“Reborn”

(John 3: 1-17)

Romans 4:1-5, 13-17
What then are we to say was gained by Abraham, our ancestor according to the flesh?  For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.  For what does the scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.”  Now to one who works, wages are not reckoned as a gift but as something due.  But to one who without works trusts him who justifies the ungodly, such faith is reckoned as righteousness.   For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith.  If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void.  For the law brings wrath; but where there is no law, neither is there violation.  For this reason it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham (for he is the father of all of us, as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”) — in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.

John 3:1-17
Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews.  He came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.”  Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.”  Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?”  Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit.  What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.  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.  “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.  “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” 

      The butterfly has long been recognized as a symbol of rebirth and renewal, both in our culture and in the context of many religions, such as Christianity.  One of our favorite Hymns, “The Hymn of Promise,” reminds us that in cocoons we find the hidden promise that butterflies will soon emerge as beautiful and free flying new creations of God.  The song continues to remind us that in the cold and snow of each winter season there is a spring just around the corner waiting to come into its bloom; yet unrevealed until its season, and something God alone can see.  Butterflies generally emerge from their cocoons, or chrysalises, in the early springtime.  During the cold and snow of winter the caterpillars we saw in the summer and fall seasons become intombed within their chrysalis, where they are gradually being transformed into the beautiful butterflies that are revealed to us each spring.  This is God’s doing, and as Psalm 118 shares, “it is marvelous in our eyes.”

     It is easy and quite obvious to understand why butterflies make such good examples of transformation and renewal; for that is exactly what we see happen to them right before our very eyes!  Their marvelous transformation from life as crawling caterpillars into beautifully colored creatures in flight symbolizes for us the complete change in both their form and their function.  For butterflies, in their flight, aid in the process of pollination, the process of fertilization by which plants and flowers develop the seeds that will form their future generations.  Thus, butterflies possess both a new form and a new function within the cycle of our earth’s ecosystem.

   Within religious communities, butterflies also bear a strong symbolism.  Their apparent “rebirth” is often used as a metaphor to symbolize resurrection into a new life within God’s kingdom.  The death, burial, and resurrectionof our Lord, Christ Jesus, have often been compared to the cycle of metamorphosis a caterpillar undergoes to emerge from its cocoon as a butterfly. Caterpillars disappear from our sight into a cocoon of apparent death before transforming into butterflies; just as Jesus’ body was removed from the cross, and then placed into a sealed tomb, where he remained for three days before his resurrection to life.  As Christians, followers of Christ Jesus, our Lord and Savior, we believe Jesus’ promise that just as he arose from his tomb of death into life, we too shall experience a resurrection from death into a marvelous new life in God’s eternal kingdom.  It is this imagery that forms the foundation for the final verse of Hymn 707: “In our end is our beginning; in our time infinity, in our doubt; there is believing; in our life, eternity.  In our death a resurrection; at the last, a victory, unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.”  

      In addition to our understanding of rebirth as our resurrection into eternal life following death, one of the dictionary’s further definitions of the word “reborn” is having experienced a complete spiritual change.  To experience rebirth, or to be born again, according to this definition means that a person experiences a complete spiritual change.  This is the kind of change to which Jesus was referring in this morning’s gospel lesson during his encounter with the Pharisee, Nicodemus; one which took a very interesting and spiritually relevant turn of events, as we will soon discover. 

     Nicodemus, the main character who interacts with Jesus in this morning’s scripture lesson, was a Jewish Pharisee.  The Pharisees were a Jewish religious sect that was active during the time of Jesus’ life and ministry.  Unlike the Sadducees, Pharisees were a relatively closed society of like-minded people who devoted themselves primarily to religious purity and to the Law and traditions of Moses.  They were less devoted to temple worship and the ritual practice of offering of sacrifices, and more concerned with observing appropriate behavior prescriptions in order to cover every possibility of interpretation under the Mosaic Laws. But one very important characteristic of the Pharisees is that they believed in the resurrection of the dead and in an afterlife.  Thus, unlike the Sadducees, who did not believe in the realm of the spirit and angels, Pharisees readily acknowledged the existence of both.  That is what made Jesus’ encounter with Nicodemus so spiritually relevant, as well as so interesting, to us.  Let us now’s explore this encounter in its detail, so that we may also gain the gems of spiritual truth with which Jesus enlightened Nicodemus.

     Nicodemus came to Jesus under the cover of night.  It may be that Nicodemus was trying to catch up with Jesus at a time of day when Jesus would be less busy and would have time to talk with him.  Or, it may be that Nicodemus feared the other Pharisees or the Sadducees becoming aware that he met with Jesus, for Jesus’ actions were already stirring up some of the Jews.  “Rabbi,” Nicodemus began, “we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.”  Jesus looked at Nicodemus and immediately grasped his heart and his circumstance.  “Very truly I tell you,” Jesus said, “No one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.”  Nicodemus wondered aloud to Jesus how this was possible, since he could not again enter into his mother’s womb to be born.  Jesus replied, “No one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit.  What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is Spirit.  Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’”   Essentially, Jesus was informing Nicodemus that in order to enter the kingdom, he must experience spiritual renewal; a transformational spiritual rebirth which Jesus described as being born from above of water and the Spirit. Nicodemus was hung up by his “literal” understanding of the birth process.  Jesus was speaking to Nicodemus about his need to experience a new birth in his spiritual being, but Nicodemus still failed to comprehend Jesus’ message to him.  Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews, and a Pharisee who believed in the spiritual realm and the resurrection of the dead into the afterlife, failed to grasp Jesus’ teaching that all of his adherence to Jewish legalism would not lead him to new and eternal life.  Nicodemus needed a spiritual rebirth, a spiritual transformation in which he moved from good works under the law, to faith in what Jesus was about to accomplish by being lifted up, upon a cross, so that he might draw all believers to himself and bring them a marvelous and eternal new life.  Jesus then revealed God’s plan of salvation to Nicodemus, saying “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.  Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”   Thanks be to God!

     I find it interesting that the Holy Scriptures do not present the further details of Nicodemus’ reaction and response to Jesus’ teaching.  Perhaps that is because the Holy Spirit’s work in and through us when we become believers is a unique and personal experience.  Each of us has our own testimony that is based upon our life’s journey toward faith in Jesus and our spiritual rebirth in him.  We are each spiritual caterpillars being formed and matured into unique and beautiful butterflies by the Holy Spirit.  We recall that God so loved each one of us that God sent us Jesus, so that by believing in him, and in his work of salvation for us on the cross, that we may begin a marvelous new and eternal life through him.  For indeed, God did not send Jesus into the world to condemn us, but to save us and transform our lives and their purposes for the building of God’s eternal kingdom.  So, as we journey through this Lenten Season, let us remember that we are not alone, Christ Jesus is with us.  He is present in the power of the Holy Spirit he promised to send us once he returned to his place within the heavenly and blessed Trinity. We are being transformed into his image a bit more every day by the Holy Spirit’s work in and through us and our lives.  Wesley called this process “going on to perfection.”  Jesus called it being “born from above.”  We Christians today often refer to this process of spiritual growth and change as being “born-again” or “reborn.”  May we all be reborn, transformed from within and spiritually renewed, as we journey in faith this Lenten Season.  Amen.