The Second Sunday in Lent

Second Sunday in Lent 

Light of Christ Anglican Church 

The Reverend Michael J. Moffitt 

March 1, 2026 

Savior and Lord 

Text: John 3:1–16 

Today is week two of the Season of Lent, a 40-day period of Christ-centered  devotion between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday. During this season we  focus on the truth that Jesus Christ the Son of God came to earth and dwelt  among those who He created—the Creator becoming a created being. 

Lent is a season of intentionally pursuing Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. We  also practice Lent together with other Christians who are on the same journey,  not only in our local church, but also around the world.  

Lent prepares us for the proper response of faith and faithfulness to Jesus Christ  on Easter morning. 

Today our focus will primarily be on our Gospel reading in John 3:1–16. Verse  16 is one of the most recognized verses in all of Scripture. Today we’ll look at it  from a different perspective than you may not be used to because we will not be  only focusing on verse 16 but we’ll consider it in the context of the other passages  leading up to it.  

Before we begin let me point out what our other passages have in common with  our Gospel reading beginning with Genesis 12:1–9.  

In Genesis 11 Moses writes down the genealogy of Shem one of the sons of Noah,  ending with Terah the father of Abram. Terah took Abram and Lot his nephew  and left his kindred in Ur of the Chaldeans and settled in the land of Canaan.  

Chapter 12 begins with God calling Abram. He instructed Abram to leave  his kindred and his fathers house to go to “the land that I will show you.” The promise of God was that He intended to make of Abram a great nation,  promising him blessings if he was obedient.

Listen to verses 3 and 4,  

“I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse,  and in you will all the families of the earth be blessed.” So Abram went as  the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was 75 years old  when he departed from Haran. 

The main thing I want to point out is that Abram, later renamed Abraham by  God, was not the one who initiated the relationship. It was God, Jehovah (the  Existing One) who came to Abram. Based on where Abram came from (Ur of the  Chaldeans) he likely worshipped the Moon god, Nana. The Bible also doesn’t  reveal the means that God used to speak to Abram, but what is clear is that  Abram didn’t bring anything to God that he needed. All God asked for was  faithful obedience. 

As we read this morning in Paul’s letter to the Romans 4:1–3,  

What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to  the flesh?  For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast  about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham  believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” 

Before his conversion the Apostle Paul was trying to eradicate the early  Christians because he believed that Jesus was a criminal who should have been  crucified. These insurgents were taking faithful Jews away from the worship of  Yahweh, the one true and living God. He felt that he was an important servant of  God and faithful to the law and the teachings of the prophets.  

Then Jesus showed up. In Philippians 3: 3–7 Paul evaluates who he was before  Christ,  

though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else  thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more:  circumcised  on the eighth day of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a  Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of  the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. But whatever  gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 

Like in the case of Abraham, it was God (Jehovah) who pursued the Apostle  Paul bringing him to saving faith and repentance. Also Paul, formerly Saul,  brought nothing to God that He needed. His credentials were of no real value in comparison to the Lord of Glory, the God of Heaven and earth, the creator and  sustainer of the universe. 

So with the examples of Father Abraham and the Apostle Paul, who are both  very important in the story of God bringing redemption, let’s turn to our Gospel  reading from John 3:1–16 

Like Paul, Nicodemus was a respected Pharisee, but unlike Paul he seemed to  have been interested in meeting with Jesus to understand who He actually was in  spite of the rumors both positive and negative. 

Some have suggested that Nicodemus came to Jesus at night so that no one  would see him meeting with this supposed insurrectionist. Another possibility is  that if Jesus was a Rabbi who was drawing such attention then meeting at night  would be the best way to assure that they could meet without interruption.  

The Apostle John places this story towards the beginning of his Gospel and  towards the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. This was the first discourse of Jesus  concerning the new order he was initiating.  

Jesus’ discourses typically began with someone asking him a question. Jesus then  answers them in a way that steered the discussion into a deeper realm, that was  of more importance than the question they were asking.  

Nicodemus’ opening statement would suggest that he’s interested in finding out  if Jesus really is a prophet sent from God. Often if a prophet was sent from God  he was able to perform miracles like he heard Jesus was doing. Stories of Elijah  and Elisha come to mind. So he admits that Jesus may have been sent from God  in light of the stories spreading all around Israel. 

Nicodemus himself was a respected teacher in Israel held in high esteem within  the community of religious leaders. He knows the Torah and the teachings of the  prophets and had given himself to a life honoring God and teaching others to do  the same. Perhaps he felt himself on equal footing with Jesus and had come to  find out what he was hoping to do. Could they be colleagues?  

Nicodemus opening words actually seem to indicate a willingness to make room  for the fact that Jesus was indeed a teacher sent from God. Even addressing  Jesus as Rabbi seems somewhat conciliatory. He opens with the possibility that  the miracles that Jesus was said to have performed were certainly indicative of  someone sent from God.  

