In this second week of our series, "The Cost of Connections," we delve into the profound encounter between Jesus and Nicodemus, a Pharisee and a ruler of the Jews. This series is designed to prepare us for Easter by exploring key interactions Jesus had during His earthly ministry. Today, we focus on Nicodemus, who approaches Jesus under the cover of night, symbolizing both his fear of being seen and the spiritual darkness he is in. Nicodemus, despite his impressive credentials and understanding of Jewish law, is confronted with a truth that challenges everything he knows: the necessity of being "born again" to see the kingdom of God.

Jesus uses the metaphor of birth to explain a spiritual rebirth that Nicodemus has not yet experienced. This concept is foreign to Nicodemus, who is accustomed to a life of religious adherence and societal status. Jesus emphasizes that true connection with God requires more than just curiosity or religious credentials; it demands a complete transformation and belief in Him as the path to eternal life. This conversation highlights the inadequacy of relying on personal achievements or ethnic heritage for salvation.

Nicodemus' journey is a reflection of our own spiritual quests. We often try to blend our self-righteousness with genuine faith, but Jesus calls us to a radical transformation—a rebirth that cannot be achieved through human effort alone. This rebirth is a gift of grace, accessible through faith in Jesus. The story of Nicodemus challenges us to examine our own lives and the areas where we might be holding back from fully embracing the light of Christ.

As we consider Nicodemus' story, we are reminded that true life and hope begin when we step into the light. Jesus' message is clear: belief in Him is the only path to salvation. This decision to follow Jesus is not just a one-time event but a continuous journey of faith and transformation. Whether you are hearing this message for the first time or have known it for years, the invitation remains the same: step into the light and experience the fullness of life that Jesus offers.

**Key Takeaways:**

- **Curiosity and Courage:** Nicodemus' approach to Jesus at night reflects both his curiosity and his fear. His willingness to seek answers despite potential judgment is a reminder that our spiritual journey often begins with questions and the courage to seek truth. [28:36]

- **The Necessity of Rebirth:** Jesus' teaching on being "born again" challenges Nicodemus' reliance on religious credentials. This rebirth is not about external achievements but an internal transformation through faith in Jesus. It is a call to let go of self-reliance and embrace a new life in Christ. [33:21]

- **The Cost of Following Jesus:** Nicodemus' story illustrates the cost of discipleship. Embracing Jesus may require letting go of societal status and personal achievements. True connection with God demands a willingness to surrender and be transformed by His grace. [38:30]

- **Stepping into the Light:** The decision to follow Jesus is a step into the light, leaving behind the darkness of self-righteousness and sin. This step is not just about avoiding eternal condemnation but experiencing the fullness of life and hope in Christ. [44:18]

- **The Invitation to Believe:** Jesus' message to Nicodemus is an invitation to believe in Him for eternal life. This belief is not a passive acknowledgment but an active trust in Jesus as the only path to salvation. It is a call to move beyond curiosity and make a personal commitment to follow Him. [48:38]

**Youtube Chapters:**

- [00:00] - Welcome
- [01:15] - Introduction to the Series
- [03:30] - The Importance of Easter Preparation
- [05:45] - Jesus and the Samaritan Woman Recap
- [07:20] - Introduction to Nicodemus
- [09:00] - The Nighttime Meeting
- [11:45] - Nicodemus' Credentials and Curiosity
- [14:30] - Jesus' Teaching on Being Born Again
- [18:00] - Nicodemus' Confusion and Questions
- [21:15] - The Spiritual Rebirth Explained
- [25:00] - The Cost of Following Jesus
- [28:36] - The Invitation to Step into the Light
- [33:21] - The Decision to Believe
- [38:30] - The Call to Surrender
- [44:18] - Conclusion and Prayer Invitation
- [48:38] - Closing Song and Reflection

**Bible Study Discussion Guide: The Cost of Connections - Nicodemus' Encounter with Jesus**

**Bible Reading:**
- John 3:1-21

**Observation Questions:**
1. What was the significance of Nicodemus approaching Jesus at night, and how does this reflect his internal state? [14:30]
2. How does Jesus' response to Nicodemus' question about being "born again" challenge Nicodemus' understanding of spiritual rebirth? [18:00]
3. What does Nicodemus' initial reaction to Jesus' teaching reveal about his understanding of religious credentials and spiritual transformation? [33:21]
4. How does Jesus use the metaphor of light and darkness in His conversation with Nicodemus, and what does it signify? [44:18]

