Good Enough

Show Notes

John 2:23–3:15 (Listen)

Jesus Knows What Is in Man

23 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. 24 But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people 25 and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.

You Must Be Born Again

3:1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus¹ 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.” 3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again² he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.³ 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You⁴ must be born again.’ 8 The wind⁵ blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

9 Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” 10 Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? 11 Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you⁶ do not receive our testimony. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.⁷ 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.⁸

Footnotes

[1] 3:2 Greek him
[2] 3:3 Or from above; the Greek is purposely ambiguous and can mean both again and from above; also verse 7
[3] 3:6 The same Greek word means both wind and spirit
[4] 3:7 The Greek for you is plural here
[5] 3:8 The same Greek word means both wind and spirit
[6] 3:11 The Greek for you is plural here; also four times in verse 12
[7] 3:13 Some manuscripts add who is in heaven
[8] 3:15 Some interpreters hold that the quotation ends at verse 15

(ESV)

What is Sermons from Redeemer Community Church?

Redeemer exists to celebrate and declare the gospel of God as we grow in knowing and following Jesus Christ.

Jeffrey Heine: 00:00

Hey, everybody. We're gonna be in John chapter 2 and 3 today. I, I never know on a holiday weekend like this if, if you all are the righteous few, the cream of the crop, or if you just don't have any friends with a lake house. So we'll see we'll see by the end which one it is. Okay?

Jeffrey Heine: 00:27

But turn with me to John chapter 2, the the end of chapter 2, and then we will read the first part of chapter 3. We've been in the study of John's gospel for a number of weeks now. Last week, we looked at Jesus cleansing the temple. And today, we move out of that scene into the the dialogue between Jesus and Nicodemus. So we will be in John chapter 2.

Jeffrey Heine: 00:51

We're gonna start with verse 23. Let's listen carefully for this is God's word. Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover feast, many believed in his name. When they saw the signs that he was doing. But Jesus, on his part, did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.

Jeffrey Heine: 01:28

Now there was a man, 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 Jesus answered him, truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. And Nicodemus said to him, how can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?

Jeffrey Heine: 02:19

Jesus answered, truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, you must be born again. The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the spirit.

Jeffrey Heine: 03:01

Nicodemus said to him, how can these things be? And Jesus answered him, are you the teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things? Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. If I have 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.

Jeffrey Heine: 03:38

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. The word of the Lord. It's with your heart. Let's pray. Lord God, our father, we thank you that here with each other, we can call on you and listen to you.

Jeffrey Heine: 04:08

Before you, we are all equal. You know the life, thoughts, path, and heart of each of us, down to the smallest and most hidden detail. And before your eyes, none is righteous. No, not one. But you have not forgotten, rejected, or condemned a single one of us.

Jeffrey Heine: 04:34

Quite the opposite, you love each one of us. You know what we need and will grant it to us. You will look at nothing but but the empty hands that we stretch out to you in order that they might be filled, not sparingly, but richly. In the suffering and death of Jesus, your dear son, You were gracious and exceedingly helpful when you took our place and you took our darkness and our laments on yourself, And you have made us free to come to your light and rejoice as your children. In his name, we ask that you now give each of us something of your good Holy Spirit, so that in this hour, we may understand you, understand ourselves, and understand each other a little better.

Jeffrey Heine: 05:32

And thereby, we may be quickened and encouraged to take a step forward along the path that you have set for all of us, whether we know it or not. Both then, as Jesus hanging on the cross, bowed his head and died, and from all eternity. Amen. That prayer was written by Karl Barth, who was a Swiss theologian of the 20th century. In fact, was has been called the greatest Protestant theologian of 20th century.

Jeffrey Heine: 06:08

He was on the cover of Time Magazine. There were paper things that you opened up and you read. Sorry. You have to know where I am. So he he was a he was a really big deal in the 20th century.

Jeffrey Heine: 06:24

He wrote a 14 volume church dogmatics, one of the one of the most densely written theological works ever composed. And, and and I have a collection of his prayers that I read quite frequently, and they are so personal, confessional. He seems to zero in quite simply and beautifully on God knowing all, God knowing each and every one of us, knowing us better than we even know ourselves. And he often brings up, our needs, our neediness before the Lord. He talks about our struggles and the challenges that we face and the daily pressures that we face together.

Jeffrey Heine: 07:14

And I think that one of the most pressing things that we face every day, just as people, is this pressure to be and do enough. Enough. It's it's that elusive that elusive achievement that we that we're always seeking after. We're we're stretching out, trying to obtain it. Enough.

