Born Again

Nicodemus comes to see Jesus at night. In John’s Gospel, Nicodemus is cautiously curious about the message and the identity of this man named Jesus. Jesus tells Nicodemus: “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above (3:3).”

In our study of the Gospel of John, one of the nuggets that I learned is that, in John, ‘seeing’ has two meanings. We can see with our physical eyes - and we can see with our hearts. Jesus is telling Nicodemus how to see, to see with his heart. To see in a new way involves transformation, renewal and change in the ways we view the world.

We are born from above, born again, when we see people and things in new ways. We are born again when we see a homeless man not as a statistic, but as a son of God. We are born again when we see our problems not as struggles, but as opportunities for personal growth.

During this Lent, I hope that we may see with our hearts. I hope that we may be born again, from above.