…who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
John continues to describe the wonderful consequences for those who trusted Jesus. John has identified them as becoming children of God, which is like saying they have been adopted by God…but not like puppies. They have been adopted as his children. In this portion of the verse he changes metaphors from adoption to rebirth. Later, in chapter 3, John will record a conversation Jesus had with a man named Nicodemus. Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” – John 3.3. We will revisit the concept of rebirth when we get to that conversation. In the meantime, John has much to say about it in this one phrase.
First John clarifies that the birth is “not of blood”. This means that he is not talking about a physical rebirth. He is not talking about reincarnation. He is not even talking about a new body in this context. This rebirth is about something that happens to the spirit of a person. “Will of the flesh” means something similar. We all are acquainted with the phenomenon of sexual appetite. Most people are excited by sexual activity and it would be no exaggeration to say that most people alive were born as a result of the sexual excitement of their parents. But this birth is not a birth that results from the sexual activity of humans.
…nor the will of man… seems like another way of saying the same thing, but John has a different concept in mind. Having clarified that this rebirth is not something physical, he now considers whether, if it is a spiritual rebirth, is it a birth that can be accomplished by humans. Can a person, by meditating and squatting on the top of a hill for 40 years, reach a state of spiritual exaltation? Can a person, by blowing himself and a score of infidels up in a crowded marketplace earn his way into paradise? Can a person, by crawling up a thousand-step monument, flogging himself all the while, appease an angry god and so be welcomed into heaven? Can passionate dedication to a set of moral principles and rituals prove a person worthy of a holy god? John says, “No”. While we must be born again, it is no more possible for a person to labor to be born according to the spirit than it is possible for a person to cause himself or herself to be born according to the flesh.
…but of God. Here we come to the startling distinction that separates Christianity from all other religions, because all others insist that salvation is based on performance. In the various religions this comes about from conforming to a moral code and/or conforming to an assortment of rituals and/or conforming to certain regulatory behavior, such as wearing prescribed clothes and repetitively speaking religious jargon. A lot of this has to do with social conformity, clearly, but it always boils down to working one’s way into heaven. Christianity says that working your way into heaven is like planning on long-jumping across the Grand Canyon. It’s not a workable plan. There are no training regimens that will improve your jumping skill to the extent necessary. In fact, to eventually attempt to long-jump across the Canyon is a blatant act of foolishness.
The world today is becoming increasingly secular, so it would not do to ignore this tribe, either. The secular tribe says, “We’re not going anywhere so, if there’s work to do, it’s all about imposing our views on others so we all can live life according to the way we see as best for humanity. Then when we’re all done living in accordance with our vision, we will all die happily. The naïveté is astonishing, imagining that any group’s concocted utopian vision will ever capture the hearts of even the majority of humanity. But, more important, such visions are without vision, because they are visions without hope. John is testifying that there is overwhelming evidence that we should have hope.
Christianity acknowledges that we can’t jump the Grand Canyon. It openly states the obvious truth (that is generally suppressed) that we cannot save ourselves from death. Christianity says, “Jesus can get you across.” Jesus possesses the power and the authority (the right) to grant life. He can give life and he takes no greater joy than bestowing life upon those who will accept the gift from him.
Recent Comments