Jeffrey Heine: 07:39

It's the unicorn of achievement. I've got a lot of unicorns in my life. I have 2 little girls, and also I just love unicorns. My daughter June, whom you know, she, because she's a wonderful spirited young lady. And, and she she's asked me, are unicorns real?

Jeffrey Heine: 08:00

And I've just had to resolve that. I can't disprove unicorns. So at this point, sure. But but really, enough is that unicorn of achievement. Like, if we can just chase it down, if we can just get to it, that's when we finally have have arrived.

Jeffrey Heine: 08:20

That that that there if we can just know when we cross that finish line, that threshold of enough, happy enough, paid enough, valued enough, loved enough, loving enough that we give enough time to our friends, our family, our parents, our children, that if we can just get to that enough, then then we will know we've arrived. I mean, think about this. When was the last time maybe it was recently. You asked the question, when will it be enough? Maybe it's when you when you slammed up against that brick wall where you can't give any more time, you can't give any more attention, you don't, you you've reached that end of yourself, and you just say, when will it be enough?

Jeffrey Heine: 09:10

Now when we believe that narrative, that we will find that kind of satisfaction when we are enough and when we do enough, we often carry that over into our relationship with God. That if we can be good enough, if we can be righteous enough, if we can be compassionate enough, if we can be important enough, if we can raise up in that status or responsibility, when other people look to us for counsel and advice and encouragement, when we become that person, when we when we do enough, then we are accepted by God. Then then we have his love and his affection and his attention. Now you might not say this with your mouth. I know I don't say it with my mouth, but I believe it in my heart, and I live it in my life, that that's true, that my good enough is going to to lift me up and carry me over that threshold.

Jeffrey Heine: 10:10

My good works are gonna just pick me up like like a bride and carried over that threshold of enough. And then when it doesn't come, there's that spiral. There's there's that frustration. There's that shame that if I can just be enough, if I can just do enough, Maybe then. Maybe then.

Jeffrey Heine: 10:40

And that's Nicodemus. Nicodemus was a strict follower of Yahweh. He was, he was a Pharisee, which meant he he really knew the the rules and the regulations and commands. So much so that he was actually a Jewish ruler. He was a part of the Sanhedrin.

Jeffrey Heine: 10:57

A group of men who were tasked with judging when other people broke the law. And so, he knew the commands of God very very well. The Sanhedrin, they're going to show up later on in John's gospel as they are are, putting Jesus on trial, as the Jewish rulers are taking him through his trial. And in doing so, they're actually going to break 21 of their own commandments in the way that they go about giving him that trial. But we will get there eventually.

Jeffrey Heine: 11:27

Like any 2 years or so, something like that. But but this is this is who Nicodemus is. Now upon meeting Jesus, Nicodemus affirms that that Jesus must be a teacher sent from God. He he wants to call him a rabbi. He he calls him, this this one who is sent by God, and the works that he's doing are in the power and the authority of God, that God is with him as he is doing these signs.

Jeffrey Heine: 11:54

Now that's very different than the Pharisees that we see in Matthew chapter 12. When they interact with Jesus, they say, your power to do these miracles, that comes from Satan. That's not what Nicodemus is saying here. He is saying, we we know that you are from God. We saw the signs that you were doing in Jerusalem and we we know that God is with you.

Jeffrey Heine: 12:21

And in all of these different characteristics of Nicodemus, that he that he was a Pharisee, that he knew the law, that he knew God's story, that he knew the history of Israel, he knew how to judge rightly and fairly with the Sanhedrin. It wasn't enough. As he had this status, as he as he had this position, all of this was not enough. There was a problem. And to understand what this problem is, we really need to go back to chapter 2, That little paragraph at the end of chapter 2.

Jeffrey Heine: 12:58

It it sets up this dialogue with Nicodemus. It's really important. Now, we can remember that the chapter breaks and the the verse numbers and all that, that didn't exist in the original manuscripts. And so so really, this is this flows together a lot more cleanly than than putting a big, chapter break there. And as we've already said in studying John's gospel, John does not waste any words.

Jeffrey Heine: 13:24

Everything that he's talking about, he's very intentional in how he progresses in his story of the gospel. And so, let's look at chapter 2 verse 23 and and kinda read it through into chapter 3. Chapter 2 verse 23. Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs he was doing. But Jesus, on his part, did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.

