Being Born Anew - Thoughts on John 3:1-21

When we read that Nicodemus came to Jesus at “night”, this means more than just this visit being late in the day after the son went down. Imbedded in John’s gospel are a lot of recurring themes and images that help reveal the text’s meaning. One of these themes or images is that of “night”. “Night” (or “darkness”) is used as a metaphor for ‘the absence of God’; whereas “light” of course is used to symbolise the opposite – ‘the presence of God’.

So that when we read that Nicodemus “came by night”, this indicates that Nicodemus came with a lack of understanding; and although he may have been attracted to Jesus because of the impact of him having turned plain water into the best vintage of wine at a recent wedding celebration, Nicodemus hadn’t yet fully accepted or embraced the truth of who Jesus really was. Nicodemus was still ‘in the dark’, and thus came to Jesus “by night”.

[Historically speaking, Nicodemus could have visited Jesus at night because of the fear of being discovered by his Pharisee buddies, but this in itself is also an indication of the ‘darkness’ (ie. lack of insight) that Jesus had to address.]

Nicodemus had an appreciation of Jesus as a wise teacher (with a remarkable God–given gift toward the miraculous), but Jesus was able to interpret that Nicodemus
was on an intellectual pursuit, rather than a search for faith. So Jesus very abruptly changed the tack of the conversation to make the very challenging assertion that: "No one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above".

That is to say, no one can really participate in the purposes of God without having
a new and fresh experience of birth.

[Note also that Jesus’ words in verse 3 and verse 5 are preceded by: "Very truly, I
tell you"; and when we hear this we should be sure to take notice!]

Now, to someone who had never heard of such a concept before, this would no doubt be quite confusing, and so we hear Nicodemus ask: "How can anyone be born after having grown old?" Or, ‘isn’t it a scientific fact that you can only be born into this world once’?

[This reminds us of how difficult it can be for some people to hear our testimony
and understand concepts that they’ve never encountered before. That’s why the development of relationships is so vital to our ability to witness for Jesus – so we
can live out our faith, rather than relying on difficult concepts and inaccessible terminology.]

Anyway, Jesus would now have to lift Nicodemus’ thoughts beyond scientific understanding, to the higher order issues of spirituality. To participate in God’s purposes – to be a member of the ‘kingdom of God’ – means more than just having a natural birth and being a human being; it also means having another sort of birth … this time through an experience of God’s spirit engaging our human spirit.

No one is exempt from the need for such a ‘rebirth’ or to be “born from above”. Not
a high-ranking Jewish religious leader like Nicodemus, not the queen of England or the prime minister of Australia. Not any of our heroes in music, film or sport. Not any of our neighbours, friends or family members, nor any one of us here today! Everyone needs to come to that place where they lay their lives open to the Spirit of God – so that the Divine can break into the human.

To be born ‘in the flesh’ – to be born ‘as a physical baby’ is that process of transformation from dependence on our mother’s womb into the sphere of the world environment. To have this transformational encounter with God’s Spirit at some later time, is this dynamic referred as being “born from above” (which is probably the best way of translating here, because it incorporates that this new birth experience is centred in God). However it is also translated “born anew” and “born again”.

It is clear that this incidence of being “born from above” is all about a fresh start. Human beings with their God-given freewill are susceptible to the pressures and temptations in life. Then, a person can be faced with their mistakes, failures, disappointments, frustrations and feelings of hopelessness, all deriving from their separation from God. But here is an opportunity of changing what has become, up until this point, a daily experience of defeat.

This can’t be fixed by itself, or even by human effort, only by the Spirit of God’s intervention. By accepting Jesus as Son of God and Saviour in our lives, we have the opportunity through God’s Spirit to become a new creation (or at the very least, commence the process of being re-created). This doesn’t replace our first physical birth, but rather accepts our former selves as they are, and starts to put back
together what has been broken.

The “Son of Man” – Jesus – is where the earthly and heavenly meet – the connecting point between the human and the Divine. Jesus – the “Word of God” (who was with God and was God) – came to earth as a human baby, to draw all people into the company of heaven. Jesus would not going to implement this plan of reconciliation from afar, but rather identify with us personally in the context of where we live – Jesus took up residence with us!

To complete this mission, before returning to Father God, Jesus would die on a cross (to rescue people from their sin) and rise again (to show that death has no power over God). It will be a belief in and identification with this saving activity that brings people into the state of “eternal life”. Those that accept that Jesus has made this graceful, loving sacrifice for them and commit themselves to the ways of God will enter “eternal life”.

This all came to be because God loves us so much (v.16a); even when we feel totally unloved by those around us, we can rest assured that God loves us. St. Augustine wrote that: "God loves each of one of us as if there was only one of us to love".

“Eternal life”, of course, does not just refer to what happens after we physically die, but most importantly refers to living the life of heaven here on earth from the point in time that we commit to Jesus! “Eternal life” refers to the quality and integrity of life in the salvation experience of the here and now!! “Eternal life” is authentic existence; life as God intended it to be – meaningful, purposeful, significant, spiritually alive, satisfying. If this is not how you feel about your ‘life’, then this means you need to do something about this – today – to turn ‘life’ into “eternal life”!

“Eternal life” also develops and deepens, until God becomes our very environment – reliving Jesus’ life through our daily walk! [Does that sound hard or unachievable? I’ll return to this next month, under the sermon title – “Running on Empty”.]

Similarly to the this-worldly understanding of “eternal life”, to “perish”, does not only refer to spiritual death or being lost eternally, it also refers to the wastage of life in the here and now. Those who choose to leave their trials and traumas, guilt and shame, unaddressed and unresolved by God’s gift of grace, have indeed “condemned” themselves to a difficult, diminished, and sometimes futile experience of life. This state will never be ultimately appeased by money, possessions or status – only by receiving the grace of God through Jesus.

Indeed many, despite the presence of the light of Jesus in the world, have preferred their own agendas in life, and remained in their negative and destructive behaviour patterns. And a lot of this destructive behaviour is lived out in the dark hours, rather than in the light of day – for the light will tend to expose its futility (at one end of the spectrum) and its evilness (at the other end of the spectrum). Whilst we may feel powerless about this, we have to remember that we have become light-bearers, and we should not restrain the light of Jesus shining through us.

People in darkness can be attracted toward the light, and once in the exposure of light, they can truly see themselves for who they are (or how their behaviour has made them appear). Then they have the chance to enter the process of transformation – by accepting Jesus and thus encountering the Holy Spirit.

As we followers of Jesus continue to seek to live in the light, various cracks (and roughness around the edges) will obviously appear. Fortunately though, our ongoing relationship with God will fill those cracks (and soften those rough edges) – if remain open to this sort of positive change.