In Too Big a Hurry?

Thursday morning, October 23, 2008 [a beautiful day but a bit cool for me; 540],
Because only a few of you responded to my last perspective, I am tempted to move on from those questions, but for some reason the temptation to stay-the-course a while longer is winning out. So, I invite your attention to John 3:1-4: "Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews; this man came to Him by night, and said to Him, 'Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.' Jesus answered and said to him, '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? He cannot enter the second time into his mother's womb, can he?'"
Now, take a minute and think about this situation: Jesus came as Messiah to the Jews, God called them the apple of His eye, and in this moment, He has not just an ordinary a Jew, but a Pharisee, a ruler of the Jews, standing before Him, apparently "ripe and ready for the picking." One would think that Jesus would have jumped all over the chance to make this convert; by anyone's standards, this "catch" would have qualified as a good night's work for any evangelist!
Let's pretend for a few minutes that we have not read the rest of the story. How would Jesus have responded to Nicodemus question (How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter the second time into his mother's womb, can he?), if He had followed the protestant, evangelical mentality of the last 100 years or so regarding evangelism?
The plea would have gone something like this: Nicodemus, you must be born again and this is how that is accomplished. (1) You must recognize that you are a sinner and, therefore, desperately need Me, the Savior; (2) You must confess your sins; (3) You must repent of your sins; (4) You must ask Me to forgive you and, then, receive My forgiveness; (5) You must invite Me to come and live in your heart; and (6) You must be baptized. Got it, Nicodemus? Good!
Now, close your eyes and pray this prayer after Me: I Nicodemus recognize that I am a sinner and in desperate need of You, Jesus, to be my savior. I confess that I am a sinner and that my sins are many. I promise to turn from my sins and to get out of the sin business. Please, I beg of You, forgive me for my many and grievous sins. I gladly receive your forgiveness. Please, now, come and live in my heart. Thank you so much.
If Jesus had truly followed the aforementioned mentality, He would have responded with something like this: Nicodemus, I want you to drive a stake into the ground (pretend) to mark this spot and this time; it will serve you well when the Devil comes in an attempt to rob this experience from you. Then the closing comment: Nicodemus, how do you feel?
If you notice, Jesus did NOT follow this plan, not at all; in fact, I have to believe that, at least for the next few days, Nicodemus wondered why he ever got into that conversation in the first place. The truth is Jesus response had more to do with the wind blowing than it had to do with confession, repentance, and forgiveness!
Go figure! Maybe He wasn't in as big a hurry to evangelize as He should have been!?
Your comments?