Jeffrey Heine: 14:02

Now, there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews, and this man came to Jesus by night. See that how that connects there a little bit better when you see that Jesus does not need anyone to give him a primer on humanity. It's not, this is the word dwelling among us. Hey, Jesus, just so you know, here's what people are like. This is what humans are like.

Jeffrey Heine: 14:32

This is we want to just sit you down and give you the real scoop. They're going to do some good things on the outside, but inside, yikes. Like there there doesn't need to be a little round table with Jesus filling him in on humanity. Jesus knew all people. What amazing line from John.

Jeffrey Heine: 14:49

He knew all people. He didn't need a testimony. He didn't need a primer. He knows what's in man. He knew all there was to know about man, and a man came to him by night, a man named Nicodemus.

Jeffrey Heine: 15:05

See, there's no mystery here. He knows. He knows you because he knows all people. He knows the shame that we feel when we see that we're not enough. He knows the lies that we tell ourselves to make us feel better.

Jeffrey Heine: 15:22

He knows the boastful pride that we feel when we do good things. He knows the self righteousness that so often motivates our kindnesses. He knows the twinges of selfishness that undergird our compassion. He knows that there is poison in the well. He knows.

Jeffrey Heine: 15:42

Now while he is grieved by our sin, he's not surprised by it. Doesn't catch him off guard. It doesn't throw him for a loop. Oh, gosh. I was coming here to save people that were already good.

Jeffrey Heine: 15:57

No, he came knowing all people, and he knows you. This passage, this last paragraph of chapter 2, it explains for us this context. Many had believed in Jesus. They had seen these works that he was doing. They they saw these signs.

Jeffrey Heine: 16:15

They heard his teaching, and they were intrigued. They were intrigued. They they wanted to know more about who this is, and so they were believing in his name, that he could do these kinds of works, that he could do these kinds of signs, but that kind of acknowledgment was not enough. Jesus knew that they were just responding to the surface. They were just externally delighted at the activities that he was doing, and so he did not entrust himself to them.

Jeffrey Heine: 16:45

He did not fully reveal himself and give himself over to them at that time. And by night, under the cover of darkness, Nicodemus makes his way to Jesus. Again, a theme we've already seen in John's gospel. Nicodemus comes in darkness to go talk to the light. Verse 2 in chapter 3.

Jeffrey Heine: 17:16

This man came to Jesus by night and he 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 Jesus responds to this. So some flattery, some some good acknowledgement. Nicodemus is coming from a good place.

Jeffrey Heine: 17:37

He sees these things. He acknowledges that he must be from God, sent from God, but it's still on the surface. And so what Jesus does is what he does often in the gospels, and I think often in our own hearts and lives, and that is he cuts to the quick. He answers the question that Nicodemus is not asking, at least not out loud, but he addresses the deepest question in Nicodemus's soul. He zeroes into the question of ultimate importance.

Jeffrey Heine: 18:09

Jesus knew the biggest question in Nicodemus's life. Jesus knew Nicodemus' strict law observance, his position in the Sanhedrin, his favorable view of Jesus. These were good things, but Jesus knew that underneath all of that was this burning question of how am I right with God? How do I have this right standing? How do I have this justification with God?

Jeffrey Heine: 18:40

Said differently, how do I enter the kingdom? How do I enter the eternal community under the rule of God? Nicodemus knew in his soul that he was wrestling with the reality of his own unrighteousness, that these works weren't enough, and that no matter his position or his titles or his good behavior, it wasn't going to be enough. Now, he wasn't like the other Pharisees who refused to hear Jesus, who had confidence in their own self righteousness. He wanted to hear, he wanted to know, he wanted to interact with Jesus.

Jeffrey Heine: 19:21

I think that we have to ask ourselves this question. Have you come to this place in your own life where, like Nicodemus, you have realized that your good isn't good enough. Had a conversation with a neighbor, not long ago, and, she was not raised in church and has not really spent any time in a in a church context. And as we were talking, she said, I don't want to go to a church and hear another preacher shake his finger at me and tell me that I'm a sinner, because I know I'm a good person. And I listen to that.

Jeffrey Heine: 20:01

I I listen to that because she is a good person. She's kind. She's patient. She's a good neighbor. She looks out for other people.

Jeffrey Heine: 20:15

But there is a point where we have to come to the end of ourselves and realize that while we do good things, we're not good enough. It's not to discredit her and say, no. You're a terrible person. You've never done a good thing before. No.

