The Third Sunday of Easter, April 19, 2026

Luke 24, 13–35

That very day, the first day of the week, two of Jesus’ disciples were going to a village seven miles from Jerusalem called Emmaus, and they were conversing about all the things that had occurred. And it happened that while they were conversing and debating, Jesus himself drew near and walked with them, but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him. He asked them, “What are you discussing as you walk along?” They stopped, looking downcast. One of them, named Cleopas, said to him in reply, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know of the things that have taken place there in these days?” And he replied to them, “What sort of things?” They said to him, “The things that happened to Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, how our chief priests and rulers both handed him over to a sentence of death and crucified him. But we were hoping that he would be the one to redeem Israel; and besides all this, it is now the third day since this took place. Some women from our group, however, have astounded us: they were at the tomb early in the morning and did not find his body; they came back and reported that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who announced that he was alive. Then some of those with us went to the tomb and found things just as the women had described, but him they did not see.” And he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are! How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them what referred to him in all the Scriptures. As they approached the village to which they were going, he gave the impression that he was going on farther. But they urged him, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them. And it happened that, while he was with them at table, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them. With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him, but he vanished from their sight. Then they said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he spoke to us on the way and opened the Scriptures to us?” So they set out at once and returned to Jerusalem where they found gathered together the eleven and those with them who were saying, “The Lord has truly been raised and has appeared to Simon!” Then the two recounted what had taken place on the way and how he was made known to them in the breaking of bread.

One thing to think about here is that the two men left Jerusalem even after they had heard the reports of the women that they had seen a vision of angels who announced that the Lord Jesus was alive.  The fact that the tomb had been opened was verified by the Apostles.  These men did not wait to find out more or to see what would happen next.  That they had no pressing need to return to Emmaus at that time is made clear through their swift return to Jerusalem after they knew that they had seen Jesus.  Were they lacking at least in curiosity?  Was their disappointment in the Lord’s Death so severe that they felt they had to leave Jerusalem?  But they did not leave right away; they waited until late afternoon.  They must not have stayed with the Apostles during that time, though, for when they return, they are told that the Lord had appeared to Peter, which they had not known before they left.

Another thing to consider is this: why did the travelers to Emmaus think to run back to Jerusalem?  What urged them on to return?  Their experience seems to have filled them with so much excitement that they had to share it with those most likely to understand and share it.  Their experience also would confirm the reports of the women who had seen the angels and it would make sense of the incredible fact that the tomb had been opened and no one could explain how.

“Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know of the things that have taken place there in these days?”  The question Cleopas asks the Lord, not knowing that he was the Lord, tells us of how wrapped up Cleopas and his friend were in the events of Holy Week.  Jesus was their whole world.  Estimates of the population of Jerusalem during the life of Jesus range from 20,000-40,000 people, swelling to ten times that number during festivals such as the Passover.  Much could happen in a city of this size that would not be known to most of its inhabitants, especially during holy days.

“Oh, how foolish you are! How slow of heart to believe.”  In the Old Testament, a “fool” was one who did not have God before his eyes: “The fool has said in his heart: There is no God” (Psalm 14, 1).  Jesus calls them “fools” (literally, “O foolish men and slow of heart”) because even after his miracles and preaching, they still thought of him merely as “the one to redeem Israel”, that is, to fight the Romans.  They were thinking of him not in spiritual terms but in material terms, for they thought of nothing in spiritual terms.

“He was made known to them in the breaking of bread.”  Luke points out the realization of the Lord’s very real appearance by the two disciples in their supper as a sign of the Lord’s very real appearance on the altar during Holy Mass, which was sometimes called “the breaking of the bread” at the time.

We ought to give thanks to our almighty Lord who appears to us today, who fills us with his grace, who speaks to us through the Gospels, and who longs to greet us in heaven.

Saturday in the Second Week of Easter, April 18, 2026

John 6, 16-21

When it was evening, the disciples of Jesus went down to the sea, embarked in a boat, and went across the sea to Capernaum. It had already grown dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. The sea was stirred up because a strong wind was blowing. When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they began to be afraid. But he said to them, “It is I. Do not be afraid.” They wanted to take him into the boat, but the boat immediately arrived at the shore to which they were heading.

