Encounters with Grace: Grace in Questions

Nicodemus came to Jesus at night.

That detail matters. He didn’t come during the day, when everyone could see. He didn’t come with his fellow Pharisees, with his credentials and his authority. He came alone. In the dark. When no one was watching.

Because he had questions. And questions are vulnerable.

“Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God,” he says. And then: “How can these things be?”

How can someone be born again? How can someone be born when they’re old? How does this work?

And Jesus doesn’t give him a simple answer. He gives him a mystery: “The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

In other words: You can’t control this, Nicodemus. You can’t figure it out. You can’t make it happen. The Spirit moves where the Spirit moves. You just have to trust.

I love that Jesus doesn’t shame Nicodemus for his questions. He doesn’t say, “You’re a teacher of Israel and you don’t know these things?” (Well, okay, he does say that—but not in a mean way. More like, “Come on, you know this is bigger than logic.”)

Jesus invites the questions. He engages with them. He doesn’t demand certainty.

And that’s grace.

Grace says: You don’t have to have it all figured out. You don’t have to pretend you understand everything. You can come to God with your questions, your doubts, your confusion. And God will meet you there.

So here’s my prayer for us this week:

God, give us the courage to ask our real questions. The ones we’re afraid to say out loud. The ones we think we’re not supposed to have. Help us trust that you can handle our doubts, our confusion, our uncertainty. Remind us that faith isn’t about having all the answers—it’s about showing up with our questions and trusting that you’ll meet us there. Amen.

Grace and peace,
Pastor Travis