Jeffrey Heine: 20:33

She cuts flowers for my kids and brings them over. She's a wonderful person. But the issue is not do I do good things, but am I good enough? Do I cross that threshold of enough? And Paul's words to the Romans in chapter 3, to his letter to the Romans, he he he says that all have fallen short.

Jeffrey Heine: 20:59

And a way to think of that is, all have fallen short and have not crossed the threshold of good enough. We haven't made it, and we can't. Nicodemus had a great resume. He had the pedigree. He had the piety.

Jeffrey Heine: 21:17

He had the position. He he had all of those things, but it wasn't enough. Live with me in verse 3. Chapter 3 verse 3. Jesus answers him.

Jeffrey Heine: 21:30

So as he is saying, you are this teacher, I know you're sent from God. Jesus answers and says, truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Yes, Nicodemus had done great things in his life. He was very educated. He was very important.

Jeffrey Heine: 21:50

He had the right pedigree. He had the right piety. He was he was righteous. He obeyed the commands. He had that position of authority and importance in his life, but it wasn't enough.

Jeffrey Heine: 22:01

Later on, Jesus is going to hang out with some really unruly characters, scandalous people, people you're not supposed to be seen with. But a Pharisee? That's an upright citizen. That that's somebody who's respected within the community. That's that's a good guy.

Jeffrey Heine: 22:17

And I believe it's so important that John in his gospel starts with this dialogue. One of the first one on ones is not with the scandalous person that says, hey. You've got you've got a long way to go. There's a lot of cleaning up that you need to do. No.

Jeffrey Heine: 22:33

He starts with this good, respectable model citizen. And he says, if you want to see the kingdom, you've got to go all the way back to the start. You have to be born again. And this blows Nicodemus' mind. He he really has no concept, no no no ability to conceive of what in the world is he talking about.

Jeffrey Heine: 23:02

He says, I'm an old man. How am I born again? And then he really takes it to the limit. It's always good when someone gets really facetious with Jesus. And he says, can I go back to my mother's womb and and be born all over again?

Jeffrey Heine: 23:16

You are being ridiculous. Now it's what's funny is, of of course it's gonna be a lawyer who has a little bit hard time with imagery. They're like, I know the law. You're telling me I need to be born again, and that can't happen. So did I just come by night to talk to a crazy person?

Jeffrey Heine: 23:34

How can I be born again? Jesus says, you don't need to do enough. You need to be reborn. It's not about us kind of smoothing out the rough edges, tightening a few loose screws. No.

Jeffrey Heine: 23:52

We have to start all over again. Now I know you've been working really hard in building up who you are, respectable model citizen, a great leader. You know a lot. You look good on the outside, but there's a problem. I know what's in you.

Jeffrey Heine: 24:14

Not only do I know what you do, but I know what's in you. I know what motivates you. And we have to start again. You have to be born again. And he says, how can this be?

Jeffrey Heine: 24:29

He appeals to the possibility. He in all of his responses after this, he's gonna say, how can this be? Can can I be born again? How can this be? Jesus responds to him.

Jeffrey Heine: 24:41

He responds to his disbelief in verse 5. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit. Now, Jesus states that this being born again isn't just an image, it's not just a metaphor or an idea. It actually needs to happen.

Jeffrey Heine: 25:06

It has to take place. You actually have to be born again. So what is this concept? What is new birth? Sometimes it's called regeneration.

Jeffrey Heine: 25:15

What what is this? What do we mean by this? Really, we need we need to go back to chapter 1. When John is introducing his gospel, he says this in verse 12. But to all who did receive Jesus, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor the will of man, but of God.

Jeffrey Heine: 25:42

New life, being a child of God, occurs not not by blood, not of flesh, not of the will of man. No. Being a child of God means being born of God. And that's what Jesus is saying to Nicodemus. To be in the kingdom, you have to be a child of God.

Jeffrey Heine: 26:04

And for that to happen, you have to be born of God, of water and spirit. So what does he mean by water and spirit? These things are tied together. It's not born of water, born of spirit. They're tied together in Greek.

Jeffrey Heine: 26:18

And what he's talking about is he's differentiating between this external birth, birth in the flesh, and then internal birth, birth in the spirit. And what he means is he's actually going back to Ezekiel's prophecy that we began our service with. Ezekiel 36, it's in your worship guide, verses 24 through 28. And in that passage, Ezekiel is delivering this prophecy that God is going to take water and cleanse us on the inside. Not just an external washing, but an inside washing.

