There was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.
He came to Jesus at night and said to him,
“Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God,
for no one can do these signs that you are doing
unless God is with him.”
Jesus answered and said to him,
“Amen, amen, I say to you,
unless one is born from above, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.”
Nicodemus said to him,
“How can a man once grown old be born again?
Surely he cannot reenter his mother’s womb and be born again, can he?”
Jesus answered,
“Amen, amen, I say to you,
unless one is born of water and Spirit
he cannot enter the Kingdom of God.
What is born of flesh is flesh
and what is born of spirit is spirit.
Do not be amazed that I told you,
‘You must be born from above.’
The wind blows where it wills,
and you can hear the sound it makes,
but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes;
so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
In todays reading, Nicodemus asks a silly question, wondering if Jesus is seriously talking about going back into our mothers womb and being born again. Jesus responds “Amen, amen, I say to you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit.” What does it mean to be born of water and spirit? This is baptism. Before Jesus started His ministry, John the baptist was baptizing with water for the forgiveness of sins, and he spoke of a time when one would come after him that would baptize with the holy spirit. Jesus is now fulfilling this prophesy. He is the one, and His baptism is the baptism that will change everything. His baptism is the one that will open the gates of heaven, and make it so that we can finally be reconciled back to God.
Nicodemus’ question is funny because it does not even get close to understanding the depths of what Jesus is saying here, and so that is why Jesus follows up with the clarification of water and spirit. Jesus is here giving us the formula for how to baptise. Water is the matter of the sacrament. The words “I baptize you in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirt” are the form. When this formula is used, this is when the holy spirit descends upon the recipient and He places the indelible mark of this sacrament, on the soul of the recipient. And it is this mark, that is required for entry into the kingdom of heaven.
This is what Jesus is saying and He is being extremely clear about it. Baptism is the one way we know of that opens this possibility of heaven to us. Thomas Aquinas called it the “privledged way”, and it is the one thing we know that is required for entry into heaven. This does not mean that a baptized person cannot choose hell, and fall out of the Grace of God, but if you want to go to heaven, you must have this mark, in order to enter.
So you may ask what about those that never knew about Jesus, or those that died before they could be baptized? For those people, we have to humbly say that we don’t know. But we can safely say, that while we are held to God’s law, and His sacraments, that does not mean that God is. God is the good king, and His mercy is greater than His law. So we must trust in His infinite mercy, and perfect justice. But for those of you that are reading or hearing this, you now know what you need to do… Like Jesus said before He ascended into heaven, “Go forth, into all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and Holy Spirit,” Those are important words, heed them, your eternity, and the eternity of the whole world, could literally depend on it.
