outWORD by Matte Downey

In John 3, we find two of the most popular concepts in evangelicalism: the idea of being born again and the famous verse 16 which anyone brought up in Sunday School can recite at will. I wrote about the idea of being born again here  if you want to check it out. In this post, I take a fresh look at John 3:16. The context for the two is the same. Jesus has just cleared the temple of money changers and many people have witnessed the signs he performed in Jerusalem during the Passover festival. In other words, he has gone public in a big way. This causes a religious leader, a well-known, socially and politically involved member of the Jewish ruling council, to approach Jesus privately at night. He wants to know what Jesus has that he is missing. Before the man can pose a proper question, Jesus confronts him with the idea of spiritual rebirth, of having to start again like a vulnerable and helpless baby in order to enter into Jesus' world, the kingdom of God. Jesus then rebukes the rel...

If you have spent any time in the evangelical world, you will have heard the phrase born again . It is usually used as a synonym for becoming a Christian or experiencing salvation from the condemnation of sin. Many times the emphasis is on spiritual rebirth through the Holy Spirit. But is this what Jesus means when he uses the phrase? The concept itself comes from a conversation between Jesus and a religious leader, so let's take another look at the original context.   In the second chapter of John's gospel, we find Jesus clearing the temple of the opportunistic moneychangers and performing signs in Jerusalem during the Passover festival. In other words, Jesus is doing some pretty controversial public stuff and, no doubt, word gets around to the religious leaders. In the next chapter, one of those leaders, Nicodemus, decides to approach Jesus. He is an esteemed man, a man serious about religious devotion, a member of the Jewish ruling council, socially and politically involved...