The Rev. Frank Logue
King of Peace Episcopal Church
Kingsland, Georgia
February 24, 2002

You Must Be Born From Above
John 3:1-17 

This week the Gospel reading gives us what must be the best known verse in all of scripture, John 3:16. This is a verse so famous that you don’t even have to quote it. After all, it’s not that uncommon to see someone holding a sign with this chapter and verse citation on it at sporting events. The idea is that the verse is so well known that they don’t even give you the words of scripture itself. All someone needs is a sign saying “John 3:16.” 

I’m never sure what that chapter and verse citation are supposed to do for someone all by itself. Would anyone ever see a sign emblazoned John 3:16 and drop to their knees at once to turn their lives over to God? Shouldn’t we at least give them the full verse, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” At least then, the sign reader has a little more to go on. 

In any case, the intended result of sharing John 3:16 with someone is usually to get the person to say the sinner’s prayer, admit that he or she is a sinner in need of redemption and turn over control of their lives to Jesus. This conversion experience is what is often referred to as being “Born Again.” 

Connecting John 3:16 to the idea of being born again is quite fitting as the expression “Born Again” also comes for our Gospel reading for today. Not that you would necessarily know it from the translation I just read. The New Revised Standard Version has the nerve to change one of the most used sayings here in the Bible belt. They translate “Born Again” as “Born from Above.”  

“Born from above” instead of “born again.” Don’t you hate it when people change the words on you? A favorite expression is never quite the same when you change the words around, even if they mean the same thing. Neil Armstrong stepped on the moon saying, “That’s one small step for man. One giant leap for mankind,” not “That’s a baby step for me and a great big step for all of us.” David Farragut did not make a name for himself as a naval commander saying “Forget about the torpedoes, just make the boat go fast.” He said, “Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead,” and charged into history. 

It’s serious business changing words around once we get used to them. The King James Bible has had Jesus telling us we must be “born again” for nearly 400 years. Now since 1989, the New Revised Standard Version has the nerve to have Jesus tell us we must be “born from above.”  

The two expressions are not exactly the same, so I thought I better do some digging this week to find out what’s going on. What I found is that the word translated as born again in the King James Version is anothen. Anothen is a Greek word whose ordinary meaning is from above. It also used metaphorically for “anew” or “again.” This word occurs 13 times in the Greek New Testament. The translators of the King James Bible translate anothen as “from above” in every case but John 3:3 and John 3:7. In fact, the King James Bible even translates anothen as from above in John 3:31.  

OK, if your eyes are not glazing over yet, they probably should be. I know that I am comparing how a 400-year old translation deals with a word, but it matters. It might not matter so much in every time and in every place, but here and now in this county, someone might well ask you “Have been born again?” A harder look at the story of Nicodemus’ night visit to Jesus will help show what is really going on. 

This Nick at Night story is a typical encounter with Jesus. Jesus seems to be answering unasked questions that have little to do with the conversation. We are told that Nicodemus was a Pharisee and a leader of the Jews. Nicodemus was a member of the Sanhedrin, the ruling elite who would later vote on whether Jesus should die. 

Nicodemus comes to Jesus at night. We are not told why he makes a night visit. Perhaps Nicodemus doesn’t want to be seen with Jesus. Maybe Nicodemus wants some alone time with Jesus without the crowds to distract Jesus’ attention. Or maybe Nicodemus doesn’t want to wait until the next morning, he just has to rush over to talk to this miracle-working Rabbi.  

Whatever the reason, Nicodemus begins by complimenting Jesus, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.” There is no question yet. Nicodemus has not given Jesus any reason for his visit. Yet, Jesus launches into the conversation saying, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born…” and here is where translations of scripture get into a problem. The Gospel of John then gives us the word anothen, which means “from above” or “anew” or “again.” 

Nicodemus decides that Jesus meant, “born again,” and then Nicodemus can’t make sense out of the expression. He asks, “How can anyone be born after having grown old?” You see Nicodemus misunderstood Jesus. Jesus wasn’t saying we should be born again in a physical sense. Jesus was speaking of spiritual matters and he tries to clear things up for Nicodemus saying that we must be born of water and of the spirit, we must have both a physical birth and a spiritual birth. Yes, it is means being born again or anew, but it mostly means being born from above, being born in a spiritual sense. 

Jesus gets frustrated with Nicodemus. Nicodemus is a spiritual leader over Israel and yet Jesus sees him as being in spiritual darkness. Nicodemus just can’t understand Jesus’ spiritual teaching. Nicodemus made things too earthly. He had trouble tuning in to the deeper spiritual discussion for which Jesus longed. 

I think the way the expression “born again” is often used today also misses the point. When we talk of being born again or if someone asks, “Have you been born again?” the emphasis is all on our side of the equation. The asker of that question wants to know about you and what you have done. That is well and good, to a point. However, it may still miss Jesus’ real point. 

In Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus, the emphasis was not on Nicodemus’ actions, but on God’s actions. Jesus did not ask Nicodemus if he was “born again,” or if he had “gotten saved.” Jesus did not try to lead Nicodemus in the sinner’s prayer. You see it wasn’t about Nicodemus. The emphasis in the conversation is on God and God’s action.  

In verses 14 and 15, we get the setup for that best-known verse in scripture. Jesus says, “Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” 

Jesus is comparing his own crucifixion to an important healing in which Moses took part. The people were being bit by poisonous snakes and they cried out to God in prayer. Moses was told to fashion a snake, put it on a pole and anyone who looked at it would live. Moses made a bronze snake on a pole, the people, looked, and were healed.  

Jesus says that in a similar way, he will be lifted up on the cross in death and those who look to him for salvation will find eternal life. The emphasis is on God’s action through Jesus Christ. Yes, we must believe, but we believe in what God has done for us. It is God’s action, not our action that matters most.  

John 3:16 is not first and foremost about you. First and foremost John 3:16 is about God and God’s awesome love for us. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son.” We are not born again because we so love God. We are not born again just because we were so faithful as to say the sinner’s prayer or any other prayer. We are born again, born from above, because God so loved the world that he sent his only Son that the world might be saved. 

Yes, our faith matters. Yes, we must believe. However, all that we do matters only because all God has done. Undergoing a conversion experience is not about being born again in the way Nicodemus thought of it. We certainly do not enter the womb again to be born. What we experience through new life in Jesus Christ might better be thought of as being “born anew,” or better still “born from above” which takes the emphasis off us and what we do and gives it back to God. The action is from above, it is beyond us, because that new birth is not something we can control any more than we can control the wind.  

Nicodemus first two words to Jesus were, “We know.” Nicodemus was starting with what he thought were certainties. Jesus then blew all those certainties out of the water with a conversation unlike anything Nicodemus had experienced. Jesus challenged Nicodemus that if he wanted to see the Kingdom of God, he would have to let go of his own knowledge and his own control to be born from above.  

If you are at the point of giving your life over to God, then just let go of that last bit of control you are holding on to long enough to turn you life over to God. The promise of a new birth that also means to be born from above is as real this morning as it was for Nicodemus that long ago evening. 

What about those of us who have already been checked off on the guest list for the Kingdom of God? In this season of Lent, we too are called to let go of our own confidence in what we know. We too are called to let go of our certainty and let a new experience of God’s presence blow all our certainties away as we live in to the new birth Jesus has already given us. 

Amen.