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Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did. But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.
There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This 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." Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Nicodemus 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?" Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit."
Nicodemus answered and said to Him, "How can these things be?" Jesus answered and said to him, "Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things? Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life."
- John 2:23-3:15
Yesterday we read about Jesus' cleansing of the temple in Jerusalem. It is the first Passover of Jesus' ministry as reported in John's Gospel: Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business. When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers' money and overturned the tables. And He said to those who sold doves, "Take these things away! Do not make My Father's house a house of merchandise!" Then His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up." So the Jews answered and said to Him, "What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?" Jesus answered and said to them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." The the Jews said, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?" But He was speaking of the temple of His body. Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said.
Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did. But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man. The word for "commit" here is rooted to the same word translated as "faith." But in the Greek, "faith" is more akin to "trust." So, we could read this as "Jesus did not entrust Himself to them." This suggests the covenant of faith, a two-way street. Many may be convinced by signs, but that's not yet true faith. It's not the real bond of love in covenant, and John - right here at an early point in his Gospel - gives us a good reason why Jesus refuses simply to give signs as "proofs." He's looking for a kind of relationship with us, with His sheep. John also testifies to Jesus' knowing, an important part of trust and covenant. He knows us better than we know ourselves, He knows what is in us.
There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. It's important that we understand that there were also Pharisees, members of the leadership, and "rulers of the Jews" who also followed Jesus.
This 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." My study bible tells us: "Nicodemus believed Jesus was from God. Afraid of being seen with Him by his peers, he came to Jesus by night. Following this conversation with Jesus, Nicodemus disappears from John's Gospel until he seeks to defend Jesus' legal rights before the Sanhedrin. At the end, with Joseph of Arimathea, he prepares and entombs the body of Jesus -- a bold public expression of faith. His memory is celebrated with that of the myrrh-bearing women and Joseph of Arimathea on the second Sunday after Easter. According to some early sources, Nicodemus was baptized by Peter, and consequently was removed from the Sanhedrin and forced to leave Jerusalem." Nicodemus also shows the wisdom of his position and expertise. He recognizes what must be behind the signs that Jesus does.
Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." A note explains that "again" here is more accurately translated "from above." It is "speaking of the heavenly birth from God through faith in Christ. Whereas God the Word is born from the Father before all ages, Christians are born from the Son in His human nature within time by Holy Baptism. Being born again, however, is but the beginning of spiritual life. The goal is to see the kingdom of God, a phrase frequently used in the synoptic gospels but found only here in John. Its equivalent in John is 'life' or 'eternal life.'"
Nicodemus 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?" As we have already observed, in John's Gospel we are frequently taken from the face-value worldly meaning of a phrase to the depth of understanding Jesus' words contain. My study bible puts it properly in its poetic beauty: "A typical feature of John's Gospel is the elevation of an idea from its superficial meaning in this age to its spiritual meaning in the Kingdom." So, in this sense, our understanding is also reborn from above.
Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.'" My study bible says, "Birth from above is of water and the Spirit, a clear reference to Christian baptism. While the workings of the Holy Spirit are mysterious, nevertheless spiritual birth is integrated with baptism here and throughout the New Testament."
"The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit." This is a play on words in the Greek. Pneuma in the Greek means both wind and Spirit. My study bible says, "The working of the Holy Spirit in the new birth is as mysterious as the source or destination of the blowing wind."
Nicodemus answered and said to Him, "How can these things be?" Jesus answered and said to him, "Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things? Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven." St. John Chrysostom interprets "earthly things" as being the mystery of new birth through baptism (which Jesus has just taught to Nicodemus). "Heavenly things" speak about Jesus' heavenly life as Christ or Logos, great mysteries of heaven. As my study bible puts it, Chrysostom says that "heavenly things" rather refer to the eternal generation of the Son from the Father. It says, "The new birth is an incomparable spiritual gift, but compared to Christ's eternal birth from the Father, it is earthly." At any rate, it is something we human beings are to experience here in the world, the taste of the Kingdom come near, even as we await its fullness.
"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life." A note reads, "Moses lifted up a bronze serpent to cure the Israelites from the deadly bites of poisonous snakes. Christ will be lifted up on the Cross. As the believer beholds the crucified Christ through faith as Savior, the poisonous bite of that old serpent, the devil, and the bite of sin and death, is counteracted and cured. The moment of Christ's greatest humiliation becomes the moment of exaltation for completing His redeeming work. This is the first of many instances in John's Gospel where Jesus teaches that He is the fulfillment of an Old Testament type."
We really can't limit the work that Spirit does in the world. These are still "earthly things" -- the experience of what the Spirit does in us and among us. In this way, Jesus' saying, "The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit" makes perfect sense. It is a beautiful and poetic analogy even as the Greek tells us something profound, that same word pneuma that can have two meanings of "wind" and "Spirit." We cannot leave the poetry out of the Gospels. Poetry informs us in ways that nothing else we know can about the meanings and values that suffuse the human experience of Spirit, of Christ, of God in our midst who works among us and within us. In this sense, we come to understand Jesus' depth of meanings, that are hidden from those who only take them at face value. John's Gospel will constantly point us in deeper directions as we, too, are called to become "reborn" again and again in a constant baptism of the Spirit. Faith calls us to this place. There's a phrase in the psalms: "Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me." The meaning of this is rather contested; but there's not much doubt in the meaning of the entire Psalm. Even through the crashing waves and billows of sorrows and sadness, God's love is steadfast. In this sense, we can think of "deep calls to deep" as in the midst of our world, Jesus assures us that we can be born again of Spirit and therefore bear God-likeness. There's even a hint of "likeness" in the analogy to Moses lifting up the serpent on his staff, and the comparison with Christ lifted up on the Cross. The "medicine" of the Cross, which is bitter, in fact cures our ails, and is the antidote to the poison of the ruler of this world. In these senses, we acquire "likeness" in His name and image, becoming citizens of a heavenly kingdom and therefore prepared for the fullness of that citizenship, dressed in the proper wedding garment for the Wedding Feast. Many early Church Fathers have spoken of the reason for Christ's Incarnation, that God became man so that we may become like God. Here, a true rebirth in Spirit speaks of just that, a preparation in God's image so that we may enter into the fullness of the Kingdom. Jesus speaks of rebirth as something "earthly" -- thereby assuring us that this process begins with us, in the flesh, here and now, and of course teaching us that He by His incarnation in the flesh becomes a kind of Moses, showing us the way, His Way. Let us pay attention to these "earthly things" and not neglect them! Let us remember that we are called by the One who descended in order to be lifted up on the Cross, so that we may find this Way through faith and rebirth.
