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John 3:1-17

Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.” Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!” Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked. “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.” For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

By: The Rev. Cathie P. Young

I was raised in a church that took teaching children very seriously. Making sure the youngest among us knew the stories of the Bible was a high priority. I have memories as a very little girl of learning of a man named Nicodemus who came to Jesus by night. I also remember as a teenager going back to that same classroom and teaching a new group of little children the same story of Jesus and Nicodemus. We took teaching children very seriously.

The story of Nicodemus is one of birthing and new life. Perhaps that is why it was one of the first stories we teach little children. “You must be born from above,” Jesus said in John 3 to Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. But Nicodemus was confused – about the womb, about the Spirit, about this new life of which Jesus spoke. Yet Jesus was patient as he taught Nicodemus. And it is in this very encounter that we find perhaps the greatest statement Jesus ever made. “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

I wonder, are we teaching the children today the great stories of the Bible? Are we teaching the youngest among us the truths about life, the sanctity of the womb, and the call to defend the defenseless? Believing the stories of Scripture is what leads us to salvation but believing the stories of Scripture leads us to much more. It leads to a deep understanding and commitment to life! Who is teaching the children? Is it the world? Or is it the Church? Like the little congregation in which I was raised, it’s time to take teaching children very seriously.