Wake up dead man

The gospel of John tells the story of several people who have encounters with Jesus and are reborn in some respect. The Samaritan woman, an outcast, is reborn into her community. A blind man is healed, becoming a new person who can see and who believes in Jesus.

With Lazarus, this weeks lesson, the rebirth becomes literal. Lazarus dies and is given new life.

Jesus showed up at Lazarus' tomb while his family, Mary and Martha, were in mourning. Jesus saw their pain and wept with them. Sometimes through the death of someone close, or a broken relationship, or the loss of a job we find ourselves mourning an old life. Rebirth is painful because it means letting go of what we know. Jesus commiserates with us in letting go of the old and gives us new life.

Rebirth

As our lent journey through John begins, we find ourselves with Nicodemous at night coming to Jesus and asking - who are you? who is God? what is heaven like?

In the evening our spirit stirs and we ponder the deep questions of life.

Jesus answers, "Unless you are reborn, you will not see the kingdom of heaven."

Well, if I can't understand God or heaven without being reborn. What does a person do to be reborn? We can't actually become a new person. We are stuck with the bodies we have.

Jesus answers, "You can feel the wind, but you can't see it. So it is with those who are born of water and spirit."

What is spiritual rebirth? and how does it open our eyes to understanding who God is and the deep questions that elude us?

At Crossings this past week, we tried to find words to express spiritual rebirth by reading poetry, stories and verses. As we continue on this lenten journey we seek to find out what this rebirth is and can mean for us.