**Interpretation Questions:**
1. Why might Nicodemus have felt the need to approach Jesus secretly, and what does this suggest about the cost of following Jesus in his context? [14:30]
2. How does Jesus' teaching on being "born again" redefine the concept of spiritual rebirth for Nicodemus, and what implications does this have for understanding salvation? [18:00]
3. In what ways does Nicodemus' story illustrate the tension between societal status and spiritual transformation? [38:30]
4. How does the concept of stepping into the light relate to the idea of leaving behind self-righteousness and embracing a new life in Christ? [44:18]

**Application Questions:**
1. Reflect on a time when you were curious about your faith but hesitant to seek answers. What steps can you take to overcome fear and seek truth courageously, like Nicodemus? [28:36]
2. Consider areas in your life where you might be relying on personal achievements or status for validation. How can you shift your focus to embrace the spiritual rebirth that Jesus offers? [33:21]
3. What societal or personal costs might you face in fully committing to follow Jesus, and how can you prepare to embrace these challenges with faith? [38:30]
4. Identify a specific area of your life where you feel you are living in darkness. What practical steps can you take to step into the light and experience the fullness of life in Christ? [44:18]
5. How can you move beyond mere curiosity about Jesus to an active, personal commitment to follow Him? What changes might this require in your daily life? [48:38]
6. Reflect on the metaphor of light and darkness in your own spiritual journey. How can you ensure that your actions align with living in the light of Christ? [44:18]
7. What is one specific way you can demonstrate your belief in Jesus as the path to eternal life in your interactions with others this week? [48:38]

Day 1: Curiosity Leads to Transformation
Nicodemus approached Jesus at night, driven by curiosity and a desire for truth, despite his fear of judgment. This encounter symbolizes the beginning of a spiritual journey, where questions and the courage to seek answers play a crucial role. Nicodemus, a Pharisee with significant religious knowledge, represents those who are searching for deeper understanding beyond their current beliefs. His willingness to seek Jesus, even in secrecy, highlights the importance of taking the first step towards spiritual transformation, regardless of the potential risks or societal pressures. [28:36]

"For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding; he stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk in integrity." (Proverbs 2:6-7, ESV)

Reflection: What questions about your faith have you been hesitant to explore? How can you take a step today to seek answers and deepen your understanding?


Day 2: Embracing Spiritual Rebirth
Jesus' teaching on being "born again" challenges Nicodemus to move beyond his reliance on religious credentials and societal status. This concept of spiritual rebirth is not about external achievements but an internal transformation through faith in Jesus. It requires letting go of self-reliance and embracing a new life in Christ. Nicodemus' struggle to understand this highlights the difficulty many face in accepting that salvation is a gift of grace, not earned by human effort. This rebirth is a call to experience a profound change in heart and spirit, leading to a genuine connection with God. [33:21]

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." (2 Corinthians 5:17, ESV)

Reflection: In what areas of your life are you still relying on your own efforts rather than embracing the grace of God? How can you open yourself to the transformative power of being "born again" today?


Day 3: The Cost of Discipleship
Nicodemus' story illustrates the cost of following Jesus, which may involve letting go of societal status and personal achievements. True connection with God demands a willingness to surrender and be transformed by His grace. This surrender is not a loss but a gain, as it leads to a deeper relationship with God and a more meaningful life. The journey of discipleship requires courage and commitment, as it often challenges our comfort zones and calls us to prioritize our faith over worldly success. [38:30]

"And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." (Matthew 10:38-39, ESV)

Reflection: What is one area of your life where you find yourself holding back from surrendering to Jesus? What would surrendering this area to Him actually look like in terms of daily habits?


Day 4: Stepping into the Light
The decision to follow Jesus is a step into the light, leaving behind the darkness of self-righteousness and sin. This step is not just about avoiding eternal condemnation but experiencing the fullness of life and hope in Christ. Nicodemus' journey from darkness to light serves as a powerful reminder that true life begins when we embrace the light of Christ. This transformation is an ongoing process, requiring daily commitment and openness to God's guidance. [44:18]

"For at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light." (Ephesians 5:8, ESV)

Reflection: What is one practical step you can take today to walk more fully in the light of Christ? How can this step help you experience the fullness of life that Jesus offers?


