John 2:23-3:15 (NAB)
While he was in Jerusalem for the feast of Passover, many began to believe in his name when they saw the signs he was doing. But Jesus would not trust himself to them because he knew them all, and did not need anyone to testify about human nature. He himself understood it well.Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. He came to Jesus at 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 are doing unless God is with him." Jesus answered and said to him, "Amen, amen, I say to you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above." Nicodemus said to him, "How can a person once grown old be born again? Surely he cannot reenter his mother's womb and be born again, can he?"
Jesus answered, "Amen, amen, I say to you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of flesh is flesh and what is born of spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I told you, 'You must be born from above.' The wind blows where it wills, and you can hear the sound it makes, 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 answered and said to him, "How can this happen?"
Jesus answered and said to him, "You are the teacher of Israel and you do not understand this? Amen, amen, I say to you, we speak of what we know and we testify to what we have seen, but you people do not accept our testimony. If I tell you about earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has gone up to heaven except the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life."
***
The closing verses of chapter 2 of the Gospel of John remind me of a modern thriller or mystery novel; they have an ominous sense to them worthy of a chapter closing penned by Stephen King. Jesus knows what is coming - He is about to see a demonstration of the darkest parts of human nature, ending in His own death for the sins of humanity. You can practically hear the scary music. If this were a movie, people would be yelling, "No! DON'T GO IN THE TEMPLE!" at the screen.Our Lenten journey is a little bit like that trip into the basement, or back into the house, or wherever the movie villain is lurking with weapon ready. We need to travel through that dark place just as Jesus traveled through death, before we can come out into light and safety and share in His resurrection. And just as (most) horror movie villains are human, so too is our personal darkness a part of our human nature, a reflection of the parts of ourselves we don't like to look at very carefully most of the time.This reflection of Jesus's flows directly into the story of Nicodemus, who demonstrates a very human response to what he is being told. If nature abhors a vacuum, human nature abhors a mystery it can't solve. Nicodemus lives in a very literal world. He understands physical birth from the womb of the mother, and descent into Sheol upon physical death. The concepts of new birth, through water and Spirit, a birth that has nothing to do with flesh and can happen at any time in a person's lifetime, and of ascent into heaven, are mysteries he cannot unravel in literal, earthly terms. Because of this, he finds it difficult to accept the message Jesus is offering.Like Nicodemus, we are asked to take on faith the concepts of new birth in baptism - which we cannot see, although we can witness the outward signs of ritual, and which produces no physical change in the baptized - the salvation of the spirit, and eternal life. These are mysteries that we know we will never solve during our earthly lives. Because of this we may struggle - we are human, and it can be difficult to believe in things that cannot be proven to our physical, human eyes. Our nature is to question, and to have to strive not only to understand the message brought to us by Jesus, but to accept the presence of mystery in that message. This is the mystery that we re-enact each year as we travel through the forty days of Lent. By traveling through death with Jesus we die to the old life as we did in baptism, and in the process we reflect on the sins and the darker parts of our nature - the fear, doubt, and weakness - that tie us to the flesh rather than the spirit. We have faith that just as we emerge into joy on Easter morning, so we will also emerge someday with Jesus into the brightness of eternal life. If we start trying to understand this in our literal earthly terms (where is Heaven anyway? somewhere in the Earth's atmosphere? can we see it from space?) we will be as lost as Nicodemus. We have to accept the mystery in order to share in the joy, because what is being offered to us is beyond all human understanding.
Jesus answered, "Amen, amen, I say to you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of flesh is flesh and what is born of spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I told you, 'You must be born from above.' The wind blows where it wills, and you can hear the sound it makes, 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 answered and said to him, "How can this happen?"
Jesus answered and said to him, "You are the teacher of Israel and you do not understand this? Amen, amen, I say to you, we speak of what we know and we testify to what we have seen, but you people do not accept our testimony. If I tell you about earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has gone up to heaven except the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life."
***
The closing verses of chapter 2 of the Gospel of John remind me of a modern thriller or mystery novel; they have an ominous sense to them worthy of a chapter closing penned by Stephen King. Jesus knows what is coming - He is about to see a demonstration of the darkest parts of human nature, ending in His own death for the sins of humanity. You can practically hear the scary music. If this were a movie, people would be yelling, "No! DON'T GO IN THE TEMPLE!" at the screen.Our Lenten journey is a little bit like that trip into the basement, or back into the house, or wherever the movie villain is lurking with weapon ready. We need to travel through that dark place just as Jesus traveled through death, before we can come out into light and safety and share in His resurrection. And just as (most) horror movie villains are human, so too is our personal darkness a part of our human nature, a reflection of the parts of ourselves we don't like to look at very carefully most of the time.This reflection of Jesus's flows directly into the story of Nicodemus, who demonstrates a very human response to what he is being told. If nature abhors a vacuum, human nature abhors a mystery it can't solve. Nicodemus lives in a very literal world. He understands physical birth from the womb of the mother, and descent into Sheol upon physical death. The concepts of new birth, through water and Spirit, a birth that has nothing to do with flesh and can happen at any time in a person's lifetime, and of ascent into heaven, are mysteries he cannot unravel in literal, earthly terms. Because of this, he finds it difficult to accept the message Jesus is offering.Like Nicodemus, we are asked to take on faith the concepts of new birth in baptism - which we cannot see, although we can witness the outward signs of ritual, and which produces no physical change in the baptized - the salvation of the spirit, and eternal life. These are mysteries that we know we will never solve during our earthly lives. Because of this we may struggle - we are human, and it can be difficult to believe in things that cannot be proven to our physical, human eyes. Our nature is to question, and to have to strive not only to understand the message brought to us by Jesus, but to accept the presence of mystery in that message. This is the mystery that we re-enact each year as we travel through the forty days of Lent. By traveling through death with Jesus we die to the old life as we did in baptism, and in the process we reflect on the sins and the darker parts of our nature - the fear, doubt, and weakness - that tie us to the flesh rather than the spirit. We have faith that just as we emerge into joy on Easter morning, so we will also emerge someday with Jesus into the brightness of eternal life. If we start trying to understand this in our literal earthly terms (where is Heaven anyway? somewhere in the Earth's atmosphere? can we see it from space?) we will be as lost as Nicodemus. We have to accept the mystery in order to share in the joy, because what is being offered to us is beyond all human understanding.
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