A field of study that continually gets a lot of attention in religious circles is the study of apologetics. According to Wikipedia, apologetics is “the religious discipline of defending religious doctrines through systematic argumentation and discourse.” More crudely put, apologetics is the use of reason to prove faith.
It is important to understand that apologetics is not the same as apologizing, as we use the term. When tend to think of an apology as an admission of wrongdoing for which we are, or our parents are forcing us pretend to be, sorry about. The term apologetics comes from the Greek word ἀπολογία, which means "speaking in defense". In a court of law, an apologetic was the making of a defense for the defendant at trial. The Apology by Plato, for you liberal arts geeks, is an excellent example of apologetics. In The Apology Plato presents the defense Socrates made at the trial in which he was charged with not recognizing the gods of the state, inventing new gods, and corrupting the youth of Athens. Unfortunately for Socrates the jurymen do not accept his apology and he was sentenced to death.
Apologetics has a long history in Christendom. It stretches from the earliest days of the church to the present. We see apologetics being practiced in the second century in the writing of Justin Martyr, we see it in the last century in the writings of C.S. Lewis, and in our own time we see it in the YouTube lectures of men like Ravi Zacharias.
I have been talking with Steve Bohlmann about implementing the study of apologetics here at Messiah. Specifically, I have been thinking about offering it to our young people who are heading off into a world full of skeptics and scoffers. There is some support for making apologist of our children in scripture. In 1 Peter 3:15 we are told to "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have". At its core, apologetics seeks to do just that. With the skillful use of reason artfully used in an argument, the apologist seeks to disarm the skeptic and scoffer of the faith so that they may be led to an understanding of the truth.
Apologetics is a worthwhile field of study, but it has its limitations. You see, reason can only take a person so far. Today we see the limitations of reason in our gospel lesson from John 3:1-17. In this section of Scripture Jesus is engaged in a discussion with an apologist named Nicodemus. As we examine the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus, we are going to see our Savior at war with reason.
I must admit this is the first time that I have paid much attention to John 3:1-15. Every time I have been presented with the option of preaching on this text I get so excited that I get to expound on arguably the greatest passage in all of scripture that I focus all my efforts and energy on John 3:16. As a result I have given little to no thought to the man to whom John 3:16 was spoken. I have noted that he was a pharisee and have mused over the observation that the two greatest gospel passages in Scripture, Genesis 3:15, “I will put enmity between you and the woman…” and John 3:16, “for God so loved the world…” were spoken to the devil and a pharisee respectively. For years I have been content to classify Nicodemus by the company he keeps. But now, after I have taken the time to get to know him a bit better, I feel like I have judged Nicodemus too harshly. When I think about it, it’s not surprising that I have judged Nicodemus so harshly. Maybe you do this too, but I know I tend to be very critical of people who remind me of myself.
You can see a bit of yourself in Nicodemus, can’t you? Like you, Nicodemus is a student of God’s word. As a member of the Jewish ruling council Nicodemus undoubtably knew the scriptures very well; even Jesus refers to him as “Israel’s teacher”. Like you, Nicodemus wants to live a God pleasing life. As a Pharisee Nicodemus was accustomed to practicing religious puritanism, separating himself from the unclean and was a rigid follower of the Old Testament Law. And like you, Nicodemus recognizes that Jesus is “a teacher who has come from God.”[1] Nicodemus says to Jesus, “no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.”1
Read a bit further in our gospel lesson and you will notice something else you have in common with Nicodemus. As Jesus is sharing God’s plan of salvation with him, repeatedly Nicodemus asks, “how”[2]. You see, like you, Nicodemus is a man of reason and he wants to know how this salvation stuff works. Nicodemus is the kind of person who reads Romans 10:17, “faith comes from hearing the message” and asks, how does a hearing of the word with your ears create faith in the heart. He is the kind of person who reads 1 Peter 3:21, “this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you” and asks how does water wash away sin? He is the kind of person that hears Jesus say in Matthew 26:26 & 28, “This is my body” “This is my blood” and asks, how does bread become also body and wine become also blood? He is the kind of person who reads Ephesians 1:5, “he predestined us to be adopted as his sons” and then also reads Galatians 5:13, “You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free” and asks, how can I be predestined and free at the same time? See what I mean when I say that you have something in common with Nicodemus? He asks the same kind of questions that you ask. Like you and every other reasonable person, Nicodemus asks, “How can this be?”[3]
It is a reasonable question, but the problem with reason is it can only take you so far. After you have academically examined the scriptures you eventually find that you can’t get past the “how”. Unfortunately, some people get to the “how”, realize that they cannot reasonable go any further, and they give up on this salvation stuff. Or they do what you and I are tempted to do and they add to or subtract from God’s plan of salvation so that they can reasonably understand it (and don’t act like you don’t do this with things like the doctrine of fellowship or the roles of men and women or creation). The problem with reason is it can only take you so far and when it comes to salvation it’s not far enough.