“When it was evening, the disciples of Jesus went down to the sea.”  This episode takes place after Jesus fed the five thousand and then hid on the mountain so that the people could not seize him and carry him off to make him king.  The Apostles must have found Jesus on the mountain or perhaps the crowd began to break up and he was able to show himself to them in order to instruct them to cross over the sea to Capernaum in their boat.  They would have assumed that he would rejoin them later, crossing the sea in one of the other boats which members of the crowd had used to come to him.  

“It had already grown dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them.”  This is a verse to which all of us can relate: some darkness has come into our lives and we have prayed and were awaiting a response from the Lord but it has not come and it feels like it will not come in time: “The sea was stirred up because a strong wind was blowing.”  “When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they began to be afraid.”  The location where the Lord had fed the crowd to Capernaum, through the Sea of Galilee, comes to about seven miles, so they had traveled halfway.  In other words, miles separated them from the safety of the coast as the winds blew hard and the sea swelled.  But what caused them fear was the sight of Jesus walking on the water.  They must have seen him in the moonlight as it peeked out through breaks in the clouds.  He came near enough to them so that they could make out the figure of a man walking on the water but not so near that they knew who it was.  In Matthew 14, 26, the Evangelist recalls that they thought he was a ghost.  For the Apostles, the stormy conditions and the appearance of a ghost meant their doom and we can excuse them if they began to panic.  We should try to imagine the scene: the wind howling, the darkness, the heaving water, the bounding boat, the scattered moonlight, the figure of a man walking nearby on the water.  He would have appeared to him as very darkened with his clothes whipping about.  He does not struggle to walk, however, but comes across the water as though traversing an open field.  His calmness clashed with the desperation the Apostles were starting to feel.  He must have seemed like an executioner, axe in hand, approaching them, trapped in their jail cell; or as a harbinger of their imminent extinction.

“It is I. Do not be afraid.”  The Lord called out to them in a loud voice, and they knew at once that it was his.  They would have called back to him to come into their boat and they would have tried to row to him, but then another miracle occurred and “the boat immediately arrived at the shore to which they were heading.”  In an instant they were transported from danger in the middle of the sea to the shore, where they could tie up their boat and rest.  The Lord answers our prayers and his good time and when it is best for us for him to do so.  And his answer is better than what we could have imagined praying for.

Friday in the Second Week of Easter, April 17, 2026

John 6, 1-15

Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee. A large crowd followed him, because they saw the signs he was performing on the sick. Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. The Jewish feast of Passover was near. When Jesus raised his eyes and saw that a large crowd was coming to him, he said to Philip, “Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?” He said this to test him, because he himself knew what he was going to do. Philip answered him, “Two hundred days’ wages worth of food would not be enough for each of them to have a little.” One of his disciples, Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, said to him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what good are these for so many?” Jesus said, “Have the people recline.” Now there was a great deal of grass in that place. So the men reclined, about five thousand in number. Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them to those who were reclining, and also as much of the fish as they wanted. When they had had their fill, he said to his disciples, “Gather the fragments left over, so that nothing will be wasted.” So they collected them, and filled twelve wicker baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves that had been more than they could eat. When the people saw the sign he had done, they said, “This is truly the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world.” Since Jesus knew that they were going to come and carry him off to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain alone.

“Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee.”  Previous to writing about the feeding of the five thousand, John the Apostle had written of the Lord disputing with the Jews in Jerusalem, so his appearance now in Galilee comes abruptly.  “Across the sea” may indicate its eastern side, south of Bethsaida, a little fishing town on the coast.  Here John calls the freshwater lake of the region “the Sea of Galilee”, although he will call it “the Sea of Tiberias” at another time.

