Being Born of the Spirit – February 2, 2025
Numbers 21:4-9, John 3:1-17
February 2, 2025
Lately, I’ve found myself drawn to the Gospel of John. And what I like about it is that John is different. John tells the stories a little differently than the other Gospel writers. And he tells some stories the others don’t tell! Only John tells of the healing of the man born blind, the Raising of Lazarus, and the Woman caught in Adultery.
Do you remember that one? They wanted to stone her and he said, “He who is without sin may cast the first stone.” That’s only in John. And John tells some of the stories in a different order than the others. He tells of the Cleansing of the Temple near the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, rather than on Palm Sunday, like the others.
In fact, the differences in John’s Gospel prompted Bible scholars to coin a term for the other Gospels. Because they’re so similar to one another, where John is so different. So, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, are referred to as the “Synoptic Gospels.” Have you ever heard that term? It’s a fancy way of saying, “They all look alike!” (You can hear the similarity to our words, “synchronize,” or “Synonym.”)
But John is different. And the other thing I like about John, and I’ve said this before, is that he gives us more of the stories. He gives us more of the dialogue, more of the details, and I think more of the emotion than the others. For instance, I love reading the story of the Passion from John’s Gospel. He gives us all of the intense dialogue between Jesus and Pontius Pilate! And by the way, that’s a good thing to take out and read after you get home from the Agape service. It’s good preparation for Good Friday and Easter.
Well, John also brings out something else I’ve said before about the Gospel story. And that is that the religious leaders were divided over this new rabbi Jesus. Sometimes we get the impression that they were all against him. It was Jesus verses the religious establishment. But that’s not the case.
Yes, there were some who were against him. There were some who were jealous of his popularity and influence. But I find myself giving others of them the benefit of the doubt. They were the “keepers of the faith.” It was their job to be aware of anybody who was corrupting the faith and misleading the people. So some of them were genuinely interested in finding out who this Jesus was, what he was saying, and whether or not he was really “legitimate.” There are even places in the Gospels where Jesus was invited to dinner – by several of them. Although that didn’t always go so well.
Well, John brings out that interaction between Jesus and the religious leaders. And here, in his third chapter, he tells us of this meeting with one of the Pharisees, a man named Nicodemus. And it’s wonderful to see this interchange between one who was a learned, spiritual leader, and this new rabbi, Jesus. And remember, they didn’t know where he got his learning. And they questioned him about that from time to time! “By who’s authority do you say these things?”
Nicodemus came to Jesus by night. Now, some have said that was due to secrecy. But others have said that the night was simply the time that the religious leaders would gather to discuss things. So, for whatever reason, there he was.
Well, John tells us that he begins this discussion by asking Jesus the most important question on his mind. “Rabbi,” he said. And again, there’s that word “Rabbi.” As I reminded you last week, the story of Jesus took place in the context of Judaism, and Jesus was seen as a rabbi. “Rabbi,” he said, “we know you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do the signs that you do unless God is with him.”
That was the real dilemma of the religious leadership. Try as they might, they could not deny the things Jesus did! And they tried! They questioned the parents of the man born blind. Was he really born blind, or was he just a con artist? And they did the same with his other miracles. And when they couldn’t deny his power, they tried to attribute it to evil forces. “This man casts out demons by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons!”
In the end, they could not deny Jesus’ power. But the great irony is that they still felt the need to silence him! That even continued into the book of Acts. When Peter and John healed the man at the Temple in Acts 3, they Pharisees said, “What shall we do with these men. They have performed a notable sign before the people, and we cannot deny it.” But then they concluded, “But in order that it spread no further, let us warn them to speak no more to anyone in this name.” (Acts 4:16-17)
So yes, there were those among the religious leadership who wanted to deny and even silence Jesus, despite the amazing things they had seen. And if you think about it, that attitude has continued even up to our day. There are people in our world who wouldn’t deny the miracles of Jesus – and some wouldn’t even deny the greatest of miracles – the Resurrection. Yet still, they want nothing to do with him! Still they fight against him! Just like those religious leaders!
But, not all of them! And I believe Nicodemus was one who was truly seeking the truth about Jesus. So he asked him this question. And again, I think it was the biggest question, the biggest dilemma he was facing. “You must be from God! Otherwise, how could you do the things you do!”
