How to Be Born Again and What That Means

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.” (John 3: 1-8)

Christ talking with Nicodemus at night painted in the style of Crijn Hendricksz. Volmarijn.(1601-1645)

It is often interesting to eavesdrop on a conversation between two deep thinkers. We are given such an opportunity in this gospel reading. Nicodemus is a renowned teacher of the Law and Jesus is the respected prophet. This conversation takes place in hushed whispers and under the cover of night. For this man, it was dangerous to be seen in the company of Jesus. In His preaching, Jesus challenged the value system of the times and strove to redefine the identity of those who belonged to the People of God.

Saint John presents us with this luminous scene that takes place in the shadows of the night. A learned teacher of the Law grapples with the renegade and free-thinking rabbi from Nazareth. The venerable old man, who had dedicated his life to the study of immutable covenant that had been established by the Master of the Universe, finds himself looking into the eyes of God. In this encounter, he sees himself as he really is. The revelation is frightfully humbling. For a moment he knows himself as he is known – filled with faults and prejudices, skills and handicaps, the product of his life experience and family history. In the darkness shone a light of revelation. He knew that the One He offended was the Master of the Universe and that the only way to find a remedy for his iniquity was to surrender to the love and will of God.

It is important to note that Jesus does not chide this noble teacher of the Law for coming to Him stealthily. Rather, he bade him a warm welcome and offered him a heartfelt greeting of peace. That he came was more important to Jesus than how he came. Nicodemus sought Jesus out to discuss issues that concerned his soul. He felt trapped and did not know how to live differently. The Lord understood his dilemma. It was in this context that Jesus spoke of the necessity or regeneration or of being born again.

Birth is the beginning of life; to be born again, is to begin to live anew, as those who have lived much amiss, or to little purpose. We must have a new nature, new principles, new affections, and new aims. No stronger expression could have been chosen to signify a great and most remarkable change of state and character. We must be entirely different from what we were before, as that which begins to be at any time, is not, and cannot be the same with that which was before. Nicodemus heard the words Jesus spoke but he couldn't wrap his brain around them.

Saint Augustine also wrestled with this notion. "Urged to reflect upon myself, I entered under your guidance into the inmost depth of my soul. I was able to do so because you were my helper. On entering into myself I saw, as it were with the eye of the soul, what was beyond the eye of the soul, beyond my spirit: your immutable light. It was not the ordinary light perceptible to all flesh, nor was it merely something of greater magnitude but still essentially akin, shining more clearly and diffusing itself everywhere by its intensity. No, it was something entirely distinct, something altogether different from all these things; and it did not rest above my mind as oil on the surface of water, nor was it above me as heaven is above the earth. This light was above me because it had made me; I was below it because I was created by it. He who has come to know the truth knows this light" (The Confessions).

Today Jesus invites each of us into a new world, the world that is above, a world infused with the Spirit of God. It won’t be the same. It will be liberating and transformative. A new way of living, even. But that also means an unknown way of living. And a way of living that will be strange, unfamiliar, and perhaps even dangerous. God desires to do something in us and for us that we cannot do for ourselves. Those who accept this invitation and act upon it can be partakers of the new creation. In bringing about the promised regeneration, God fills each believer with the life-creating Spirit. The Spirit that God breathes upon each believer brings him or her newness of life in Christ. It is my prayer that each of us hear the words of the Psalmist echo in our hearts: "You are my beloved child. This day I have begotten you" (Ps. 2: 7).

--Father Jerome Machar, OSCO