We do not wait to understand how electricity works before we flip on the light switch. We do not wait until we understand the chemistry of medicine before we take a prescribed antibiotic, do we? And we don’t wait until we understand how an automobile engine works before we go for a ride. It is amazing how much faith we humans have in things that we don’t understand. Yet when it comes to things of God, we hold back. Why?
Today we listen to Jesus talk with one of the leading Pharisees, Nicodemus. He was part of a group of teachers who thought they had the “corner of the market” when it came to things of God, whereas in fact they were still at the preschool level (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.’”
As familiar as we are with the wind, none of us has a clue how it works. Suddenly, out of nowhere there is a gust of wind, and then it quickly dies out. Meteorologists talk about the weather, but they know little about how it all works. Jesus said that at the spiritual level, the Holy Spirit blows like the wind. We don’t know when it will show up or how long it will last. Likewise we have no control over the Holy Spirit; yet the Holy Spirit is as real as the wind.
“Nicodemus answered and said to him, ‘How can this happen?’ Jesus answered and said to him, ‘You are a teacher of Israel and you do not understand this? Amen, amen, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but you people do not accept our testimony. If I tell you about earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things?’”
Nicodemus was supposed to be a smart guy, yet he and his colleagues did not accept what Jesus was saying. Didn’t they admit the existence of the wind even though they couldn’t understand it? Why didn’t they admit the truth that the Holy Spirit was trying to convey to them through Jesus? These skeptics questioned everything and took the position that no one was smarter than they were. They wanted Jesus to prove to their small minds the truths of God about which he spoke. Though they thought of themselves as “graduate students,” they were still fumbling along in preschool. Of course, they didn’t understand the things of God any more than they understood how the wind works, yet they closed their minds when Jesus tried to teach them.
“And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.”
When people looked at the bronze serpent that Moses put before them, they were healed of a deadly disease. Did Nicodemus understand how this happened? Predicting his crucifixion, Jesus said that when he was lifted up, the deadly disease of sin would be removed from those who believed in him. How could this happen? Was Nicodemus going to wait until he understood perfectly all of this before he accepted Jesus into his life?
In our “scam-saturated” age we have become skeptics about everything. The Evil One exploits this by trying to sow seeds of doubt in our minds about Jesus and his Church. “Did you ever think that Jesus might be just another scam?” he tells the people of our age.
We have been given the gift of faith to accept Jesus and his teachings, not because we understand them, but because we trust in him. Are some waiting before they have clarity on the things of God before they step out and turn their lives over to Jesus Christ? Jesus is the only begotten Son of the living God, the Word made flesh, the fullness of truth. Why would we hesitate to follow him?
Come Holy Spirit, breath of God, and flow anew upon us.