God’s plan of salvation cannot be reasonably understood. That is why Jesus takes Nicodemus, and you and me for that matter, beyond the limitations of our reason. Jesus meets the apologist Nicodemus where he is at and starts with an illustration from nature. Jesus says, “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.”[4] Jesus points out to the apologist that he can neither reasonably understand from where the wind blows nor can he reasonably understand to where it is blowing and yet he knows the wind is at work because he can hear it’s sound and feel its effects. Jesus tells the apologist the same is true of God’s wind, here translated “the Spirit”. You may not reasonably understand how the Spirit works but you can hear His words and you can feel the effects of those words in your life. Just because the apologist can’t reasonably understand how something works does not mean that it is not working.
To further illustrate His point, Jesus makes reference to the bronze snake that Moses lifted up in the desert. Nicodemus would have been familiar with the reference to the time when the Israelites accused God of trying to kill them in the desert and as punishment God sent venomous snakes to bite them. Then, when the Israelites repented of their sin, God instructed Moses, “make a snake and put it on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.”[5] And sure enough when the snake bitten people looked at the snake on a pole that is exactly what happened, they lived. It made absolutely no sense. Looking at a statue in order to be spared the effects of poison defied all reason, and yet that is what happened. Jesus says to Nicodemus, “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.”[6] That too makes absolutely no sense. It makes absolutely no sense that even though we have been infected with the venom of sin we can look in faith to Jesus hanging on a cross and have eternal life. That defies all reason, and yet it is what happens.
Finally, Jesus explains to Nicodemus just how unreasonable God’s plan of salvation really is. Jesus tells him, “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.”[7] Jesus tells Nicodemus, God loved the world. Is that not the most unreasonable thing you have ever heard? We can reasonably understand why God would hate the world. After all the world hates Him. But let’s make this personal. It is also unreasonable that God should love you. You might be a church going Christian, but you continue to be hateful to God. You have not feared loved and trusted Him above all things. You have not even loved His children as you love yourself. God should hate you, that would be reasonable, but He doesn’t. He loves you. God loves you. He defies all reason and sends His one and only Son to suffer and die on a cross so that you can be saved. It is unreasonable, but it is true.
You might be interested to know that after his conversation with Jesus, Nicodemus, spiritually speaking, seems to have gotten where he needed to be. In chapter seven we are told that many people started to put their faith in Jesus as the promised Messiah. The Jewish leaders did not like it at all and accused Jesus of putting a curse on the people. In the midst of their condemnation we read, “Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier and who was one of their own number, asked, “Does our law condemn anyone without first hearing him to find out what he is doing?”[8] It appears Nicodemus is trying, albeit unsuccessfully, to defend Jesus. Further we read in John chapter nineteen after Jesus had been raised up on a pole to suffer and die for the sins of the world, a man by the name of Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for permission to burry Jesus’ body. We are told Joseph “was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen.”[9] It appears Nicodemus had come to understand that Jesus was more than a teacher who has come from God. It appears Nicodemus had come to understand that Jesus was his savior. It was not reason that brought Nicodemus to this understanding it was faith; faith in God’s unreasonable plan of salvation.
The practice of apologetics has value. With apologetics we can use reason to disarm skeptics and scoffers of the faith, but reason has its limits. Reason can only get a person so far and when it comes to salvation it’s not far enough. That is why after reason has reached its limits, faith must take over, because only faith in God’s unreasonable love for you can get you to where you want to be. Amen
[1] John 3:2
[2] John 3:4 & John 3:9
[3] John 3:9
[4] John 3:8
[5] Numbers 21:8
[6] John 3:14-15
[7] John 3:16
[8] John 7:50
[9] John 19:39-40