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

 

 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 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.  As mentioned in yesterday's reading and commentary, this is the first of three Passover feasts reported in John's Gospel, between Christ's Baptism and Passion (see also John 6:4; 11:55).  These show that Christ's earthly ministry lasted three years.  Let us note also the powerful word of discernment here, that Christ did not commit Himself to those who were persuaded only by marvelous signs.  This also is Christ presented to us who is the "heart-knower" (καρδιογνώστης/kardiognostes); this is the Greek word used in Acts 1:24; 15:8.

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."  My study Bible comments that Nicodemus believed Jesus was from God, but his faith was still weak, as he was afraid of his peers and thus came to Jesus by night.  Following this conversation, it notes, Nicodemus's faith will grow to the point of defending Jesus before the Sanhedrin (John 7:50-51), and finally he will make the bold public expression of faith of preparing and entombing the body of Jesus (John 19:39-42).  In the Eastern Orthodox Church, his memory is celebrated on the third Sunday of Easter along with the Myrrbearing Women (those who were at the tomb) and Joseph of Arimathea.  According to some early sources, my study Bible also tells us, Nicodemus was eventually 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."  This phrase, born again, is translated from a literal meaning of "from above."  It indicates both "again" and "above" so that there is a clear indication it refers to the heavenly birth from God through faith in Christ (John 1:12-13).  This heavenly birth, my study Bible notes, is baptism and our adoption by God as our Father (Galatians 4:4-7).   This new birth, it says, is the beginning of our spiritual life, with 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 Jesus' teaching, and questions the possibility of a second physical birth.  This sort of misunderstanding -- an earthly understanding of the terms Jesus uses to illustrate heavenly things -- is a frequent occurrence in John's Gospel, and a method of teaching (see John 2:19-21; 4:10-14, 30-34; 6:27; 7:37-39; 11:11-15).  Jesus uses these opportunities, my study Bible explains, to elevate an idea from a superficial or earthly meaning to a heavenly and eternal meaning.  

Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." This birth of water and the Spirit clearly references Christian baptism and the gift of the Holy Spirit which is given at chrismation.

"That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit."  In the Prologue to John's Gospel (John 1:1-18), we read, "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God" (John 1:12-13).  Thus we understand adoption as children of God is not a matter of ethnic descent, nor natural birth, nor by a person's own decision.  This is a spiritual birth by grace, through faith, and in the Holy Spirit and is our understanding of Holy Baptism (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."  This is a play on words in the Greek.  The Greek word πνεῦμα/pneuma means both wind and Spirit.  My study Bible explains that the working of the Holy Spirit in the new birth is as mysterious as the source and destination of the blowing wind.  So likewise, the Spirit moves where the Spirit wills and cannot be contained by human ideas or agendas.

 

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."   Citing St. John Chrysostom, my study Bible suggests that earthly things refer to grace and baptism given to human beings.  These are "earthly," not in the sense of "unspiritual," but only 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 Christ's eternal existence before all time, and to God's divine plan of salvation for the world (Matthew 13:35).  My study Bible adds that a person must first grasp the ways in which God works among humankind before one can even begin to understand things that pertain to God Himself.  

"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."  Here Jesus refers to the time when Moses lifted up an image of the serpent in order to cure the Israelites from the deadly bites of poisonous snakes (Numbers 21:4-9).  This miracle-working image, my study Bible notes, 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.  