Jeffrey Heine: 26:53

He's going to cleanse us from our idolatry, from our sinfulness, from our waywardness. He's going to clean us from the inside out. And as he washes us clean and he puts a new heart within us, no longer having a heart of stone that is against God, but a permeable heart of flesh that we can obey God with. Paul says that to the Romans as well. He says that we will be obedient from the heart.

Jeffrey Heine: 27:21

And that is also the purpose of the indwelling of the spirit. He says, I will put my spirit within you and I will cause you to obey me. That we will be obedient from our hearts, that we will be driven to obedience, that we would long for it, that we would love it, that we wouldn't just be external obeyers of God's commands, that we would just be rule keepers, but that we would be obedient from our hearts. This promise from Ezekiel, the prophet Ezekiel, who's speaking the words of the Lord, this promise had come years years years before Nicodemus. It's the promise that God would transform his children.

Jeffrey Heine: 28:07

He would cleanse them with water, and he would put his spirit within them. That is what it means to be born of water and spirit. And it was promised long ago, which is why, look with me in verse 7, that's why Jesus says this to Nicodemus. Do not marvel that I said to you, you must be born again. He's not saying this isn't miraculous.

Jeffrey Heine: 28:30

He's not being rude here. No. He what he's saying is this. You know God's law. You know his promises.

Jeffrey Heine: 28:38

You know the promise of the new covenant. You know your own heart. You know the sin. You know the sin underneath the sin. So this shouldn't surprise you when I tell you you have to be born again.

Jeffrey Heine: 28:57

And so that word comes to us. When you're honest with yourself, when you think about your life, when you think about your heart, when you think about your need, when you think about the problem, when you think about not being good enough, when Jesus comes to you and says, you must be born again, we don't marvel. Instead, we say, I expected that. I was hoping you would say that. I was hoping that you would do a work on the inside.

Jeffrey Heine: 29:30

I I can try my best to do some behavior modification. I can try my best to just do more good stuff. But I know that even the more good stuff that I do doesn't change what's going on inside. I don't just need a second chance, I need to be changed. And he says, that's what I do for my children.

Jeffrey Heine: 29:54

I transform them. I wash them. I wash them on the inside. I put my spirit within them and I lead them to obey me. Now make no mistake.

Jeffrey Heine: 30:09

This is a profound mystery. Yes, we know that this is a work that God does, but how he does it is really concealed from us, which is why he says to Nicodemus, the wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone born of the spirit. We don't presume upon the holy spirit. We can't coerce the holy spirit.

Jeffrey Heine: 30:34

We cannot make him do things. We can appeal to him. We can pray. We can ask. We can seek.

Jeffrey Heine: 30:41

But the wind blows where it wishes. Which is why you see things like in Jonah, where Jonah says, I don't want to go to preach to these people because they might repent of their sins and follow after you, and I don't like these people. The wind blows where it wishes. The the Lord awakens people, which is why you have brothers and sisters in the church that you wouldn't necessarily invite to the family dinner. Some folks that you wouldn't just go wrestle up an extra chair for them to sit at the table.

Jeffrey Heine: 31:17

It's because the spirit of God is wild, and we do not control him. But he blows, and he awakens people to this new life. He washes them, and God fills them with his spirit. So what does it mean to be born again? Being born again means that through the work of the holy spirit, we come to this awareness of our sin.

Jeffrey Heine: 31:45

We give up our confidence in the idea of us becoming good enough on our own, and we come to this sure trust, this sure confidence that our sins are forgiven in Christ for Christ's sake, and that he is enough. That he's enough. And then from that place, we live and we breathe thankful devotion and obedience. Now, reflecting on these things, John Calvin said, that that as God has concealed from us this work, we we are in this mystery, this mysterious work of God. Yes.

Jeffrey Heine: 32:30

He does this work by his spirit, but how he accomplished it, how he does this is mysterious to us. And all of these things are of the utmost concern for each and every one of us. John Wesley, in a sermon on this passage about new birth, he said new birth is the deepest concern of every person. See, it's not just Nicodemus who had this as his deepest question, the deepest concern for his life. It's each and every one of us.

Jeffrey Heine: 33:09

Now how is this possible? The rest of this, section and and dialogue with Nicodemus, Jesus outlines it's possible because of the crop the cross. Because the son of man will be lifted up. I'd encourage you, if if you weren't a part of our study in Exodus, where we actually looked at this passage in detail, I encourage you to to go on our website and and check it out. It's where the Moses is in the wilderness.

