>Jn 3:7b-15
[Jesus said to Nicodemus,] 7“ ‘You must be born from above.’ 8The 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.” 9Nicodemus answered and said to him, “How can this happen?” 10Jesus answered and said to him, “You are the teacher of Israel and you do not understand this? 11Amen, amen, I say to you, we speak of what we know and we testify to what we have seen, but you people do not accept our testimony.
12If I tell you about earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 13No one has gone up to heaven except the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man. 14And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.”
To be born from above: Nicodemus (Greek for “conqueror for the people”) is mentioned only in John’s Gospel (see also 7:50, 19:39). The Jewish equivalent is “Naqdimon.” He is “a ruler of the Jews,” that is, a member of the Sanhedrin, the highest governing body of the Jewish people composed of the priests (Sadducees), scribes (Pharisees), and lay elders of the aristocracy. Coming to Jesus at night is probably a stealthy, expedient move since he would not want to risk the ire of his fellow leaders. In the perspective of the evangelist, Nicodemus is a figure who little by little comes out of darkness—the realm of evil, untruth, and ignorance—into the light, none other than Jesus, the light of the world.
In their conversation, Jesus instructs Nicodemus on the necessity of a new birth. Jesus says that a person must be born anothen (Greek adverb which means both “from above” and “again”). Nicodemus understands it as “again” and takes it literally. He finds it impossible: can a person reenter his mother’s womb and be born again? What Jesus intends is “from above,” which means that new birth in the kingdom is through the power of God, that is, through rebirth by water and the Spirit. The community of John—as other Christians in the early Church—would understand this as referring to Christian baptism. It is by receiving baptism that they receive the gift of the Holy Spirit and they enter the community of the new Israel. This belief has nothing to do with how “born-again” Christians would understand this today: that they leave the Church to join a special group which promises sure salvation for those who belong to it. They undergo another baptism and condemn practices of the Catholic Church like the veneration of saints and repetition of prayers.