Sermon Seeds: Of Water and Spirit

Sunday, March 1, 2026
Second Sunday in Lent | Year A
(Liturgical Color: Violet)

Lectionary Citations
Genesis 12:1-4a • Psalm 121 • Romans 4:1-5, 13-17 • John 3:1-17 or Matthew 17:1-9
https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts/?z=l&d=26&y=17134

Focus Scripture: John 3:1-17
Focus Theme: Of Water and Spirit
Series: Tested. Opened. Naked. (Click here for the series overview.)

Reflection
By Cheryl A. Lindsay

Earth, air, fire, and water have long been considered the basic elements of nature. Modern science can detect exponentially more miniscule components, but these still provide a reasonably simplistic explanation. There is value in having a simple explanation for complexity. Businesses develop elevator speeches to easily and succinctly convey the value and benefits of the product or services they offer. Executive summaries distill the most important parts of far lengthier documents. Reels and shorts on social media offer quick videos in seconds what others may take up to an hour to demonstrate.

I have been privileged to participate in a project of The Riverside Church: Bible in a Minute. The initiative has a different preacher, pastor, scholar, or educator expound on one chapter of the Bible in one minute. It is surprisingly difficult to distill the meaning of a chapter into that limited time. There’s background and context that matters. There may be relational dynamics to explore. Words change meaning over time, and that impacts how we understand the text. Still, it is possible, and the church has made tremendous progress toward completion.

Jesus demonstrated an exemplary ability to simplify the complex. While their words and actions contained layers of meaning and significance, Jesus distilled theological concepts into parables–or the shorts of their day. They were also able to communicate through signs and wonders. Experience served as their teaching tool as much as preaching. Notably, the Sermon on the Mount or Plain is the only sermon recorded in the gospels. While other teaching and instructions are noted, more often than not, Jesus’ longest expositions seem to respond to a question they were asked rather than prepared addresses. Miracles, found in stories of healing and restoration, litter the gospel narratives. Show typically is simpler than tell.

Still, communication requires and reflects some level of common understanding and shared meaning. Perhaps, that is the issue found in the gospel passage. Nicodemus does not comprehend Jesus’ teaching because his definitions of the key words (born, water, spirit, again) do not align with Jesus’ use of them in this particular explanation. At the same time, the text clearly indicates that Jesus considered their words so simple that they expressed shock that a teacher such as Nicodemus struggled to comprehend.

Jesus’ first extended discourse is a dialogue with a Pharisaic leader named Nicodemus, who comes under the cover of darkness. To him, Jesus utters the now famous words: “No one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above” (3:3), or born again (the source for the term “born-again Christianity”). Interpreting this saying literally, Nicodemus wonders how one can reenter the womb and be reborn. But Jesus was referring to spiritual, not physical, rebirth.
Adele Reinhartz

Literalism makes the complex even more complex; symbolism enables simplicity. Think of all the actual elements that comprise the earth, water, fire, and air. They represent far more than what can be observed. In the same way, Jesus’ references to water and spirit reflect more than basic definitions.

The reference to being “born again/from above” is startling and unexpected. Nevertheless, the notion of a new beginning and a decisive inner transformation of a person’s life is also found in certain OT prophetic passages (e.g., Jer. 31:33–34; Ezek. 11:19–20; 36:25–27; see commentary at 3:5). This concept of a new spiritual birth is not dissimilar to that of a “new creation” (cf. 2 Cor. 5:17; Gal. 6:15). The term ἄνωθεν (anōthen, translated “again” in the TNIV here and in 3:7) can mean either “from above,” be it figuratively (John 3:7, 31; 19:11; James 1:17; 3:15, 17) or literally (“from top to bottom”: Matt. 27:51 par.; John 19:23), or “from the beginning” (Luke 1:3; Acts 26:5: “for a long time”; Gal. 4:9: “all over again” [with πάλιν, palin, again]). This potential ambiguity opens up the possibility of misunderstanding (R. Brown 1966: 130; Ridderbos 1997: 127; Barrett 1978: 208; Carson 1991: 190; Morris 1995: 190). Nicodemus thought that the phrase meant literally “again,” yet as John indicates, he misunderstood Jesus’ true message, which pointed to the rabbi’s need to be born “from above,” that is, born spiritually (Beasley-Murray 1999: 45 n. b).
Andreas J. Köstenberger

It is worth noting that this encounter between Jesus and Nicodemus affirms that not all Pharisees were hostile toward Jesus nor was all the questioning adversarial. In fact, many like Nicodemus, demonstrated openness and curiosity rather than hostility or rigidity toward Jesus’ teaching. It is that curiosity that makes Nicodemus persistent in seeking understanding. It is also worth noting that while many traditional interpretations of this text recognize the symbolism of water and spirit, they adopt the literalist approach rather than the symbolic one when examining the words “born again/above.”

