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"Born of Water and the Spirit" (Sermon for the Holy Trinity, on John 3:1-17)
stmatthewbt.org ^ | May 30, 2021 | The Rev. Charles Henrickson

Posted on 05/29/2021 7:15:02 PM PDT by Charles Henrickson

“Born of Water and the Spirit” (John 3:1-17)

On this Trinity Sunday, our Gospel reading, from John chapter 3, tells us of the work of the Holy Trinity--Father, Son, and Holy Spirit--in bringing us to a new birth and the new life that flows from it. And this is where Jesus goes in his conversation with Nicodemus. Jesus tells Nicodemus that he needs to be “Born of Water and the Spirit.”

This Nicodemus was a prominent Jewish religious leader. He was a Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish ruling council. Jesus even calls him “the teacher of Israel,” showing how highly respected Nicodemus was among his people. Yet Nicodemus doesn’t “get it.” Not yet. He needs to be born again. He needs a spiritual rebirth to open his eyes and to give him a right understanding and a whole new life.

Nicodemus comes to Jesus by night, presumably so as not to be seen. It might not look so good for a member of the Sanhedrin to visit this controversial Jesus of Nazareth. He tells Jesus, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” Well, Nicodemus, that’s good as far as it goes, but it does not go far enough. Jesus is far more than a mere rabbi, even an exceptionally insightful one who can also do some miracles. Nicodemus is “low-balling” who Jesus is. He’ll need to see far more in Jesus than that, if he is to come into the kingdom of God.

So Jesus tells Nicodemus, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Friends, there are lots of people who say some nice things about Jesus--what a good teacher he was, what a fine example. But if that’s as far as they can go, then they have reached the limit of what human flesh and reason can discern. And that is not enough. You must be born again if you are to recognize who Jesus really is and trust in him and thus see God’s kingdom in the way you need to see it. You must be born from above. “Born from above,” “born again”--the Greek here could be translated either way. The point is, you need a heavenly rebirth, in order to recognize the kingdom of heaven coming in the person of Jesus.

Jesus’ response about being born again puzzles Nicodemus. He doesn’t know where Jesus is going with this, this riddle. “Born again”? Is Jesus joking around? Nicodemus replies: “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” This stuff sounds like crazy talk to Nicodemus.

But no, Jesus really meant what he said. Now Jesus explains what he meant by being born again: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’” Thus, to be born again, born from above, is to be born of water and the Spirit. It is a heavenly rebirth that involves the use of water, in connection with the Spirit. And that is baptism.

Water and the Spirit, together. That’s what happened in the beginning, at creation. “And the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, ‘Let there be light,’” etc. Water, the Spirit, and the Word--creation. Same with the new creation, the spiritual rebirth in baptism: Water, the Spirit, and the Word. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.”

Holy Baptism, instituted by Christ, is the spiritual rebirth of water and the Spirit. St. Paul speaks of it in Titus 3: “[God] saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior.” Did you catch that phrase? “The washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.” “Washing,” water. “Regeneration,” rebirth. “Renewal,” new life. “The Holy Spirit” . . . well, the Holy Spirit. In other words, to be born again, of water and the Spirit. Just like in John. And this rebirth of water and the Spirit is what happens in Holy Baptism.

“Born of water and the Spirit.” We need this new birth in order to see clearly, to see the kingdom of God having come in Christ. Otherwise, our spiritual blindness would keep us in the dark. We need this new birth in order both to see and to enter the kingdom of God. Otherwise, without faith in Christ, our sins and our spiritual deadness would keep us out of God’s kingdom. We need the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit to see the light, to have the scales fall from our eyes. We need to receive the righteousness of Christ, the life he has won for us, to raise us from death to life. This is why Jesus says, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”

“Flesh,” in this sense, means our fallen sinful nature, which is inherited and passed down to us from generation to generation. We all share in this sinful nature and are doomed to death. Flesh gives birth to flesh. And flesh can only take you so far. You cannot rise above that level. To be born only of the flesh is a dead end.

That’s how the Bible describes our natural state. Ephesians 2 says: “You were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience--among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.” So, according to the flesh, we were by nature children of wrath, God’s wrath. That’s not good. As Jesus says, flesh gives birth to flesh. That’s as far as you can go, that’s as high as you can rise, born only according to the flesh. You and I need a different kind of birth.

And you don’t give birth to yourself. No, this is about being born of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit gives you this new birth. You don’t do it, he does. John 1 says, “To all who did receive him,” that is, Christ, “who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” God gives you the new birth. It’s not your decision or your will that does it. It’s God giving you a new birth, making you his child, giving you the gift of faith.

Faith in Christ. Faith is to receive Christ, to believe in his name. For Jesus Christ is the only Savior from sin. Here’s where we can talk about the Father and the Son on this Trinity Sunday. As we heard in our text: “So must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” Yes, God the Father sent his Son into the world out of his great love for us. God the Son, Christ Jesus, then was lifted up on the cross, so that you and I would not perish in our sins, but rather, that through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, our sins would be forgiven. Believing in Christ, trusting in him, then, we receive that forgiveness, and so we have eternal life.

Now what the Holy Spirit does is to bring you those benefits that Christ won for you on the cross--forgiveness, life, eternal salvation--the Spirit gives you the faith to receive and take hold of those benefits. The Holy Spirit quickens you, makes you alive, brings you from death to life, through the gospel. The gospel, the word of God in and with the water, is the power source in Holy Baptism. It makes baptism the life-giving sacrament that it is. The Holy Spirit uses this sacrament to bring you to faith and raise you to new life. This is how baptism is the new birth, your real spiritual birthday.

“How can a man be born when he is old?” Well, Nicodemus, it doesn’t matter if someone is eight days old, eighteen years old, or eighty years old, when someone is baptized, that is God at work to give that person the new birth. If you have been baptized, you have been born of the water and the Spirit. You are now part of God’s family, the church. You are God’s child, and Father welcomes all his children. Christ Jesus is the Savior you know and trust in. All your sins have been washed away. You have been joined to Jesus and his resurrection. You have a new life and an eternal life! The Holy Spirit has given you the gift of faith, through the Word. And the Spirit will keep you in the faith and keep you growing as you continue in the Word.

Born of water and the Spirit: That’s Holy Baptism, in the name of the Holy Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Baptism, your spiritual rebirth into the new and eternal life of the kingdom of God. Baptized believers in Christ, in your baptism you have been born from above, born of water and the Spirit. And what a joyous, blessed thing that is!


TOPICS: Religion
KEYWORDS: holytrinity; john; lcms; lutheran; sermon; theholytrinity; trinity
John 3:1-17 (ESV)

Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 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.”

Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”

1 posted on 05/29/2021 7:15:02 PM PDT by Charles Henrickson
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To: squirt; Freedom'sWorthIt; PJ-Comix; MinuteGal; Irene Adler; Southflanknorthpawsis; stayathomemom; ..

Ping.


2 posted on 05/29/2021 7:17:16 PM PDT by Charles Henrickson (Lutheran pastor, LCMS)
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To: Charles Henrickson; cyn; Daffynition
Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.

>>>

Ordinary bread [''bread from the earth''] which is the product of hard physical labor, is a metaphor for the ''revealed'' interpretations of the Torah [nigleh] found in the Talmud, which require arduous analysis, questioning etc.

On the other hand, manna [''bread from Heaven''] represents the mystical teachings of the Torah, which are of such a ''heavenly'' nature that there is no disagreement or argument.

<<<

https://shiratdevorah.blogspot.com/2021/05/mysticism-manna-for-all.html

There is much Jewish teaching on the number 25 and its relationship to light, one data point being that light is the 25th word of the Torah.

Beyond all of that groundwork accomplished "in the wilderness", the name for Numbers, the bOOk of...

The son of man is a Y, as in the seed of David. The Y is the 25th and penultimate letter of the English alphabet and whose name sounds the same as the question.

Speaking of sounds of letters since no one is asking why, one of these letters does not match, does not belong:

E-G-Y-P-T

As it is written,

"Out of Egypt have I called my son."

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.

"swOOsh"

"whOOsh"

Funny stuff:

00 - Exit code for Egypt, and is needed for making any international call from Egypt.

