John 3:1-9
“Notice what you notice.” BORN! Born again. Born from above. Born of water and the Spirit. Born of the flesh. Again Jesus gives (to me) a confusing answer to Nicodemus’ comment. Nicodemus says to Jesus that …no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him (v. 2). Here Jesus responds with His first “born again” comment. Bible translations and Internet notes both say that the word “again” is ambiguous and could also be translated “from above”. If you translate Jesus (v.3) reply as “born from above”, then it’s a perfect answer to the qualifier on Nicodemus’ previous comment, “unless God is with him”. However, “born again” is the better lead-in to Nicodemus’ (v.4) reply, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born? The word “again” in verse 3 is perfectly consistent with Nicodemus’ verse 4 comment. All four translations that I looked at have “born again” as the translation with “born from above” in a footnote. So Jesus could have been answering “from above” while Nicodemus heard “again”.
Suppose Sweetie needs to be home from her Saturday evening date by midnight. Studley drops her off at 11:59 pm and at exactly 12:00 am and says “See you tomorrow.” Studley expects to see her on Sunday. Sweetie, however, being more literal in what she heard makes Sunday plans and expects to next see Sweetie again on Monday. Yes, they fight and break up over their miscommunication!
As to “born of water and the Spirit”, I think it’s easy for us today to read that phrase as Baptism and Confirmation. But these are church concepts developed over hundreds of years. What did Nicodemus hear? I’m guessing that he could have related “born of water” to John the Baptist baptizing in the Jordan River, while “born of…the Spirit” would have left him completely confused. We’ll have to wait until tomorrow to see how Jesus clarified that item!
So from now on in John’s Gospel I will be looking for how a hearer could have misunderstood Jesus’ response to their comment/question or how Jesus’ “confusing” answer truly answers the comment/question posed. Holy Spirit, help me!!!
Slava Bohu!!