Unanswered questions

Sermon by Pr. Sharai Jacob on the Third Sunday in Lent + Saturday, February 28, 2026

Nicodemus was a Pharisee. He knew about the world, about God and the way God interacted with the world. He studied and taught about faith, about spirit. And he came to Jesus to express support, solidarity, or understanding. But Jesus’ responses to Nicodemus became increasingly wild and confusing. Starting with an answer to a question that Nicodemus didn’t ask!

Nicodemus starts the interaction rather hopefully saying, “I know that you are a teacher sent by God!”

But Jesus responded with some gibberish about a second birth, “...no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.”

Nicodemus expresses his confusion asking how that could even be possible.

Jesus responds saying something about being born of the water and the spirit? He seems to be saying the second birth is spiritual and that once you are born a second time you become …like the wind?

And when poor Nicodemus expresses further confusion, Jesus calls into question Nicodemus’ ability to be a faith leader and then launches into a lecture about the Son of Man and eternal life and how much God Loves the world.

We don’t see Nicodemus’ final reaction to Jesus’ words. I don’t imagine he left feeling very enlightened.

Nicodemus had taken a risk as a Pharisee to come visit Jesus in the night. The Pharisees weren’t entirely accepting of Jesus or his teachings. Jesus was amassing a following and publicly performing miracles. His teachings were a threat to Roman rule and the Pharisees feared Rome’s retaliation, which would likely be incredibly violent. If Jesus continued to provoke Rome, the Pharisees and their entire community would be at risk. It would not have been wise for Nicodemus to show his support for Jesus publicly, or in the daytime, when others could see. All that risk, and effort on Nicodemus’ part just to leave bewildered, confused, and a little insulted.

Reading this passage makes me wonder what Jesus was trying to do here… Nicodemus was holding out an olive branch, trying to offer Jesus his support. Jesus babbles on and on about things Nicodemus clearly does not understand. If I was Nicodemus, I would assume that Jesus was not in his right mind. Or maybe Jesus was purposely trying to get rid of him.

This snippet of scripture actually reminded me of the book we read at Book Group last week, “The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.” I hadn’t finished the book by the time Book Group met, but I have finished it since! The book follows poor Aurthur Dent, who survives the destruction of Earth by hitching a ride on the spaceship of the Aliens who were destroying the Earth. Over the course of the book, he has many conversations and experiences that repeatedly alert him to the fact that the known universe is actually infinitely bigger than his little life on Earth.

Toward the end of the book Aurthur hears the story of an ancient civilization that created a computer which was able to calculate and provide the answer to the question of life, the universe, and everything. After millions of years spent making the computer, they ask it, “What is the meaning of life?” And after millions of years waiting for its response, its answer is “42.” Of course, there was outrage! “How could the meaning of life be 42?” The people had asked a question they didn’t understand and had received an answer that made no sense to them.

In our scripture reading today, Nicodemus’ odd conversation with Jesus seems to capture the same absurdity. Poor Nicodemus, just like poor Aurther Dent, has stumbled into a conversation that is far bigger than what he was prepared for!

Jesus is actually answering Nicodemus’ questions openly, clearly, and directly, which he doesn’t seem to do generally in the Gospels. He often speaks in parables and teaches more practical Earthly things. But it seems to me like Jesus is accepting Nicodemus’ olive branch here. He is offering Nicodemus knowledge about how God moves in the world and God’s will for the world. These are subjects that Pharisees committed their lives to studying, and Jesus was actually offering Nicodemus the precious answers he’d spent his life searching for.

But, Nicodemus was hearing answers he didn’t understand to questions he didn’t even know to ask. Jesus is showing Nicodemus that there is more for him to learn, more to know, than could even be knowable. He’s showing Nicodemus what he would be getting into if he chose to follow Jesus in the daylight. Nicodemus didn’t need to understand all of what Jesus said. He just needed to understand that there was more for him to know.

Nicodemus’ befuddlement may have been uncomfortable for him, but that discomfort is also a sign of growth. Nicodemus is staring into the unknown, he’s teetering at the edge of a decision to follow Jesus. And he leaves this conversation with much more to consider than he previously thought. He doesn’t take this decision lightly; he is cautious and thoughtful about how and when he interacts with Jesus. He takes time to think things through. In the end, it seems like he does finally decide to follow Jesus; we see evidence of his decision when he shows up to care for Jesus' body after the crucifixion.

We may now read and understand more about Jesus’ words than Nicodemus did in his time. We understand a bit better now that God is Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. That Jesus is entirely God and entirely human, and that because of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, we are saved by grace through faith.

But there will always be questions that remain unanswered. Like Nicodemus, I often find that just when I think I have everything figured out, I realize I have so much more to learn. Nicodemus and Jesus teach us to trust that the Holy Spirit is at work in those moments.

As our world, our country, our synod, our congregation, are all going through times of change and uncertainty, we can trust that the grace of God is bigger than we could ever truly grasp. And as we in our everyday lives feel the discomfort of not knowing what the future holds, we can trust that the unnerving feeling of the unknown is actually the Spirit calling us toward new growth and new life.