Qasr el Yahud, where Jesus was baptized, Jordan River, Israel
Good question, Nicodemus!
Growing up in the United Church, being "born again" was not a phrase I ever heard. I still remember the first time I ever heard it, when a stranger approached me at a work meeting and asked, "Are you born again?" I must have looked puzzled, because she then pointed at the cross I was wearing and asked again, "Are you born again"?
In our scripture reading this week, we hear Nicodemus, ask Jesus, "How can someone be born when they are old?":
John 3:1-9; 16-18 (NIV)
Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”
Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”
“How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”
Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are 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.”
“How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
I have since learned that Evangelist Christians use this phrase, "born again" to describe themselves, and I like the way Matthew Fox describes it:
“to be Resurrection for another I need to be Resurrection for myself. That means I cannot dwell in [despair] or death and anger and oppression and submission and resentment and pain forever. I need to wake up, get up, rise up, put on life even when days are dark, and my soul is down and shadows surround me everywhere … I have to listen to the voice that says: Be Resurrection… Be Born again. And again. And again. Rise up and be counted. Rise up and imbibe the good news deeply – that death does not conquer, that life, not death, has the last word …”
Rev. Paul Beckingham, a great evangelist, will reflect on this rebirth and gather us at the Lord's Table on Sunday. I hope you're able to join us for Worship.