Well, Jesus answered him – even though it really wasn’t a question, yet. Actually, I think it may have been more a matter of Jesus responding to his statement. But it is an answer, because Nicodemus was questioning! And this is what he said. “Unless a man is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
Now I have to say that I’ve always struggled a little bit with that “answer.” Because it seems as though Jesus didn’t even acknowledge the question. He just jumped into another subject. But recently, it’s made more sense to me. Because, for a long time I took it to mean “Unless a man is born anew he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” Isn’t that what you’ve thought? After all the part we remember the most from this conversation is verse 16! “Whoever believes would have eternal life.”
But I’m not so sure that’s what Jesus was saying at this point. He said, “Unless a man is born anew he cannot see the kingdom.” I think that word “see” is important. He was telling Nicodemus about being able to see the kingdom in the world around him. This was about his whole perspective on life. That makes more sense to me. He was telling Nicodemus, “You’re really not going know who I am, or see me for who I am, unless you have a more spiritual perspective!” And he was leading him to what he said next about “Being Born of the Spirit.”
This was a struggle for Nicodemus. He stumbled a little over the “being born again” thing. He asked how that was possible. “Can a man re-enter his mother’s womb?” That’s when Jesus said, “Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” Now he used the word “enter,” but he was still talking about the kingdom. He didn’t say “heaven!” He’s still talking about “the kingdom of God.” And where did Jesus say the kingdom of God was? It was “in their midst” – “in our midst.” He was still talking about the spiritual kingdom that we are part of, in the here and now! I hope you get that.
Jesus then takes that thought further by comparing the Spirit with the wind. And I think that’s an interesting comparison. Because the words for “wind” and “spirit” are the same word – “Pneuma.” That’s where we get our words “pneumatic” and “pneumonia!” Jesus was using an interesting play on those two words here. And he was trying to get Nicodemus to see that the spiritual kingdom is not as visible as the physical world, but it’s there. And it very much affects the physical world.
Jesus was constantly pointing to the spiritual. He was constantly trying to tell people what has been said in our time, that we are not earthly beings having a spiritual experience, but rather we are spiritual beings having an earthly experience. And that’s how Jesus wants us to orient our lives and our thinking.
Nicodemus still doesn’t quite get it, though. And so Jesus gets a little “terse” with him. “How can you be a teacher of Israel and not understand this?” And then he says, “If I’ve told you earthly things and you don’t believe, how can you believe if I’ve told you heavenly things?” In other words, “How are you going to believe who I really am?”
Then he tries to tell him who he really was. “No one has ascended into heaven but he who has descended, the Son of Man.” And he gives him this reference from scripture, one Nicodemus would have known. (Jesus was always quoting scripture!) He relates himself to the story of the serpent in the wilderness. When the people were bitten by snakes, they could look to the bronze snake on the staff and they would live.
So, all of this, all of this wonderful exchange, is what leads up to the iconic passage, John 3:16, which I’m sure we could all say from memory! And I think that’s what Jesus was trying to tell Nicodemus in answer to his first question. Because in the end it really was a question. He said, “We know you are a teacher from God, for no man could do the things otherwise.” And I think implied in that statement is the question, “So, who are you?” And even the question, “What are you doing here?” Possibly even, “Are you the Messiah?” (Although I don’t think that was as big a concern for Nicodemus.)
I’ve often said that we are inundated by the things of this world. So much of what we see and hear, and so much of what demands our attention, are worldly concerns. And that’s all well and good. But we’re called to give attention to the things of the Spirit. And the things of the Spirit are more elusive. We’ll miss them, we won’t even think of them, if we aren’t intentional about them. Jesus is calling Nicodemus to be “born of the Spirit,” that is, to be spiritual in orientation. Then he could begin to have his questions answered about who Jesus was! And I believe Nicodemus finally got those questions answered.
The question is, do we? So far this year, we’ve renewed our faith. And we don’t have to know everything about faith to renew faith, do we? That’s Faith! Then, we’ve thought about what it means to be disciples. And then, we’ve thought about our faith as a celebration. But at the heart of all of that is this idea of “Being born of the Spirit.” It is recognizing that spiritual part of us, even as we are immersed in a physical world. It is, as Paul said, “Setting our minds on the things of the spirit.” That’s how we shall “see” the kingdom of God, which is (where?) among us.
Prayer
Eternal God, we thank you that you have come to live among us and to show us your kingdom – the kingdom that is in our midst. Help us to know we are part of that spiritual kingdom. Help us to see beyond this earthly life and to be oriented toward that kingdom. It’s not always easy for us, but with your help, we know we can. And we give you thanks and praise, in Jesus’ name, Amen.