St. John’s Gospel, Chapter 3. vs 1 – 15

In our reading, we hear Jesus speaking with one of the rulers of the Jews. One who no doubt seems concerned about his own journey and is seeking to grasp some deeper understanding of what he represents is really about. It is not something that generally occurs among persons in leadership within religious traditions because one is so invested in one’s tradition that it is almost fearful to even consider listening to something which might sound slightly different. 

So, nonetheless, Nicodemus comes, and we’re told he comes by night, indicating the desire not to be seen by others. He comes with an open mind and heart, desiring to know and understand. And Jesus, in perceiving this, says to him, you must be born of water and Spirit; this is a wonderful statement from Jesus, especially when we look back and see that Jesus would have had that kind of baptism experience of water and Spirit with John, by the River Jordan, and then the dove as the Holy Spirit descended upon him. 

The experience speaks of the double nature, not only of Jesus but of each and every one of us. Yes, we must be born of water. There isn’t a person in this world who isn’t born of water, and we are not speaking here of baptism but about the breaking of the water in the mother’s womb, whether there’s a caesarean section or not; yes, the water does break. There must be that coming out of the water, which is the birth of the flesh. Still, there is another necessary baptism, another birthing, which is the baptism of the Spirit so that both dimensions of the individual come into existence. We may have the water baptism, the breaking of the waters of our mother, but we may not be aware that there is also spirit there to come forth as well. It is in that baptism of Spirit when we have that awakening of Spirit. 

Now John, in his writing, speaks of the descending dove. It almost gives us the sense that this is something external to us but that Spirit is within us, and the dove is symbolic of the coming to the fore of the Spirit. So Jesus says to Nicodemus yes, you had that water breaking and that Baptism in water, but you need to be born from above; you need to have that awareness of the higher dimension, of the higher aspects of yourself. That’s where the importance is. 

At this stage, Nicodemus is still unclear because he speaks again about going back into the mother’s womb to break that water, but Jesus says no, that’s not what this is about. He challenges his position as a religious leader, figuring that these are things he should know because the religious leader should focus on something other than the flesh or the physical nature of our lives. The religious leader must be one who is nurturing and encouraging the spiritual dimension. So Jesus says, well, if you can’t handle what I am telling you, then we are at a loss because what I am telling you is basic and needs to be understood in order that we may go into the higher things. This statement of Jesus speaks to the fact that there is so much more that we need to know, understand, appreciate and be aware of. And so we go beyond this, and the way we go beyond is through the baptism of the Holy Spirit, through that awakening of that spiritual dimension within ourselves, through paying attention now, not just to the physical needs of our being but even more so to the spiritual needs. 

How do we nourish the Spirit? How do we allow the awareness of Spirit to grow and expand? How do we allow that Spirit that we are to be led out through our physical into the world to manifest, to be birthed? The Christ being birth through us, the Christ coming forth through us, this is the work that you and I are called to do in our individual lives so that together, the work we are doing brings about the establishment of the Kingdom of God. That is a world in which we don’t live by the physical needs or desires alone, but a world in which Spirit has taken over. That’s the big task for all of us, and we do it through the flesh; we must because we are in this physical state, but it is not about the physical; the physical is the vehicle. It is about the spiritual, and we saw this as exemplified in Jesus. He was fully in the physical, but what he was doing and saying was not physical; it was not about intellect but the manifestation of the spiritual dimension – The Word made flesh.

Spirit comes into the world through every action, through every word of Jesus. The demonstration of being born from above, shifting the focus and acknowledging and recognizing that there is that divine aspect of ourselves to which we need to pay attention. Once we have been here long enough and we have been able to get to that baptism of the Spirit, that awakening of the Spirit, we begin to grow and become so that all things may be accomplished as God intended for our lives. Ultimately, it is about God, not just you and me; it is about God showing forth in this world.