Of The Spirit

John 3:⁵ “Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit.” (emphasis added)

John 3:⁸ “The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.” It also means that you cannot explain the operations of people that are born of the Spirit. People that are born of the Spirit follow the Spirit so you cannot predict them, the same way you cannot predict the Spirit of God. Every Christian is supposed to be born of the Spirit.

The word Spirit in Greek is Pneuma and in Hebrew it is Ruah. Interestingly this is one word in Greek and Hebrew that means the same thing. It means both Spirit and Wind. It means breath, it means wind. The Spirit, which is like water, is also like wind. You can hear it, you can see its effect, but it remains invisible. You can hear the Spirit, you can see the effect of the Spirit, but you cannot see the Holy Spirit. Many people can hear the Holy Spirit, and many have seen the effects of the Holy Spirit – healings, salvations. But nobody has seen the Holy Spirit. “…Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going…”

By the time we get to John 3:9, we see that Jesus had pulled the rug off Nicodemus’ feet. Nicodemus was flat on his face and all he could say was, ““How can these things be?” [John 3:9, NRSV]. Picture all the things we have been explaining for the past few days, these things were coming at Nicodemus in a matter of seconds and all he could say was, “How are these things possible?” John 3:¹⁰ “Jesus replied, “You are a respected Jewish teacher, and yet you don’t understand these things?” The New Revised Standard Version puts it this way, “Jesus answered him, “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?” The term teacher of Israel is a technical term used to address the Pharisees. The Pharisees call themselves, teachers of Israel; they brandish the name and title. Jesus is saying, Mr. Nico, you are a teacher of Israel and you do not understand these things? Nicodemus was expected to understand the concept of rebirth because the concept was not new.

God prophesied about it in Eze.36:²⁶ “A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” (NRSV]. Nicodemus was confused and Jesus was frustrated. Knowing this makes me a little bit easy on myself because sometimes I get frustrated with some people that are expected to know somethings, but they do not know it. And I am wondering, should you not know this thing? That is where Jesus was here. John 3:¹¹ “I assure you, we tell you what we know and have seen, and yet you won’t believe our testimony.” The first two references of ‘you’ are singular and the third one is plural. Jesus was saying, what if I use things that you cannot even relate to?

Prayer: Holy Spirit, You are the Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding, I ask that You infuse me afresh with wisdom and understanding as I engage God’s Word, in Jesus Name. Amen!