“A large crowd followed him, because they saw the signs he was performing on the sick.”  The crowd followed him across or around the sea “because they saw the signs he was performing”, and not to be cured themselves.  They wanted to see more signs, or learn more about the man who had performed them.  Some may have connected the miracles with the possibility that this man was the Messiah.  “Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples.”  He may have gone up the mountain soon after arriving “across the Sea of Galilee” in order to pray or to teach his disciples.  The crowd would have come not all at once but in small groups.  They saw him leave on the boat and knew what direction it was heading so they could estimate it’s destination.  Then some of the people who had gathered to hear him got into boats and followed him, and some went the long way around the coast.

“The Jewish feast of Passover was near.”  John has a reason for word he writes.  He gives the time of the feeding of the five thousand in order to connect it to the Passover on which the Lord would feed his Apostles the Bread of Life.  

“He said this to test him, because he himself knew what he was going to do.”  The Lord often tested the Apostles in their understanding of his teaching and in their faith.  He prepared them for the testing they would undergo after they went out to the world to preach the Gospel.  “Two hundred days’ wages worth of food would not be enough for each of them to have a little.”  Philip does some quick math here.  He is a practical, literal minded man and does not see what could be done for the crowd.  He also does not ask Jesus what he proposes to do, since it is his idea that something should be done.  He does not connect the people in the wilderness with Moses and the people in the wilderness with Jesus.  God fed the people with manna and there was enough for everyone to eat as much as they wanted.  He does not wonder what Jesus will do.  “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what good are these for so many?”  likewise, Andrew fails to make the connection that as God fed the people with manna, so Jesus would feed the people now.  

“Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them to those who were reclining, and also as much of the fish as they wanted.”  He distributed them through the Apostles, employing them as “ministers”, from the Latin word originally meaning “attendants” or “waiters”.  Jesus makes the abundance, the Apostles serve it.  “Gather the fragments left over, so that nothing will be wasted.”  The Greek word translated here as “wasted” means “lost” or “destroyed”.  The Lord did not want the leftover pieces of bread and fish to be lost.  He had given thanks to the Father for them and so they must be saved and put to good use.  Perhaps they were brought to the nearby town of Bethsaida for the poor there to eat.  Certainly Jesus did not cause them to be collected in baskets simply to be left there in the wilderness.  The amount of food leftover, which everyone in the crowd could see in the baskets, far exceeded what there had been to begin with.  It was an astounding miracle.  In fact, it impressed the Evangelists so much that all four of them include the story of this miraculous feeding in their Gospels.  It is the only one of the Lord’s miracles found in all the Gospels.

“This is truly the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world.”  The people here recognize Jesus as the successor of Moses, who had asked God to feed the people, and who promised them a Prophet: “The Lord your God will raise up to you a Prophet of your nation and of your brethren like unto me [Moses]: him you shall hear . . . And the Lord said to me: I will raise them up a Prophet out of the midst of their brethren like to you: and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I shall command him” (Deuteronomy 18, 15; 17-18).  “Since Jesus knew that they were going to come and carry him off to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain alone.”  The crowd equated the Prophet promised by God as the Messiah who would restore Israel, and so they were determined to make him their king, possibly swearing their loyalty to him and marching with him on to Jerusalem.  The Lord does not attempt to argue with the crowd but goes to the upper reaches of the mountain by himself.  It was enough for now that they understood him to be greater than Moses.  He would teach them again, soon, and reveal to him exactly who he was.

Thursday in the Second Week of Easter, April 16, 2026

John 3, 31-36

The one who comes from above is above all. The one who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of earthly things. But the one who comes from heaven is above all. He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. Whoever does accept his testimony certifies that God is trustworthy. For the one whom God sent speaks the words of God. He does not ration his gift of the Spirit. The Father loves the Son and has given everything over to him. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever disobeys the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains upon him.

Today’s Gospel Reading concludes chapter 3 of St. John’s Gospel.  For the sake of clarity and in order to show the context of this Reading, it may be helpful to have an outline of this chapter: verses 1-15, Jesus and Nicodemus speak together: Jesus declares that he is the Son of Man who came down from heaven and that he is here to save the world, not to restore Israel; verses 16-21, John the Apostle speaks of the love of God that brought Jesus from heaven and our need for faith in him; verses 22-30, John the Baptist testifies to Jesus as the Messiah; verses 31-36, John the Apostle elaborates on the Baptist’s words and tells how Jesus, the Messiah comes from God, was sent by God, and speaks the truth about God.