Day 5: The Invitation to Believe
Jesus' message to Nicodemus is an invitation to believe in Him for eternal life. This belief is not a passive acknowledgment but an active trust in Jesus as the only path to salvation. It is a call to move beyond curiosity and make a personal commitment to follow Him. Nicodemus' story challenges us to examine our own faith and the areas where we might be holding back from fully embracing the light of Christ. The invitation to believe is a continuous journey of faith and transformation, leading to a deeper relationship with God. [48:38]

"Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?'" (John 11:25-26, ESV)

Reflection: What does it mean for you to actively trust in Jesus today? How can you move beyond curiosity and make a personal commitment to follow Him more closely?

"We see Nicodemus' dilemma very clearly in this passage. And this is from, you know, a time that kind of shows up in the life of Jesus like this. Nicodemus, he has this amazing resume that he thought was enough. He thought he was just going to get a thumbs up from Jesus and be good to go. For him, he was an Orthodox Jew, which put him in a different caliber, in a different category in society." [00:27:03] (24 seconds) Edit Clip


"Jesus answered him, truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus said to him, how can a man be born again when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb? Now, in just a second, we're going to look at this. I choose a charitable interpretation of what he's doing here. Not everyone does. That's okay. But Jesus is going to use an idea of a modern thing that he would have understood about, and he's going to go deeper in an understanding of it." [00:26:17] (33 seconds) Edit Clip


"Throughout Jesus' life, we'll watch Nicodemus, even if we were to read the rest of the New Testament, grow in his understanding and devotion to Jesus. This is not the only place that he shows up. But here, he's just kind of like dipping his toes in the water of faith and exploration. But what about you? What are the questions that you would ask Jesus if you knew there would be no judgment and he'd give you an answer, even if you didn't immediately understand it?" [00:29:04] (30 seconds) Edit Clip


"Jesus, He finishes this section this way. He says these words, and this is the judgment. The light has come into the world and the people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. And then He continues, He says, but whoever does what is true comes to the light so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God." [00:43:05] (38 seconds) Edit Clip


"Imagine if all that got flipped upside down, if every part of your life, if everything you've been working on for your entire life seemed to have less or no value. Imagine if the advanced degrees turned out to be irrelevant, if coding became obsolete, if your best effort could be eclipsed in a way that you never saw coming. Now, the crazy thing is that for some of you, you're like, Phil, you're describing AI. It's already happening. Like, I feel that right now. But Jesus, He didn't represent a new way of getting work done." [00:33:21] (30 seconds) Edit Clip


"Jesus is saying with this idea that we need to be born again. It's going to take a complete start over. Our past pursuits of religiosity or spirituality, our best effort, will not work with Jesus. There is only one option to be able to know and experience the kingdom connection with him. And that's belief. It's by grace, this undeserved favor from God that we couldn't earn even if we tried, through faith, trusting in something we can't see with our eyes. Period." [00:36:50] (33 seconds) Edit Clip


"Nicodemus realizes in the moment that there is no world in which he can blend sort of being on the Jewish Supreme Court and following Jesus and sort of this syncretistic, how do I put all this stuff together and make it work kind of reality. But how about you? Like, we can think about that for Nicodemus and go, I get it. I understand. But I wonder, are there areas of your life that you go, well, there's some things, if I'm honest, even if I call myself a Christian, that I know are probably not honoring God, probably not connected to what God wants in my life." [00:35:26] (34 seconds) Edit Clip


"Now, Nicodemus, he is the only religious leader that we see during Jesus' earthly ministry eventually make the decision to become a follower of Jesus as his Lord, and he was shunned for it. As a matter of fact, church history tells us that there is one day after Nicodemus has been martyred, he's been killed for his faith, that his daughter, fallen so much from grace of his stature and influence inside of their culture, she's found foraging for food. Now, following Jesus will not likely cost you something quite like that in your immediate circumstances, but I guarantee you, I guarantee you that in eternity, Nicodemus will tell you of how worthy Jesus was and is to worship and submit your life to." [00:44:42] (47 seconds) Edit Clip


"Jesus uses metaphors like this all the time. Last week, we looked at food and water. Here, he's talking about birth. And he's suggesting to Nicodemus, a leading expert in religion, that if he can't get the basics in human terms, then it's probably impossible for him to expect to understand the deeper realities of the kingdom of heaven. Now, so much of what we live with here in Silicon Valley mirrors this. So much in the Bay Area is around this idea of the pursuit of knowledge and accomplishments towards the end of innovation or maybe purpose." [00:31:45] (39 seconds) Edit Clip

We'll be right back.

