The gospel for Monday, the second week of Easter, is taken from John, third chapter, first through the eighth verse. There was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. He came to Jesus at night and said to him, rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one can do these signs that you are doing unless God is with him. Jesus answered and said to him, amen. Amen. I say to you, unless one is born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

Nicodemus said to him, how can a man once grown old be born again? Surely he cannot re enter his mother’s womb and be born again, can he? Jesus answered, amen. Amen. I say to you, unless one is born of water and spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. What is born of flesh is flesh, and what is born of spirit is spirit.

Do not be amazed that I told you you must be born from above. The wind blows where it wills, and you can hear the sound it makes, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the spirit. Nicodemus is a perfect example of life before Jesus. Nicodemus is a human being, and when Jesus talks about the flesh, he’s talking about our humanity. And what this image in this reading means is that we are living in two worlds.

The practical world that we can understand and figure out, and then we’re invited into this radically different world that operates in a different way. And the idea of cause and effect as we know it doesn’t fit. So this is an invitation to you and to me that something needs to change within us. And. And if you think it’s something you’re supposed to do, stop thinking that way. You need to wait, believe and trust until it’s given.

You know you’re forgiven, and you are filled with his presence. Let us pray. Father, alone with just our humanity, we are not able to really see and understand how you work in the world. Bless us with insight so that we don’t need to know why or how things work, but we need to know that they are working. Bless us with this deep conviction that your kingdom is constantly coming. Amen.