Born Again Meaning: The Mystery of Spiritual Rebirth

Have you ever wondered what Jesus actually meant when he spoke of being "born again"? This phrase has become one of the most debated in Christian history - yet its original meaning points to something far more radical than simple belief. It speaks of death and resurrection while still alive, of becoming an entirely new being.

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The Conversation with Nicodemus

The teaching on rebirth appears in the third chapter of John's Gospel. Nicodemus, a Pharisee and member of the Jewish ruling council, comes to Jesus by night. This nocturnal visit is significant - Nicodemus approaches in darkness, both literal and symbolic. He represents the sincere seeker who knows something is missing but does not yet see clearly.

Jesus says to him: "Unless one is born again (anothen), he cannot see the kingdom of God."

Nicodemus takes this literally: "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?"

Jesus responds: "Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of flesh is flesh, and that which is born of Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit."

This dialogue reveals several layers of meaning. Nicodemus, despite his learning, cannot grasp what Jesus is saying. His confusion is not intellectual failure - it is the limitation of ordinary consciousness trying to comprehend what lies beyond it.

The Greek Word Anothen

The key to understanding this teaching lies in the Greek word "anothen." This word has two meanings:

Again - as in repeating something, doing it a second time

From above - as in coming from a higher place, from heaven

Jesus almost certainly intended both meanings. This is not merely being born a second time (which is impossible physically). It is being born from above - receiving life from a higher source. The ambiguity is deliberate. Nicodemus hears only the first meaning. The reader is meant to hear both.

This double meaning transforms the teaching. Being born again is not just starting over. It is receiving a new kind of life entirely - life that comes from above, from the spiritual realm, from God. It is becoming a different order of being.

Water and Spirit

Jesus specifies that this birth must be "of water and the Spirit." What do these elements represent?

Water has multiple associations in Jewish thought. It represents purification (the ritual bath or mikveh), creation (the Spirit moved over the waters), and chaos transformed into order. In baptism, water symbolizes the death and burial of the old self - going under the water as into a grave.

Spirit (Greek: pneuma) also means "wind" or "breath." It is the life-force that comes from God. In Genesis, God breathes into Adam's nostrils the breath of life. Spirit represents divine vivification - the awakening of something that cannot awaken itself.

Together, water and Spirit describe a complete transformation: the death and dissolution of the old nature (water) and the vivification of the new nature (Spirit). One without the other is incomplete. Purification alone leaves you clean but still dead. Spirit without water tries to animate what has not yet died.

Flesh and Spirit

Jesus makes a crucial distinction: "That which is born of flesh is flesh, and that which is born of Spirit is spirit."

This is not a condemnation of the body or physical existence. It is a statement about origins and natures. What originates in the physical realm remains physical. What originates in the spiritual realm is spiritual. You cannot upgrade flesh into spirit any more than you can upgrade a stone into a bird. A new birth is required.

Physical birth gives us physical life - the life we share with animals, the life that ends at death. Spiritual birth gives us spiritual life - participation in the divine nature, life that death cannot touch. These are not just different degrees of the same thing. They are different kinds of being.

This is why Jesus says "You must be born again." Must - it is not optional. If you want to see the kingdom of God, if you want to enter eternal life, you must undergo this transformation. There is no other way in.

The Wind of the Spirit

Jesus then offers a beautiful image: "The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, 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 Greek, the same word (pneuma) means both wind and spirit. Jesus plays on this. The Spirit, like the wind, is invisible, powerful, and free. You cannot see it directly - you see only its effects. You cannot control it - it blows where it wills. You cannot predict it - its coming and going remain mysterious.

Those born of the Spirit share these qualities. Their source becomes invisible - no longer traceable to merely human origins. Their power becomes mysterious - not dependent on physical strength or worldly influence. Their direction becomes free - no longer bound by the determinism of flesh and circumstance.

This is why Nicodemus cannot understand. He is trying to fit spiritual reality into categories designed for physical reality. It cannot be done. The Spirit transcends those categories entirely.