Well, good morning, Menlo Church, and welcome to the second week in our series, The Cost of Connections, that we are using to get us ready for Easter together. If you missed last week, I hope you checked it out online and that this series can be a conversation for you.

In this part of the year, we really do try to be intentional in the steps that we take to help prepare us to celebrate the resurrection. It can kind of sneak up on us. Easter is just one of those holidays, and I want to make sure that in as much as we can, it's a really important part of our journey of pursuing Jesus together. It's something that we know gets expressed and is represented at all of our campuses.

And so welcome, Saratoga, Mountain View, Menlo Park, San Mateo, those of you joining us online from around the world. We are so honored to have you with us.

I mentioned last week that one of the resources we've made available during the series is a daily devotional that you can do over this Lent or springtime season getting ready for Easter. You can find that devotional at menlo.church.com. It's available inside of the YouVersion Bible app, and you can jump into that by yourself or with friends. We'd love for you to take advantage of it. It's been fun hearing about people who are trying this as either a new or renewed spiritual practice in their life.

Now, during this series, we are joining Jesus in these key interactions that he had during his earthly ministry. And last week, we met Jesus with a woman at the well, a Samaritan woman, and he was using the idea of physical thirst to point to a deeper spiritual thirst. And Jesus has another profound lesson like that for someone named Nicodemus that we're going to meet today.

But before we dive in any further, I'm going to pray for us. And if you've never been here before or never heard me speak, before I speak, I pray kneeling. And part of the reason for that is the lessons that we believe God wants to teach us, like we're going to see in a minute, are lessons that we can only learn supernaturally. It can only be given to us by God.

So wherever you are in your faith today, would you pray with me that God would teach us exactly what we need for today?

God, thank you so much. Thank you for this hope that we have in you, either available or received, often a combination of the two. Would you help us, God, today to be able to hear and experience, learn and understand and apply what it is you want for us individually and as a result collectively. Help us not to just kind of coast through this or go through the motions, but really meet you here in this place. Thanks for waiting for us. Thanks for caring for us. Thanks for loving us, God, even when we don't reciprocate. It's in Jesus' name. Amen.

So as we get started, there's a phrase that's like kind of a mutually understood phrase universally across generations. You may have heard it in a boardroom or a classroom, but when someone wants you to participate, they will sometimes say this phrase, they'll say, "There are no stupid questions." You know, and you know the reason, like they want to get everybody to participate and they're like, "Hey, there's no stupid questions. Everybody ask a question."

But there is a problem, right? Like we've all kind of been in that moment. And even if we assume the best of possible intentions, somebody's just trying to get everybody to participate, here's the problem. Are there stupid questions? Of course there are stupid questions. Like we all know that there are. We say, "No, there's no stupid questions," but we know that there are stupid questions. If we're honest, we've been responsible for some of those stupid questions.

But the fear of asking can sometimes leave us silent. And so the person is trying to say, "Hey, even though you might say a stupid question, we care about you. Just ask it anyway." As a matter of fact, it's one of the reasons that I love hanging out with people who are just exploring Jesus for the first time. They're not afraid to ask questions. They don't know what questions not to ask or are off limits. So they ask all the biggest and the best questions, and they are not satisfied with overly simplistic answers or spiritual platitudes. They're going to keep pushing.

Today, we're going to explore an interaction between Jesus and a man named Nicodemus where he asks Jesus some really big questions, some questions that if you were in his shoes and in his circumstances of life, they're probably the questions that you would ask. And so before you judge, let's lean in, let's listen, let's explore the curiosity that he leads with that maybe God might put in us.

Also, in the final portion of our study today, we're going to add value, hopefully, and clarity to a passage that everyone, whether you're a follower of Jesus, call yourself a Christian or not at all, you have heard this passage before, and hopefully you'll walk away with a greater understanding of what it has to do with you.

Our story from the life of Jesus this week begins with a question in the dark. Now, darkness has a double meaning for John because the author of this account of Jesus' life uses light and darkness often to describe the situation that the person is in. It also has a double meaning because it's likely that Nicodemus is trying to avoid detection. He's trying to make sure that he can have this conversation with Jesus with as few people knowing about it as possible.

