Born of the Spirit
Who is Jesus? part 42 – John 2:23-3:13
It’s important to look at this from another angle. I previously analysed the Born Again verses since they are often preached and misunderstood. I found that being born again is significant, but the source of that rebirth is what really matters. Now, I’ll focus on the main point of Jesus’ message about the Holy Spirit in these verses.
I added paragraphs to the quote below to show the writing style, using italics for sections A and C and bold for sections B and D to describe Jesus’ meeting with Nicodemus.
[A] 23 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. 24 But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people 25 and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.
[B] 3 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.”
[C] 3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
[D] 4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”
[X] 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
[D’] 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
[C’] 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
[B’] 9 Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” 10 Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things?
[A’] 11 Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony.
12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.
John 2:23-3:13 ESVUK with my alterations to show the poetic form of the passage.
There is a structure to these three chapters. They are one big chiasmus. Chiasm, meaning crossing over, is a poetic form used in nearly all Psalms and is a repetition of similar ideas in the reverse sequence. Where there is a central section, here marked X, that is usually the focus of the poem.
A. John 2:1-11 Miracle at Cana – Water into wine.
B. 2:12-22 Temple cleansed – new Temple of his body.
C. 2:23-3:13 We must be born from above.
X. 3:14-21 God so loved the world that He gave His Son.
C’. 3:22-4:3 Christ comes from above.
B’. 4:4-46 Temple to be replaced by a new place of worship.
A’. 4:46-54 Miracle at Cana – healing of a nobleman’s son.
Why am I so focused on structure in the Bible? It began in 2020. After reading the Bible twice in two and a half years, I wanted to concentrate on worship instead of just studying. I started with The Songs of Ascents, Psalms 120 – 134, and then moved through the rest of the Psalms. I discovered that the poetic patterns affected how the psalms were understood.
Here in John’s Gospel, we see the same patterns clearly. I’m analysing the points of this chiasmus, moving towards the centre:
A. He knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man.
A’. We speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen.
Social media has a lot going for it, unless you only focus on its negative aspects. On X, you can use hashtags such as #ActuallyAutistic or #Asking Autistic to find out about Autism from people with that condition: People like me and others with a different experience of being autistic. These hashtags are a safe place to be.
We are living in a post-truth society, where objective truth is being buried beneath an avalanche of appeals to people’s feelings, social media and ‘fake news’ websites have a hand in this. Particularly X. In 2016, post-truth was chosen as Oxford Dictionaries’ Word of the Year because of how the Brexit debate was conducted in the UK and the Presidential elections in the US. But people turning from the truth because it hasn’t got a feel-good factor is nothing new.
Jesus was not trusting himself to people because he knew their hearts. His appeal was not to the emotions; people were making an emotional reaction to his miracles, but Jesus was not about miracles. His appeal to Nicodemus was that he was being truthful, bearing witness to what he had seen. But I haven’t introduced you to Nicodemus yet…
B. Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God
B’. Nicodemus. Are you the teacher of Israel?
Nicodemus was different. He came to Jesus because of the miracles, but not for something amazing. He visited at night, likely because it was quieter then, so he could chat, not out of fear; days were too busy. His saying “we know” indicates he spoke for a group. Jesus welcomes those looking for truth.
Is Jesus’ reply a rhetorical question that would have an expected negative reply? “Are you the teacher of Israel?” Jesus is replying to Nicodemus’ statement that he (Jesus) was a teacher from God. My question is not rhetorical; I seriously do not know. I know that Jesus was being rhetorical, but as Nicodemus was a member of the Sanhedrin, the rulers of Judea, there’s a chance that Nicodemus was THE teacher of Israel, the most prominent of the teachers.
C. I say to you, unless one is born again
C’. I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’
These are not the main points of the passage. These are merely the bookends for the main point. In my last post, I talked about the confusion around being born again, which has only been used as a term of identification since the 1960s. Also, while “Born Again” is significant, it is not frequently mentioned in the Bible and is not one of the core doctrines of Christianity.
D. “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”
D’. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
There it is. When Jesus said “You have to be born again”, he was misunderstood by a theologian, yet it has become something that is tossed around as if the meaning is well known. It isn’t. The meaning is here, but I’m leaving it to the last section, X below…
X. Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
The central part is about the Holy Spirit, is not about anything physical. The second birth is birth in the Holy Spirit. It’s not something you do, such as making a decision for Christ or praying a prayer, or anything else you do. All good things, I’m not arguing against them. Withyhe Holy Spirit, the Spirit does the doing, not you.
Birth in the Holy Spirit is not the same as water baptism. Baptism is not about life, but death and resurrection. You go down into the waters as a sign of dying and are raised as a sign of new life. It is about your commitment. Birth in the Holy Spirit is God filling you with himself; you have to be born bu water and in the Spirit. Neither is optional.
There is another large chiasmus in John’s Gospel which mirrors the one in Chapters 2 – 4, this time at the end in Chapters 13 – 17. There, Jesus is preparing his disciples for his departure. It contains a two sections on the Holy Spirit, which is called The Advocate. It has no mention of being born again. The Holy Spirit is important in John’s Gospel. Being born again, or born from above, or born of the Spirit in Jesus’ chat with Nicodemus serves as an introduction to the Holy Spirit. John the Baptist, in John 1:33, has already said Jesus will baptise in the Holy Spirit as something distinct from water baptism. Now, Jesus is introducing the Holy Spirit as the medium through which new life comes. He will speak of the Holy Spirit again and again through the Gospel, but the main teaching is not until Chapters 14 and 16.
Nicodemus studied the Bible and was familiar with the facts written there; he should have understood what Jesus said to him, but he only knew facts, and he didn’t understand the truth. The Holy Spirit is the one who shows us the truth. We must be born by and in the Holy Spirit.
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