“The one who comes from above is above all.”  John premises his comment by summing up the Lord’s words: “And no man has ascended into heaven, but he that descended from heaven, the Son of Man who is in heaven” (John 3, 13).  “The one who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of earthly things.”  Here John contrasts the one “who comes from above” and so speaks “heavenly things” with the earthly man, again drawing on the Lord’s words: “If I have spoken to you earthly things, and you believe not: how will you believe, if I shall speak to you heavenly things?” (John 3, 12).  “But the one who comes from heaven is above all.”  John makes clear that one one who “comes from above” comes from heaven, from the realm of God and the spiritual realities.  Because he comes from “above”, he is “above all”.  It might be added here that the word translated as “from above” can also mean “from the beginning”, which connects these verses with John 1, 1: “In the beginning was the Word.”

“He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony.”  John has posited the one from above and the ones who speak of earthly things and now he shows that they are in conflict.  The Son of God tells what he has seen and heard from the Father.  He speaks of heavenly things.  But his testimony is rejected by those who speak earthly things because it is all they understand and they do not want to know about heavenly things.  His testimony is rejected not because it is false or defective in some way but because those who reject it prefer to cling to earthly things, the transitory and ultimately unfulfilling pleasures of this world.  “Whoever does accept his testimony certifies that God is trustworthy. For the one whom God sent speaks the words of God.”  This sounds like a tautology, but we read it already believing that “the one whom God sent” is trustworthy.  He tells us what he has heard from God, and that God is trustworthy.  We believe what God has told the Son because the we believe in the Son.  Because of the Son, we have heard the words of the Father.  “He does not ration his gift of the Spirit.”  It is through the Spirit who inspired the Evangelists and who has been poured out on us that we know the words the Son heard from the Father.

“The Father loves the Son and has given everything over to him.”  The Lord himself said, “All things are delivered to me by my Father” (Matthew 11, 27).  From all eternity, the Father begot the Son and simultaneously gave him “all things”.  With the Father and the Holy Spirit, he possesses all power over everything in existence.  This giving by the Father is an act of love for the Son.  The Father holds nothing at all back from him but gives him everything.  We call what the Son gives the Father “obedience”, and is an act of love for him.  “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever disobeys the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains upon him.”  Belief and disobedience are set as contradicting each other.  If we do not obey the Son, we do not believe in him.  It is not enough merely t0 know about God: “You believe that there is one God. You do well: the devils also believe, and tremble” (James 2, 19).  We must love him too.

Wednesday in the Second Week of Easter, April 15, 2026

John 3, 16-21

God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God. And this is the verdict, that the light came into the world, but people preferred darkness to light, because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come toward the light, so that his works might not be exposed. But whoever lives the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God.

“God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.”  After John has recorded the discussion between Jesus and the Pharisee Nicodemus, he speaks on his own account (John 3, 16-21).  This seems like a continuation of his prologue (John 1, 1-18), in which he speaks of Jesus as the Word and as the Light who came into the world.  Now he speaks of the Lord as the Love that came into the world.  It is the immeasurable love of the Father in the Person of his only-begotten Son.  He comes into the world not as a spectator but as the Redeemer of the human race.  He offers salvation to all, and all who believe in him — those who know him, love him, believe in him, and obey his commandments — will be saved.  Faith means obedience: “If you love me, keep my commandments” (John 14, 15).  Faith means performing good works: “Faith without works is dead” (James 2, 20).  And faith is to be practiced openly.  It is not some private pious exercise: “For if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised him up from the dead, you shall be saved” (Romans 10, 9).  That is, we not only say the words and perform the deeds, but these come from our hearts where we nourish our faith in the Lord Jesus.

