Born from Above – Part 1

John 3:1-21

¹Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. ²This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “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.” ³Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” ⁴Nicodemus 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?” ⁵Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you [plural], unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. ⁶That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. ⁷Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ ⁸The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” ⁹Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” ¹⁰Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? ¹¹Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. ¹²If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? ¹³No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. ¹⁴ And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵ that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. ¹⁶“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. ¹⁸Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. ¹⁹And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. ²⁰For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. ²¹But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

Throughout the Gospels we witness the on-going verbal battle between the Jesus and the Pharisees. (Well, it’s mostly verbal. There would be that scene in the Temple where Jesus tosses a few tables and uses a handmade whip. And then there’s the scourging and crucifixion of Jesus. Those two things weren’t exactly verbal.) Those two events aside, it is a verbal beating that the Pharisees take from Jesus on every occasion: except for one; Jesus late night conversation with Nicodemus. I was going to take these 21 verses as our study just for today. But that simply won’t do. This passage is enormous in scope and consequence. It requires more attention than that.

We don’t know exactly why Nicodemus comes to Jesus at night. Most scholars seem to believe it was because he was acting outside of what would be approved by his fellow Pharisees. He comes to Jesus with what appears to be a genuine desire to know the truth. He comes with an open heart and an open mind. And he’s no fool. This is a learned man who truly wants answers. Instead of being angry and reactionary to Jesus’ claim to be the Son of God, Nicodemus looks at the “signs” Jesus has performed and believes there may be truth to the claim. Then Jesus throws the big challenge into the conversation.

“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

Now Nicodemus has something to chew on and he is immediately confused. He is stuck on the physical. It is ludicrous to think that one can experience a physical rebirth. And he’s not wrong. But of course this is not what Jesus is suggesting. Jesus is pointing to the truth that every believer must experience two births; flesh is born of flesh and spirit is born of Spirit. We know this rebirth happens in our Baptism.

One of my favorite Old Testament passages (I know – the usage of the word “favorite” is way too common for me) is found in Ezekiel.

Ezekiel 36:24–27

²⁴I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land. ²⁵I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. ²⁶And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. ²⁷And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

When you read these words through the lens of Jesus’ words to Nicodemus they take on a whole new life. And Nicodemus would have been intimately acquainted with these words. He was an Old Testament scholar. When we were sprinkled with the waters of Baptism and the name of the True and Living God was spoken over us, we were “born from above.” It’s done! We belong to God through His calling and His work. This is why I write this blog – because now my mind is blown for today and I can go about my work. If I could make the words from the Ezekiel passage flash inside of my post – I would! Read them again!