Now, I can relate to that. I have four kids, and so especially in the mornings when things are really quiet around the house and everybody's asleep, and I remember how difficult it was to get everybody to go to sleep the night before, I'm like walking through my house with old wooden floors trying to make sure like a spy that I'm keeping as quiet as possible so that I am left undetected. Maybe you have something like that in your life.

Nicodemus, he had an even bigger reason to make sure that he was careful about his conversation with Jesus. As a matter of fact, John, he begins our study in chapter three of his biography of Jesus' life this way. He says, "Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, '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.'"

And, you know, we've been talking about how obviously every passage we look at has kind of a specific context, and these Pharisees, these religious rulers, they've already been challenged by the ministry of Jesus and the way they see Him show up and do things that they've never seen before. And so we're going to look at just a few of these things that he keys into in his very first opening words to Jesus.

As a matter of fact, according to the first-century Jewish culture that we find ourselves in in this passage, the way that John is doing it, describing Nicodemus is really important. He's likely a part of a group called the Revered Seventy who, along with a high priest, made up something called the Sanhedrin. And if you're like, "I don't know what any of that means," think like Jewish Supreme Court. He is a big deal. This wasn't a fringe clergy member who went to Jesus. He carried incredible influence with the Jewish people, which makes what he says even more striking.

He says they knew that Jesus was from God, like we know. We've been talking. We know. And he's calling him a rabbi or teacher, assuming a level of authority, even as they felt threatened by his presence in the temple. This would be like your bully in grade school coming up to you and saying, "I know that you're cooler than me. I know that you're going to turn out to be much more successful in life. I pick on you because I'm feeling insecure and unsure of how to process the threat you represent to me," right? So if you've ever been bullied, that's pretty much what someone's feeling on the inside.

And here, Nicodemus is bold enough to say, "Look, we get it. There's something special and different about you." We're only in the third chapter of John, and the religious leaders are already seeing this kind of difference in Jesus. John, he actually continues this same interaction this way. He says this. He says, "Jesus answered him, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.'"

Nicodemus said to him, "How can a man be born again when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb?" Now, in just a second, we're going to look at this. I choose a charitable interpretation of what he's doing here. Not everyone does. That's okay. But Jesus is going to use an idea of a modern thing that he would have understood about, and he's going to go deeper in an understanding of it. It's what we see him do a lot in conversations like this one.

If you were here last week, you know that Jesus is amazing at this. As a matter of fact, this picture of a kingdom of heaven through language they understand is core to what Jesus did last week, and it's core to what he'll do here with Nicodemus. And Nicodemus does the same thing, by the way, that the woman did last week and the disciples did. Nicodemus had every reason, culturally and socially, to lead in this moment with judgment, every reason. But instead, he leads with curiosity.

And he's wondering how he could kind of fit in this, like, picture of what Jesus is talking about. So he's like, "Hey, should I, I don't, Jesus, how do I, like, get back into my mother's womb? Like, I'm an adult, you know?" He's trying to figure that out. And I don't know this to be true, but I don't think his mom was even interested in the conversation, right?

And again, some people, they think that he was sort of taking a dig. He was being critical of Jesus. I actually think he was being sincere, like just trying to have the conversation with Jesus. And Jesus explains that he's talking about a spiritual birth, really a rebirth that Nicodemus has not yet experienced, which was a really big deal.

See, Nicodemus is confused because even though some people make this point, like that this passage is about the requirement of water baptism for salvation, not only is that incorrect based on the context, if that was what Jesus was talking about, Nicodemus actually could have connected the dots because there was a version of baptism he could have thought about and connected it to and brought up. If he thought Jesus was talking about water baptism, the Jewish people had an act for that called mikvah, where converts to Judaism, people becoming Jewish or people who needed special cleansing would take part in a practice that looks a lot like what water baptism looks like today. He knew that Jesus wasn't talking about that.

We see Nicodemus' dilemma very clearly in this passage. And this is from, you know, a time that kind of shows up in the life of Jesus like this. Nicodemus, he has this amazing resume that he thought was enough. He thought he was just going to get a thumbs up from Jesus and be good to go. For him, he was an Orthodox Jew, which put him in a different caliber, in a different category in society. He came from the right family. That was a really big deal. He had the right ethnic background at the time, probably the thing he would have put the most weight in. And he followed all the rules.

And Jesus does not applaud his credentials or his curiosity. This is a brand new idea for Nicodemus. Every room that Nicodemus walked into, people were impressed to see him until Jesus. Sometimes we can expect our casual interest to impress someone. But when that person is an expert in the thing we're curious about, oftentimes it will take more than curiosity to move the needle with that person.