“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.”  Truly, the Lord does not condemn anyone, but recognizes the condemnation that so many people bring upon themselves through their doing evil, harming both themselves and others.  The harm they cause others will eventually heal, but the harm they cause themselves, rendering their souls incapable of heaven, only heals through repentance and the confession of sin.  Chief among these evils the wicked commit is the rejection of the Lord Jesus: “Whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God.”  This is the rejection of the love of God, without which there is no happiness.

“And this is the verdict, that the light came into the world, but people preferred darkness to light, because their works were evil.”  The Lord Jesus, the Son of God, is “the Light” that came into the world to show the love of God to the world.  But very many people preferred to live outside of his love because they did not want to give up their evil lives, to repent, and to live in charity with others and with God.  So many human beings prefer their self-absorption and pursuing their selfish pleasures to living honestly and eschewing sensual pleasure for spiritual joy.  “For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come toward the light, so that his works might not be exposed.”  That is, so that they may not have to take responsibility for their ugly snd destructive works and lives.  

“But whoever lives the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God.”  To “live the truth” means to live the Faith, obeying the Lord’s commandments and awaiting his return.  Those who live the Faith “come to the light” — are unafraid of the scrutiny of their deeds by others — so that their deeds may attest to their faith and draw others to God.

“God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.”  These are words to fill our hearts with joy.  We see in them God’s will for our salvation.  And we can read these words in a very personal way too, for they are meant for each of us: “God so loved me that he gave his only-begotten Som, so that if I believe in him I might not perish but might have eternal life.”

Tuesday in the Second Week of Easter, April 14, 2026

John 3, 7-15

Jesus said to Nicodemus: “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.” Nicodemus answered and said to him, “How can this happen?” Jesus answered and said to him, “You are the teacher of Israel and you do not understand this? Amen, 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. If I tell you about earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has gone up to heaven except the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.”

“You must be born from above.”  The Lord Jesus, the Son of God who was made man into to save the world from sin, is speaking to Nicodemus, a leading Pharisee, who wonders if Jesus is the Messiah.  That is, he wonders if Jesus is the one who will lead Israel against the Romans and reestablish the Kingdom of Israel.  The Lord is leading him past his very worldly understanding of the Messiah to the true, spiritual understanding.  Thus, he speaks of being reborn of water and Spirit, and the need for this in order to see the Kingdom of God.  This kingdom will not be the earthly kingdom Nicodemus and the Pharisees expect to see with their eyes but a kingdom of the spirit: the Lord’s Mystical Body.

Nicodemus listens intently but it is hard for him to shift his thinking: “How can this happen?”  The Greek text has, “How can this be?”  The distinction is that the Kingdom of God does not “happen” so much as it simply “is”.  Or, perhaps, Nicodemus as he strains to understand, is asking, “How can I accept this?”  “You are the teacher of Israel and you do not understand this?”  The Lord is not mocking or rebuking the Pharisee, but telling him that he in fact does possess the tools he need in order to understand the Lord’s teaching.  “Amen, 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.”  The Lord here is speaking of the other Pharisees, those who will not believe and do not seek understanding.  He is also chiding Nicodemus to rethink all that he knows of the Scriptures.  Jesus will do much the same thing with the Apostles after his Resurrection: “Then he opened their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures” (Luke 24, 45).  

“If I tell you about earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things?”  “You” here is in the plural, according to the Greek text, so the Lord is not asking this of Nicodemus but  the Pharisees in general and all of us.  He asks if he teaches about spiritual realities using earthly figures, such as birth, water, and the wind, and we do not believe, how will we believe if he speaks to us of spiritual realities without using earthly figures?  Jesus speaks in this way to make it clear, again, that he is speaking of the spiritual realm when he speaks of the Kingdom of God.  After three years of teaching this, one would think that at least his disciples would get it, but some of them do not, even up to the time of the Ascension: “Lord, will you at this time restore again the kingdom of Israel?” (Acts 1, 6).  

