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Once, a leader of the sect known as “Those Who Are Set Apart”* found his way to Jesus beneath the cover of the night. His name was Nicodemus.** And he confessed to Jesus: “Rabbi, we all agree. God has to have sent you to be a teacher. You have performed incredible signs–signs that point us toward God. And there’s no way you or anyone else could do this without the nearness of God.”
Receiving these words as an invitation, Jesus began to teach. “Nicodemus,” Jesus said, “here is the teaching that I want you to receive: Without being born from that which is above us, we are seldom (if ever) able to perceive God's Reign which is all around us."
“I’m not sure I follow.” Nicodemus was confused. “How do you propose that we ‘be born’ when we have already grown old? Are we supposed to somehow go back into our mothers’ wombs?” After this question, there was a pause…
“Let me say it differently,” Jesus responded. “To dwell within God’s Reign–which is already among us and taking place right now–is impossible if we have not been born of the waters and of the Wind. Flesh is born of flesh. Wind is born of the Wind. And so, it should not be surprising when I tell you, ‘You must be born from above.’
“The Wind blows wherever it wants, Jesus continued. “You can hear it as it blows. But you don’t know where it came from–or where it will choose to go next. For all who’ve been birthed by the Wind, it’s the same.”
“I think I am a little more confused now,” Nicodemus said. But Jesus challenged him to dig deeper. “Are you a teacher of the Ones who Wrestle with God–and still you don’t understand? Well, then let me put it this way. All of us speak about what we know. We testify to what we have seen. But you, my friend, my brother, won’t hear any of it. You don’t trust me. And if you can’t trust me when I talk about everyday matters here on earth, how on earth could you believe me if I started to talk about eternity and that which is above?
“No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the descendant of the human lineage that we share. And just as Moses held up the serpent in the wilderness, so the child of our shared humanity will be raised, also. And whoever makes that child the foundation of their lives will (through that child) have eternal life.
“For God so loved the world that God gave God’s only Son, so that everyone who believes in him shall not perish but shall have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send God’s child into this world to damn it–but in order that the whole world might be saved through him.
* Members of this sect fervently believed that, though the Temple was, indeed, holy, it was not the only dwelling place for God. God dwelled within people of faith, too, they claimed. Some even stressed that a life lived in a holy way was a more desirable sacrifice to God than any that could be offered at the temple. This made them in many ways very much like Jesus' followers.
** Nicodemus literally means “the victory of the people.”
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