Throughout Jesus' life, we'll watch Nicodemus, even if we were to read the rest of the New Testament, grow in his understanding and devotion to Jesus. This is not the only place that he shows up. But here, he's just kind of like dipping his toes in the water of faith and exploration.

But what about you? What are the questions that you would ask Jesus if you knew there would be no judgment and he'd give you an answer, even if you didn't immediately understand it? I don't want to be weird about it, but like, why don't you? That's actually what prayer can be. It can include a conversation between you and God. I think sometimes we aren't sure if God will answer our questions or answer the way we want, and so we feel like we're going to kind of let him off the hook. Because if we answer and he doesn't, what does that mean? If he answers and he answers in a way we don't like, what does that mean? And so we just don't ask at all.

But maybe for you, part of your Lent experience, maybe even right now, in your notes or on your phone, just start a list of questions in the dark for God, questions that you would ask. If nobody else was watching, if you weren't going to be judged for the kinds of questions that you were asking, maybe those questions, even writing them down and admitting that you have them, would open your faith wider and take it deeper with God.

As their conversation continues, Nicodemus is confronted with an answer that changes everything, really, to a question he doesn't ask. Not only did Nicodemus have an impressive resume of accomplishments, but he also had unparalleled understanding of the scriptures. Nicodemus approaching Jesus was not like you or me going to WebMD first and then going to our doctor with our expert opinion on what we think we have or what we think the best course of treatment would look like. He likely had most of what we call the Old Testament or the Hebrew scriptures memorized.

In addition, he was consumed with applying the additional legal requirements that the Jewish leaders were regularly adding together that would later become known as the Mishnah. As a matter of fact, he was practicing and processing thousands of commands all the time in his life. And his rigid adherence to them was what he thought, what he believed would be enough for him.

On top of that, there was a teaching at the time that just being ethnically Jewish would have been enough to get you into the kingdom of heaven. And Jesus really pushes hard into some of these assumptions. Again, at this point, Nicodemus hasn't asked any questions, but Jesus answers one anyway, which he's pretty good at.

It says this, "If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life."

Basically, what Jesus is saying is, "Look, if you don't get the basic stuff, if you don't understand this, why would I waste any time on that?" Which, again, for Nicodemus, he's like, "Are you kidding me? I'm the expert. Like, I'm the one you should be explaining these things to."

Jesus uses metaphors like this all the time. Last week, we looked at food and water. Here, he's talking about birth. And he's suggesting to Nicodemus, a leading expert in religion, that if he can't get the basics in human terms, then it's probably impossible for him to expect to understand the deeper realities of the kingdom of heaven.

Now, so much of what we live with here in Silicon Valley mirrors this. So much in the Bay Area is around this idea of the pursuit of knowledge and accomplishments towards the end of innovation or maybe purpose. Some of you are quite literally changing the world each day as you show up or log on to work. Imagine if all that got flipped upside down, if every part of your life, if everything you've been working on for your entire life seemed to have less or no value. Imagine if the advanced degrees turned out to be irrelevant, if coding became obsolete, if your best effort could be eclipsed in a way that you never saw coming.

Now, the crazy thing is that for some of you, you're like, "Phil, you're describing AI. It's already happening. Like, I feel that right now." But Jesus, He didn't represent a new way of getting work done. He represented the one true path of salvation and entrance into the kingdom of heaven.

However you might be feeling the threat of AI or innovation to your status quo, Nicodemus was having a conversation with his threat face to face. See, Jesus, He tells him the rest of the story. He says that the Son of Man, which is like Jesus' name for Himself, had to descend from heaven and eventually will be lifted up again so that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life.

I think Jesus was probably too humble to like point at Himself as He was saying it, but we know the rest of it. We know what He's talking about. We call the message of salvation through Jesus the gospel. It's this Greek word, euangelion. That means the good news. But for Nicodemus, this was the worst news. The cost of connection to the kingdom he thought he had built his entire life around would cost him the way he had built his entire life. It was dramatic.

I mentioned to you before that my mom was a first-generation American whose family was Jewish. She didn't become a follower of Jesus until her young adult years, and when she did, she lived in a Jewish community. It cost her essentially every relationship in her life. Her entire Jewish community shunned her, and she had to start over. Now, I'm not judging those people. I don't know them, but I'm telling you, my mom knew that that was going to happen, and she did it anyway.

