John 3:1-8: a reflection

1Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2He 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.” 3Jesus answered him, “Most certainly I tell you, unless one is born anew, he can’t see God’s Kingdom.” 4Nicodemus 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?” 5Jesus answered, “Most certainly I tell you, unless one is born of water and Spirit, he can’t enter into God’s Kingdom. 6That which is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7Don’t marvel that I said to you, ‘You must all be born anew.’ 8The wind blows where it wants to, and you hear its sound, but don’t know where it comes from and where it is going. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

Nicodemus comes to Jesus by night, a respected teacher acknowledging that Jesus must be from God. But Jesus meets his cautious compliment with something startling: unless one is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus, for all his learning, is being told that what he needs is not more knowledge but a new birth, a beginning he cannot manage on his own.

He puzzles over it, imagining a grown man returning to the womb, and Jesus clarifies. This birth is of water and the Spirit; what is born of the flesh is flesh, but what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Then comes the image of the wind, which blows where it wills. You hear its sound but cannot trace its coming or going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit. New life is God's gift, not our achievement.

This meets our common assumption that we can improve ourselves into God's kingdom by effort. Jesus says the entrance is a birth from above, something the Spirit does in us. That is humbling, but it is also freeing. You do not have to manufacture your own new heart; you can ask the God who gives it. Come to Jesus, as Nicodemus did, and pray for the Spirit's work, trusting the One who makes all things new to begin his life in you.

Lord Jesus, you told Nicodemus that what he needed was not more effort but a new birth from above. I cannot give myself that new life; only your Spirit can. So I come and ask you to do in me what I cannot do for myself. Breathe your life into me like the wind, and make me born of the Spirit, alive to your kingdom. Amen.