Being Born Again and Again and Again . . . .
Jesus said to Nicodemus: “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above” (John 3:3). While all the Gospels are theological/spiritual renderings of the story of Jesus, John’s Gospel stands apart from the Synoptic Gospels (called as such because they share a common view of Jesus). It is packed with theological symbolism and double meanings. For example, when John tells us that Nicodemus, a Pharisee who was a member of the official Jewish council, comes to Jesus by night, on one level he comes secretively concealing his actions from the other Jewish leaders, but on another level it is John’s way of telling us that he is in the dark about spiritual reality. He is spiritually unenlightened. The phrase “born from above” contains a double meaning, which is lost in translation. It could just as well be translated (as it is in many translations), “born again/anew.” Also, in this Gospel, misconceptions and false assumptions aboun...