John 3:10-16

John 3:10-16 “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “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 heavenly things? No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven — the Son of Man. 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 God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

1 Corinthians 2:10-11 The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.

Nicodemus knew Jesus as a great teacher, a man with special abilities, a

man with the power to perform miracles who attracted crowds of people. Yet Nicodemus

did not realize this man Jesus, this man of flesh and bones, as the anticipated Jewish Messiah, the Redeemer of mankind. Although Jesus performed signs and wonders, miracles that no man from the beginning of time could perform, Nicodemus could not look beyond his fleshly appearance to the essence of his identify: Emanuel, God with us. In today's passage, Jesus shares the truth of his earthly incarnation, his purpose for walking the hills of Galilee and calling people to his side.

Nicodemus probably could not comprehend fully that Jesus would be lifted on a cruel cross, making a way where there had been no way to life eternal. Later on with the Holy Spirit resident within him, he would come to understand Jesus' words:

no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. He would know the Son of God, the sacrifice for sin, that

whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

God has gifted every believer with the indwelling Spirit of Truth, our resident comforter, guide, and teacher. Without the revelation of the Spirit and the resurrection life and light He brings, the scriptures are like stone, not bread. With his help we find fresh manna and living water for our souls every day. Jesus fulfilled prophecy of Isaiah:

“Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. . .

Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David. (Isaiah 55:1 & 3)

Jesus cried out to the people: You who have ears, may your hear; you who have eyes, may you now see. Of course everyone listening to him and watching him had natural ears and eyes, but they did yet have spiritual ears and eyes that would cause them to listen and obey, to see and follow. IN CHRIST, we now see the promises of God fulfilled. We have been set free from sin and darkness; the Light of the world, Christ our Lord, has shined upon us and set us free. Through the Spirit, God teaches us his ways and writes his thought in our hearts. As we avoid the clamor of the world and the carnal pitfalls that distract and divert us, the Spirit transform us, enlivens us, and changes us from glory to glory. The still small voice of God begins to direct our paths, to encourage and comfort us as He leads us with the turning of his eye.

I have hearing aids that pick up sounds very well: the rustling of paper, the sound of a car engine, things that I could not hear for years. Yet even though I now hear many sounds better, these hearing aids do not discriminate well. The loud noises in my environment, the world around me, often drown out the voices of the people I want to hear. I cannot discern clearly what friends at church or my little grandchildren say to me. I have these hearing aids, but at times I am left without understanding. The same remains true in the spiritual world: we might hear every commotion and every discordant noise around us, but these interfering sounds prevent us from hearing the voice of the Lord: the Healer of our souls, the One who brings us truth and life. The cacophony of the world with all its false allure and empty pleasures will be the only sound that we hear unless we let the amazing Spirit of God attune us to another voice, the voice of God. When our lives lack direction and we follow the wrong voices, we are like a ship without a rudder on a tempestuous sea, tossed wherever the wind and waves take us. But in Christ we are not lost at sea; we are not sheep without a shepherd. Let us hear the voice of God and seek his kingdom and his righteousness above all else. May we look into his eyes and say, "Lord, Lord, let me hear your words. Teach me your ways that I might abide with you now and forever." Nicodemus heard truth from the lips of his Messiah, but his spiritual ears and eyes needed transformation through the power of the Spirit. Speak to us Lord: we are listening and looking to do your will.