The Festival of the Holy Trinity

John 3:1-17

Have you ever been asked a question by a child that you didn’t know the answer to?

For instance, you know that if you plant seeds in good soil, you water, weed, and take care of the seed, it will sprout and grow into a wonderful pumpkin, tomato, or carrot.

But could you explain the process in detail of how the seed germinates and how the water works with the warmth of the sun to grow the seed into produce you and your family can enjoy?

This is my problem: I enjoy having a garden, growing fruits and vegetables, and teaching my children how to live off the land. But as my children follow me around the yard with their many, many questions about how the water or the sun helps the plant grow, I don’t always have an answer for them.

“It just does,” I often repeat.

I wonder how many fathers have shared in this response.

In today’s Gospel, Nicodemus, a wise and learned man, approached Jesus to say, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” (John 3:2)

Nicodemus comes to Jesus believing Him to be from God the Father, but he does not fully understand how Jesus is from God or who He truly is.

This is reflected not only in Jesus’ response, but also in the follow-up question by Nicodemus. Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” (John 3:3-4)

Nicodemus embodies Israel perfectly. The people of Israel were aware of God’s plan of salvation, as foretold by the words of God the Father, delivered through the prophets, yet they did not fully grasp how this plan would come to fruition. 

They did not understand how Jesus would need to enter the flesh of man, to go to the cross and die and rise again, nor did they understand how His death and resurrection would be for the salvation of all people, even the Gentiles (nonbelievers – those outside of Israel).

Do you struggle with understanding this great and glorious truth, too?

Are you like Nicodemus, petitioning your heavenly Father for guidance? Do you find yourself struggling to understand your faith or to articulate the Christian faith to your children or grandchildren? Or perhaps to a family member or neighbor? 

You are not alone.

But just as the answer to Nicodemus’ questions was right in front of him, so are the answers to your questions of the faith – they reside in the Words and testimony of Jesus.

Jesus tells Nicodemus that to see and know the kingdom of God, one must first be born from above, through the work of the Spirit, where they are united with Christ and made children of their heavenly Father; they must be baptized. You must hear and receive my Word and testimony from above, He says.

But then, Jesus points Nicodemus back to the prophetic words of Numbers as He said, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” (John 3:13-14)

Jesus answers Nicodemus by saying, you must believe in me.

In me, the Son of Man, who will be lifted up and placed upon the cursed tree, in me you will receive eternal life.

But how do you explain this mystery to a child? How do you answer and explain this to someone inquiring about the faith that is within you?

How do you explain to another how the Son of God took on your human flesh and became a man?

How do you explain how the Son of God grew up as a child, growing in wisdom and knowledge?

How do you explain the greatest news of how the Son of God died on the cross for your sins and the sins of the whole world and then rose again?

How do you explain that even as Jesus ascended into the heavens, but still remains with us today?

Sometimes we get caught up in answering other people’s questions, attempting to rationalize our answers, that we forget the answers to the faith are to be confessed from God’s Word and the Creeds handed down throughout the ages, as we just recited the words of the Nicene Creed a few moments ago.

“I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth…”

“And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God…who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary and was made man; and was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate…And the third day He rose again according to the Scriptures and ascended into heaven…”

“And I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life…”

The faith of the Christian Church is succinctly explained and confessed with these words of the creed that we speak every week as we gather here in the sanctuary of the Lord. Think about that, every time you confess the creed, you are being catechized and prepared to confess and give an answer for the faith within you.

What a wonderful gift for you. You don’t have to rationalize or support your faith in worldly or scientific ways; your only need is to confess what God has done, to look to the cross and rejoice that you have a Father who loved you by sending His Son to die for you on the wretched cross so that you might live.

As we celebrate the festival of Holy Trinity today, let us remember that this is not a time for us to investigate or rationalize the Trinity. Instead, it is a time for us, the children of God, to petition our Father in heaven to grant us the fruit of faith so that we may confess what we hold to be true: that it is the Father who created us, the Son who redeemed us upon the cross, and the Holy Spirit who continues to keep us in the faith of this true church on earth so that we might be plucked from the soil of this earth on the last day when we shall see our God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, face to face. 

+In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit+