FOR ENTRANCE INTO THE KINGDOM...
- Leave your intellect at the door
- Bring your faith produced by the Spirit
Nicodemus must have been a fairly bright man. He was a Pharisee, first of all. A major player in a religious sect that fervently studied the teachings of the Old Testament Scriptures and passionately preached a life of personal piety that was unmatched during that time. But Nicodemus was not merely a normal every-day Pharisee, he was also a member of the ruling council that governed the entire Jewish nation. That governing body was called the Sanhedrin. They had authority over both spiritual matters and matters involving the civil law in the Jewish community. And so when there was any dispute of any kind, whether it involved a question about an Old Testament custom or a punishment that had to be dealt with by the court, the people came to Nicodemus and his fellow council members to make the decision. But even that isn’t the end of Nicodemus’ résumé. Beyond being a Pharisee, over and above being a member of the Sanhedrin, Jesus himself calls Nicodemus “the teacher of Israel.” Not just a teacher of Israel, but the teacher of Israel. Jesus seems to be pointing out here that Nicodemus was either the most prominent member of the Sanhedrin at the time, the most well-known, the most respected, or all of the above. In any case, Nicodemus was a man of high-standing. He was a scholar of the Old Testament, an expert in the law, a judge of the people, and one of the spiritual leaders of the nation.
But Nicodemus didn’t seem so intelligent as he stood in front of Jesus one night. During the evening Nicodemus came to the Lord so that he could talk to him in private. But when Jesus told to him about being born again, Nicodemus responded, “How can a man be born when he is old?” And then when Jesus explained that no one could enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit, Nicodemus said again, “How can this be?” This great man Nicodemus didn’t understand! He didn’t comprehend what Jesus was saying. Nicodemus didn’t believe. “You are the teacher of Israel,” Jesus said to him, “and do you not understand these things? I tell you the truth, 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 spiritual things?... Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” For all of his wisdom, for all of his learning, for all of his understanding and experience, Nicodemus had yet to find the way to heaven. Because for entrance into that Kingdom he would have to leave his intellect at the door and bring only a faith provided by the Holy Spirit. The problem was: Nicodemus’ intelligence kept getting in the way.
I don’t think any of us here would claim to be as learned or as scholarly as Nicodemus was. I certainly wouldn’t. He knew the Old Testament better than we ever will, he had a higher position in the church than we will ever hold, and he had more spiritual responsibilities than we would probably ever want. But even though we may not ever be on the same intellectual level as Nicodemus was, our supposed “intelligence” gets in the way just like his did, doesn’t it? It gets in the way of the clear words of God. And it gets in the way of his perfect and unchangeable will as well.
There are times when we approach God in prayer and our intelligence gets in the way. It gets in the way of our prayers when we act like we deserve an explanation to a problem in our lives! “Why did you do this, Lord? How are you going to carry out your promise? When is it going to happen? Where will it occur?” Do we really think that we would be smart enough to understand God’s grand and glorious plan for all of his people of all time and how we and our little insignificant requests fall into that design if he would happen to tell us? We would not be able to comprehend the intricate details of his everlasting arrangement for all people! How could we possibly question the Lord Almighty and then actually expect that we would understand the answer we demand?
But it not only happens when we verbally release our frustrations to the Lord. Sometimes we approach his Word in the Bible with the same kind of faulty “intelligence.” Many times think that the teachings of Scripture have to make sense to us, otherwise they can’t mean what they clearly say. “That’s not possible… Something is missing here… I can’t comprehend how that all works so maybe it’s not exactly what it seems to be…” Our “intelligence” is getting in the way. At other times, passages seem to contradict what we’ve always thought and what we want to believe. And so we try to convince ourselves that there must be a few different interpretations of those passages that are possible so that one of them may match up with our way of thinking. Our “intelligence” is getting in the way. And at other times we like to make the executive decision about when and where God’s teachings apply to us. “God says to love our enemies, but this guy really doesn’t deserve it!” “God says to pray continually, but it doesn’t really seem to be working, so why bother?” “God says that we should stay away from joining together with people who don’t believe everything in Scripture, but that seems so cruel and unloving at times.” “God says that I should be constantly in and around his Word, but can’t I take a little break every now and then?” “God says that I should look out for the interests of others before I deal with my own, but sometimes my needs are more pressing than anyone else’s!” There are plenty of teachings that we pick and choose when to put into practice and even when to believe. Because we think we know better. Because we think we have the authority to do so. Because we think we are smart enough and mature enough to apply those words to our lives when we feel like it. Our “intelligence” is getting in the way.
