John 3:1-17, Revelation 7:13-17

We often smile at Nicodemus. When Jesus says, “You must be born again,” Nicodemus immediately thinks of biology and asks: “How can a grown man crawl back into his mother’s womb?” It sounds like a silly question, doesn’t it?

But before we judge Nicodemus, we should realize that many of us fall into the same trap. In some traditions and churches, there is a lot of pressure to point to the exact moment you were born again or saved. The idea is that if you can’t name the specific date or time, you aren’t seen as a ‘proper’ or committed believer.

But before we judge Nicodemus, we should realize that many of us fall into the same trap. In some traditions and churches, there is a lot of pressure to point to the exact moment you were born again or saved. The idea is that if you can’t name the specific date or time, you aren’t seen as a ‘proper’ or committed believer. Like Nicodemus, many of us today try to turn the deep, spiritual mystery into a simple, mechanical formula. Why? Because we often desire physical, visible, or even ‘scientific’ proof for our salvation moments. But the mysteries of God sit far beyond human logic. They are not math problems to be solved; they are meant to be experienced through the ministry of the Spirit in our daily lives.

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Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7.   Matthew 4:1-4, 8-11 

The story of the Garden of Eden in today’s reading from Genesis 2 is by no means an easy passage. It carries some complicated theological implications and presents us with several dilemmas. However, I would like us to look at this story through the lens of our Gospel reading in Matthew 4, ‘Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness’.

Genesis account begins with God placing humans in the Garden of Eden to cultivate and guard it with a clear instruction: “You may eat the fruit of any tree in the garden, except the tree that gives knowledge of what is good and what is bad. You must not eat the fruit of that tree; if you do, you will die the same day.”

While every tree in the garden was theirs to enjoy, one remained off-limits: the tree in the middle.  Here, we see that God placed humanity in a sanctuary of abundance and gave one protective boundary.

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Matthew 5:13-20

“You are the light of the world,” said Jesus to his followers in today’s bible text from Matthew’s gospel. 

Can you imagine that? Here was an ordinary group of ordinary farmers and fishermen, and even tax collectors in a tiny village in the first century Palestine. And Jesus, the son of God, was saying to them, “You are the light of the world.”

Such a bunch of extremely ordinary townsfolks being the light of the world? Where did it come from? Think about the context they were in. The Romans were expanding their power, conquering and colonising many surrounding nations, cities and towns. The Roman emperor was treated as a god to millions of residents everywhere.

In Israel alone, many Jewish high-ranking people and leaders acted like they, too, were Roman citizens and they were so proud of it. Basically, Roman emperors were their God.

Rome was the light of their world. Then, all of a sudden, the teacher of that tiny group of fishermen was saying to his followers: “No. You are the light of the world.” They themselves had never heard that before. Not even once. 

At the time, it probably sounded like idle chatter. ‘You are the light of the world,’ Jesus said—and so they were. Now, do you want to hear something truly incredible? So are you. So are we.

Jesus says the same to us this morning that we are the light of the world. Let that sink in for a moment. Let alone ourselves, would our family members and friends think that we are the light of the world?

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Matthew 5:1-12

I recently came across an article online that asked a blunt question: ‘How do you measure up as a man?’ It listed five specific standards the world uses to decide if you’re ‘winning’ at life. While it was written for men, I think we can all feel the pressure of these today:

1.How much money you make—and how much you can keep.

2.What you drive: the price, the style, and how new your car is.

3.Your job title and how far you’ve climbed the corporate ladder.

4. Your retirement package.

5. This is my Favorite.  Your hair. How much of it is still on your head.

We look at this list and realize: the world has a very specific ‘app’ for measuring our worth.

I know it doesn’t seem to make much sense to us and it might vary across cultures, but it is still how many people in the secular world generally measure a person, both men and women.

Ask any first-century Jewish people who the blessed people were in their community and they would have shared with you the conventional wisdom of the day.

His answer would be like these: “Blessed are the wealthy, for they have lots of stuff.”  “Blessed are the Romans, for they have power.” “Blessed are the powerful, for they get what they want.” Or “Cursed are the gentiles, for we’re not like them.”

But in today’s Gospel story, Jesus stands on a mountainside and offers a completely different yardstick. He lays out a set of principles that redefine the meaning of success and happiness in the eyes of God.  And his standards stand in stark contrast to the standard of the world.

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