John 3:1-17
1 Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. 2 He came to Jesus by night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God." 3 Jesus answered him, "Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above." 4 Nicodemus said to him, "How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother's womb and be born?" 5 Jesus answered, "Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. 6 What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not be astonished that I said to you, "You must be born from above.' 8 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." 9 Nicodemus said to him, "How can these things be?" 10 Jesus answered him, "Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things? 11 "Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. 12 If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 14 And just 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. 17 "Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
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I love the Gospel according to John because John presents the Good News of Jesus Christ to us in a way that makes us step outside of our familiar, worldly understanding of both what we know as well as what we think is possible. Jesus’ charge to Nicodemus in this passage is our charge – to be part of the Reign of God having been born of human flesh as well as by water and the Spirit of God.
Nicodemus, a respected Pharisee and leader of the Jews during the day (representing reality, clarity, defined truth) comes to Jesus by night (normally feared as a place of ignorance, vulnerability and unbelief.) But Nicodemus goes to Jesus in the darkness of night with a perceived insight that he recognizes Jesus as a teacher sent by God. Jesus affirms this awareness as coming through a new birth, being born of water and the Spirit of God. We hear in this an echo of Genesis 1, with God creating human as male and female, in God’s own image. Nicodemus, representing most of us at some time(s) in our lives, has trouble with this. How do we enter our mother’s wombs again once we have grown into adults? Jesus is inviting us in John’s Gospel to understand this new birth as coming from the womb of God, where water and Spirit exist and create anew.
Questions for Reflection:
1. How may we use Lent to refocus ourselves from the daytime predictability and control of our understanding of the Reign of God?
2. How may we hear John 3:16 (God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life) with ears of one who has been born anew of water and Spirit? What does this mean?
3. How can we move to verse 3:17 (Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him) and hear God’s motivation for loving the world so much? What does this tell us about who God is and our relationship with God?
4. What does it look like for us to accept Jesus’ invitation and allow ourselves to be born again of God, to begin life everlasting now, living into the fulness of who we were created to be?