Our Lutheran father in the faith, Philip Melanchthon, wrote, “The mysteries of God are to be adored, rather than investigated” (Loci Communes, 1521 edition). He is correct. For after confessing the faith in the words of the Athanasian Creed, who can fully explore, let alone, understand what we just confessed?
In the Athanasian Creed, we just confessed the “what” of our faith: that God is one God in three persons. Yet, the Creed does not even come close to explaining the “how,” how God could be who He is.
That’s the mystery of the faith. We can know the “what,” even if we never fully understand the “how.” It’s that way in our Gospel reading with Nicodemus. But with Nicodemus, he wants to know the “how” even before he is willing to accept and believe the “what.”
Nicodemus was a Pharisee. He heard Jesus speak and saw Him perform miracles. So Nicodemus knew that Jesus was from God in some way, but he wanted to know more. So one night, Nicodemus quietly went to visit Jesus. Then the conversation began, with the “how” questions soon making themselves known.
Jesus: “I assure you: Unless someone is born from above he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (vs. 3)
Nicodemus: “How can anyone be born when he is old? He can’t go back into his mother’s womb a second time and be born, can he?” (vs. 4)
Jesus: “I assure you: Unless someone is born of water and Spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” (vs. 5)
Nicodemus: “How can that be?” (vs. 9)
Nicodemus asked “how.” How can someone be born when he is old? How can that be? But Jesus never answered the “how” for Nicodemus. Instead, Jesus focused on what–what is and what must be. “Unless someone is born of water and Spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”
Like Nicodemus, we are slow to believe unless we first understand. We insist on asking “how” because we think the answer will help us better believe the “what” that Jesus gives us.
Like Nicodemus, we want to probe the mystery of God. Like Nicodemus, we want to know “How can this be?” The answer Jesus gives is the answer He has always given. Trust in “what” I tell you, even if I never reveal the “how” of what I tell you.
This trust, this faith, that Jesus urges us to have–it’s not only of the intellect or emotion. That’s what frustrated Nicodemus. And that’s what often frustrates us. For we don’t want a faith unless we can first see how it can be. We want to understand, know, feel, and be convinced of what we first are to believe. We want to trust in only in what we can first see or experience. The Bible calls that walking by sight instead of by faith (2 Corinthians 5:7).
But Jesus says, “Trust in what I tell you. For the ‘how’ may or may not ever be revealed.” After all, you may not be able to understand the “how” anyway. And the matter of faith is always trust, even when you can’t understand the “how,” or even when your senses tell you otherwise.
Yet, Nicodemus continued to ask, “How? Can a man crawl back into his mother’s womb to be born a second time?” Obviously, Nicodemus wasn’t even getting what Jesus was saying. Nicodemus was thinking about physical, human birth. That’s why Jesus steered him away from such thinking. Jesus said, “Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh, and whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit” (vs. 6).
Nicodemus thought what Jesus said to him was absurd. How can an old man crawl back into his mother’s womb? But Jesus was speaking of spiritual birth, not a physical rebirth. And God brings about spiritual birth where no spiritual life had earlier existed. That’s why it’s a birth, not a rebirth!
It was a classic case of apples and oranges. Jesus was talking about one thing; Nicodemus thought He was talking about something else. Jesus was talking about spiritual birth; Nicodemus thought He was talking about physical rebirth. That’s why Nicodemus was talking about being “born again” when Jesus was speaking about being “born from above.”
Nicodemus missed the whole point. That’s why Jesus said to him, “You’re a teacher of Israel, and you don’t understand this?” Jesus told Nicodemus what He would use to bring about–not physical rebirth–but spiritual birth. Through “water and Spirit,” Jesus will bring about spiritual birth (vs. 5).
Understand and believe what Jesus is saying: spiritual birth comes about by “water and Spirit.” And where does water and Spirit join to do this? At baptism. The Holy Spirit in the water gives you spiritual birth where only spiritual death once lived. Believe in what Jesus tells you, even if you don’t understand how.
In His conversation with Nicodemus, Jesus never did answer the “how” of baptism. Perhaps, it was because Nicodemus wasn’t even getting the “what” of what Jesus was saying. That’s why it made no sense to move on to the “how.”
But later in Scripture, God answers, in part, how He does what He does in the water of baptism. To hear that answer, we turn to the Apostle Peter. In his first letter, Peter talked about the great flood in the Old Testament. But instead of talking about whom the water killed, he focused on whom the water saved. Peter wrote: “In the days of Noah, while an ark was being built; in it, a few–that is, eight people–were saved through water” (1 Peter 3:20).
Peter said that God saved 8 people through the water of the flood. It’s then that Peter links baptism to the flood. He continues, “Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you.” Corresponding to what? Corresponding to Noah and his family being saved through the water in the flood, that’s what. In other words, in the same way that God saved Noah and his family through water, “Baptism now saves you.” The Apostle Peter explains what Baptism does: “Baptism now saves you.” They are words of God straight from the Scripture.
And it’s from there that, under Holy Spirit inspiration, Peter explains the “how” of baptism. “Baptism now saves you–not because it removes dirt from your body–but because it is an appeal to God for a clean conscience” (1 Peter 3:20-21). So baptism does wash away something. But the whole point of baptism is not if it happens to wash some dirt off your body. The whole point is that it gives you a clean conscience toward God.
That’s the “how” of baptism: Through “water and Spirit,” Jesus gives you a clean conscience toward God the Father. It’s exactly as Peter preached at Pentecost: “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus the Messiah.” Why? “For the forgiveness of your sins” (Acts 2:38). So baptism washes away your sin. Ah, forgiveness of sins–now that’s a clean conscience toward God!
Our Small Catechism puts it this way.
How can [the] water [of baptism] do such great things?
It is not the water, but the word of God in and with the water that does these things, along with the faith, which trusts this word of God in the water. For without the word of God, the water is simply water and no Baptism. But with the word of God, it is a Baptism–a grace-filled water of life and a washing of the new birth in the Holy Spirit, as St. Paul says in Titus chapter three: “He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit …” [Titus 3:5].
You have received that baptism. You have been baptized by water and Spirit. If not, please come and talk to me. By the Spirit, you get to believe that all of what Scripture says about baptism is true–even if you don’t know fully understand “how” it can be. You know that through “water and Spirit,” through baptism, Jesus gives you a clean conscience toward God the Father.
Hang onto that truth. Hang onto the baptism that Jesus gives you. For that is where the Spirit is, breathing into you the breath of life, giving you spiritual birth where only death once reigned. In Baptism, the entire Godhead–Father, Son, and Holy Spirit–are at work for you, giving His all for you, and fulfilling His promises of eternal life for you.
Live in your baptism. When you look at the baptismal font, recall your spiritual birth by “water and Spirit.” Every day, return to your baptism by turning away from your sins. And know this: No matter what you’ve done and no matter how bleak life may get–your Lord God will never give up on you. For He is the same Lord who has given you spiritual birth where only spiritual death once reigned supreme.
That’s the point Jesus makes when He answers Nicodemus. He points you to the sure and certain work that He gives you in baptism. And because of that, you can say in the Spirit that Jesus Christ is your Lord.
Jesus will see you through everything because He has died your death, suffered your sin and hell, and now lives His life with you, in you, and through you. That’s the God you have, who gives you spiritual birth through “water and Spirit.” Amen.
