Born From Above
John 3: 1-12
February 16, 2025
This is the second of a twelve part series. I’m preaching through the gospel of John. Last week I started with chapter one. Today, I’ll focus on chapter three. I encourage you to read along at home. For the next three months, let’s all read through the whole gospel of John.
The gospel of Jesus is the story of Jesus but told from a very different perspective than the other three gospel biographies of Jesus. I’m hoping that reading this book will help us deepen our connection to God. I will be highlighting certain parts, but I’m sure you’ll come across other stories or thoughts that will touch your heart and life as you read John at home.
Last week I shared about the creation of this book by a group of Jewish Christians in Ephesus who looked to the disciple John for inspiration. The other three major gospels: Matthew, Mark, and Luke were written years before John. Those who wrote John wanted to share a different approach: a spiritual or mystical understanding of Jesus. They expressed their experience of Jesus using symbols and spirituality instead of facts and history. It’s a gospel of the heart, not the head. That’s the Jesus they knew. That’s the Jesus they needed after being rejected by the Jewish community.
The authors of this book were once a part of the Jewish synagogue in Ephesus. This synagogue was run by the Pharisee party. But there came a time when they were asked to leave because of their open and affirming stance toward Gentiles. So, they formed their own little group and referred to themselves as John’s community.
The third chapter of this book finds Jesus challenged by a Jewish Pharisee leader by the name of Nicodemus. Therefore, Nicodemus represents those who have rejected this group who are writing the story. So, we see that this story is their response. They want to explain to their former friends why they follow Jesus and why they believe the things they do.
Let’s hear an imaginative narration of the story as if Nicodemus was an historical character who was with us today. What would Nicodemus tell us about his conversation with Jesus?
This is Nicodemus talking:
I was curious about this man. That’s why I went to see Jesus. I’d heard about him. Supposedly he performed some miracles and did some teaching. I wanted to learn more.
Actually, that’s always been important to me – learning more. I’ve been able to attend some good schools over the years where I’ve gotten a great education. They taught me to pursue a rational approach to life. I put everything to the test of reasonableness. Knowledge and using one’s head are the keys to a good life.
Unfortunately, there is so much superstition and crazy misinformation out there. People believe all sorts of things that are so far from the truth. I’ve come to doubt just about every new teacher that comes around trying to persuade people to believe in some newfangled nonsense.
That’s why I wanted to interview this new teacher by the name of Jesus. He is Jewish, but he seems to come from a different perspective than our traditional understandings. I wanted more information. So, I went directly to the source.
I came at night because I was afraid of what my colleagues might think about me talking with this Jesus.
I started out by affirming what I’ve heard about him – that he was sent by God to teach us and perform miracles. I was looking for confirmation if this was true. Actually, I was looking for evidence, for reasonable proof related to what I’d heard about this man. Like I said, I’m an educated person.
But before I could even get in my first question, he started talking. He said, “I tell you for certain that you must be born from above before you can see God’s kingdom.”
He caught me off guard. What’s he talking about here? It happens that the word for “from above” is the same as the word for “again”. I’m a bit confused here, before I even get started in the interview.
If he meant “born from above”, Jesus must be referring to God, who in our cultural understanding lives above us. In other words, God must birth us for us to see God’s realm.
But if he meant, “born again”, Jesus must be saying that we need to experience another birth in our life. That seems to be the more literal, reasonable way of understanding Jesus. So I assumed that’s what Jesus meant.
I know many people in your day understand it the same way I did which is: “You have to born a second time. You must be ‘Born again’”. Therefore, I asked Jesus, “How can a grown man ever be born a second time?”
I evidently misunderstood Jesus for he responded, “I tell you for certain that before you can get into God’s kingdom, you must be born not only by water, but by the Spirit.”
He said born of water which refers to our human birth with the breaking of the maternal waters.
Then he said, “Yet only God’s Spirit can change you into a child of God. Don’t be surprised when I say that you must be born from above. Only God’s Spirit gives new life. The Spirit is like the wind that blows wherever it wants to. You can hear the wind, but you don’t know where it comes from or where it is going.”
I’ve been pondering these words ever since that day. What is he really talking about?
Here’s a couple stabs at what Jesus was getting at.
See if any of them apply to you and your life.
This is one thing Jesus might have been trying to say to me: Your education and reason have taken you as far as you can go, Nicodemus. If you desire to see God and God’s kingdom, living in your head will not be enough. If you want to change, being an observer is not the answer.
Instead, Jesus is inviting me to be open to listening to the Spirit speak to my heart, not my head. It’s about heart knowledge of God, not simply head knowledge. It’s about personally experiencing God, not just thinking about God.
This is not something I’m used to as an educated Pharisee. I’ve been taught so many things about my people’s history, the scriptures, and doctrines about God. But I’ve never really experienced the Spirit at work in my heart.
That’s one line of pondering and praying I’ve been doing since my visit with Jesus.
Another direction I’ve been going is this one: Jesus is pointing me to Mystery. I’ve been taught about Reason and Order and Control. But Jesus says the Spirit blows wherever it wants to – like the wind. It can’t be controlled and predicted. Jesus went on to say, ‘You can hear the wind, but you don’t know where it comes from or where its going.”
That’s scary…
I like to know. I like certainty. I like security. It reminds me of a story of our people that Jesus alludes to later in our discussion. It was right after Moses led our people out of Egypt. We were wandering in the desert for a long time. During that time, our people began to complain. We told Moses we wanted to return to the security and comfort and familiarity of Egypt rather than have to live in the uncertainty and challenges of this desert.
That’s how I feel. I’d rather live in the security of Egypt – as bad as it might be, rather than the Mystery found in following God through the desert. Mystery is a challenge for me. But Jesus says that’s how God’s Spirit works.
A third way of looking at this whole “born from above” reference is to see it as a challenge for me to open myself to transformation. I’ve been stuck in my ways all these years. Jesus might be encouraging me to let go of my former self and let the Spirit lead me into a new way of living. It therefore might be like some born again experience. But not a one-time thing, but a continual openness to transformation and change.
I, Nicodemus, came to Jesus at night. And so might you – in the darkness of a southwest Michigan winter.
You too might need to hear Jesus’ message of the Spirit’s light and warmth.
You too might need to be born from God’s Spirit.
You too might need to be born again into a new life, transformed and changed.
You too might need Mystery, the Mystery of God.
You too might need an experience of God in the depths of your heart.
The sun is coming…
The Son is coming…
The Spirit is here, blowing like the wind…
