Seeking Jesus

2^nd Sunday in Lent (A) February 17, 2008
Seeking Jesus (John 3:1-17)

On a star-studded night, Jesus sat at a table with the light flickering in the breeze on a friend’s rooftop retreat, poring over the scriptures. The darkness either of early morning or night seemed to be the best time for Jesus to be alone for contemplation, prayer, reading and thinking. No crowds bothered Him, no one reached out for special attention, no activities swirled around Him.

Yet, on this particular warm evening, Jesus heard footsteps climbing ever so slowly the outer stairs leading to His sanctuary. Turning to see who it was breaking into His concentration and meditation, he observed a man dressed in the robes of one of the most prestigious religious sects of Israel…that of a Pharisee. His name? Nicodemus.

He represented one of the six thousand Pharisees in Israel known as the CHABURAH or brotherhood. Like the rest of the brotherhood, he had taken a pledge before three legal witnesses that he would spend all of his life observing every detail of the scribal law. The truth is, he would rather die than break one of those laws.

Commentator RVG Tasker says that Nicodemus was more than a teacher of Israel. He was “the” Teacher of Israel. If a question arose concerning the Holy Scriptures, everyone turned to him as the Authority. The late Dr. Ralph Earle called him “the most distinguished member of the Sanhedrin.” This man’s youthful vigor and zeal had become mature knowledge and ageless wisdom. He had distinguished himself as a scholar, communicator and teacher. All of Israel knew his name. But for all his fame and scholarship on his quest for God, the personal relationship eluded him.

Listening to Jesus – the home grown, uneducated carpenter’s son turned itinerant Rabbi – intrigued Nicodemus. Jesus’ message resonated with relationship with God. He seemed so at ease when talking about God, as if they were on speaking terms and not just religious terms. To Jesus, God was not a case study from the Torah, but alive and real as well as involved in life. This concept struck a chord in Nicodemus’ heart.  Ascending the steps in the hush of the night began the journey of discipleship for Nicodemus for the rest of his life.  It transformed his academic pursuit to a heart pursuit of God!

Today Jesus calls us to that same pursuit with which He challenged Nicodemus that night. Nicodemus was an authentic seeker that night; maybe you are, too. Maybe this is your day to begin that journey.

 I. An authentic seeker looks for Jesus earnestly and inquisitively (v. 1-2).

Connie Willems asked, “Remember when?maybe back in high school?you had your eye on someone but weren’t sure he or she noticed you? Did you ever ‘happen’ to be where that person was at a certain time each day?” In an article written for Discipleship Journal, she asked several people that question and she said that it generated both laughter and stories. Some responded, “Oh yeah! I knew exactly when to walk down a certain hallway at school, in hopes of seeing him.” “I didn’t really need a soda, but I would go through the McDonald’s drive-thru to get one anyway, because that’s when she was working.”