28 April 2027 · Syro-Malabar Rite
Open in the Daily Word appAlso: Syro-Malankara Rite · Latin Rite · മലയാളം
“Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit.” John 3:5
Nicodemus comes to Jesus by night. He is a Pharisee, “a leader of the Jews”, a teacher of Israel, a man of learning and position, and he comes with respect: “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.” Jesus does not answer the compliment. He goes straight to the deepest need: “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” The Greek word means both ‘again’ and ‘from above’, and Nicodemus hears only the first meaning: “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother's womb and be born?” His question is honest, even a little humorous. He is perhaps no longer young, and he knows he cannot start his life again. Jesus answers that this is exactly what God offers: not a second birth from a human mother, but a new birth from God. “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.” The Church has always heard in these words the sacrament of Baptism. In the East Syriac tradition the baptismal font is spoken of as a womb, from which the Church our mother gives birth to children of God.
Jesus adds an image that only makes sense in the open air: “The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, 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 Aramaic, as in Greek, one word means both wind and spirit: ruha. Anyone who has stood on a Kerala beach before the monsoon knows the wind that cannot be seen but bends every coconut palm. The Spirit given in Baptism works like that, unseen but not unfelt. Nicodemus leaves the scene still puzzled, but John does not forget him. Later he speaks up for Jesus before the council (John 7:50–51), and after the Crucifixion he comes, no longer by night, carrying a hundred pounds of myrrh and aloes to bury the body of the Lord (John 19:39). The man who asked how one who had grown old could be born again found his answer at the foot of the Cross and beside the tomb that was soon to be empty. New birth is not always sudden; it can be a slow walk from night into day. In these weeks many of our parishes celebrate the First Holy Communion of children, who were born of water and Spirit as infants and now come to the altar for the first time. It is a good moment for every adult in the church to ask whether the life begun in their own Baptism is still growing.
Paul tells the Colossians what that new life looks like in practice. Since you have been raised with Christ, he says, there are things that must die: “Put to death, therefore, whatever in you is earthly: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed (which is idolatry).” Then the sins of the mouth: “But now you must get rid of all such things: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive language from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have stripped off the old self with its practices and have clothed yourselves with the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator.” The image is of a garment. In the ancient Church the newly baptised came up from the water and were dressed in white; in our own baptismal rite the child is clothed in a white garment as a sign of the new self. Paul's last line sets the boundaries of that new family very wide: “In that renewal there is no longer Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all!” Every division that human beings use to rank one another, nation, culture, class or caste, has no place in the family born from the font. Whoever kneels at the same altar and receives the same Body has the same Father. To put on the new self is to see every baptised person as a brother or sister clothed in the same Christ.
Theme: “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit.”
Nicodemus by night, the wind of the Spirit, the new birth of Baptism, and the new self in whom Christ is all and in all.
“I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you.” Ezekiel 36:25
“Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.”” John 3:3
Apply: Find the date of your Baptism and thank God for it this week.
“A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” Ezekiel 36:26
“The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” John 3:8
Apply: Each morning this week, pray: Come, Holy Spirit, blow where you choose in my life today.
“So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” Genesis 1:27
“As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.” Galatians 3:27
Apply: Choose one sin of the mouth to fight for the rest of the Easter season, and treat one person you look down on as a brother or sister.
We were born from above in Baptism, and the Spirit still blows where he chooses.
Let us take off the old self and wear Christ, in whom there are no walls between us.
Take-home resolution: This week, thank God for your Baptism, pray daily to the Holy Spirit, and fight one sin of the mouth.
Dear friends, Nicodemus, a respected teacher, comes to Jesus by night. Jesus tells him: no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above (John 3:3). Nicodemus asks: how can an old man be born again?
Jesus answers: no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit (John 3:5). This is what happened to us in Baptism. The font of the church is like a mother's womb, and from it we were born children of God.
The Spirit, Jesus says, is like the wind: you hear it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes (John 3:8). Nicodemus did not understand at once. But later he defended Jesus, and after the Cross he came openly to bury the Lord. Our new birth also grows slowly, from night into day.
Paul tells us what the new life looks like: put to death what is earthly; get rid of anger, malice, slander and lies; take off the old self and put on the new (Colossians 3:5–10). And in this new family “there is no longer Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all!” (Colossians 3:11).
This week, let us thank God for our Baptism, take off one old habit, and treat every baptised person as a brother or sister in Christ. Alleluia! Amen.
Children, when you were baptised, you were born again as a child of God! The priest poured water and the Holy Spirit came to live in you. The Spirit is like the wind: you cannot see it, but you can see the trees move. When you feel the wind today, say: thank you, Jesus, for my Baptism!
Lord Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, you received Nicodemus by night and told him that he must be born from above. We thank you for the new birth we received from water and the Spirit in the font of the Church. Put to death in us whatever is earthly, take away anger, slander and lies from our mouths, and clothe us again and again with the new self, renewed in the image of our Creator. Make every baptised person a brother and sister to us, for you are all and in all. Amen. Alleluia!