Something was stirring in the minds and hearts of people. When Jesus cast out the money changers and animal sellers at the temple in Jerusalem a lot of people rejected Jesus as soon as He showed up. But others were interested in learning about who He was and what He was doing.
One of those interested people was a religious man named Nicodemus. He was a Pharisee (John 3:1), ruler of the Jews (John 3:1), and teacher in Israel (John 3:10). He approached Jesus at night and asked Jesus what must be done to be born again (John 3:3). Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (John 3:5, NASB).[1]
Nicodemus was confused. The word “water” here likely refers to the ministry of John the Baptist, who was baptizing people in water as part of their repentance for their sins. And “Spirit” refers to the means that someone is indwelled by God and saved by God. This means that Nicodemus needs to repent in order to be regenerated by the Holy Spirit.
Jesus gives an illustration of the difference between Nicodemus’s religion and God’s regeneration. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit” (John 3:6–8, NASB).
As a religious leader Nicodemus and his friends tried to control people and their religion. But Jesus says God has arrived and the Spirit of God is moving in a new way.
There’s a wordplay here that we miss. The word for Spirit and wind are the same word in Greek: pneuma which can mean “Spirit” or “wind.” And Jesus uses the word to describe how the wind blows where it wishes compared to how the Spirit works in His own way in which He wishes. Just like the wind works in unknown and unseen ways, the Spirit of God is working in new and unseen ways. Just as humans cannot control the wind, neither can humans control the Holy Spirit. Just as being born again is a mysterious and unseen act, so is the work of the Spirit. J. Vernon McGee writes about this verse, “I can’t tell you exactly how the Spirit of God operates, but I can surely tell when He is moving in the lives and hearts of His people.”[2] That’s exactly what Jesus is saying here: the Spirit of God is moving in a way that no one can control and might not always understand. While the Pharisees tried to control people and religion, God and his Holy Spirit saves and regenerates who He wants.
[1] Scripture taken from the New American Standard Bible, Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission.
[2] J. Vernon McGee, John 1-10 (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1991), 56, emphasis added.