The first part of the third chapter of John records a conversation that Jesus has with Nicodemus.  Parts of it are familiar to most people, since it contains the most quoted New Testament scripture of all, John 3:16, and the equally important, at least to me, John 3:17.  Nicodemus is a very intelligent educated man who knows the Jewish Law very well, but he has trouble understanding some of the spiritual things that Jesus is saying; specifically he is mystified by the phrase “born again,” wanting a physical explanation.  Jesus responds that “the Spirit gives birth to spirit”.  Jesus goes on with an analogy to the wind; people can’t see the wind, but they have no trouble believing in it, because, for example, they can hear its sound.

In fact, the wind is not unique; we detect or measure most things indirectly by observing their effect on other things.  This is especially true in science and engineering.  Remember that years ago bathroom scales were spring scales.  They didn’t actually measure your weight; rather they indicated your weight by measuring the change in length of springs when you stepped on the scale.  I have heard people say “I want to see it with my own eyes,” but even here when I see you, what I am really seeing is how light rays are changed by being absorbed or reflecting off your body.  Thus we shouldn’t be bothered or discouraged that some spiritual things are hard to see or understand directly, since the same is true of many things in our lives.  We should do as Jesus indicates and “see” them by looking for their effects.  Let me give a few instances.  We appreciate love by seeing how it is given and absorbed by others, we learn about faith by looking at the lives of saints both in history and in our current lives, and we feel the Holy Spirit as it empowers us to do all things.  In writing this, I realized that the back view of this is also important.  We must strive to be faithful, loving, and filled with the Holy Spirit, for others can only see and appreciate these by their effects on us.

Read John 3:1-21, and remember: God loves YOU unconditionally.

Jim

Today’s Reading: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+3%3A1-21