When Nicodemus came to Jesus by night, he seemed confused by the idea of being born again. I always thought his response to Jesus to be a bit simplistic. “How can that be?” he says “can a man return to his mothers womb after he is old?” Hold, on, Nic, don’t you realise that Jesus is talking in metaphors. It’s not about physical birth. He’s a spiritual teacher, remember.
The thing is, Nicodemus was no fool. He was a Rabbi, a member of the Jewish ruling council. He knew his stuff. He spent his days talking in riddles and parables. And, in asking that question, he actually opens up a whole other area of philosophical inquiry, one that continues to confuse and to challenge.
If I become a Christian at the age of, say, twenty, what happens to all the stuff that has gone on before. Is it just obliterated? Do I just become like a clean slate? What about all the bad stuff that I have done, and the bad stuff that has been done to me. Do
es it no longer affect my life?
Well, yes and no. We do continue to be exactly the way we are, with all those early influences that shaped our character for good or ill. The big difference is that the perspective has shifted and the control has changed. Now are freed. No longer bound by the terrors of the past. Sin – abuse – hatred – lust – addiction. None of this stuff any longer has any power over us.
No wonder then, when Jesus died on that dark day on the cross, that it was Nicodemus who emerged from the shadows along with Joseph of Arimathea, to take down the body and lay it in the cold tomb. He’d learnt where true freedom and new life was to be found.
1 comment:
I love reading you blog. It's been awhile since I have written. You are often in my prayers.
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