Jesus speaks of Moses lifting up his staff with the serpent fashioned on it (Numbers 21:4-9).  This was done at the time when "fiery serpents" plagued the Israelites.  Moses was told to fashion a bronze image of such a "fiery serpent," and raise it so that the people could gaze on it -- and when they did so, they lived, even if they had been bitten.  The word "fiery" suggests some interesting things, as does "serpent."  Combined they hint at characteristics of demons.  Angels (the same type of creature in origin) are often called "fiery" in many traditions, and the serpent is associated with Satan (Genesis 3).   Clearly Jesus' purpose in comparing Himself on the Cross to Moses' command to lift up the image of the fiery serpent in order to save Israel is a powerful message about His willing sacrifice on the Cross.  It will be the "lifting up" of Christ on the Cross that will "save Israel" (God's people) from the things that tempt and bite and cause harm.  In the Lord's Prayer, when we pray, "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil," that can also be translated from the Greek, "deliver us from the evil one" (implying Satan and the demonic).   That word for evil or the evil one is πονηρός/poneros in Greek, and its root is πόνος/ponos which means "pain."  That "pain" can also include wearisome laborious toil, anguish, distress, and suffering.  The "fiery" quality of such serpents can also describe the burning and painful effects of venom, and we can also look at such poison in its metaphorical senses as well.  Taken all in all, Jesus gives this comparative image of Moses' staff with the bronze serpent in order to tell us something profound about His being raised on the Cross; that will be the ultimate instrument that defeats evil, death, pain, poison -- those things that plague and are destructive to human beings and to life.  In the Orthodox hymn for Easter, it is sung that Christ "trampled death by death" and in so doing gave life to those in the tombs.  It might be worth noting here that the word for medicine and the word for poison is the same in Greek (in modern Greek there is simply an accent on a different syllable).  In the Bible that same word is also used for sorcery.   For us, it is that greater power of the Lord that turns Moses' serpent into a saving measure, and the Cross into salvation for the world.  In this transformative power, a Man's self-sacrifice becomes the ultimate act of conquest.  The power that Christ brings into the world is transformative in a way that overrules everything else, turns anything to God's purposes, and defeats that which is against God and seeks to harm.  If we pay close attention to today's reading, Jesus gives us a sense of the greater meanings of the spiritual reality He brings with Him that add layers and depth to the things that are "earthly," that we experience of this world.  To be "born again" or "born from above" does not mean to be born once again from the womb in an earthly sense.  This is why we read these passages and seek to understand the power in Christ's teachings, and especially here on the power of Holy Baptism (water and the Spirit) to transform one kind of birth to the birth of a spiritual inheritance, the adoption claimed by God in this salvation mission of Christ.  For just as Moses' staff, and the Cross of Roman crucifixion, were transformed by the power of Christ, so everything touched by God (Father, Son, and Spirit) and faith is transformative in our lives.  But we must have the eyes to see and ears to hear for this.  Jesus teaches Nicodemus by night so that Nicodemus can come to an understanding of these "earthly things" that God, through Christ, gives to the world -- but he is also told that there are greater things which are mysteries beyond them.  Christ comes from that place of heavenly mystery to bring some of heaven to us, to be at work among us and within us in this world, and we discount that power at our peril.  For when we fail to discern Christ's power of judgment -- at work in Moses' fiery serpent and the Cross of Christ -- then we lose that which delivers us from the pain of the evil that plagues us, transfiguring what we know.  We don't want to be so used to those "fiery serpents" that bite and burn and sting and hamper our lives that we simply accept that is all there is.  Let us take hold of Christ's words and look to His Cross.  In Luke's Gospel (Luke 21:28), when Jesus speaks of His Second Coming, He says that when the signs He warns about begin to appear, His disciples are to "look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near."  The Cross is that sign and remains that sign for us.  Let us not forget its power, and what it is all about, nor that He is the ultimate way to address our pain.

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

 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.

Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God

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

In yesterday's reading, we read of Jesus' cleansing of the temple in Jerusalem during Holy Week. He made a whip of cords, and drove out the animals for sale, poured out the changers' money, and overturned their tables. He said, "Do not make My Father's house a house of merchandise!" When asked what sign He would give that He had the authority to do this, He replied, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."

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. My study bible points out that John's Gospel records three feasts of the Passover during Jesus' ministry; this gives us a historical understanding of three years of His ministry. I find it significant that, within the very early chapters of John's Gospel, we are told of the many signs performed by Jesus. But right away, we are left with the understanding of discernment. Jesus knows what is in the hearts of people, He is the heart-knower, and He does not entrust Himself to them. The play on words is interesting: in the Greek, they trust or believe in Him because of the miracles, but He does not entrust Himself to them.

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." Here is an interesting juxtaposition in John's Gospel, and in its own form, another teaching on discernment. Although many in Jerusalem claim to believe, Jesus does not entrust Himself back to them. But here, a Pharisee comes to Jesus by night - most likely to avoid the scrutiny of the others who are against Him after the cleansing of the temple we read about yesterday. Nicodemus believes. He will play a great and openly heroic role later in the Gospel after Jesus' death.

Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." This man, a Pharisee who comes by night to talk to Jesus, is in turn entrusted by Jesus with this important teaching. Nicodemus has said he believes that Jesus is from God, and Jesus in turn teaches him about seeing 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." Nicodemus is drawn in to Jesus' teaching. What is on the surface a great mystery prompts him to ask more. This is a frequent "formula" in John's Gospel: just as the parables draw people into the riddles that seem to be posed, Nicodemus asks the obvious question, thinking only of the literal understanding of Jesus' words. Water and the Spirit, of course, refer to baptism. While baptism was already known (as we have read about through John the Baptist in the early chapter), the Baptist proclaimed that Jesus is the One who will baptize with the Holy Spirit. Our rebirth, then, is a rebirth in spirit in order to enter into a spiritual kingdom. Spiritual rebirth is, in some sense, a passport, a beginning, the capacity to enter, as like meets like.

"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." This brilliant metaphor that teaches us about the workings of the Spirit is also a play on words in the Greek. The word pneuma can mean either wind or Spirit. My study bible writes, "The working of the Holy Spirit in the new birth is as mysterious as the source or destination of the blowing wind." Even today, with all of our sophisticated understanding and technology for tracking weather, the metaphor holds true. As I am watching television, we are all paying attention to the reports of the winds in Japan, and there is still uncertainty, and I would like to ask all my readers to please pray for the people of Japan (and elsewhere) who may remain in harm's way. But Jesus' words also remind us of His teaching elsewhere on the true effects of faith and spiritual work: "By their fruits you shall know them." These spiritual fruits are the evidence of that pneuma and how we know where it has been, but not where it comes from nor where it is going. In our rebirth, we become a part of that mystery and participate in its reality. In this, we understand, rebirth is a beginning, a key.

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?" Because he is a Pharisee and rabbi, Jesus expects Nicodemus to understand or to have the capacity for such understanding. But still, He entrusts Himself to Nicodemus, and reveals the teaching.

"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?" Nicodemus wonders at the possibility of all of this, how did it come to be so? But Jesus only testifies of Himself. What He has told Nicodemus is all about the workings of the Spirit in our world, and the rebirth that is possible through water and the Spirit. Jesus alludes here to heavenly mysteries that He cannot reveal. My study bible reports that St. John Chrysostom interpreted "earthly things" as being the mystery of new birth through baptism, and "heavenly things" as 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." As a Pharisee trained in the Scriptures and Jewish spiritual history, Jesus expects that Nicodemus should understand baptism and rebirth in the Spirit.

"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." Jesus begins by stating what He can about His origins, and the mysteries of spiritual reality in that kingdom. But He goes on to teach more, a prophetic witness about what is to come in His life and ministry. He will be raised on the Cross as a sign to all, another opening to the spiritual life and reality of the kingdom for all human beings. And, of course, the Cross remains our symbol for faith. As He teaches Nicodemus about baptism in order to enter the kingdom, so He also teaches that His uplifting on the Cross will also be so that we may live eternally that kingdom. My study bible has a note that is highly informative on this paragraph: "Moses lifted up a bronze serpent to cure the Israelites from the deadly bites of the 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." Just as Moses' serpent-coiled rod was a powerful tool for healing, so is the image of the Cross and Jesus' Crucifixion. His death and sacrifice in order to inaugurate a kingdom of Resurrection remains for us the reality of catharsis or cleansing from what ails, whatever would keep us from full relatedness with God.

Let us consider then, Jesus' words to Nicodemus. Expanding on the Old Testament and Nicodemus' understanding as a rabbi, Jesus hints about what is to come -- after having explained rebirth through water and the Spirit. We enter into a kingdom through rebirth: a cleansing and regeneration, death and resurrection. Jesus gives us, finally, the symbol of the Cross and His Crucifixion - the ultimate symbol for hope and the defeat of death itself. Just as Moses used the image of the serpent to defeat the bites of the poisonous serpents that bit the Israelites, so Jesus will "trample death by death." In giving all to the Father, He will return the world, reborn and freed from enslavement to this deadly bite, to itself in Spirit. And the whole earth will be baptized in Spirit through Him. But first we must understand catharsis, a giving up. What do we lift up to God for our own healing? What do we give up, that we may be transformed through the action of grace? How are we reborn as we "die daily" as St. Paul said? In Lent, we offer our lives, and whatever ails us, to God, so that we too may be cleansed and healed, and reborn. What do you need to hold up to Him today? What does this act ask of you?