Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” John 3:5
Thought for the Day: The Truth about Being Born Again
There are three references to water in the first three chapters of John’s Gospel that describe what Jesus is going to do to change the relationship between God and humanity. The first is the baptism of Jesus in John Chapter 1 that announces the Old Covenant dealing of sin through sacrifice and physical washing with water is going to change in and through Jesus. God’s purpose in the ministry of John the Baptist was to announce to his people to prepare for new divine activity and the cleansing of God’s people by Jesus.
In John Chapter 2 Jesus changes water into wine at the wedding feast in Cana in Galilee. While this was a thoughtful wedding present to the family of the bride and a display of his divinity, this miracle alludes to what Jesus will do for us on the cross. Jesus has six stone jars used for the Jewish rite of purification (similar to baptism) filled with water. He miraculously changes the water into wine. The liquid used in the purification of God’s people will shift from water to blood represented by the wine. This story is immediately followed by Jesus’ visit to the Temple at Passover, the annual Jewish festival to remember how God passed over the sins of the Jews and killed the first born of the Egyptians. The linking of the miracle at Cana with Passover in Jerusalem suggests how God will no longer pass over the sins of his people but pay the cost of sin through Jesus’ sacrificial death.
The next water reference is in John 3:5, where Jesus tells Nicodemus, Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Jesus is not alluding to water baptism. Instead he is referring to the cleansing water we find in the Prophet Ezekiel:
· Ezekiel 36:25-29: I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. You will dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and shall be my people, and I will be your God. And I will deliver you from all your uncleannesses.
Who is going to enter into a new relationship with God? It is those whose hearts God will change. It is those he will clean, giving them a new heart and a new spirit. It is those in whom his Spirit will dwell, causing them to know and obey his rules. Is Jesus not repeating this prophecy when he says to Nicodemus, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God?
To be able to enter the kingdom of God, something fundamentally has to change in us, and that fundamental change, according to Old Testament prophecy and the teaching of Jesus to Nicodemus, is the cleansing, the forgiveness of our sin, of our original sin that hardens human hearts, giving us a propensity to sin. Our old nature controlled by our sin-sick heart is replaced by a new nature governed by a new heart, led by the Spirit, united to Jesus, and cleansed from original sin. This new nature is a supernatural nature given by God so that we can enter into his kingdom.
Self-examination, repentance, prayer, and worship:
Before you pray, take some time to reflect on your faith. Perhaps there are areas of doubt that are bothering you. Speak honestly to the Lord about these doubts and ask him to increase your faith by strengthening you with his truth, and then pray a prayer like the following:
O God, by whom the meek are guided in judgment, and light rises up in darkness for the godly: Grant us, in all our doubts and uncertainties, the grace to ask what you would have us to do, that the Spirit of wisdom may save us from all false choices, guiding us into all truth, and that in your light we may see light, and in your straight path may not stumble; through Jesus Christ our Lord,. Amen.
Spend further time in prayer and worship before studying the Gospel of John below.
Study: John 5:18-47, Jesus’ Equality with the Father and his Authority
18This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.
19So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. 20For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel. 21For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will. 22 The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, 23that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. 24Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.
25"Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. 26 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. 27And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. 28Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice 29and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.
30 "I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me. 31 If I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not deemed true. 32There is another who bears witness about me, and I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true. 33 You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. 34Not that the testimony that I receive is from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. 35He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. 36But the testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me. 37And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen, 38and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent. 39 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, 40yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. 41 I do not receive glory from people. 42But I know that you do not have the love of God within you. 43I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him. 44How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? 45Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope. 46For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. 47But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?"
Reflection Questions:
1) How would you describe the relationship between Jesus and the Father from what Jesus says?
2) According to Jesus in verse 39, what do the Scriptures do and why is this important to know? If you want to understand who Jesus is from a passage in the Old Testament, try reading Isaiah 53 or Psalm 22.
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