On being born from above

A reading from the gospel according to John. (Jn 3, 7-15)

Jesus said to Nicodemus: “Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered him, “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?

“Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

This is the Word of the Lord.

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When I started meditating on today’s gospel selection, I was touched, like Nicodemus was, by Jesus’ assertion that one has to be born from above in order to see the kingdom of God, and more so in order to enter this kingdom. How can one be born again after having grown old? This was the question that bothered Nicodemus, “a teacher of Israel”, and Jesus, “a teacher who has come from God” discussed the subject with him.

At the beginning of Chapter 3 of his gospel, from which today’s selection was taken, John states that Nicodemus went to Jesus by night. Why is it that John tells us that Nicodemus went to Jesus by night? Was he stating the hour of this meeting or was he stating this man’s spiritual situation? I do not think it is a question of “either – or”, for both situations make sense. Nicodemus was searching for the truth but did not want to do this openly. He was searching for the truth so in a sense he was in the dark and wanted to see light. He went to Jesus by night, waiting for the light of a new day. In a sense, this is what Jesus told him when he said: “You have to be born again in order to see the kingdom of God”, and after seeing it one is invited to enter the kingdom. Nicodemus went to discuss things with Jesus in his search for truth and light, and as he was sincere in his search Jesus, “the teacher coming from God”, accepted to dialogue with him who was “a teacher of Israel”. This teacher wanted to see light, so Jesus led him to see the kingdom of God, but then, it was up to him to “enter” it. “To see” is Christ’s “invitation”; “to enter” is our response!

Today’s reading starts with Christ telling Nicodemus “not to be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above’”.

Nicodemus understood this in a material way and he could not see how an old man could go back to his mother’s womb in order to be born again. Jesus helped him to understand that besides material birth through which “what is born of the flesh is flesh”, there is another birth through which “what is born of the Spirit is spirit”. For this birth to come about, one does not need to return to his mother’s womb. When one is born into the human community one has to be welcomed and taken care of so that this person could “grow and become strong and be filled with wisdom” (cfr Lk 2, 40). This is what Jesus did when he was born of the Virgin Mary.

Humans are born into this world in which they live their human experience. But they are still living in the womb of Mother Earth where they develop their potentialities as Children of God. Through the teaching of the prophets of old and those he sends in our days, God will give knowledge of salvation to his people by the forgiveness of their sins and, by the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us (Cf Lk 1, 76-78). In a way we are still in our mother’s womb, waiting to be born “from on high”.

It seems to me that besides these two births there are other times in which we are reborn, and I imagine that “to be born from above” is more a process than a point in time. Can I pin-point a moment in time when I can say that I was born again? Can I say that I was born again when I had some important experience or when I felt close to Jesus Christ? And what about the moments when I did not feel God’s presence, when I even felt abandoned by him? When I was born in the flow of human history, my birth was registered and I was given a name and I can know the date and hour of my birth, and so I can celebrate my birthdays. I can know the date and place of my birth into Christ’s family, into a Christian Community, for my baptism was registered and a record is kept in the local community where I was baptized. I can point out to other moments in my life in which important decisions were taken marking a change in my life. I can remember the date of my First Communion and my Confirmation, the day I thought that I was called to join the Order of Preachers and I did, and when I was ordained a Priest, the day I thought I was called to go to the missions and I responded. These are just a few of the moments in which I think that I was born again from above, or is it the first one that counts? Are these the only moments of rebirth? I am sure that these are moments in a long series taking place while I am in the womb of Mother Earth and I am being prepared to be born from above when my time comes for me to be born into eternity.

Like the moment when I was born into history and there were loving hands to greet me and help me to grow and become a mature man, as mature as I can be, at the moment of my birth into eternity the hands of a loving Father will greet me and in the joyful company of an immense number of angels and saints I will be taken to God’s abode in which a place has been prepared for me by an eternal and immense Love that has been poured on all of us through Christ’s death and resurrection.

Until this day comes I dream of my own resurrection of which Christ’s resurrection, which the Church has just celebrated, is both a promise and a guarantee. For I believe what St. Paul wrote: “Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died ... for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ. … Christ the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father”. (1Cor 15, 20-24) This is my dream. This is my sure hope. Amen.