The Mystical Interpretation

The Christian mystical tradition has always read this passage as describing an inner transformation of consciousness. This is not about accepting a set of beliefs. It is about undergoing a fundamental change in how you perceive and experience reality.

Meister Eckhart, the medieval mystic, taught that the soul must become virgin - empty of all images and attachments - before God can birth the eternal Word within it. The virgin birth is not just a historical event but an ongoing spiritual reality in those who prepare themselves to receive it.

Jacob Boehme, the Protestant mystic, wrote of two births within every person: the first birth into the fallen nature of Adam, the second birth into the restored nature of Christ. The second birth happens when the divine spark within us is kindled to flame.

Rudolf Steiner interpreted the conversation with Nicodemus as describing initiation. Nicodemus comes by night because he is not yet illuminated. Jesus speaks of birth from above because authentic initiation connects us with higher spiritual worlds. The teaching is esoteric - hidden from ordinary understanding but revealed to those with eyes to see.

Death and Resurrection

Being born again implies something has died. You cannot be born into a new life while still clinging to the old one. This is why many speak of "dying before you die" - undergoing the death of the ego, the false self, the identity constructed by fear and desire.

Paul articulates this clearly: "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me." The old Paul - the persecutor, the Pharisee, the man of the flesh - had to die for the new Paul to live. This was not a gradual improvement but a death and resurrection.

The pattern appears throughout the spiritual traditions. The alchemists spoke of the death and resurrection of the matter in the crucible - the nigredo (blackening) that precedes the albedo (whitening) and rubedo (reddening). The mystics describe the dark night of the soul that precedes divine union. Death is the door to rebirth.

What dies? The ego - the false self constructed from identification with body, thoughts, and social roles. The reactive patterns laid down in childhood. The defensive structures built to protect a wounded self. The certainties that kept us safe but also kept us small. All of this must go into the grave.

What is reborn? The true self - what the mystics call the soul or the spirit. The image of God within, long buried under layers of conditioning. The capacity for direct spiritual perception, dulled by years of materialistic thinking. The freedom to live from love rather than fear.

Instantaneous and Gradual

Is rebirth a single moment or an ongoing process? The Christian tradition contains both emphases.

Some traditions emphasize the moment of conversion - the instant when one passes from death to life, from darkness to light. This moment can be dated and remembered. Before it, you were lost. After it, you were found.

Other traditions emphasize gradual transformation - the slow process of sanctification by which the soul is progressively purified and conformed to Christ. This process takes a lifetime and is never complete on this side of death.

Perhaps both are true. There may be a decisive moment - a crossing of a threshold from which there is no return. But that moment initiates a process that continues indefinitely. The great rebirth may be instantaneous, but its implications unfold over years. We are born in a moment but grow over a lifetime.

The mystics sometimes speak of multiple rebirths - successive deaths and resurrections as we ascend through levels of spiritual development. Each time we think we have arrived, we discover there is further to go. Each death opens onto a greater life.

Seeing the Kingdom

Jesus tells Nicodemus that without being born again, one "cannot see the kingdom of God." Later he says one "cannot enter" it. These are related but distinct.

Seeing comes first. The kingdom of God is present everywhere - Jesus says it is "within you" and "at hand." But ordinary consciousness cannot perceive it. We look at the world and see only surfaces, only matter, only chaos and conflict. The kingdom is hidden in plain sight.

Being born again opens new organs of perception. What was invisible becomes visible. The spiritual dimension of reality, always present, suddenly appears. This is what mystics describe - not imagining something that is not there but perceiving something that has always been there but was previously undetectable.

Entering follows seeing. Once you perceive the kingdom, you can participate in it. You begin to live according to its laws rather than the laws of the fallen world. You become a citizen of heaven while still walking on earth. Your life becomes an outpost of the kingdom in the midst of exile.

FAQ: Common Questions About Being Born Again