Listen to the audio of today’s Reflection:
https://soundcloud.com/hapearce/reflection-for-january-15-2024
John 3:1-15
Jesus Teaches Nicodemus
1Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”
3 In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”
4 “How can a person be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”
5 Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 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.”
9 “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.
10 “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? 11 I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. 12 I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? 13 No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. 14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”
This passage is the first part of a conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus, who is identified in the text as a Pharisee and a member of the Jewish ruling council.
The part of the passage that gets the most attention is the part where Jesus says that those who see the kingdom of heaven will be those who are “born again.” Obviously, this has become such a catch-phrase among followers of Jesus that lots of people just put it together automatically with the word ‘Christian.’ Any Christian who is half-way serious about their faith is called a ‘born-again Christian.’ In some surveys, something like two-thirds of all Americans describe themselves as “born-again Christians.” (But it’s not entirely clear what all those people really mean by that, since only about one third of Americans participate in the Christian faith in any meaningful way.)
We should probably say a word about the Greek word that’s translated “again” in this passage. It’s the word Greek anothen. As our NIV Bible points out in a footnote, that word can mean “again,” but it can also mean “from above.” Some Bible interpreters will tell you that Jesus intentionally used the word to express both of these ideas. But there’s a problem with that – Jesus spoke to his disciples in Aramaic, not Greek, and there’s no Aramaic word that means both ‘again’ and ‘from above.’ So Jesus almost certainly meant one or the other, and from Nicodemus’ reaction, it seems pretty clear he understood Jesus to be saying “born again,” not “born from above.”
In any case, in speaking to Nicodemus, Jesus made a distinction between two births – the normal human birth of the flesh, and second birth of “water and the Spirit.” Bible scholars interpret the ‘water’ part as referring to baptism, which we understand as marking the beginning of a new life as a follower of Jesus. And of course, Nicodemus and others who heard Jesus preaching and teaching weren’t baptized as infants as most of us were – they were adults who really would experience a new and different life that began when they were baptized
But it seems to me that it’s really the part about being ‘born of the Spirit’ that Jesus would regard as most important for people like us. Sprinkling water on the heads of babies is an important occasion when the parents and the rest of the congregation promise to raise the baby as a follower of Jesus. But our spiritual ancestor John Calvin rejected the idea that being baptized assured the person a place in heaven. He said that we are baptized “toward faith.” The water only gets us part way – the genuine faith that leads to discipleship probably requires the baptism of the Spirit. You might notice that Jesus just mentions water in passing, but he talks at some length about the importance of the Spirit.
Jesus says, “the wind blows wherever it pleases.” But that translation strikes me as a little odd. The word that’s translated ‘wind’ here is exactly the same word (pneuma) that’s translated ‘Spirit’ elsewhere in this passage.
It seems to me that the point Jesus was making is that we can’t tame or control the Spirit. A person doesn’t have new life in the Spirit just because their parents carried them into a church sanctuary one Sunday and had water sprinkled on them. It seems much more likely that a child gets new life in the Spirit because that child sees their parents living Spirit-filled lives. And because those Spirit-filled parents take every opportunity to expose that child to occasions for worship and growth in the things of the faith. So the child learns to open his or her heart to that same Spirit.
Unless regular opportunities are provided for a child to be reborn in the Spirit through worship and study and service, having a little water sprinkled on them probably doesn’t accomplish much. That’s especially true if the parents think that having the child baptized fulfills their duty to provide “a Christian upbringing.” On the other hand, if that child is raised by parents who allow the Spirit to direct their own lives, then that child is much more likely to grow into an adult committed to following Jesus. And that, it seems to me, is what Jesus has in mind when he speaks about the need to be “born again.”
For those of us who think of ourselves as followers of Jesus, the challenges would seem to be clear: first, to let our lives be steadily transformed in the image of Jesus by the working of the Holy Spirit; and second, to commit ourselves to allowing that Spirit to blow through us into the lives of others around us.
Let’s pray together: Holy Spirit, come upon us and into us this day and every day. Let us be reborn each day to Christ-like lives that you guide and empower. And let us live in such a way that the Spirit reaches others through us, and gives them new life in Jesus, too. Amen.
Blessings,
Henry
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