AfterWords: Making the Way Straight - Seeing and Believing

 

John 3:1-16

This dialogue between Nicodemus and Jesus is wonderful…a banter of puns. Jesus tells Nicodemus (Nick) that being “born again” is important…but that phrase in the Greek has a double meaning: Born anōthen can mean born “again” or born “from above.” Nick latches on to the double meaning presuming that Jesus actually means “from above,” and he intentionally takes it as “again” and makes that ridiculous suggestion that he crawl back in his mom’s womb to be born “again.”

Nick does this because ‘born anōthen’ is the phrase Jews use of those Gentile proselytes who convert to Judaism. In effect, Nick takes issue with Jesus suggesting that he—Nick, Pharisee, member of the Sanhedrin—would need what Gentiles need, would be equated with the Gentiles. So, he takes the ridiculous spin on the word and throws it back at Jesus.

Jesus is unphased and tosses in his own play on words. In the Greek, the word for “wind” and “spirit” is the same word: pneuma. So, per Jesus, “The wind/Spirit blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit/wind.” Interestingly, the Hebrew equivalent—ruach—works exactly the same way. Nick is left wondering what’s what after this…and maybe we are, too!

Being born from above or born again or born of the Spirit (all three in Jesus’ dialogue) enable the same thing: to see the kingdom/reign of God, to enter into the kingdom/reign of God. This new birth, rebirth, spiritual birth brings us into the reign and realm of God.

Nick reacts like we do: “How can this be?” or “What does this mean?” or “Whatyoutalkingabout?”

Jesus then shifts the narrative away from talk and imagery of birth to something very familiar to Nick…and to himself. The story of the serpents in the OT as the Hebrew people make their way across the wilderness to the Promised Land (Numbers 21) was well known to Nick. In that story, if the people were bitten by the venomous serpents, they only had to look to the bronze serpent on a staff that Moses had crafted and they would be saved. We cannot help but wonder if this story in Jesus’ dialogue serves as a bridge between the serpent of Genesis that precipitates the sin and rupture between God and humanity…and his own act of being lifted up on the cross. Those of us who are poisoned by sin, whose lives have been bitten by the power of sin now look not to a bronze serpent on a staff but to the “Son of Man” nailed to a cross.

John wraps up this incident with commentary that begins, “For God so loved the world….” We find in this whole passage the three primary themes of John’s Gospel: Light, life, and love (agape). John’s commentary points to the way to these three—to finding light in the darkness of this world, to finding real life (more than merely being alive), to encountering the love (agape) God has for us and that we are to show towards others. We find these through belief, faith, trust, confidence in who Jesus is, what he says, how he lives…in his life and death and resurrection. In and through this Jesus, we find birth from above…new birth…spiritual birth. The call today in John’s Gospel? Believe, trust, have faith, put your confidence in Jesus that we may know this birth into new life.

Sunday, January 25, 2026
Making the Way Straight: Seeing and Believing
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