How many face masks do you have? Five years ago, the answer would have been “zero” for most of us. Now? I think I have about ten of them in various places. There was a time when masks were required everywhere, and I carried one in my pocket all the time. Now I have compartmentalized my masks. I carry two of them in the “glove compartment” of my car in case I visit a place where they are still required.
What about cell phones? Do we “compartmentalize” them? I don’t. I carry my cell phone with me all the time. It is an essential tool in my life.
We not only compartmentalize things, we also compartmentalize people. It is a way we have of “writing off” certain people who might rub us the wrong way. The religious leaders of Jesus’ time compartmentalized him. Among themselves they may have talked about Jesus as a “typical young, upstart rabbi who had a messiah complex.” It was only when he began to infringe upon their territory that they were forced to remove him from their mental compartments. At a point they put him in a new compartment—that of a death-deserving criminal who, they judged, was not fit to be part of their religious world.
Today we are told of a leading Pharisee who began to de-compartmentalize Jesus. At the same time, he wanted to hide his interest in Jesus by arranging to visit him at night. This man’s name was Nicodemus (John 3:7-15).
“Jesus said to Nicodemus: ‘You must be born from above. The wind blows where it wills, and you can hear the sound it makes, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes; so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
Jesus’ words did not fit any of Nicodemus’ mental compartments. He was talking about something that extended beyond all the religious rites and knowledge. What does it mean to be “born again from above?” How do you go about making this happen? Jesus said that the work of the Holy Spirit is as uncontrollable and unpredictable as the wind.
Nicodemus asked the logical question. How can one be born again? Jesus answered,
“You are the teacher of Israel, and you do not understand this? Amen, amen, I say to you, we speak of what we have seen, but you people do not accept our testimony.”
Did we catch what Jesus said? He compartmentalized Nicodemus and his associates by calling them “you people!” The religious leaders thought they had a corner-of-the-market on God and religious knowledge. From their lofty position they could look down on Jesus and call him a “Messiah wannabee.”
As a matter of fact, Jesus was the true Messiah, the one they professed to be waiting for. As a matter of fact, Jesus was the Word through who they were made, and the author of all truth. One’s eternal destination is determined solely on whether or not we receive him into our hearts.
What about us? Do we compartmentalize Jesus? Do we put him in our glove compartment in case we may need him someday, or do we actively carry him with us at all times, the way we do our phones? Have we been able to shed our fears and our pride and let him into our hearts as Lord and God? Being products of our age, we have a tendency to relegate Jesus to the category of great religious leader but not make him the center of our lives.
Jesus, come into my heart.
