We’re finding out what John’s Gospel has to say about the Holy Spirit. And from here on, it’s Jesus himself who is our teacher. He tells us here that we need a new birth—a work that only the Holy Spirit can do.
Being given an opportunity to start one’s life again is something we may not have thought about, but Jesus says it’s essential.
The enquirer in the story, Nicodemus, is an impressive character. He’s a scholar and a member of Israel’s ruling council. He’s willing to check Jesus out when most of his peers are jumping to conclusions. Later, he asks them if it is right to condemn Jesus without calling him in for questioning[i]. We’d say he’s a good leader.
But he’s looking for a world ruled by God—God’s kingdom, because that’s the entry point for what Jesus says to him. But to be part of God’s future, Jesus says he needs a life built by God—a work of the Holy Spirit.
Of ourselves, we can only produce earthly things. We need to be born from above. This is the only way we will either see or enter God’s kingdom.
This seems ridiculous to Nicodemus, and perhaps to anyone who hasn’t already been born again. Our natural bent is to rely on things that are visible and manageable. But a human being can only do human things. The Spirit, like a wind, can do what God wants to do in us, unseen but powerfully.
Jesus is not being ridiculous or obscure. Nicodemus is ‘a teacher of Israel’ and should know that God has promised to renew Israel[ii]. He is going to wash Israel with water so they are clean, and send his Holy Spirit so they have pure hearts. That’s why Jesus says Nicodemus needs to be born of water and the Spirit.
Israel at that earlier time was thoroughly compromised by idols and passions[iii]. They deserved God’s judgements, not his blessings. But God would renew them by his Holy Spirit.
We get accustomed to leaving God out of everything and arranging life around ourselves, and yet we still think we are entitled to be part of a wonderful future. We have no idea of how impossible it is for us to be part of the future God is making.
The fact is, we don’t deserve to share in God’s kingdom. We wouldn’t enjoy it there. We wouldn’t even survive there.
So, we need to be born again. That means that nothing we’ve done up until now counts. It means that nothing we do now can make it happen. But, without this we’ll never see the wonderful future God is making, let alone enter it.
As we’ve noted, Nicodemus should understand all of this, because it has already been revealed. In this sense it’s an ‘earthly thing’. And Jesus wants to reveal more—what he calls ‘heavenly things’[iv].
Jesus has come from heaven, and here’s what he wants us to know.
He must be lifted up like a snake on a pole. He’s using an event from earlier in Israel’s history[v] to tell us that he will be lifted up, and that we’ll need to look at him. We’ll need to see him being crucified for us, and to trust him to save us from our miserable lives.
This is the truth the Spirit will bring home to us[vi]. And this is how the kingdom is established.
By what Jesus does, we are washed clean. Satan has no hold over us. We are newly created as grateful and willing children of God. Reborn—by the Holy Spirit. We can see God’s kingdom. And we have entered it.
It helps to remember the way Jesus is born. The Holy Spirit ‘overshadows’ Mary, so her child will be holy, the Son of God. Mary can only say, ‘Let it be so to me according to your word’. This is effectively what we need to say. This is the way a Christian life begins. But it’s also how our lives are now to be lived—dependently, humbly and gratefully. We continue as we began[vii]. All of life now will be by the Spirit—walking in step with him, being led by him, and even being filled with him[viii].
[1] John 7:51-52
[2] Ezek. 36:25-27
[3] Ezek. 36:18
[4] Vv. 12-13. Jesus comes from heaven. No-one else has gone there and returned.
[5] Num. 21:9
[6] John 16:7-9
[7] Gal. 3:2-3
[8] Gal. 5:16-26
Simply True 