Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, 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 its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
Comment: Yesterday’s post ended with Nicodemus querying if being ‘born again’ requires re-entry into a mother’s womb. We all know that listening to a statement spoken adds deeper meaning than just reading printed words. Was Nicodemus mocking Jesus? Was he simply saying – ‘please explain?’ At any rate Jesus gave an answer with real depth. Remember that Nicodemus knew the Jewish writings well. We could follow this thought much deeper, but, at a very basic level. There are people who seem to be more tuned into the ‘spiritual’ side of life and there are those who just ‘enjoy the physical side of life’. I think that Jesus said we are all ‘body people’ (was the water referring to amniotic fluid?) but there is a ‘spirit’ side of life which also needs to be born into.
The Hebrew word for breathe (living physically), wind (not seen but its effect easily perceived) and spirit (ghostly, Third Person of the Triune God) is the same ‘ruach’.
Because he was who he was, Nicodemus must have known very well such passages as Ezek36:26-27. “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.” In this and in many other OT passages God had talked about ‘life on a different level – in the revitalised spirit world.’ Jesus challenged Nicodemus to apply what he already knew!
Prayer: Help me to discern what are the really important issues in life!
As I read it! 