Born Again

His question about a second physical birth reveals his initial interpretation. John often uses misunderstandings like this to move from a concrete meaning toward a deeper explanation. Similar patterns occur with the temple, living water, and bread from heaven. Jesus first speaks of seeing the kingdom and then entering it. The birth therefore concerns more than intellectual comprehension. Several serious interpretations have been proposed, including baptism, natural birth, and prophetic promises of cleansing and Spirit. Ezekiel 36:25–27 is an especially important possible background because clean water, a new heart, and God's Spirit appear together. Jesus later calls Nicodemus "the teacher of Israel." This makes Israel's Scriptures an important place to look for the background to his language. The contrast need not mean that the physical body is inherently evil. It naturally contrasts ordinary human birth with life produced by God's Spirit. English must distinguish "wind" and "Spirit," while Greek uses pneuma. The wordplay makes Jesus' image especially vivid. Jesus says people must be born from above, yet birth itself describes something the person being born does not create for themselves. This creates an important tension between the necessity of new birth and God's initiative through the Spirit. Night may simply identify the time. John's broader use of light and darkness may also create literary resonance, but we should not force one symbolic interpretation. He is a Pharisee, ruler, and teacher. His questions advance the conversation, and he appears again later in John.

Independent English translation from the Greek text, using SBLGNT as the primary Greek edition. Both "again" and "from above" are retained to expose the important ambiguity of anōthen.