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“Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”
‭‭John‬ ‭3‬:‭5‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Nick opened the Bible to John 3 and began to read. There it is, John 3:16,

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

It seemed he had known that verse all his life.

He read the chapter again, going a little slower, alert to what ignited inside himself as he read. He paused at John 3:3,

Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

“Born again.” What does Jesus mean by that? He jotted the question down in his journal.

He backed up to the beginning of the chapter. Nicodemus a “Pharisee”, “a ruler of the Jews.” He wrote that down. He kept reading. Jesus seems to be speaking in riddles. Nicodemus is confused. And then, “are you a teacher of Israel…?” He wrote in his journal, “a teacher of Israel, a leading teacher, an authority.’

Nick put his pen down. What’s going on here he thought.

He read the opening verses again. Why does Nicodemus come to Jesus “by night?” He wrote that question down. Nicodemus seems to say something positive to Jesus in verse 2, “we know that you are a teacher come from God,” but Jesus seems to ignore the greeting and comes at Nicodemus with a riddle. And then Jesus throws the riddle down again, “You must be born again.” Why is Jesus talking in riddles? Nick writes that question.

He stared at what he had been writing. He circled the phrase “born again” and drew an arrow to the bottom of the page and drew three question marks: ???

He put his pen down again and pondered. He whispered a prayer, “What’s going on here?”

As he sat there, a thought emerged, “Search ‘born again.’”

He picked up his phone, opened his Bible app and typed “born again” in the search bar. What came up were the verses in John 3, John 3:3 and 3:7. And two verse in 1 Peter, 1 Peter 1:3 and 1:23.

He opened his Bible to 1 Peter 1 and read the first verse, 1 Peter 1:3,

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead….”

He wrote down the phrase, “he has caused us to be born again.” Under the phrase he wrote, “being born again is something God does to us.” He looked at the verse in context and saw verses 8 and 9,

Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

He wrote “1 Peter 1:8-9”, and then added,

BORN AGAIN: not seeing, but loving
not seeing, but believing
joy beyond words
salvation of my soul

He looked at the next reference, 1 Peter 1:23. He summarized ithis journal,

BORN AGAIN: by the living and abiding word of God.

He circled the phrase “word of God.” That’s Jesus, Remembering John 1:1,

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

He went back to John 3. He started reading it again from the beginning and stopped at what seemed to be a rebuke from Jesus at verse 10,

Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things?

Nick wrote in his journal, “Why doesn’t Nicodemus understand these things?” Then he wrote, “Why don’t I understand these things?”

In the deep recesses of his mind, Nick heard clearly, “You must be born again.”

He wrote,

“I must be born again. Am I born again? I want to be born again. What does it mean for me to be born again? How can I know?”

He put down his pen and picked by his Bible. He started to read John 3 again, tightening his focus on John 3:1-15.

He paused at John 3:8,
The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

He picked up his pen and wrote,

BORN AGAIN= born of the Spirit.

He focused on the verse and wrote,

“The wind blows…but you do not know.”

He found himself participating in a dialogue inside his head.

“You think you know a lot, don’t you, Nick.”

“Yeah, I know a lot compared to lots of people.”

“Do you know where the wind goes?”

“I know the wind blows when air moves from a high-pressure system to a low-pressure system.
“But do you know where it goes?”

“I don’t know where it goes.”

“You know a lot about a lot of things, but do you know everything?”

“I don’t know everything.”

“Do you know me?”

Nick froze. He wrote that down in his journal: “Do you know me?”

He wrote, I want to know you.

Then he heard, “Love me, know me, trust me, and you will be born again.”

He stayed on that thought for a time. Inviting the thought to deepen into an emotion, into joy.

He wrote a final question, What happens to you if you’re born again?