Gospel JN 3:7B-15
Jesus said to Nicodemus:
“‘You must be born from above.’
The wind blows where it wills, and you can hear the sound it makes,
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 answered and said to him,
‘How can this happen?”
Jesus answered and said to him,
“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.
If I tell you about earthly things and you do not believe,
how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things?
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.”
Reflection:
Nicodemus was a good man. He had learned all the religious rules and laws. Certainly he did his best to live by the rules. But to be “born from above” is not simply a matter of knowing and obeying rules. Being “born from above” is an inside job.
To be reborn in the spirit, we must first come to recognize and accept our own powerlessness, for all power and control are an illusion. The world constantly tries to convince us that we are in charge. We welcome this deception because it is a salve for our fears and insecurities.
But true security lies in our willingness to give up control of people and circumstances. To seek only the will of God in our lives. To be able to accept the twists and turns of life without fear.
To be “born from above” is to live each day with a consciousness of the presence of a loving and wise God who lives within us; to trust that He has a plan for us that will prove just and right.
This, of course, is what Jesus taught through his example of embracing the cross.
It is only through surrender that we attain the peace of mind and heart that He promised.
Thirty years ago, before I had heard of Nicodemus, I knelt on a soiled rug in a little room just off Times Square in Manhattan. Beaten and battered by twenty-five years of active alcoholism, I surrendered to God with a simple prayer, “Help me. Help me, God.”
I was and remain blessed, for although alcoholism defeated me, it did not destroy me before I turned to God in desperation. His peace came upon me that day and my journey to a “new life” began.
Jesus said to Nicodemus, “You are the teacher of Israel and you do not understand this?”
This good Pharisee who came at night may have understood more than we know. Few of us surrender willingly. Perhaps Nicodemus, like many of us, had lived safe within the confines of obedience to rules and laws, but yearned for the peace that he saw in Christ.
The commandments were given by God to Moses for our good. They serve as a guide for us to avoid the pitfalls associated with disobedience. But true peace of heart and mind can only be attained through surrender to the invading presence of God in our lives.
Trust in the LORD with all your heart
And do not lean on your own understanding.
Proverbs 3:5