Jeffrey Heine: 33:33

The people have been grumbling. God sends serpents to judge them, and he provides a healing. And that healing is through raising up a copper, a bronze serpent up high, that everyone who is being struck by the serpents will look upon this bronze serpent and be healed. And Jesus says, just like that serpent was raised up and all who looked upon it found life. That's how it is through the Son of Man.

Jeffrey Heine: 34:01

That I will be lifted up, and those who look to me and believe will find life. That's how this new birth is possible. So if Jesus is addressing the deepest need of Nicodemus, he's also addressing our deepest need. And I want you to take a moment and consider what's going on here, both in the text and in your own life. Do you resonate that this is your deepest need?

Jeffrey Heine: 34:36

Is John Wesley right that this is the deepest concern of every person? See, Nic Nicodemus didn't know that this was the question beneath the questions, beneath the questions, beneath the questions, This really got to the heart of the matter. But this was the deepest concern of his soul. What is the deepest concern of your soul? Now, sometimes after I've been studying for a sermon, I've been reading different books, I've been writing, I've been editing, I've been praying, I've been going through different things, I like to think through, and it's pretty practical for me, and maybe it will be helpful for you, I go to Publix about 17 times a week.

Jeffrey Heine: 35:27

I feel like I'm always at Publix. And I know, which cashiers are gonna be the the faster cashiers. Like, I can identify, I'm like, oh, good. They're on shift. I can get I can get I can get in and out if they're here.

Jeffrey Heine: 35:43

I also know the ones to avoid. I also I know how I can work my way from the vegetables and the fruit, and make my way all the way to the dairy, and I have I have all my and it's also a place where your cell phone doesn't work, which is fantastic. You can hide out in Publix for hours. It's wonderful. But a thought that I try to process through after spending time just in books and words and study, it's kinda it's it's my public's rule.

Jeffrey Heine: 36:13

What does this matter at Publix? What I've been studying, what I just read, or what I just wrote, or what I've what I've been going through, how does that matter here? Because if it doesn't matter at Publix, it doesn't matter anywhere. So the question becomes, how does this what does this change? What does this do?

Jeffrey Heine: 36:32

And this week, I I came to this as I was walking into Publix with this question, what does it change here? As I walked around, I thought, if the deepest concern of my heart has been addressed and answered by Jesus Christ, That doesn't just change some things. That changes everything. The deepest longing and striving of who I am, my deepest longings and questions and concerns, the biggest burden in my entire life has been addressed and answered by Jesus. That changes everything.

Jeffrey Heine: 37:16

Changes my patience as someone has had that they're in reverse. I can tell by the lights on their car, they're in reverse, and yet they haven't backed out for a while. That can calm me down. I can I can have patience? I can I can go in and be kind to the people around me?

Jeffrey Heine: 37:36

I can actually slow down and receive kindness from strangers. Kindness that I would just be too too busy to be bothered with. It changes everything. It changes how I think about my good enough. Enough time here, enough time there.

Jeffrey Heine: 37:56

Enough attention here, enough giving here. Because too often, I feel like a fitted sheet, and when I get one side tucked in, the other thing pops up. Oh, and I was able to give really good focused time to my family, and then work pops up. And I feel like I can never cover everything. That exhaustion, that kind of anxiety means that I'm not paying attention to the fact that my deepest concern has been answered in Jesus.

Jeffrey Heine: 38:28

New birth, new life, transformation, washing, cleansing, that I'm not trying to strive to make myself good enough. So I can live and breathe that thankful devotion. I can love him. I can trust Him. I can obey Him.

Jeffrey Heine: 38:55

I can abide in Him, And that is life in the spirit. And we should be reminded of that today. Today, the Pentecost Sunday, where we remember God's gift to the church in giving us his spirit, that we would live by his spirit with every breath and with every moment. And to answer that, Saint Augustine, he said this. The the the heart is restless until it rests in thee.

Jeffrey Heine: 39:25

We can live into that rest today. Let's go to him in prayer. God, we thank you for who you are, father, son, and spirit. Help us to trust you. Help us to adore you.

Jeffrey Heine: 39:51

Help us with all that we are to obey you. May we find rest for our hearts as we rest in you. May we know that you have answered the deepest concern for each and every one of us because you know us. You know us better than we know ourselves, and you you love us. You have set your love on us.

Jeffrey Heine: 40:24

You've made us lovable through the life, death, resurrection, ascension, and promised return of Jesus. Help us to know that and believe that today. We pray these things for Christ's name's sake. Amen.