“No one has gone up to heaven except the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man.”  The Lord is confirms to Nicodemus that he is indeed the Messiah, the Savior, for the Son of Man, he says, has come down from heaven.  This also indicates that the Son of Man is not merely a man chosen by God, but one whose proper home is in heaven.  He is divine.  “And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.”  The Greek word translated here as “lifted” can also mean “exalted” and so we look at its context to understand which is meant: Moses put the bronze serpent on a pole that was raised so those afflicted by the bite of the seraph serpent might look upon it and recover.  Therefore, Jesus is saying that he will be raised up onto a pole or something similar so that people may look upon him and be cured of some condition.  Since the result of the cure will be “so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life”, we can understand looking upon him lifted up will cure them of their sins which prevent them from entering eternal life.  Jesus means that he will be “lifted up”, then, and in a specific way.

We should often look upon a crucifix throughout the say in order to draw our minds back to our Lord so that we might do all things to please him who suffered for us.

Monday in the Second Week of Easter, April 14, 2026

John 3, 1-8

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.”

“A Pharisee named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.”  From the evidence of the Gospels. Many if not most of the Pharisees opposed Jesus, seeing his rejection of their interpretation of the Scriptures as a rejection of Judaism.  But exceptions such as Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea did exist.  These sought to understand the Lord by asking him honest questions.  They had to be careful though lest they come under suspicion from the others of being his followers.  

“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.”  Nicodemus, instead of jumping to false conclusions, carefully considered the facts about the Lord: he had seen with his own eyes the miracles Jesus had performed and drawn the correct conclusion that these cures could only have been accomplished through the power of God.  Since this was so, who was this Jesus?  Who did he claim to be?  Was he the Messiah?  The discussion between Jesus and Nicodemus that follows, as reported by St. John, comes across as fragmentary or as highlights, yet in John’s report we hear the Lord teaching clearly about the Holy Spirit as a divine Person, revealing this to one who was willing to learn.  The questions Nicodemus asks may sound rather simple, almost childish, but he follows the Greek system of dialogue as practiced by Socrates and Plato, establishing basic principles and then building upon them. 

“Amen, amen, I say to you, unless one is born from above, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.”  Nicodemus opened with an admission that he believed Jesus to be a teacher who had come from God.  Jesus answers his unspoken question as to whether he is the Messiah who is come to establish the Kingdom of God on the earth and expelling the Romans.  The Kingdom of God, he says, is not what so many seem to think.  It can indeed be seen, but not with the eyes.  It is not a physical place.  It is invisible and can only be seen through grace.  This grace comes upon those who are “born from above”, transformed by grace.

“How can a man once grown old be born again? Surely he cannot reenter his mother’s womb and be born again, can he?”  The Pharisee’s question shows understanding.  He grants the Lord’s premise of a man being born again and asks how this can be.  By contrast, another Pharisee would have denied that this could happen, have hurled insults at Jesus, and stormed off.  “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless one is born of water and Spirit he cannot enter the Kingdom of God.”  Jesus explains what he means by being born again: he confirms that it is not a physical rebirth but a spiritual regeneration through “water and Spirit”.  John shows, throughout his Gospel, what the Lord means by “water” — grace and life, that is, a sharing in the life of God.

“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.”  The Lord says this to make clear to Nicodemus the distinction between a human born of the Spirit and one born only of the flesh, and in this way helps him to understand the Holy Spirit.  He emphasizes the invisibility of the Spirit.  To us today, they seems very straightforward, but the Pharisees and the people of the time had a  materialist idea of God, the angels, and heaven.  In speaking like this, Jesus is weaning Nicodemus off the Messiah as a military leader.

Sometimes we also reduce God to a material being on our minds, despite our knowing that he is spirit.  He is transcendent, far beyond what we can conceive.  He is Love that overwhelms and transforms and never ceases.  He cannot be contained in a name, for “God” is a sort of title rather than an actual name.  He is infinite and ever present in the hearts of those who love him.  Knowing him better enables us to love him more and thus to believe in him with greater faith — faith that will be turned into knowledge when we behold him in his Kingdom.