Lent Two

Preparation

Please begin by reading John 3:1-17 in your Bible. If you do not have one at hand, we have provided the text for you at the end of this reflection.

Reflection--New life!

Poor Nicodemus!  Jesus took him to task for failing to understand one of the most complex, densely packed passages in Scripture.  It has subtle word play, symbols, a prophecy about a coming event, “Old Testament” allusions, and a now famous expansion of the concept of birth.  Even those of us who, unlike Nicodemus, have heard it over and over again (particularly the famous John 3:16) need not feel embarrassed if we have trouble wrapping ourselves around it.  What is all this business about water, wind, Spirit, Moses, snakes, being lifted up, being born from above and of water and Spirit, and the world being saved?  There are shelves full of books on the subject.  Recognizing there is endless debate about almost every word in this passage, here are a few interpretive keys I believe hold true:

•       Being born from above and being born of water and spirit are different ways of describing the same thing.  Jesus was upset with Nicodemus because Nicodemus was an expert in what Christians call the “Old Testament” and still didn’t get it.  Water and spirit in the Old Testament can be seen as signs of cleansing and of God transforming the human heart.  See especially Ezekiel 36:25-37.  This new birth Jesus is talking about is from God and involves cleansing and renewal.
   

•       Nicodemus’ tradition was one of strict obedience to Old Testament law.  As admirable as that is, we do not earn our way into God’s “kingdom.”  There is word-play involved in the key Jesus gives to solving this dilemma.  In both biblical Greek and Hebrew, the same word can mean either wind or spirit.  Neither is fully understood or controllable by humans.  While we can experience and recognize the signs of God’s Holy Spirit bringing renewal into our lives, it is God’s gift of grace, not something we can “earn” or control.  Further, those who have this new birth can not be understood by those who have not experienced it; for those reborn of the Spirit are directed by the Spirit. 
   

•       See Numbers 21:4-9 for the story of Moses and the bronze snake.  When the Israelites rebelled against God, they were beset by poisonous snakes.  At God’s instruction, Moses made a bronze snake and lifted it up on a pole.  Those who looked at it recovered from snake bites.  God graciously provided an opportunity for renewed physical life.  God’s ultimate act of grace would occur when Jesus was lifted up on the cross.  Those who look on him and believe will have new spiritual life that, unlike physical life, is eternal.  One of the paradoxes of our faith is that Jesus’ glory, and our salvation, comes out of suffering and shame.  There are Old Testament roots here too, especially in the suffering servant song of Isaiah 52:13-53:12.
   

•       All of this flows into John 3:16 and 17.  It is all about God’s intense love for all of humanity; a love that longs for every human to experience healing, restoring total renewal; such a sweeping renewal that it is a complete new life!

Here then is our Lenten message.  We will walk with Jesus to the cross, but the message of the cross is not one of loss and despair; it is a message of love, hope, new life and completeness.  God gave the very best that God had to offer that we might live.  All we need do is surrender and accept that gift.  Have you become truly alive in Christ?  Are you ready for the fresh winds of the Spirit?

revclay

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John 3:1-17

       Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews.  He came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.”

Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” 

Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown old?  Can one enter a second time into the mother's womb and be born?” 

Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit.  What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.  Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’  The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes.  So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” 

Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” 

Jesus answered him, “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things? 

“Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony.  If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things?  No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.  And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,  that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. 

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. 

“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”  [NRSV]