Nicodemus realizes in the moment that there is no world in which he can blend sort of being on the Jewish Supreme Court and following Jesus and sort of this syncretistic, how do I put all this stuff together and make it work kind of reality. But how about you? Like, we can think about that for Nicodemus and go, "I get it. I understand." But I wonder, are there areas of your life that you go, "Well, there's some things, if I'm honest, even if I call myself a Christian, that I know are probably not honoring God, probably not connected to what God wants in my life."

And so, I come every weekend, Phil, or, you know, not every weekend, but like you and I both know, as much as I can, and I'm here, I'm logging on, and I'm putting as much Jesus, as much kingdom of heaven in there as possible, and then I'll get home, and I'll do the Lent devotional for a while, and I'll, like, pray at work before a difficult meeting, or I'll, like, tell my significant other that we have to change how we communicate with each other. And look, Phil, it works. Both can coexist.

But just like with oil and water, eventually they don't. We can spend all kinds of time mixing them up, and a lot of us are. We're spending tons of time, just like Nicodemus was. One toe in each place in our life all the time. But just like this, it eventually just separates again. It never actually mixes.

Jesus is saying with this idea that we need to be born again. It's going to take a complete start over. Our past pursuits of religiosity or spirituality, our best effort, will not work with Jesus. There is only one option to be able to know and experience the kingdom connection with him. And that's belief. It's by grace, this undeserved favor from God that we couldn't earn even if we tried, through faith, trusting in something we can't see with our eyes. Period.

Maybe you read every new self-help book immediately upon its release, or you keep promising yourself that you'll have enough willpower to break through that destructive pattern, or you keep tweaking your routine, hoping that this time things will be different. But no matter how much effort you put in, no matter how much you keep shaking the different things in your life. And I mean, like, I know that some of you do. You're like, "Phil, you don't, I've been doing this new diet. It's amazing. I've got this new reading plan you told me about. It's so good. Everything's fine, Phil. Like, it's not a, it's not working."

You find yourself frustrated, exhausted, wondering why connection always feels just out of reach. And it's because real connection, lasting connection, soul-level connection doesn't come from small adjustments or tweaks or sheer willpower. It's something deeper than that. Something new. It comes from what Jesus told Nicodemus, "You must be born again," not just improved, not just modified, completely renewed from the inside out.

Which leads us to the point that Jesus is trying to make. We can start seeking in the dark. Curiosity is just fine. But true life, true hope begins when we step into the light.

Nicodemus would continue to appear throughout the earthly ministry of Jesus. We see him again if we were to read the New Testament together today. And eventually what we see is that he discovers and embraces Jesus as his Lord, which he's the only religious leader during Jesus' earthly ministry to do that. He finally understood and embraced what we see in our final verses today. That there is a decision that defines us. Whether you make it or not, you have made it.

This is the decision point. Curiosity isn't enough. Eventually we have to step into the light to discover the life that Jesus offers to us. One of the reasons that I think we struggle with this so much right now is because so many of the steps in life that feel like they should be permanent public commitments have been watered down. Marriage is maybe the leading example. The biblical vision of marriage is a covenant relationship between one man, one woman, with God at the center for a lifetime.

And even as I say that, I've triggered some of you for a bunch of different reasons. Like we're trying to soften the commitment or redefine the terms. It affects everything. When we can't have these things in our life, when we don't remember, even when we fall short, what God's standard is, we bring it to everything.

And so Jesus, He makes it clear with like one of the most famous verses of all time kind of leading off in the way. And sometimes if you're not somebody that comes to church, you think, "Well, I don't like it when you ask the room to do something because I don't know it," but you know this one. So I'm going to give you the beginning of this verse. Just give me the next phrase.

"For God so..." You're experts. You got this already. We can wrap it up. It says this. He says, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." That's an amazing verse. And Jesus keeps going.

"For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn it, but in order that the world might be saved through him." He continues on. He says this, "Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God."

So, you know, maybe that has a different sense to you as you look at the whole context of it. But imagine this with Nicodemus in this moment. An unbelievable promise about eternity that is standing right in front of him. But in order to experience it, he has to step into the light. In order to experience it, he has to understand it's not about like trying to mix these two different kingdoms together. It's about realizing that they can't be mixed together. He has to surrender his self-driven righteousness. He has to admit his sin and his frailty and believe that Jesus is the only path of hope.

