The Banner Photo is of houses built by the poor who scavenge at a dumpsite to survive.

Note:

In this piece I do not share thoughts on the interaction of Jesus with Nicodemus concerning Jesus’ expectation that Nicodemus as a teacher of Israel should already have grasped the concept of ‘born again’ or ‘born from above’; certainly the implications on this are profound for modern evangelical teaching.

I do broach the subject in the following essay: Paradise has no History However, I have yet to exhaust the interpretive possibilities and complexities involved but hope to do so at a later date!

Provocative Thoughts with Comments

Trauma, Creation, Spiritual Life and Birth from Above

In Proverbs 8, Lady Wisdom is ‘brought forth’ translated from the Hebrew verb (holalti) that is used to describe the writhing anguish of childbirth. 

Creation begins with trauma in the life of God as lady wisdom (God’s femininity) is essential for creation. In the womb of the infinite, prior to creation, lady wisdom was ‘brought forth’, birthed in full bloom to direct God’s children back to the father of souls. 

A new reality is birthed through life giving trauma. Love and redemption bear the fingerprints of the divine while the heavens display glorious power unlimited. 

Trauma enters the life of God, love’s desire for children outweighs the cost of suffering. Creation groans and travails, spiritual life is born in trauma, a new world yet to come is impossible without the path through this one.

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Spiritual life is always traumatic, it is like birth when we leave our womb of comfort, disrupted by contracting muscles, the water breaks to leave us feeling the collapsed amniotic sac surrounding us, only the cord of life through which we breathe, and through which we are nourished, and defecate, holds us in this moment.

 Then, as we are pushed into the light, our skull gives to the pressure and we enter the world to see for the first time, and the terror of breathing takes hold of us as our lifeline is cut and we can never return to where we began. 

Water and blood mark our beginning, spirit and life, wrapped in a little bit of skin, the image of God enters the world.

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I have long contended for understanding the new birth as an ongoing process (rather than solely an instantaneous experience). The process of seeing the world clearly as we enter the reign of God is (like birth) filled with trauma. 

A good reading of scripture is traumatic, it is one that leaves you feeling the impact of seeing clearly, as though a blow had been landed in the soul of your midsection. 

Each of us, like the Ethiopian eunuch, need a teacher carried by the Spirit to enlighten our understanding of the scripture.

 The Bible is not magical, it is rooted deeply into history, cultures, languages, literary milieu of its time, and crafted with the breath of God through the mind and life of literary artists. Scripture is meant to be studied intensely not simply read.

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Reading John 3:1-15 

The pericope in John 3:1-15 introduces the new birth and replaces the phrase ‘kingdom of God’ with ‘eternal life’. Initially the piece presents Jesus as a teacher whose activity is confirmed by the signs that have followed his work. The emphasis is upon Jesus’ teaching, Jesus’ teaching is affirmed by the presence of God, the presence of God is affirmed by the signs. Nicodemus’ interest is in the teaching of Jesus that culminates in a spiritual life rich with the presence of God. This opening introduction prepares the reader for a serene evening of private instruction from Jesus, instruction that surpasses the teaching of the Pharisees.

Nicodemus affirms Jesus as a teacher come from God based upon the signs that Jesus has accomplished. Jesus redirects Nicodemus to a reality greater than the signs that have moved Nicodemus to visit Jesus. Jesus immediately begins to teach Nicodemus. Jesus wants Nicodemus to both see and enter the ‘kingdom of God’. Nicodemus has seen signs but lacks the necessary insight to both see and enter the now of the kingdom (or reign) of God that is present because the teacher (Jesus) is the King.

The new birth metaphor is profound in its implications for spiritual life. It is not simply a moment but an ongoing reality for those who desire to see and enter. The trauma of creation that began with the birth of lady wisdom continues as we grow in wisdom through learning to walk with God, to be filled with the Spirit, and see clearly the world to come, and upon entering the kingdom of God we experience being an exile, an alien, a stranger, one who is no longer at home in the world as it is.

The new birth metaphor is instructive, seeing and entering the kingdom of God is traumatic. It is traumatic because we have to ‘start over’. Nicodemus is going to have to start over.

John 3:14,15

And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

This is the first time the phrase ‘eternal life’ is used in the gospel of John and the phrase ‘kingdom of God’ does not appear again. However, John does record Jesus using the word kingdom.

John 18:36

Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.”

    Perhaps the Johannine community found the phrase ‘eternal life’ to be less politically oriented. Yet, the nuancing of eternal life is significant for since the kingdom is present then it is an expression of life that experiences the eternal; that is to enter the presence of the Spirit in the world. This reality of living in the Spirit is to see and enter the reign of God, of eternal life, and is also expressed with the phrase ‘in Christ, and the theological theme of ‘rest’.

    We have reduced the new birth to a single moment of joyous experience rather than teaching those who believe in the ‘son of man’, who was lifted up on a cross, that there is nothing more challenging than living a spiritual life. It is a lifetime journey of exiled difference that separates us from the machinations of the crowd and causes us to see clearly the inability of any system to expel the demonic forces that resist goodness.

   Eternal life is the manifestation of Spirit that enables us to live empowered to be salt and light. Within us is an indomitable Spirit enabling us to do (to endure, to suffer) all things, it is empowering and sets us apart, and still we rise!