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Pastor's Corner
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Today we celebrate The Most Holy Trinity and the Gospel
reading is one of the most widely quoted passages in Scripture. It depicts an interaction between Jesus and a distinguished Jewish leader named Nicodemus. Nicodemus visits Jesus, the light of the world, in the night, an indication of his fear as well as his spiritual darkness.
Jesus recognizes his spiritual darkness and expands on the Gospel theme of the light coming into the darkness. At this point, the understanding of Nicodemus is earth-bound, focusing on the natural order. He is simply unable to comprehend the supernatural, spiritual realities Jesus is focused on. By this dialogue with Nicodemus, Jesus is teaching an important lesson
about the spiritual life for all time. Belief is a gift from God and is available to all, the learned and the unlearned. It is not one’s academic or professional credentials that will determine one’s ultimate destiny, it is whether or not one humbly accepts the incalculable gift of the Incarnate Word of God, Jesus, into one’s heart. Faith is never a purely intellectual endeavor, for it is not planted in the ‘head’ but in the ‘heart’.
Jesus speaks of the need to be born again/born from above. This new birth spoken of by Jesus is by water and by the Spirit. The reference to water represents the baptizing ministry of John the Baptist and is the cleansing from sin. The reference to the Spirit recalls Old Testament passages about God pouring out His Spirit from above in the Messianic age. This learned man would have been well aware of the Old Testament images of water and the Spirit, but he focuses on the temporal and physical aspect of birth by using the term born again, suggesting a second, physical birth from a woman’s womb rather than on the spiritual aspect which Jesus points him to. In one of the most widely quoted and beloved passages of Scripture, Jesus reiterates that this spiritual rebirth into the Kingdom of God is accomplished by belief in Him and that this belief is necessary for eternal life.
He describes Himself as the only Son who has descended from heaven and become flesh because of the love of the Father for His fallen creation. To be saved for eternal life, an authentic believer must understand that he/she once lived in great spiritual darkness, be humble enough to submit his/her life to the loving scrutiny of God in order to enter into the light of Jesus, acknowledge that faith is pure gift from God and cannot be earned by study but must be freely accepted, and be willing to abandon his/her prior works of darkness so as to live a new life in Christ. Seems rather difficult, but with faith, all things are possible.
Are you ready to make this spiritual journey?
Fr. Eric