Perhaps there is a little of Nicodemus in everyone

Nicodemus appears only in the Gospel of John. In fact, the evangelist dedicates the first half of chapter 3 to this man. [John 3:1-21]

Nicodemus represents a group of people of good will, who look favorably toward Jesus. Nicodemus acknowledges Jesus as a teacher come from God. In fact, he calls Jesus “Rabbi,” thereby indicating that Jesus is saying things worth considering. Nicodemus is both a ruler and a Pharisee, which, John suggests, means that he is a person from the higher echelon of Judaism. 

While Nicodemus is of good will, John the Evangelist points out that this man is, nevertheless, theologically inadequate. Why? At this time in Judaism, certain rabbis were followed because they performed miracles. Believing in anyone based solely on the performance of miracles alone is a power-play. It’s insufficient faith, notes John, because Jesus is not merely one of your great rabbi-wonderworkers (which Nicodemus understood him to be). 

So, Jesus, through the pen of John, challenges Nicodemus, who is a good man, to go further in his understanding, if he dares to become Christian. Jesus instructs with authority:  “…no one can see the kingdom of God without being born again.”

As soon as Jesus speaks, he shakes Nicodemus of his wrong rational convictions. His words “born again” immediately trigger in the Rabbi’s head a blunt fact: “we’re not dealing with someone earthly here but someone supernatural.”  

Moreover, Nicodemus knows that the phrase “Kingdom of God,” used only once in John’s Gospel, is a synonym for “eternal life.”  Nicodemus struggles with the question: “How can I be born into this eternal life?” But, he gets distracted by the phrase “born again” and concludes that Jesus is talking about a physical re-birth, which he knows would be anatomically impossible or it would have to be one of those miracles that made some rabbis appealing. So he asks: “But how can a man be born again?” Jesus responds, “A person is born physically of human parents, but is born spiritually of the Spirit.” [John:3:6] 

Continuing, Jesus helps Nicodemus to understand “eternal life” by putting it into perspective. Eternal life, like any grace, is not a matter of human effort or accomplishment. It’s the result of ‘being born from above,’ in other words, it’s a gift from God, mediated to us through his son, Jesus. Once you have accepted Jesus into your life, which we do through baptism, you have  accepted the grace of salvation, which is to say, the gift of eternal life.

John, however, is more than an evangelist, he’s a clever preacher. He doesn’t use big words like “supernatural,” which seem abstract and might confuse others; instead, remembering the words of Jesus, he makes a great analogy between wind and spirit. He writes: “The wind blows where it wills.”  

Wind is very mysterious. We don’t know its origins or goal. Just like we don’t know why one member of our family is a believer and another is not. But it’s real. Because the wind is perceptible in its known effects, the experience of the wind makes it real for us. So it is, analogously, with divine life. Maybe we do not completely understand the origin of grace, but we know it is for real because we experience it, that is, we can see its effects in peoples’ lives. Christians take their whole lives and examine it through their faith. Wind and spirit — both are real — we know this by our experience of their effects.  

Nicodemus’ misunderstanding of what it means to be born again underscores John’s genius. Unlike Matthew, Mark and Luke who teach that eternal life is given to believers after death, John is of the opinion that we are born children of God. From the very start, we are gifted, our whole life then becomes a response to this gift from God.

“How do our lives exude gratitude for being gifted, children of God?” That’s our challenge, which we can embrace with gusto or, like Nicodemus, we can go through life and, despite our intelligence, kindness, charity, just not get it! 

Father Comandini is managing   editor of “The Catholic Spirit.”