You will have likely noticed that Jesus didn’t really respond to the statement. He  is more interested in Nicodemus’ soul than his self-esteem, so he surgically goes straight for the heart. Jesus responds in a way that will lead in the direction that he is going to take the  conversation,  

“Truly, truly I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the  kingdom of God.” 

The Greek word translated “again” can also be rendered “from above” and this  seems to fit very well considering Jesus speaks in verse 12 and 13 of earthly and  heavenly things.  

Of course Nicodemus responds like most people would upon hearing this for the  first time and asked,  

“how can a man be born when he’s old? Can he enter a second time into  his mother’s womb and be born?” 

That’s a reasonable question especially when you’re accustomed to thinking in  terms of what you can do. You know study harder, be more disciplined. Jesus is  teaching Nicodemus that to enter into His kingdom he must be born from above  which he can’t do on his own. 

The interesting thing is that again Jesus doesn’t answer his question but teaches  him that as well-meaning, sincere, or intentional as he might be he can’t do this  on his own. As a matter of fact he can’t do it at all. Verse 5–7,  

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.’” 

Jesus is leading Nicodemus to an understanding that where he’s from, or who he  is as a Pharisee, or a religious leader won’t gain him entrance into the Kingdom  of God. So many people who are good, kind, generous, hardworking church  members won’t make it to the Kingdom of God unless they are born-again from  above. Church membership won’t do it. 

I had an uncle who was a faithful pastor in the Methodist church for over  60 years. He once told me that he didn’t come to Jesus Christ in faith and repentance of sin until he had been in fulltime ministry for 10 years.  In Nicodemus’ world he was considered one of the premier teachers in all of  Israel but he’s not picking up on the clues that Jesus is giving him.  

So Jesus uses images: birth from above, wind, flesh, and Spirit which are all  things that we have no control over. We see the evidence, and we feel the wind  and see the effects, but we can’t capture it or bring under our control. Listen to  verse 8–10,  

“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.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things  be?” Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do  not understand these things?” 

Then Jesus answers that the problem is one of unbelief. Nicodemus rightly  identified that one of the signs that Jesus came from God is the miracles, signs  and wonders. But Jesus points out that just seeing the miraculous should not be  the only reason to believe that Jesus is from God. Remember that the children of  Israel saw the Lord perform amazing signs and wonders for 40 years and yet they  wouldn’t faithfully follow the commands of God. If Nicodemus rightly discerned  the teachings of Jesus then the Holy Spirit should bear witness to his identity. 

Dr. Rod Whitacre in his Commentary of John’s Gospel explains. 

Jesus distinguishes teaching about  earthly things  from teaching  about heavenly things (3:12). It seems strange to call the topics of divine  begetting and entrance insto the kingdom of God  earthly!  But they are  earthly in the sense that they refer to the effects of divine activity here  on earth. He immediately goes on to speak of the heavenly things, that is,  the heavenly source behind this divine activity on earth. These heavenly  things have to do with Jesus himself as the Son of Man who came from  heaven  (3:13). In the Synoptics  Son of Man  is used of Jesus as a human  being on earth, as the future judge and as the one coming in glory. In John,  Jesus is indeed on earth and is certainly human (1:14); but the future has  entered the present, and already on earth judgment takes place through  the presence and revelation of the Son of Man. 

Then Jesus points Nicodemus back to the Old Testament story of a event from  Numbers 21:4–9. 

From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around  the land of Edom. And the people became impatient on the way. 5And the  people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought  us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and  no water, and we loathe this worthless food.” 6Then the Lord sent fiery  serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of  Israel died. 7And the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for  we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord, that  he take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. 8And  the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and  everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” 9So Moses made a  bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would  look at the bronze serpent and live. 

This is a very simple lesson. Moses lifted up a bronze serpent on a pole and  those who looked at it lived. Not because they understood why it worked or  because they were worthy. They were healed because they looked.  

It’s really is as simple as that. 

When Jesus says, “the Son of Man must be lifted up” he means it is God who  lifts him up, since In this way Moses has a role analogous to that which God  plays, but the older revelation is now fulfilled in Jesus  

The lifting up of the Son of Man points us to the center of his revelation, the  cross. The cross itself is a heavenly thing for it reveals the life of heaven that Jesus  has come to offer us. Since God is love (1 John 4:8) and love is the laying down  of one’s life (1 John 3:16), it is precisely in the cross that we see God most clearly.  Jesus humbles himself to the point of crucifixion because he is God, not despite.  That God is love is the good news. This revelation is the gospel. 

The heart of John’s message is summed up in the justly famous verse 16, which  declares that the Son of Man’s coming down from heaven and being lifted on the  cross is the activity of God himself, of his gracious love, the love that gives.  

Thus in these verses we hear of the agent from heaven and the act whereby he  reveals the reality of heaven, the heart of the Father. To believe that Jesus is the  Son of Man from heaven and that his revelation of God is true gives one eternal  life, that is, a share in God’s own life. 

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever  believes in him should not perish but have eternal life”  

Let’s pray.