Last Updated on April 20, 2022 by GMC
Tuesday of the Second Week of Easter
John 3:7-15
“How can this be?” Nicodemus asked Jesus (John 3:9). How can a person be “born of the Spirit?”
The youthful Mary had also asked the angel Gabriel, “How can this be?” (Luke 1:34)
In the Gospel of Luke, Mary received the forthright response, “The holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you” (Luke 1:35).
Gabriel’s answer did not explain how in the scientific sense, but it named the agent of the miraculous Virgin birth. “Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God” (Luke 1:35).
Nicodemus received a less clement response:
“You are the teacher of Israel and you do not understand this? Amen, amen, I say to you, we speak of what we know and we testify to what we have seen, but you people do not accept our testimony.
John 3:11
Written in the last half of the first century, the Gospel of John was composed in the milieu of the tension between the early church and the synagogue. The shift to the plural, “you people,” seems to express a sorrowful gulf between Jesus and the community of teachers represented by Nicodemus.
The Torah is a window onto eternity. Nicodemus was expected to recognize the face of God and the works of the Spirit of God, given all his learning.
If I tell you about earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things?
John 3:12
The “I” of the Dabar/Logos/Word spoke “in the beginning”—Bereshit—the first word of the Torah. The entire book of Genesis is a record of God’s covenant love with humankind. The Lord God Almighty of Israel gave to Moses the gift of the Ten Commandments to guide his people in living a holy life on earth, paving the way to “heavenly things.” Through his mouthpiece, the prophets, the Lord God described himself as a king, shepherd, prince of peace, potter, father, lover, husband, mother, hen, Spirit, wind, breath, rock, fortress, tower, and more. By means of vibrant and colorful earthly images, God painted a splendid portrait of his character for Israel.
Nevertheless, making the leap from the Torah to Christ was by no means self-evident. Nor is this dialogue with Jesus in the dark of night easily comprehended. Nicodemus speaks for all persons, past and present, in his perplexity. A survey of biblical commentaries on this passage reveals an abundance of varied and divergent interpretations. Nicodemus’ “How can this be?” continues to reverberate down the centuries.
No one has gone up to heaven except the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.”
John 3:13-15
Jesus identified himself with the ladder of the holy patriarch Jacob-Israel (Genesis 28:12). The Greek verbs for ascending and descending in John 3:13 and the Greek Septuagint version of Genesis 28:12 are identical.
Jesus also identified himself with the likeness of the poisonous serpent that healed the children of Israel in the desert (Numbers 21:9).1 Moses’ original action of “setting” the serpent on a pole becomes in the Messianic light an exaltation and glorification2 of the “Son of Man,” a self-referential term from the Psalms, Ezekiel, and Daniel that Jesus frequently used. The promised Messiah has come to heal the brokenhearted and bind up the wounded, and to send his Spirit to renew the face of the earth (Isaiah 61:1; Psalm 147:3; Luke 4:18; Psalm 104:30: Genesis 1:2).
The angel Gabriel’s answer to the Blessed Virgin Mary is the answer for all her children, the brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ her Son. For the Woman whose womb waters were overshadowed by the Holy Spirit is a living symbol of the watery Womb of God the Father.
And the earth was tohu vavohu (without form, and void); and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Ruach Elohim (Spirit of God) was hovering upon the face of the waters.
Genesis 1:2 (Orthodox Jewish Bible)
From the Virgin Father’s Womb to the Virgin Mother’s womb, the creation and recreation of Adam and the earth are accomplished by “water and Spirit” (John 3:5).
We join Nicodemus in his journey from the nighttime of obscurity to the dawning light of faith in the resurrection of the Son of Man on the third day.
References
1 See related post: Christ and the Bronze Serpent
2 See New American Bible (Revised Edition) footnote to John 3:14.
Thank you for the list of descriptors for God. It’s good to be reminded how the nature of God is primarily love, a love that desures to connect with humanity. Nicodemus’ perplexity was lessened by a personal encounter with Christ. How many yet need such an encounter and will only have that meeting when they see Christ in the way we live. In conversation with a Jewish friend, she expressed the view that “we don’t need a mediator” because “God is always available to us, with us.” Hence Christ is accepted only as a great prophet. In Jewish rituals, there is no need for clerical hierarchy, a family celebrates Shabbot each week around their home altar, the dining room table. Nicodemus must have been totally converted to Christ or else he wouldn’t have risked offering a burial place for him. Wonder what happened to him afterwards?