Sometimes when you look at the familiar bits of the gospel you head starts to hurt. And this is one of those passages. To be born of the spirit — to be born from above? Does he mean the pagan mystery religions where you passed through darkened tunnel?
And what does it mean that no one can ascend to heaven but he who has descended? Does that make Jesus one with God? (Nicodemus must have accepted him as the Messiah, for the Son of Man is a messianic title)
2:23When he was in Jerusalem during the Passover festival, many believed in his name because they saw the signs that he was doing. 24But Jesus on his part would not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people 25and needed no one to testify about anyone; for he himself knew what was in everyone.
3:1Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. 2He 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.” 3Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” 4Nicodemus 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?” 5Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. 6What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ 8The 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.” 9Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” 10Jesus answered him, “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?
11“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. 12If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 13No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 14And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.”
The more I think about this, the more I consider that this cannot be formulaic. We have a tendency to turn everything into technique, into something that can be manualized. To say that if you have assented to the Sinner’s prayer, or been baptized, you are of Christ, and you are of the spirit.
To discuss the disciplines of the faith and the calendar as a means of gaining the spirit. And these things are valuable, because they give us a framework.
But in the end, they are as useful as a marital manual in the marital bed. You have to interact with the other person, not the book. The Spirit needs to lead you, not the law. Jesus tells us that believing in his work is the way to be of the spirit. He does not need to talk, to Nicodemus, of the flesh, the law, or the disciplines. Nicodemus knew these things: if he was not a contributor to the manual on this (the Talmud was collated post the destruction of Jerusalem, and refers to rabbis from this period) he was teaching this.
But knowledge a relationship does not make. And Christianity is a relationship with the living God. That should terrify us. It terrifies the world — which is why they spend so much time being anti Christian. If we are bowed down, compromised and silenced, we cannot proclaim the gospel.
For the only way to ascend to Heaven is as a brother or sister, in the Spirit of God, of he who descended from Heaven, Jesus the Son of Man.
