In one of the more perplexing of Jesus’ missives, he exhorts Nicodemus, a Pharisee and a religious authority figure among the Jews, that he must be “born again, from above.” Saying to him, “for unless one person is born again of water and the Spirit, he cannot inherit the Kingdom of God.” As a Pharisee who adhered to a strict literal letter of the law understanding of religious practice, and a member of the powerful Sanhedrin which was the ruling religious authority, Nicodemus was highly suspicious of Jesus’ teachings and ministry. In fact, it was the Sanhedrin that ultimately found Jesus “guilty” of blasphemy for his claim that he was the “Son of God.” Nicodemus obviously sensed something intriguing about Jesus that motivated him to risk being seen with this highly suspect and disruptive "false prophet." So, Nicodemus stealthily meets Jesus under the cover of darkness.
Upon hearing Jesus' enigmatic pronouncement of what it will take for him to realize the spiritual truth he is searching for, Nicodemus is confused, flummoxed, is probably more like it. He hears Jesus’ directive through the rational mind – the binary mind, in which, quite expectedly, it does not compute! He does not “have ears to hear,” and protests this directive, saying in essence, “How can a man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?
We understand Nicodemus' plight, don’t we? When we are mired in the consciousness of the material view of life, spiritual pointers baffle us. Our perspective and perceptions have us looking out for answers and thus miss the guidance that always points us to the inner domain of the “kingdom within.” Over and over through stories, parables, precepts, Jesus cautions against this narrow, myopic view of life and points to the metaphysical truth. Repent, he said, (from the Greek word, Metanoia) means to go beyond the mind to the Greater Mind – the realm of your Original Wholeness and Wellbeing. Our greatest motivation in life, the pursuit of peace and happiness, is frustrated by the human default that has us looking in the wrong direction. Like the directionally challenged prodigal son, the satisfaction is not found in the far place of there and then, but in following the insight to turn around and return Home, to the heartland of our divine nature. To realize and express our Divine nature we must remain assiduously mindful that this is a timeless, spaceless encounter. Without embodying this essential understanding, we wander aimlessly and endlessly through the wilderness of an imagined future that only teases, but can never truly please us.
Join us Sunday as we continue to discover the depth teachings of Jesus, looking at familiar passages, with transformative understandings that can bring us into the heart of Unity, where true peace and happiness reside. While the live streaming is currently under renovation at Unity in the Olympics, you will be able to watch the replay on the UiTO YouTube Channel a day or two hence.
Peace and blessings
Rev. Larry
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