as the defendants, you and I included. We are all judged based upon the life we lived and the decisions we made, and because we have all sinned, when the gavel drops, we will be found guilty and be condemned. But then Jesus enters the courtroom. He lived the perfect life, so when the gavel drops for him, he will be found spotless and righteous. And here’s the mystery of God’s grace: all of us who stand behind Jesus, who place their faith in him, do not receive the condemnation or punishment we deserve. If we stand behind Jesus, if we place our faith in him, then when the gavel drops, when judgment comes down, we are given the righteousness of Christ. Apart from Christ we are condemned. In Christ, we are saved.

I love this passage. This is one of the more well-known chapters in all of John’s gospel and it contains the most well-known verse anywhere in the entire Bible! A key insight we discover from this interaction is genuine spiritual curiosity leads to genuine spiritual truth. I want to break this down into two important parts. Let’s begin by talking about genuine spiritual curiosity. That’s what Nicodemus modeled in this interaction. He went out of his way to meet with Jesus. He didn’t approach Jesus with suspicion or cynicism, but with sincerity and respect. He listened, he asked questions, he engaged in dialogue. Even when Jesus challenged him for not knowing things he should have known (“You are Israel’s teacher and you don’t know these things?”), he didn’t defend himself or get angry; he leaned in so he could understand things even better. That’s what we need to do: we need to ask good questions, come to Jesus for answers, and be willing to put whatever he teaches us into practice.

We need real curiosity. I have a friend who is very passionate about sharing his faith. Sometimes he meets people in public and in order to start a conversation with a person he’ll ask them: what do you think happens when you die? He told me that recently more and more people are responding to that question by saying: “I’m not sure. I haven’t really thought about it.” Perhaps the most important question that could ever be asked, and people, by the masses, aren’t even reflective. We get so immersed in our consumerist world, with our devices and social media, our shows and sports, our small group of friends which unintentionally functions like an echo-chamber. As Neil Postman said, we are amusing ourselves to death. We need to reawaken our sense of genuine spiritual curiosity and be zealous for things that matter!

Listen to these verses from Proverbs and Deuteronomy:

• “Those who seek me diligently find me” (Proverbs 8:17 ESV).
• “You will seek the Lord your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul” (Deuteronomy 4:29 ESV).

Is there that sort of earnestness, of zeal, of commitment in your heart right now when it comes to the things that matter most? One of the things the guys in my life group committed to doing to seek after God diligently, to search after him with all our hearts and all our souls, is to read through the Bible together this year. We want to be purposeful about seeking God. We were texting each other this week, talking about what we are reading, and one of the men said that his 9-year-old son is going to join us in our journey. I love that zeal. Maybe you’d like to join us as well.

In addition to the Bible, I want to offer some suggestions of books you could read you if you want to grow in your understanding of God.

• Mere Christianity by CS Lewis
• Cold Case Christianity by J Warner Wallace
• The Case for Faith by Lee Strobel
• Devotional Classics by Richard Foster and James Bryan Smith

We don’t want to be arrogant and assume we already know everything. We can’t afford to be checked out and disengaged, to spend our lives glued to the screen watching sports and Netflix and social media. We have to realize the value of eternal things, to have genuine spiritual curiosity, and go out of our way to learn, grow, and develop.

Our main idea is that genuine spiritual curiosity leads to genuine spiritual truth. We’ve talked about how important it is for us to have genuine spiritual curiosity like Nicodemus; now let’s dive deeper into the genuine spiritual truth he discovered. Jesus unpacks two foundational truths.

First, we must be born again. Jesus says this as clearly as possible in John 3:3: “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” This is a very important teaching of Scripture that we all have to grasp. The Bible teaches again and again that though we all have physical life, we are moving and breathing and alive, we do not all have spiritual life. The Bible teaches that because of our sin, we are spiritually dead and are in desperate need of God giving life to our spirit.

Ephesians 2:1-5 tells us, “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins…But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.”

1 Peter 1:3 says, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”

We are 100% reliant upon God to do this work. We can’t try hard enough, we can’t do enough good deeds, we can’t earn or strive our way into new life. Right now, my vertical is about 25 inches. I can jump up and touch a basketball rim. But just barely. If I worked really hard and trained for a while, I would probably be able to add 8 or 9 inches to my vertical and be able to dunk again. But I could train for my entire life and never be able to jump to the moon. That’s just not possible. Trying to gain spiritual life by doing good things, telling the truth, caring for the poor, working for social justice, is like trying to jump to the moon. You might make incremental improvements, but you are still hundreds of thousands of miles short. Like only a rocket can take you to the moon, only God can give life to your spirit.

When God gives life to your spirit, that’s what it means to be born again, which leads to the second truth: When God gives life to your spirit, that’s what it means to be born again, which leads to the second truth: new birth comes through faith in Jesus. The new birth that God gives us isn’t just general grace that is sprinkled down from heaven. It doesn’t come from our simply hoping it to come, or wanting it to come, or from us asking for God’s help. God’s salvation, our new birth comes specifically and singularly through the work of Jesus Christ, and through our placing our faith in him. Look at what we read in this passage:

“Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life…Whoever believes in him is not condemned.” (John 3:14-16, 18)

Did you see what is emphasized here? Whoever believes may have eternal life. Whoever believes shall not perish. Whoever believes is not condemned. New birth comes in one way, and one way only—by looking to Jesus. Jesus said that like those in the wilderness who were dying from poisonous snake bites had to look to the snake lifted upon a pole in order to be saved, we have to look to Jesus, who has been lifted up. He was lifted at his crucifixion when he was placed on the cross as he paid the price for the sins that we committed. He was lifted up at his resurrection when he rose from the dead and conquered the grave. He was lifted up at his ascension, when he was taken to heaven and seated as the right hand of God the Father. He died for us. He rose from the dead. He reigns over heaven and earth. Salvation comes as we look to him and place our faith in him.

Imagine that you have a life-threatening illness. You know you will die if you don’t get help. Inside a safe is a medicine that will instantly cure you and make you 100% well. All you need to do is get access to this safe. If you choose the wrong key, it doesn’t matter how much confidence you have that the key is correct, or how well-intentioned or sincere you are. That key won’t let you in. If you choose the right key, then even if you have insecurity and lack confidence and conviction, when you place it in the lock, the door is going to open. Jesus is the key to life. Those who look to him and place their faith in him are born again.

That’s what Nicodemus did. He placed his faith in Jesus, and he was willing to put everything on the line because of his devotion. When he first went to Jesus, he went at night, under the cover of darkness, because he didn't want anyone to see him with Jesus. In John 7, when the Jewish leaders wanted to arrest and kill Jesus, Nicodemus spoke up in defense of him. Then, after Jesus had been arrested, beaten, and hung on the cross, and a spear was run through his side, he was dead; his lifeless body was hanging in disgrace, exposed to the elements, and who but Nicodemus and another man of high standing named Joseph climbed up on the cross, took Jesus’ body down, anointed him with spices, wrapped him in linen, and placed him in a tomb. It’s hard to express how much faith this took. Even Jesus’ own disciples were hiding in a locked room thinking that, if people knew they were his followers, they would be killed, too. Nicodemus was literally risking his life to do this. Next, caring for a dead body was the work of the poorest, lowest-ranking people in society. But Nicodemus, one of the wealthiest, highest-ranking people in the entire country, threw his pride and his status aside and cared for Jesus and cleansed him. He risked it all because he had come to place his faith in Jesus.



Recorded in Indianapolis, Indiana.