John #7

As well as the Gospel and letters of John this Bible study uses the book “Written that you may believe: Encountering Jesus in the fourth Gospel” by Sandra M. Schneiders (2003) Crossroad Publishing Co. New York, NY.

Background reading to study #7- Written that you may believe chapter 7.

The Gospel of John #7 – Being born again 06/03/10

The story of Nicodemus visiting Jesus by night is found in Jn3:1-16. It is a classic example of Johannine irony. It is so evident that Nicodemus doesn’t get it. He thinks in terms of re-entering the mother’s womb when Jesus is trying to get him to see a completely different level of meaning. This same surface reading occurs in the parallel story of the woman at the well in Samaria: “You have no bucket and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water?”
Nicodemus is a representative figure – i.e. someone who does not see, one searching for understanding, but not willing to go the whole way. He is described as a person of some prestige – a Pharisee. In Jn 3:19-20 Jesus says “The light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed.” This does not reflect well on Nicodemus who visits Jesus by night. There is a hint here that he was not living in the light. Coming to Jesus in the dark illustrates the lack of clarity in his understanding.
All the while Nicodemus recognizes Jesus as a teacher – the conversation is at the level of teacher to teacher. He is drawn to Jesus because of the signs that Jesus has done which he believes show God is with him. Yet he cannot make the radical shift necessary.
In v.3 Jesus says that to see the kingdom of God one needs to be “born again”. An equally possible translation is “born form above” – but the born again or “anew” is closer to the dramatic sense. The meaning is to start over, start again from the beginning or from the top (like a piece of music). Being “born again” is close – but is a heavily loaded phrase in our culture today. It has associations of judgment, fundamentalism, legalism, elitism, shallowness, narrowness and violence.

To try to understand what Jesus was saying we have to understand his words without the meaning that has been loaded upon them. So what was Jesus’ intention? Birth is the major human event. Being born again is to start over again in a big way. It is as momentous as birth.

Jesus says in v. 5 that we need to be born of water and spirit. Traditionally this has been interpreted in terms of baptism -the water of baptism being associated with being made clean or being put right with God.

For John’s Jewish audience water and spirit would have brought to mind the creation story – when the earth was a formless void and the Spirit hovered over the water. The Spirit stirred up the water and life was created. In John chapter 3, Jesus is calling for a second, new creation, a total transformation. This is what baptism symbolizes – not a legal making right with God.
Water is the primordial element of life. We come forth from the waters of our mother’s womb. In Jewish thought God’s Spirit gives life to the flesh. Here flesh is understood as the general human reality that we will ultimately die when God’s spirit or breath leaves it. Thus the Spirit blows where it will. You cannot know where it comes from or where it is going. It cannot be grasped intellectually within the present scheme. Trying to nail it down leads to legalism. It is unanticipated, uncontrollable and inexplicable. To be born of water and the Spirit means to let go of all the old constructs. The human transformation that Jesus is calling for is of our whole human reality.

Nicodemus shows up two more times in the Gospel.

In Jn 7:45 the temple police fail to arrest Jesus. When questioned by the chief priests and Pharisees they answer that “Never has anyone spoken like this”. They are accused of being taken in by Jesus. Nicodemus, who is identified as one of the leaders of the Pharisees, tries to defend Jesus using the Law. He is portrayed as a figure of the good religious person but who cannot commit. He wants to fit Jesus into the known, to make him acceptable. But the Spirit cannot be controlled and Jesus will go to his fate in a struggle against all established forms.

Nicodemus’ final appearance is after the crucifixion. In 19:38-42 he brings myrrh and aloes to anoint Jesus body. He is not identified as a disciple like Joseph of Arimithea. Again his nocturnal visit to Jesus is mentioned, suggesting that Nicodemus is still in darkness. The expensive ointments he provides are evidence of his wealth. John’s Gospel has another account of anointing in 12:1-8 when Mary of Bethany anoints Jesus’ feet. Here Mary assumes the prophetic role, anointing Jesus as Messiah.(The text adds that Jesus said she should keep the ointment for his burial, but then she is not mentioned in the subsequent anointing; and she has brought one pound while Nicodemus brings one hundred!) She stands in contrast to Nicodemus who does the religious thing – ritualizing death, creating shrines. He waits for Jesus to be safely dead then gives him glory. Religion is all about dead things – what happens to you when you are dead and rituals of death. People want the dead to be in a good place. Death is not an issue for Jesus – “let the dead bury the dead”. The time for transformation is now. Being born again is not about the hereafter. It is about the here and now. Mary anoints Jesus in the living present.