By Roy E. Ciampa, Ph.D.
Professor of Religion, Samford University
BORN AGAIN BY THE SPIRIT
John 3:1–8, 14–17
Nicodemus was a Pharisee, a highly regarded Jewish teacher. He went to see Jesus at night, perhaps because his peers did not approve of Jesus, and he didn’t want them to see him with Jesus.
Or perhaps it was harder to have an extended private conversation with Jesus during the day when He was surrounded by His disciples. John may also want us to see symbolic significance in Nicodemus having a nighttime visit that reflected his spiritual darkness at the time.
New birth is required to enter the kingdom of God. (1–3)
Everyone could see the Holy Spirit was at work in Jesus’ ministry.
Nicodemus and his peers recognized Jesus’ miracles could only be done by the power of God. Since Nicodemus broached the subject of things that were impossible apart from God’s direct work, Jesus took the opportunity to turn the conversation to something else that could not be done without God’s direct work in a person’s life: entering the kingdom of God.
The expression translated “born again” could mean born again or born from above.
Both ideas may be intended: One is born again by being born from above (from God), as the rest of Jesus’ explanation makes clear.
To see the kingdom of God is to enter into it, to experience the fullness of eternal life. Jesus makes it clear one must be born again to enter into God’s kingdom.
The Holy Spirit brings about the new birth. (4–8)
Although the concept of being born again is very familiar to most of us, it was new to Nicodemus. He did not understand it referred to being made alive spiritually by the Holy Spirit, so he asks what seems like comical questions about getting back into the womb of one’s mother and being born when one is already old.
Jesus indicates Nicodemus should have recognized the idea, as it is certainly found in the Old Testament in passages like Ezekiel 36–37, especially 36:25–27.
There God promises He would one day redeem His people by cleansing them from spiritual impurities through the sprinkling of water, giving us new hearts and putting His Holy Spirit within us.
To understand the relationship between verse 8 and the rest of the passage, it is helpful to know that the Greek word for spirit, “pneuma,” is also the word for wind and breath. Jesus points out similarities between our experience of wind and our experience of the Spirit.
We can recognize the presence of the Spirit or the wind by their effects, but they remain otherwise invisible to us.
The Holy Spirit’s presence in us can be recognized as the new birth brings about a new desire and ability to honor and obey the Lord. But we cannot predict all the ways the Spirit will lead us.
We experience the new birth as we trust in Jesus. (14–17)
Having compared the work of the Spirit to our experience of the wind, Jesus now compares His mission to what God did through Moses in Numbers 21: The people of Israel were saved from God’s judgment after the Lord had Moses raise up a bronze serpent on a pole.
All those who looked at the serpent lived, instead of dying from their snakebites.
We are all like those condemned Israelites — people who would die under God’s judgment if God hadn’t provided a way of redemption.
Looking at the serpent is analogous to believing in God’s Son, and surviving the poisonous threat is analogous to receiving eternal life.
When we look to Jesus Who was raised up on the cross for our salvation, we find eternal life in Him. Look and live!
Share with others: