The Nicodemus Problem

The third chapter of John’s Gospel begins, “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.”

 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”

“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!”

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.”

Nicodemus took Jesus literally; Jesus tried to correct his thinking. Nicodemus was not alone in his literal thinking; most of his colleagues in the Sanhedrin were struggling with the same problem. They were looking for a Messiah/King of a literal sort; Jesus did not fit their interpretation. They wanted a King David in armor slashing his way through the Roman legions to Jewish victory and independence. They completely missed the “Suffering Servant” Messiah of Isaiah and others.

Misunderstanding what it means to take the Scripture literally may still cause more problems today than simple disbelief. A person who says he doesn’t believe the Bible is true or that he doesn’t believe in God at all is easier to deal with in some ways than the believer who confuses the word “literal” with the word “true.” Every word in the Bible is true, but not every word is meant to be taken literally. When Jesus said that people should pluck out an eye if it caused them to sin, he did not mean it literally. When Isaiah said the Messiah would be a shoot out of the root of Jesse, he did not mean that either Jesse or Jesus were vegetable rather than animal. Certain types of literary expression demand non-literal interpretation.

The most obvious contemporary expression of this situation concerns the book of Revelation. Almost all of the “difficulties” in interpretation disappear if one takes into account that “revelation” is a translation of the Greek word αποκαλυψις, transliterated as “apocolupsis.” The word means “revelation,” and it is the name of a peculiar type of literature used by prophets in the Scripture. While apocalyptic literature is intended to “reveal” something true, it often does so in obscure ways. Ironically, the truth being revealed is often hidden in highly symbolic or figurative language. John used this type of language throughout the book of Revelation.

Almost everyone recognizes that the prophecies of Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel and the rest are full of images, symbols and figures of speech. Few people expect literal fulfillment of the picture language, but look instead for real-life representations of the figures. One simple example may serve to illustrate. Daniel chapter 2 describes a statue king Nebuchadnezzar saw in dream. Daniel told him that the statue represented various kingdoms that existed or would exist in the future. The action the king saw was a picture of the political future of his world. No one in the court (or today) expected a literal statue to be crushed by a literal rock. A true reading is a non-literal reading, but still reveals truth.

Nicodemus did not understand that Jesus the Prophet was using figurative language to describe a literal truth. Being “born from above” (aka born again) is a figurative way of saying that one must enter into a new kind of life to become a part of the Kingdom of God, not a second passage through the waters of birth, but a spiritual passage through the “wind” (Greek word: spirit) of belief and obedience. Most people who try to interpret Revelation literally are having the same problem Nicodemus had. Trying to make all those dragons and bowls and trumpets literal taxes belief. Seen as symbols for the normal actions of human beings in political and ecclesiastical history, they make perfect sense. We just need to follow Jesus instead of Nicodemus.

But What Did You Do Today?

I have implemented a new component in my daily devotions. Each day of the month I read a different Bible benediction as a prayer. I have people on my prayer list for whom I often have no specific requests, so I pray the daily benediction for them. Today’s verse was from Galatians 6:18, “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers.” It got me thinking what it would mean to have grace “with your spirit.” My prayers often dwell on physical things: health, finances, emotional well-being. What would a prayer for “grace… with your spirit” look like? Here is where the thought led me.

Your body has an expiration date. It may be days, years or decades in the future, but it will expire sometime. You feed and water and dress your body with care every day. You spend hundreds, thousands or even hundreds of thousands to keep your body in working condition. Most of us consider a properly functioning body to be of great importance, perhaps of greatest importance. Still, even unbelievers have a sense that their life is more than a body. With Hamlet they ask, “What dreams may come when we have shuffled off this mortal coil.”

If you believe the Bible’s description of what it means to be human, you know that the body is simply a temporary vessel in which the real, true, lasting person exists. Technical differences in theology aside, all believers expect to enjoy an existence that transcends the mere mortal one we know now. Some believe that we will get a new, glorified body and live on a renewed Eden-like earth. Others think that our existence after we shuffle off the mortal is so new, so different from what we know now that it cannot be adequately described. Whatever the case, it remains that the physical body we now inhabit will be superseded by a most excellent replacement.

 Along with this, the Bible makes it clear that there will be continuity between this life and the next. The New Testament is full of admonitions to live this life in view of the one that is to come. Our ultimate destination is predicated on our machinations here and now. Jesus taught us to “store up treasures in Heaven” that would await us when we die. When Jesus was about to depart this earth, He told His disciples that he was going to prepare a place for them to be with him. John said that we don’t know precisely what our form will be in that place, but that we will be like Jesus, “for we shall see him as he is.”

There is nothing wrong with trying to live a healthy life. The believer’s body is, after all, “the temple of the Holy Spirit,” and we should not consciously demean or destroy it. Paul also said physical exercise is good, but it is even more important to exercise godliness because it holds promise for the next life. So go to the gym; eat healthy; watch your weight. Just don’t forget that those things only maintain a temporary temple. This body has an expiration date, whether it’s three score and ten, or some other unknown number.

The real question here is what have you done today  for the real you – the one that’s going to last forever somewhere in some form based on something you are doing right now. Did you eat today; sleep last night; get that twenty minutes of cardio? Fine. What did you do for the real you? The strength to bench press 350 pounds will not be sufficient to lift your weight of regret if you get to the expiration date without having done the simple things to strengthen your eternal spirit.

Enjoy your time at Gold’s gym or the Golden Corral; just remember: it will be short compared to eternity. And may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen.