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 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 

 

On Saturday 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 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.  In Saturday's reading (above) was the first of three Passover feasts reported in John's Gospel, between the Lord's Baptism and Passion (see also John 6:4, 11:55).  This shows us that His earthly ministry lasted three years.  Here John tells us quite clearly that Jesus is the Heart-knower or Discerner of hearts, that He knew all men and 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."  It is important that John gives us the story of Nicodemus, and that we know that Nicodemus was himself a Pharisee.  It teaches us that there were believers in Christ among the religious leadership.  Nicodemus is a significant figure of the early Christian church.  My study Bible points out that Nicodemus believed that Jesus was from God, but his faith was still weak, as he was afraid of his peers and so came to Jesus by night.  After this conversation, his faith would grow to the point of defending Jesus before the Sanhedrin (John 7:50-51), and eventually he would make the bold public expression of faith of preparing and entombing Christ's body (John 19:38-42).  According to some early sources, my study Bible says, Nicodemus was baptized by Peter and consequently was 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."  The phrase born again literally reads born "from above" in the Greek.  My study Bible comments that it clearly refers to the heavenly birth from God through faith in Christ (John 1:12-13).  This heavenly birth, it says, is baptism, and our adoption by God as our Father (Galatians 4:4-7).  This new birth is the beginning of our spiritual life, its goal being entrance into 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?"  Nicodemus misunderstands, and questions the possibility of a second physical birth.  This type of dialogue involving misunderstanding occurs frequently in John's Gospel (see John 2:19-21; 4:10-14, 30-34; 6:27; 7:37-39; 11:11-15).  My study Bible comments that Christ uses these opportunities 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 birth of water and the Spirit is a clear reference to Christian baptism, and the gift of the Holy Spirit given at chismation.  Christian baptism is a spiritual birth by grace, through faith, and in the Holy Spirit, in which we become adoption as children of God (see Titus 3:4-7).

"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."   Here is a play on words:  the Greek word pneuma/πνευμα means both wind and Spirit (also breath).  My study bible says that the working of the Holy Spirit in the new birth is as mysterious as the source and destination of the blowing wind.  Likewise, the Spirit moves where He wills and cannot be contained by human ideas or agendas.  

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."  My study Bible cites St. John Chrysostom, who says that earthly things refer to grace and baptism given to human beings.  It explains that these are earthly, not in the sense of "unspiritual," but in the sense that they occur on earth and are given to creatures.  The heavenly things involve the ungraspable mysteries of the eternal generation of the Son from the Father; they relate to the Son's eternal existence before all time and to God's divine plan of salvation for the world. 

"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."   We are reminded that Moses lifted up an image of a serpent in order to cure the Israelites from deadly bites of poisonous snakes (Numbers 21:4-9).  This miracle-working image, my study Bible explains, prefigured Christ being lifted up on the Cross.  It says that as believers behold the crucified Christ in faith, the power of sin and death is overthrown in them.  Just as the image of a serpent was the weapon that destroyed the power of the serpents, so the instrument of Christ's death becomes the weapon that overthrows death itself.

How do we think about the mysterious power of the Holy Spirit?  Here in John's Gospel is perhaps the most clear statement we receive on the working of the Holy Spirit in the world, Christ's illustration of the wind.  Jesus says, "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 Christ's description of the "birth from above," the second birth that is Christian Baptism.  If we look closely at His words, we can understand that the Spirit goes where it wishes, and we can somehow detect its effects, but we cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes.  This teaches us that God's will is simply that:  it belongs to God, and this is the work of the Third Person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit.  St. Paul writes specifically about fruit of the Spirit, naming "love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control" as specific witnessed effects.  He adds, "Against such there is no law" (see Galatians 5:22-23), also testifying to the work of the Holy Spirit.  The Creed declares that Christ "was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and became man."  The Holy Spirit is also called the "giver of life" in the Creed.  This magnificent creative power of the Holy Spirit, therefore, apparently is initiated in our lives via Baptism, when "that which is born of the Spirit is spirit."  It is a beginning, a birth that gives us the capability to receive things which are spiritual in nature, to grow in the fruits of the Spirit, to enter into a life of growth in following Christ and participating in the whole life of the Church and all that it offers, including Scripture, prayer, worship, sacraments, and the communion of saints among all of its tradition.  As Jesus says, it is what enables us to enter and participate in the kingdom of God.  An Orthodox prayer to the Holy Spirit declares, "Heavenly King, Comforter, Spirit of Truth, everywhere present and filling all things, Treasury of Blessings and Giver of Life, come and dwell in us, and cleanse us of all stain, O Good One."   In this prayer we read many experienced and known attributes of the Spirit, including the names Heavenly King, Comforter, Spirit of Truth.  We learn the Spirit is everywhere present and filling all things, contains uncountable blessings, and once again is the giver of life -- and that in His action, the Holy Spirit may dwell in us and cleanse us of flaws or stain.  This is the lifelong working of the process begun in Baptism, which is, through the action of the Spirit, something that is always working in us, working itself out, helping us to be disciples of Christ, to correct what needs correcting, to transform us and help us to produce the fruits of the Spirit that St. Paul describes.  All of these actions belong to the Spirit in the whole history and understanding of the Church, which includes the testimony of Old and New Testament Scriptures, the witness of the saints, the uncountable and unmeasurable action of the Spirit, described by Christ as like the wind, which blows where it wills, although we can't know where it came from or where it is going.  The Orthodox prayer to the Holy Spirit begins every service for all kinds of occasions. We would all be wise to remember His mysterious and gracious presence and work at all times and in all places.  His capacity to create and to "give birth" to our true spiritual selves is always working.