Curiosity killed the cat. At least that’s what people say when you’re asking questions they aren’t comfortable answering. Is curiosity a bad thing then? Not necessarily. Thanks to curious people and their inventions we have life-saving medicines and can travel from here to the other side of the world in a matter of hours instead of weeks. But curiosity can be dangerous. Just think of how many explorers have died trying to satisfy their curiosity of what lay on the other side of the ocean or jungle.
Yes, it’s important that we exercise our curiosity correctly. That’s especially true in regard to spiritual matters. Through the example of a man named Nicodemus we’re going to learn that the curiosity of unbelief questions God’s ways while the curiosity of faith accepts God’s answers.
Nicodemus was a Pharisee and member of the ruling council of Israel. He was a man who had devoted his life to studying the Old Testament and trying to live a God-pleasing life. Although his fellow Pharisees didn’t think very much of Jesus and in fact opposed him throughout his ministry, Nicodemus saw something in Jesus that piqued his curiosity. So instead of taking his co-workers word for what Jesus was all about, Nicodemus thought it important to go straight to the source and hear first hand the claims Jesus was making about himself.
Nicodemus’ example is worth emulating. Unfortunately many people today are content to believe what some “expert” or Hollywood movie has to say about Jesus and the Bible. Go ahead, listen to what they have to say but then compare that with what the Bible says. Ad fontes! “To the source!” as they used to say in Latin. Only by going to the source of Christianity will you really know whether or not this religion is worth following. Don’t draw any conclusions until you have investigated and weighed all the evidence put forth in the Bible.
As you study the Bible you’re going to find some teachings that don’t make sense. Even the scholar Nicodemus found that to be true. Listen to this exchange between Nicodemus and Jesus. “Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” 4 “How can a man be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born!” 5 Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 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.” 9 “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked” (John 3:3-9).
What did Jesus mean that one must be born again to see the kingdom of God? Certainly Nicodemus couldn’t climb back into his mother’s womb, could he? For many that would have been the end of the interview. Cleary Jesus was a crackpot. He said things that made no sense. Ah, but that’s the curiosity of unbelief. It questions God’s ways without waiting for an answer or explanation. It doesn’t want to admit that God might know something we don’t. No, don’t give in to the temptation of dismissing Bible-teachings out of hand. Instead follow Nicodemus’ example. Ask for clarification. Keep engaging the God of the universe in conversation. In time he will make his teachings clear.
So what did Jesus mean that one must be born again? Well the first time we are born we inherit from our parents a sinful nature. That’s the point Jesus was making when he said, “Flesh gives birth to flesh” (John 3:6a). We’re like an email that has a virus. Such an email might look harmless but it will do a lot of damage to a computer. That’s why we install firewalls on our computers. We want to keep those viruses out. In the same way God has set a firewall around heaven. Only those without the virus of sin can enter or they’ll mess up paradise, as did Adam and Eve after they disobeyed God. The kind of life we all pine for – a life where children always obey their parents, and parents always have time for their children. A life where husband and wife never argue, where no one rudely cuts you off on the highway, where people really mean it when they ask: “How are you?” - that kind of life is only possible in a world without sin.
Nicodemus may have thought that as a Pharisee and scholar of the Old Testament he had done enough to gain entrance into heaven to enjoy such a life. But no, Nicodemus too was a sinner. In fact in that one day alone how many needy people had Nicodemus walked by without stopping to help because he was in a hurry? How many unkind thoughts had passed through his mind when he thought of his co-workers? No, Nicodemus too needed saving. That’s why Jesus began the conversation by saying, “I tell you the truth, no one [not even you, Nicodemus] can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again” (John 3:3).
So how does this rebirth happen? It happens through water and the Spirit said Jesus (John 3:5). This was a reference to baptism. Through baptism the Holy Spirit comes into our lives and creates faith in what Jesus did to forgive our sins. Just as we had nothing to do with the first time we were born so we had nothing to do with the time we were reborn. Conversion is God’s work.
This was still all too much for Nicodemus. “How can this be?” he asked (John 3:5). I don’t understand it either. How can God call me forgiven and cleansed of my sin just because a little water has been sprinkled on my head and his name invoked at my baptism? It’s not important that I understand how this works but simply to believe that it does work. That’s what Jesus meant when he said: “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 3:8). I don’t need to understand everything about atmospheric pressure to believe that there is such thing as wind. I can feel it even if I can’t see it or understand how it works. In the same way I don’t need to understand how the brakes on my car work before I’ll step on the brake pedal to stop the car. And so I shouldn’t have to understand everything God tells me in his Word before I come to trust his promises. This is what it means to exercise curiosity correctly. Go ahead, ask questions of God but then in faith accept the answers he gives.
Why should I accept the answers God gives in his Word if I can’t make sense of them? I can believe God’s answers because he loves me and has my best interest in mind. Jesus made that clear when he said: “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life” (John 3:14, 15). Jesus had Nicodemus recall an incident from Israel’s march to the Promised Land. One day after the Israelites complained again about the food God provided for them, God sent poisonous snakes that bit and killed many people. The Israelites quickly repented of their sin of grumbling and asked God to save them from the snakes. God listened to their cries and had Moses do something curious. He told Moses to make a snake out of bronze and put it on a pole. God then promised that whoever looked at the bronze snake would be healed. That bronze snake served as a picture of what Jesus would come to do. He would be lifted up on a cross and God promises that all those who look to Jesus in faith will be saved from their sins. Why should I listen to God even though not everything he says makes sense? I want to listen to him because if he sent his Son to shed his blood to pay for my sins, he certainly has my best interests in mind. He wants us to be in heaven with him and the only way we’ll get there is by trusting that Jesus died and rose again to take away our sins.
Did Nicodemus come to believe in Jesus? Yes! About three years later he was one of two men bold enough to take Jesus’ body down from the cross and lovingly prepare it for burial even though this act would have clearly marked Nicodemus as a follower of Jesus and therefore made him an enemy of those who hated Jesus enough to arrange for his crucifixion. And to think such devotion to Jesus all started with a little curiosity.
The fact that you are here this morning must mean that you have some level of curiosity about Jesus. Will that lead to the level of devotion Nicodemus showed towards Jesus? Will you one day gladly risk your reputation to be known as a follower of Christ? Will you spend your time and money to serve him? That might be hard to imagine right now but it is what God wants. And it is what we’ll gladly give when we come to learn and appreciate who Jesus is: our Savior from sin and hell. No, you may have not come to this conclusion yet but if you keep engaging God in conversation and keep listening to his answers in his Word, as did Nicodemus, in time you will cherish Jesus as your savior. You won’t regret it. Amen.
