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

 Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs that Jesus 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?  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 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 that 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."  Then 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 that Jesus 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.   John's Gospel gives us three Passover feasts attended by Jesus during His ministry, between His Baptism by John the Baptist and His Passion (see 6:4 and 11:55).  This gives us a three-year span to His earthly ministry.

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."   Although John has so far reported only one sign in His Gospel (at the wedding at Cana), his Gospel refers above to the signs which people saw who were at the Passover, and here Nicodemus also refers to multiple signs, and that they point to the presence of God.  My study bible says that Nicodemus believed that Jesus was from God, but that his faith was still weak.  He is a Pharisee, and he fears his peers, therefore he came to Jesus by night.  After this conversation, Nicodemus's faith will grow to the point where he defends Jesus before the Sanhedrin (7:50-51), risking his life and standing by making a bold public expression of faith and preparing and entombing the body of Christ (19:39-42).  By tradition of the Eastern Church, Nicodemus's memory is celebrated on the third Sunday of Easter along with the Myrrhbearing Women and also Joseph of Arimathea, who was another member of the Council.  According to some early sources, my study bible reports, Nicodemus was baptized by Peter and consequently removed from the Sanhedrin and forced to flee Jerusalem.

Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."   It is a rare revelation that Jesus has made to Nicodemus, affirming for us in some sense that which John has said earlier in our reading, that Jesus knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.  Although Nicodemus is a Pharisee, and member of the Council, there is a way in which Jesus entrusts Himself to Nicodemus through this teaching.  To be born again can also be translated in the original Greek as born "from above."  It clearly refers to the heavenly birth from God via faith in Christ (1:12-13).  This heavenly birth is what baptism is, and the adoption by God as our Father (Galatians 4:4-7). 

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?"  It is frequently reported in John's Gospel that Jesus' listeners misunderstand what He says in His teachings.  This is an important aspect of the Gospel.  It calls to our attention the depth and meaning of Jesus' words and speech, and it also tells us about how we learn and grow in our understanding.  (See 2:19-21; 4:10-14, 30-34; 6:27; 7:37-39; 11:11-15).  Christ uses each opportunity to elevate an idea from a superficial or earthly meaning to a heavenly and eternal meaning.

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?"  My study bible tells us that this birth of water and the Spirit is a direct reference to Christian baptism as well as the gift of the Holy Spirit which is given at chrismation.   Jesus' analogy to the wind is a play on words; again, it is an affirmation of the power of language at work through Jesus' speaking and teaching, and a reminder that Jesus is Himself the Word.  The Greek word pneuma/πνευμα means both wind and Spirit.  My study bible tells us that the working of the Holy Spirit in the new birth is as mysterious as the source and destination of the blowing wind.   So it is that likewise, the Spirit moves where He wills and cannot be contained by human ideas or human agendas.

Jesus answered and said to him, "Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things?  No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven."  My study bible cites the commentary of St. John Chrysostom.  He writes that earthly things refer to grace and baptism given to human beings.  These are earthly, not in the sense of "unspiritual," but simply in the sense that they occur on earth and are given to creatures.  The heavenly things refer to the "ungraspable" mysteries of the eternal generation of the Son from the Father.  They relate to Christ's eternal existence before all time and to God's divine plan for the salvation of the world.  We must first grasp the ways in which God works among human beings before we can begin to understand any of the things that pertain explicitly to God.

"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life."   And we delve here into yet another tremendous mystery, that of the Cross.  Moses lifted up an image of a serpent in order to cure the Israelites from the deadly bites of poisonous snakes (Numbers 21:4-9).  Here Jesus indicates that this particular miracle-working image prefigured His being lifted up on the Cross.  My study bible tells us that as believers behold the crucified Christ in faith, so the power of death is overthrown in them.  It says that just as the image of a serpent was the weapon that destroyed the power of the serpents, so the instrument of Jesus' death becomes the weapon that overthrows death itself.

The misunderstandings we encounter in John's Gospel are highly significant.  They highlight the power of language at work not only in the Gospels but throughout the text of all the Scriptures.  In like ways, the earliest Church Fathers would come to see the entire text of the Old Testament as prefiguring or expressing (through "Types") the truths, works, and Person of Christ.  All of this gives us an understanding of the fulfillment of the Old Testament through the New, and through the Incarnation of Jesus Christ.  It is once again a testimony to the importance of how language works in us and in our lives, and its qualities of inter-connectedness for our understanding and enrichment, and the depth of spiritual life that grows through time.  Language, indeed, gives us a sense of relationship, so crucial to the communion within the Kingdom.  Meanings themselves become ties of participation within the life of the Church and of all those who live in Him, even tying us to the life of the Church and communion of the saints to come.  Today's passage illustrates the perspective given through John's Gospel, that life within this faith in Christ, and participation within the Kingdom, is not a "one time only" acknowledgment.  It is, instead, a continuum.  We are headed somewhere.  That is, the fullness of perfection is in a particular reality or realization of life, that of union with Christ.  We are either headed toward this place, or we may get caught up in things that distract us from this place.  And (typically) paradoxically, even those things that are meant to distract us from this fullness of being and realization of who we are in Him also work -- with God's help -- to spur us to that place and that fullness.  The Cross is the prime example of this fact of our faith and our true realization of identity in this place of Christ's life.  It is "a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Greeks," as St. Paul writes.  There is no doubt that both the demonic and human forces who wanted Jesus dead were not attempting to help His followers in their faith!  But the Cross is the instrument of salvation.  It is the prime witness to Christ's work and life in the world, and to His message to us to follow Him.  And once again paradoxically, this "stumbling block" and "foolishness" also becomes a symbol that works in all levels within us, giving us a way to grasp our faith regardless of our present understanding or level of spiritual depth.  We are reminded as well that this is the way the text works, giving us infinite levels of access as well as infinite returns to find more there for us.  What that means is that each believer, regardless of background or level of education, regardless of sophistication or cultural initiation or depth of learning, has access to these realities and their profound mysteries that they signal.  Each works as a "sign" and they are meant for all of us.  Let us remember that it was twelve relatively uneducated and unsophisticated men who would bring the message to the world, and that it is the Spirit that truly quickens and brings all these things to mind -- that continues to work with the text, with the images and "types" we've been given, in order to help the whole of the Church, our communities, as well as each one of us, not only to come to this place of faith, but to work with us each moment of our journey.  The rich texture of our faith is hidden in plain sight in all of its manifestations, its services and hymns, its Scriptures, its inspired Tradition, its saints and prayers, and in the revelations we're given through Christ and the works of the Spirit in the world.  It is all meant for all the world through Christ.  This is where salvation really is, within this door given to us, by Whom everything is tied together.  We begin with Nicodemus today, and how Jesus questions that even a teacher of Israel cannot immediately grasp what He has to teach.  So we all start, and learn, and grow.  We are all on our way, even with the detours, to the place He has for each, and for all.