Scripture: John 3:1-17
3 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.
16 “For 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.
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.
Questions
- Why did Nicodemus come to Jesus at night?
- Why did Nicodemus have such trouble understanding what Jesus was saying?
- What does Jesus mean when he says you must “be born from above”?
Background
Related Scriptures: Jeremiah 31:31-34; Romans 4; 1 Timothy 2:1-4
Teachers would often teach at night because individuals had to work during the day, but John is doing more that providing historical detail, he is revealing Nicodemus’ ignorance by equating it with darkness.
Athanasius: Once the likeness painted on a panel has been effaced by stains from outside itself, the one whose likeness it is needs to come once more to enable the portrait to be renewed on the same wood. And, for the sake of his picture, even the mere wood on which it is painted is not thrown away, but the outline is renewed upon it. In the same way, the most holy Son of the Father, being the image of the Father, came to our world to renew humankind once made in his likeness. He came to find such lost individuals by the remission of their sins. He says as much himself in the Gospels: “I came to find and to save the lost.” This is why he also said to the Jews, “Except one be born again,” not meaning, as they thought, birth from a woman, but speaking of the soul born and created anew in the likeness of God’s image[1]
Reflection
Nicodemus’ questions seem very legitimate to me. Not only how can a person be born a second time but why would a Jew, who was born into God’s family need to be born a second time. Why would anyone who was born into God’s chosen people need a second birth. Even if Nicodemus understood the double meaning of Jesus’ statement (born again- a second time & born from above) it still would not have made sense. Even today when we talk about being born again, we mean being born into God’s family. But the Jews saw themselves as God’s chosen family so what can this mean? Nicodemus is saying to Jesus, “I’ve already been born into God’s family, why should I have to repeat the process and have my mother give birth to me a second time.” Nicodemus is trying to point out he already views himself as born into God’s family.
Jesus though is trying to get Nicodemus to see something beyond blood. Jesus wants us to think more deeply about what it means to be family. Nicodemus thinks his connection to God comes from his birthright; Jesus wants him to see that his connection to God comes from God. Jesus wants him to recognize it is not enough simply to be connected to the right people, he must be connected to God. In saying this Jesus is echoing the Old Testament prophets who looked forward to the day when God’s Spirit would dwell in humanity in a unique way. Jesus is telling Nicodemus the day longed for by the prophets had come. A day when God’s Spirit would be poured out on all people in a new way. Nicodemus (Who probably had a close relationship with God) attributed that to his association with God’s people instead of his desire to pursue God’s Spirit (the reason he ultimately sought out Jesus). Jesus was trying to get Nicodemus to see that it is he needed to reject his earthly DNA to accept the Divine DNA that had already begun to work in him. Nicodemus needed to distance himself from the idea that his natural birth put in into a right relationship with God and begin to grasp that it was his desire to be like God and allow God’s Spirit to work in him that made him part of God’s family.
Updating this for today, we might say it is not simply a connection to a local church that makes us part of God’s family, it is our desire to be like God. Jesus wants us to understand that he came to save sinners (John 3:16-17) but the salvation is demonstrated through us living out life in the Spirit. He wants us to understand that God loves us so much that we have life in the Spirit opened up to us, and that accepting this is eternal life. But he wants us to see that life in the Spirit changes us to be more like the Spirit. Just as we grow into the likeness of the family we are born into on earth, so when we are born in the Spirit we begin to grow into the likeness of the Spirit. Being born anew, or from above, is about living in the new family. Just like being part of any other family, it is about learning the culture of the family, reflecting the traits of the family, and learning to love the family.
I am sure Nicodemus understood that he needed to love God’s family, but what needed to change was his perspective on who made up God’s family and how one entered it. This is why John 3:16-17 has such resonance in the passage. Nicodemus understands that God’s family is a small group of people united by birth. Jesus though wants him (and us) to understand that God’s love is not so limited. God loves the entire world and desire to see everyone enter eternal life (1 Tim 2:3-4). Nicodemus is shown that God’s family is extensive and not limited to one specific group. But he is also shown that the small group he thinks of as God’s family is not necessarily part of the family. Rather, he is given the picture that God’s true family are the ones who love like God does in John 3:16-17, since they are the ones who reflect their father. If we are going to call ourselves part of God’s family we need to also take this to heart. It is when we reflect the love of God and the qualities of Jesus that we demonstrate we have been born in the Spirit. Being born again (from above) is not simply about a specific event it is about a lifetime of learning how to recognize God’s family and how to live in it.
[1] Joel C. Elowsky, ed., John 1–10, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture 110.
Squinting in the Light 
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