Born Again
Nicodemus comes to Jesus by night. He’s a member of the religious establishment, and the conversation he has with Jesus shows just how little the establishment understands about what Jesus is doing.
In Greek, the same word means both “again” and “from above.” Jesus tells Nicodemus that he must be born from above, and Nicodemus thinks he means born again—he doesn’t get it. Jesus goes on to explain that the new thing that God is doing will require a complete change in a person, a change as drastic as being born all over again. And, Jesus explains, this new way of living is a gift from God—the Spirit of God makes it possible.
To be “born from above” or “born again” is to commit to the Jesus way, and to relearn how to live life in his image. What does that look like? It looks like the kind of life Jesus describes in the Sermon on the Mount.