And our intelligence at those moments is more than just a speed bump in front of God’s will. It’s more than simply an obstacle that he has to deal with every once in a while. Our uncompromising and blindly arrogant intelligence fights against God’s will! It ignores God’s Word! It challenges God’s plans and goes against his ways. Our intelligence sometimes even defies the intelligence of God himself! Because we want to be right. We don’t want to back down. And we will do everything we can to convince ourselves that God’s Word and God’s will really do match up with our cleverness after all so that we don’t have to change a thing.
I can understand why Nicodemus didn’t get it at first. I can see why he didn’t understand. Because what Jesus said to him was completely different than what he thought to be true. It was the opposite of everything he had ever experienced and seemingly contradictory to what he thought Scripture said. I can sympathize with the situation because I do the exact same thing. My supposed “intelligence” keeps getting in the way of God’s clear Word. And so that’s why I marvel at Jesus’ solution. The problem is: our “intelligence” keeps getting in the way of his clear Word and his perfect will. But to solve the problem, Jesus doesn’t make his Word match up with our way of thinking. To solve the problem, he doesn’t bend or change his will so that we will be able to perfectly understand how he operates. To solve the problem, Jesus doesn’t give us hints and clues so that we can figure it all out before we can enter the Kingdom of God. No, just the opposite! Instead of making intelligence the deciding factor, he takes intelligence completely out of the equation. For entrance into his Kingdom we must leave our intellect at the doorstep. We can only enter with a faith produced by the Holy Spirit.
And that is exactly what Jesus told that highly intelligent man, Nicodemus. “I tell you the truth, unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Where’s intelligence in this picture? Where’s logical reasoning and the powers of the mind? Nowhere. Entrance into this Kingdom is only open to those who are born again. But what does it mean to be born again? Is it something that we have to bring about by our own doing? Is it something that we have to achieve in some way by making a decision for Christ? “I tell you the truth,” Jesus says, “unless a man is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter the Kingdom of God.” Where’s intelligence in this explanation? Where’s logical reasoning and the powers of the mind here? Nowhere. Entrance into this Kingdom is only open to those who are baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Because when we are baptized into that name we are given faith in our Savior, “so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” Everyone who believes that Jesus died on the cross for all of their sins so that they no longer have to meet any requirements for salvation is already saved. Baptism by the power of the Spirit producing faith in Jesus Christ by the grace of God the Father. What role does our intellect play in this scene of our salvation? Where are the characters of logical reasoning and the powers of the mind in this script? Nowhere. Entrance into this Kingdom is only open to those who believe in Jesus as their Savior. That’s it. Intellect must be checked at the door. Faith from the Spirit is the only thing that you can take inside.
And what a comfort that is to me! What a comfort that is to know that my entrance into the Lord’s Kingdom is not going to depend on whether I understand everything or not, whether I can logically explain everything or not, whether I can fully comprehend all of God’s ways and means or not. My entrance into God’s Kingdom is already set because of the faith in Jesus given to me at my baptism. And, in fact, that is exactly what faith is! Faith is believing that which you cannot prove. It is trusting that those things you can’t explain are nevertheless absolutely true. It is being fully confident that those things that don’t make any sense at all are still undeniable facts because God himself tells you they are in his Word. That is the faith that has been given to you. That is the faith that will give you entrance into the Kingdom of God.
I don’t want to make it sound, though, like intelligence is always a bad thing. It is certainly a blessing from the Lord and it should be used as such. We are to make use of our God-give intelligence to read his Word and to apply his Word and, to an extent, even understand his Word. But when our intellect comes head to head with a clear passage of Scripture that is completely against all logical reasoning, Scripture must win. Every time. Because God knows better than we do. He knows what he wants to say, we don’t. He knows what the truth is and we don’t have the prerogative to decide for him. Use the intelligence God has blessed you with. But use it with the understanding that God is allowed to veto any thought you have at any time with his clear words of Scripture.
Nicodemus eventually understood that because even he was brought to faith in his Savior. Later on in the book of John we read that Nicodemus stood up for Jesus when the rest of the Pharisees were looking to arrest him. And then at Jesus’ death, there on the hill of Calvary, Nicodemus was one of the two men who risked their lives by taking Jesus away from the cross, wrapping him in strips of linen and aloes and myrrh, and laying him in a tomb. Nicodemus believed. Not because of his intelligence, but despite his intelligence. And that was all right with him. Because he realized that his salvation didn’t depend on his efforts. It rested on the efforts of the one he had reverently laid in the grave, and the one who rose from that sealed crypt three days later. And that is where your salvation lies as well. On the work of God the Son, on the love of God the Father, and on the power of the Holy Spirit. The brilliantly intelligent plan of the Triune God has saved you. The entrance into the Kingdom of heaven is open. You may go in.
Amen.
“May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” - 2 Cor. 13:14
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