Born Again discussion – John 3:1-15

Rather than cover the ‘usual’ comments on this text, I’ll highlight the items that attracted the attention of our study group. That Nicodemus came at night is usually interpreted that he didn’t want others to see him approaching Jesus to be taught by Him. It could also be a continuing image of darkness that was expressed in chapter one, vs. 5, where the darkness did not comprehend the light. Nicodemus was in the dark, lacking true understanding, even though he was highly esteemed in religious circles and theologically trained. Throughout this passage Jesus points to Nicodemus' lack of understanding even though he was well-versed in scripture and the religious tradition. Are there Christian religious leaders today who are ‘in the dark’ even though they think they understand or see the light? Is is only those outside the Christian traditions who do not understand Jesus and His teaching clearly? Evidently something happened to Nicodemus, he was ‘born again’ between this time and the crucifixion, because he participated in the preparation of Jesus’ body and placement in the tomb, which was not at night when others might see his involvement (John 19:39). (I took this picture from my back porch this morning - "As the deer panteth for the water...") We noticed that Nicodemus opened the commentary with a statement, not a question. Jesus responded with a statement that didn’t seem to connect with Nicodemus’ statement. Nicodemus was drawn to the miracles/signs of Jesus that made him think Jesus was from God. Jesus ignored the reference to signs, and went directly to the purpose for which He had come: to proclaim and promote the kingdom of God. It is as if Jesus was saying, “It’s not about the signs, they aren’t important. What is important is the kingdom of God.” Our discussion then centered around the ‘kingdom of God’ which most people equate with heaven, as in the place we want to go when we die. However, the Greek word for “kingdom” is also translated as “reign”. Any place where God reigns is the kingdom of God, the reign of God. So many more references to the kingdom of God/heaven make sense in the Bible when we think about the ‘reign of God’ rather than a place we go after death. In this case, God does not reign in anyone who is not born of the Spirit. We also talked about being born of water. Many people interpret being born of water as baptism with water. However, baptism is not mentioned or referred to in this passage. John the Baptist said he baptized with water, but Jesus would baptize with the Spirit. The baptism of John was a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. This passage is about being born, coming forth from the flesh/water, and from the Spirit. The water in this context seems to indicate the natural birth process referring to the womb of the woman and the water within which the fetus has developed. You have to be born into this world, first, and then born of the Spirit in order to let God reign in your life. One difficulty about this conversation revolves around our lack of understanding as to why certain people are ‘chosen’ to be given a new birth of the Spirit and not others. Some of us couldn’t remember a time when we did not believe in Jesus as the Son of God, ascribing to His teaching, loving and trusting in Him. Others pointed to times later in life where the ‘light’ went on, and they began to understand what belief was all about. We would be so much more comfortable if we could control the spiritual birthing process, or at least understand it. This is another one of those things we have to chalk up to ‘faith’, trusting God knows best and we don’t have to know these details in order to live with God reigning in us. When God reigns in us, we are the kingdom of God. I’ll add more to this before the next discussion. Peace in Christ - PWM