Talk about a big moment, right? More than a quick coffee cup verse, we see in this passage that Jesus was sent by the Father to save the world. Talk about family pressure, right? We sometimes stop at verse 17 and we go, "Look, Jesus didn't come to condemn the world at all. He just came to love everybody." And actually, it can kind of create a distortion theologically into something called universalism, where we go, "Jesus came to save everybody. Eventually, that's going to happen."

The problem is that the passage keeps going, right? And in verse 17, Jesus says, "There's this group, this other group that I didn't come to condemn. And the reason is because I didn't need to. They were already condemned." Jesus came to die for you and me because we needed a perfect sacrifice to die for you and me. He came to give us hope because we were hopeless. He came to save us because we were in peril.

This picture, this connection that Jesus died to provide for us, it's this picture of belief that's available to each and every one of us. But if our belief stops at curiosity, if it never makes a decision, we may be stuck in our pre-existing condition.

Jesus, He finishes this section this way. He says these words, "And this is the judgment. The light has come into the world and the people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed."

And then He continues, He says, "But whoever does what is true comes to the light so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God." Light has this unbelievable power of exposing whatever is true about you. If there's things in your, in my life that you're like, "I don't want anybody to see that." Light's coming and it's going to expose it. And if you go, "I want to know God and I want to pursue God, even if it means big things in my life have to change," great, light will expose that too.

I think we can be so concerned, rightly so, about heaven and hell for eternity that we forget about something. Living in darkness isn't just about the hell you're headed to, it's about the hell you're going through, what you're subjected to, and you don't have to.

John emphasizes these themes of light and darkness as this kind of connection to hope that we can break away from our patterns of past pain and sin, maybe through your present patterns of those things, into a perfect connection to God because of Jesus. A connection that in this life, it is never too late to embrace.

Now, Nicodemus, he is the only religious leader that we see during Jesus' earthly ministry eventually make the decision to become a follower of Jesus as his Lord, and he was shunned for it. As a matter of fact, church history tells us that there is one day after Nicodemus has been martyred, he's been killed for his faith, that his daughter, fallen so much from grace of his stature and influence inside of their culture, she's found foraging for food.

Now, following Jesus will not likely cost you something quite like that in your immediate circumstances, but I guarantee you, I guarantee you that in eternity, Nicodemus will tell you of how worthy Jesus was and is to worship and submit your life to.

For some of you, this is an old story that you've heard before. And for others, you are facing the implications of this for the very first time. And the question is, will you step into the light?

Remember, we can start seeking in the dark. I'm glad you are if that's where you are. Curiosity lives there. That's great. But true life, it begins when we step into the light. Faith is always forged in personal belief.

So in a second, I'm going to give you a chance to make this eternity-shaping decision for yourself. Some of you are choosing to walk away from blending self-righteousness and real connection. And you've wanted, like, enough of Jesus to sort of mix it in, but not so much that a whole lot in your life has to change. You can still take some credit.

And for others, the mix is of indulgence and outright rebellion to getting you what you want and trading that for a life that embraces true hope in the light. The message of the gospel is that the foot of the cross is level for all of us. We all need it. That neither legalism that we see in Nicodemus nor license can save you. It's only by embracing the person and work of Jesus as your only hope of salvation now and forever.

In a second, I'm going to lead a prayer that God may be calling you to pray for the first time. It's not a magic spell, but if you find yourself needing to step into the light, today is the perfect day to do it. If you're ready to walk in the light of Jesus and believe in his saving work for you, I just ask you to pray this prayer with me.

And if you're a follower of Jesus, you call Menlo home, you probably know the drill by now. Now I'm going to pray this prayer. And as I do, would you repeat out loud with me so that some people around you who are praying it for the first time might have the courage of the saints as they make this choice too. Would you pray with me?

Dear God, thank you for loving me even when I was lost in darkness. Thank you for sending Jesus to be the way. Thank you for the gift of eternity. I confess my sinfulness to you and choose to submit my will to yours. Thank you for the hope of a fresh start that never stops and an eternity that starts right now. In Jesus' name, amen.

If you just prayed that prayer, I would encourage you to talk with your campus pastor today and connect with them around some resources and some next steps that maybe are perfect for you to take.

Now before we leave today, we're going to sing together and the next song we're going to sing captures this idea of the cost that Jesus paid for our connection and the cost that we gladly surrender in following him. Let's sing together.