Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.”
In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”
“How can a man be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born!”
Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind 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.”
John 3:1-8 (NIV)
Have you ever had a conversation with someone that was totally confusing? You understood the words, but the way that they were being put together just didn’t make sense to you? I can honestly say that in my life I have had several of these, some of which made sense after I had time to think about it, but some of which I’ve never been able to make heads or tails of!
Nicodemus was having one of those kinds of conversations with Jesus. He had obviously come to Jesus with something on his mind, and he came at night, when his chance of talking to Jesus alone was better. But we will never know what was on Nicodemus’ mind, because, like usual, Jesus wasn’t interested in Nicodemus’ agenda – He was focused instead on God’s agenda for Nicodemus.
Nick barely had time to get out a very nice and complimentary greeting when Jesus stopped the conversation cold with “No one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” After a few seconds of silence while Nick chewed that one over, he responded, “How can a man be born when he is old?” He was wrestling with the image of being literally born again at his age, and he just couldn’t see how that was possible! But Jesus’ words meant more than Nicodemus’ frame of reference allowed him to see.
I’m not sure that Jesus’ clarification really helped Nicodemus at the time, but when we take it as a whole, His meaning stands out clearly. The key element of His explanation is NOT the water and Spirit phrases, as so many explanations seem to focus on, but the saying, “Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to Spirit.” In other words, even if Nick did figure out how to get back into his mother’s womb and be physically born again, it wouldn’t do any good – he would still be merely a flesh and blood human being. Instead, he needed to Spirit of God to totally remake him, to help him be born again as a spiritual being.
This would have been a completely new way of thinking about it to Nicodemus. For years he had spent his life doing his best to be obedient to all of God’s commands, but he knew deep in his heart that there was a critical element missing somewhere. That element was the Holy Spirit! In order to be born again spiritually, a person’s dead spirit needs to be made alive, and that is a work that only the Holy Spirit can accomplish. Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit using both the term water and the term Spirit in parallel (just as God had done in Ezekiel 36:25-27) in order to communicate clearly with Nick that what was really needed for him to get into the kingdom of God was a SPIRITUAL rebirth that was orchestrated and performed by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Nicodemus’ shock must have shown on his face, because Jesus told him, “You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind 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.” We can see the effects of the wind as it blows, sometimes with powerful consequences, but we can’t see the wind itself, and where it comes from and where it goes to are mysteries to most people. But just because we can’t see it and don’t really understand it doesn’t mean that we have license to deny the reality of the wind! Nicodemus had come to Jesus in the first place because there was something about Him, a power and a purity that was undeniable. And Jesus is telling him clearly that the effect that he sees in Jesus’ life is caused by the same Spirit that can give Nicodemus a spiritual rebirth, purifying and empowering him in ways that he can’t imagine, can’t comprehend, and can’t explain, but which are stunningly real nonetheless.