Jesus points to the role of spiritual rebirth in recognizing the kindom of God. A confessional statement from Nicodemus prompts this entire discourse: “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with that person.” Jesus then responds with a statement of affirmation of Nicodemus and his companions: “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” Jesus is not telling the group (who apparently has Nicodemus as their spokesperson) that they need to do something. Jesus acknowledged what had already taken place within them. Nicodemus’ statement was only made possible because of an internal renewal and re-fashioned understanding first seeded and now born.

Jesus here seeks to move Nicodemus from a woodenly literal to a spiritual understanding of what it means to be “born again/from above.” In response to Nicodemus’s question (3:4), Jesus maintains that even if it were possible for a person to be literally born a second time, this “second birth” would accomplish nothing, for it would still be a physical birth. However, what is needed is a spiritual birth (cf. 1:12–13; see also Gal. 4:29). “Born of flesh” refers to natural birth (cf. 1:13), “flesh” to “a person in his or her natural existence as begotten by a father and given birth to by a mother” (Ridderbos 1997: 128; cf. Morris 1995: 194; the Pauline connotation of sinfulness is absent here [contra Calvin 1959: 66]). “Spirit” represents “the principle of divine power and life operating in the human sphere” (R. Brown 1966: 131). Although the OT does not literally refer to God’s Spirit “giving birth” to spirit (cf. John 6:63), it does hold out the vision that God, who is spirit (4:24), will “put a new spirit” in his people (Ezek. 36:26; cf. 37:5, 14). Jesus here tells his rabbinic counterpart to “stop being surprised” (the force of the phrase in the Greek). Indeed, Jesus’ teaching on the necessity of a spiritual birth was not a new doctrine. Rather, it reiterated a vision clearly laid out in OT prophetic literature.
Andreas J. Köstenberger

The Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament agree and invite the Continuing Testament to further testify. Nicodemus’ incredulous question, “How can these things be?” was posed to what seemed impossible. Mary asked the same at the time of the incarnation. It is a question often asked when human experience falls short of divine imagination. While traditional interpretations often use this text to emphasize the need for evangelism, perhaps a more appropriate translation of that term, which means to spread the good news, encourages a more faithful and bold response to the challenges of our time: to affirm the last two verses of this text. One has gained fame, and the other is often overlooked.

16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. 17 “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved through him.

The salvific work of spreading the gospel is embodying God’s love for the world born from above of water and spirit.

Reflection from Voices of People of African Descent
The 33rd General Synod adopted a Resolution to Recognize the United Nations International Decade for People of African Descent (2015-2024). As part of its implementation, Sermon and Weekly Seeds offers Reflection from Voices of People of African Descent related to the season or overall theme for additional consideration in sermon preparation and for individual and congregational study.
“A Prayer for the Nations” (1958) by Walter Henderson Brooks
As of old Jehovah’s working
Out of his will, in every land,
And it runs through all the ages,
Like a weaver’s hidden strand.

Centuries with God are moments,
And a thousand years a day;
Kingdoms rise and wane and perish,
Others come and pass away.

‘Tis not wealth alone, nor numbers.
Justice makes a people strong,
Righteousness exalts a nation,
Victories to God belong.

Give us then, O God, thy blessing!
We rely upon thy might,
Gird our men, and make them heroes,
Glorify the Cause of Right.

For Further Reflection
“Always be like a water. Float in the times of pain or dance like waves along the wind which touches its surface.” ― Santosh Kalwar
“Water does not resist. Water flows. When you plunge your hand into it, all you feel is a caress. Water is not a solid wall, it will not stop you. But water always goes where it wants to go, and nothing in the end can stand against it. Water is patient. Dripping water wears away a stone. Remember that, my child. Remember you are half water. If you can’t go through an obstacle, go around it. Water does.” ― Margaret Atwood
“For whatever we lose (like a you or a me),
It’s always our self we find in the sea.” ― e.e. cummings

Works Cited
Köstenberger, Andreas J. John (Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament). Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2004.
Reinhartz, Adele. “John.” Gale A. Yee, Ed. Fortress Commentary on the Bible: Two Volume Set. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2014.

Suggested Congregational Response to the Reflection
During the Season of Lent, reflect and discern as a community the tangible acts of liberation available as a response to communal events and realities and commit to realizing those acts within the season. Love Knows No Borders is a valuable new UCC resource to consult.

Worship Ways Liturgical Resourceshttps://www.ucc.org/love-knows-no-borders/
https://www.ucc.org/worship-way/lent-2a-march-1/

The Rev. Dr. Cheryl A. Lindsay, Minister for Worship and Theology (lindsayc@ucc.org), also serves a local church pastor, public theologian, and worship scholar-practitioner with a particular interest in the proclamation of the word in gathered communities. You’re invited to share your reflections on this text in the comments on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/SermonSeeds.

A Bible study version of this reflection is at Weekly Seeds.