“THE RIGHT ANSWERS - THE WRONG QUESTIONS”
John 3:1-17

There's an old riddle that poses the question, “How do you get down off an elephant?” And the answer is, “You don't. You get down off a duck.” I'll let that sink in for a moment. The initial reaction, of course, is that the answer doesn't fit the question.

That's probably what Nicodemus was thinking when he heard Jesus' reply to him—the answer didn't fit the question.

Now, Nicodemus hadn't actually asked a question, per se, but there was certainly a note of confusion implied in his statement. "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him." It's clear that Nicodemus wasn't sure what to think about Jesus. You can almost sense him asking, “Just who are you?”

And this is how Jesus answers his curiosity: He says, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." It seemed as though the answer didn't quite fit the question.

Think of it this way. What if you came to your pastor and asked a question concerning a certain Bible story and you received a reply that was something to the effect of, “You can't be saved unless you have faith.” No doubt, that comment would take you back a bit. You might find yourself thinking, “My question wasn't about my salvation.” “And just what are you implying about my faith???”

Well, the Lord had that divine ability to look inside of Nicodemus' heart and to understand that, before Nicodemus could ever begin to understand anything which Jesus told him, he would first need the faith to recognize who Jesus is according His saving identity. Or, in Jesus' own words, it was necessary that Nicodemus be “born again.”

But what did that mean, to be “born again”? Obviously, Nicodemus himself wasn't sure. For, he responds, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?" And, almost with a hint of chastisement, Jesus responds, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things?”

In other words, Nicodemus was one of the prominent Jewish leaders in the community. He, of all people, should have understood these spiritual, Scriptural matters. But, obviously, he didn't. And the reason? It was be cause Nicodemus was a sinner. And, as such, he didn't naturally possess the faith to understand these things. Just as anyone of us would be totally unable to comprehend these spiritual things if not for the gift of the Holy Spirit given to us. For, only through the through the workings of God's Spirit, are we able to be born again, to understand by faith just Who Jesus is and for what purpose He came into this world.

And, in that respect, we often find ourselves as clueless as Nicodemus was when it comes to these matters.

For example, when we look at the various things which take place in our lives—the things which confuse us and overwhelm us, things like personal strife with other people, sicknesses, tribulations, and the manner in which things don't quite turn out the way that we hoped that they would—when we confront those things we are often prone to ask the question, “What's the sense in all this? Why are these things happening to me?”

And so, we approach the Lord in prayer, saying something to the effect of, “I know that you are someone sent from God… more than that, I know that you are true God yourself! I know that you, having ascended into heaven, have the power to work any kind of miracle in my life. And I also know of your claim that I am your own. So, please explain to me how all of these difficult circumstances can possibly be for my good?”

And, more often than not, the Lord must respond to us in the same manner in which He responded to Nicodemus. To paraphrase, “You call yourself a Christian and you don't understand these things? My dear child, you must be born again!” Which is to say, “You need to believe that Jesus is your Savior.”

That, however, is probably not the answer that we expected or were even looking for. We would rather get practical advice from God. We would like Him to show us in His Word just what steps we have to take in order to deal with our difficult situation in order to make it go away. It's as though we are saying to ourselves, “I already know that Jesus is my Savior—that's not the question I'm asking.” “Lord, you're not listening to me.”

But the Lord is listening. And He is speaking. It's just that our ears aren't tuned in to what He's been telling us all the while—the message that comes through so loudly and clearly in today's text: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

It has been called the, “Gospel in a Nutshell,” the perfect, concise summary of what the Christian faith is all about. And what that message is all about is our SALVATION. Jesus Christ came into this world for sinful people who could do absolutely nothing to save themselves from their sins. Jesus came into this world to do what we could never do. And that is, to live the perfect life for us, which we are incapable of living ourselves, and to die and offer the all-sufficient sacrifice for our sins, a payment which we would never be capable of rendering to God the Father.

And this, dear friends, is the place where we must begin when it comes of all of our questions, all of our puzzlements, all of our doubts concerning our relationship with God and vice versa. For here is the divine truth in plain terms: God the Father is our Creator. We are totally accountable to Him. We can never second-guess the absolutes which He has laid down to govern our lives. He doesn't simply call for our best efforts. He calls for us to be holy.

And that's a very easy thing for us to forget. Sometimes, instead of looking at God as the One around Whom everything in our life centers, we would much prefer to start with ourselves and see God as being confined to one portion of our lives. He's the One Who has to do with church . The rest of my life is my own.

And that's what it means to be a sinful human being—to be in constant opposition to the very first of the commandments; to place anything or anyone before God. And we don't have to look very far to see who that foremost idol is. It's each one of us.

And this idol might be willing to see Jesus as someone who has come from God. But we have a difficult time in recognizing that Jesus is the one and only true God. And yet, there's not enough room for the two of us in our hearts.

And in order to see that, we must be born again. We need the Holy Spirit to give us a brand new life, a brand new perspective on things. Because more serious by far than any earthly life matter is concerned, is the eternal life matter of our salvation. We will certainly live under the crosses of trial and tribulation in this life—but none of those things can begin to compare to an eternity of hellish torment separated from God the Father—which is the factual judgment that awaits all those who do not believe in Jesus Christ.

And urged on by the temptations of the devil, we can easily dig in our heels and fill our hearts, minds, and lips with all sorts of overconfident, challenging questions for God, and stubbornly determine that the only answers we will accept are those which our reasonable mind can agree to. And that's how faith gets crushed.

But God so loved the world, that He has provided us with the one answer which trumps all questions—namely, how can we poor, miserable sinners possibly be saved? Through the gift of Jesus Christ whose blood cleanses us from all sin.

Think of the questions which plague you today? What answers to life's difficult questions are you insisting upon? And… what replies has God already given to you through His commandments that we just might be ignoring for fear of having to repent of our behavior?

The answers, people, are all found in John 3:16. There is a reason why God had to give His only begotten Son. It's because we pitiful sinners. There's a reason why salvation comes simply by faith in Jesus. It's because God has already provided all that is needed for our salvation in His Son Jesus; so that there's nothing left for us to do that simply trust that it is true.

How does one deal with the riddle of all of life's difficulties? The answer is, you and I don't. Rather, we have been born again through baptism into the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It's the right answer to all of our wrong questions.

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