***

spirit (ruach) also means wind:

Gen 1

1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
4 And God saw the light, that it was gOOd: and God divided the light from the darkness.
5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

***

>>> The name crwth is Welsh, derived from a Proto-Celtic noun *krutto- ("round object"[4]) which refers to a swelling or bulging out, a pregnant appearance or a protuberance, and it is speculated that it came to be used for the instrument because of its bulging shape. Other Celtic words for violin also have meanings referring to rounded appearances. In Gaelic, for example, "cruit" can mean "hump" or "hunch" as well as harp or violin.[5] Like several other English loanwords from Welsh, the name is one of the few words in the English language in which the letter W is used as a vowel.<<<

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crwth

(cf. the words grotto, crypt, crypto-)

Exodus 16

14 And when the dew that lay was gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness there lay a small round thing, as small as the hoar frost on the ground.
15 And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the LORD hath given you to eat.

And if anyone happens to be curious about kurios (or Cyrus, the king who was famous for his command and his cylinder):

>>>κύριος

From κῦρος (kûros, “supremacy”) +‎ -ιος (-ios, adjective suffix), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱewh₁- (“to swell, spread out, be strong, prevail”). Cognate with κύω (kúō), Latin cumulus, cavus. <<<

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%CE%BA%CF%8D%CF%81%CE%B9%CE%BF%CF%82#Ancient_Greek

>>>Noun

cumulus (plural cumuli)

A large white puffy cloud that develops through convection. On a hot, humid day, they can form towers and even become cumulonimbus clouds.

A mound or heap.

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cumulus#Latin

<<<

***

You can see how it all piles up sky high, and comes around full circle.

The other day I even demonstrated how the letter samech (the shape is a circle) is the concealed fish of the Hebrew alphabet, simply through the normal language of things, even to go so far to explain that the particular type is a brook trout, aka "coasters" (like those small, round things) but that's not anything from the established, approved circles of wisdom, yet

Luke 11

10 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
11 If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?

A real practical joker, that father.

The ouroboros is often interpreted as a symbol for eternal cyclic renewal or a cycle of life, death, and rebirth.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ouroboros

κῡ́ρῐος • (kū́rios) m (feminine κῡρῐ́ᾱ, neuter κῡ́ρῐον); first/second declension

(of people): ruling, governing, having power
(of things): decisive, critical, authorized, valid, legal, entitled
(of times): fixed, set, appointed
(of language): literal
main, major, primary, principal

<<<

Which reminds me that another aspect of 25 in Hebrew is that the numeral is spelled kaf-hei, the same as is the word koh, "thus":

>>> A good starting point is the word kohen itself, spelled, in Hebrew, Chof-Heh-Nun. Breaking the three letters into two groups, the first two spell the word koh—s0—the opening of many of the prophets as in, “So says God . . .” This is a reason for this.

The gematria of koh is 25, one of the most significant numbers in Judaism. To begin with, it is the gematria of the word yehi, used in the verse with which God made light: <<<

https://torah.org/torah-portion/perceptions-5772-emor/

If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightning

"Unfortunately, you never know when or where it's ever gonna strike."

"We do now."

Acts 1

5 For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.
6 When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?
7 And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.
8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

It's like the license plate says:

OUTATIME

3 posted on 05/29/2021 10:00:51 PM PDT by Ezekiel ("Come fly with US". Ingenuity-- because the Son of David begins with Mars.)
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To: Ezekiel

“the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”

9 months in the womb floating in abiotic fluid (water)birth of flesh. It is not like Jews were ignorant of rebirth metaphor redeemed infant, become adult, marriage, a teacher, teacher of teachers and Nicodemus couldn’t covert or become the king. So what is his dilemma?


4 posted on 05/30/2021 12:23:19 PM PDT by the_daug ( )
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To: the_daug
Sometimes people get so bogged down in "spiritual" meanings (or even arguing about them) that they lose sight of the spiritual, when there's

a new lease on life
second chance
fresh start

But then the point is to apply the message and move forward with a new attitude, perspective, focus, faith.

5 posted on 05/30/2021 5:22:03 PM PDT by Ezekiel ("Come fly with US". Ingenuity-- because the Son of David begins with Mars.)
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