“Don’t
marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born anew.’ The wind blows where it wants to, and you hear its sound, but don’t know where it comes from and where it is going. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
John 3:7-8
John 3 [4.] Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?”
John 3 [5.] Jesus answered, “Most certainly I tell you, unless one is born of water and spirit, he can’t enter into God’s Kingdom! That which is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Don’t marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born anew.’ The wind blows where it wants to, and you hear its sound, but don’t know where it comes from and where it is going. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
John 3 [9.] Nicodemus answered him, “How can these things be?”
Meaning:
Nicodemus has struggled to understand Jesus' statement that a person must be born anew. He asked how an old man could enter his mother's womb a second time, and Jesus replied that one must be “born of water and spirit” (John 3:3-6). Now Jesus urges him not to be astonished and uses an everyday picture, the wind, to describe the Spirit's work.
- “Don’t marvel that I said to you”
Nicodemus was amazed, perhaps even troubled. As a teacher of Israel he may well have assumed that his descent from Abraham and his faithful keeping of the law already placed him securely among God's people, ready for the Kingdom when it came. Jesus tells him not to be surprised that even he needs a new beginning. This is not a strange new idea; the prophets had promised it. Through Ezekiel God said, “I will also give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you” and “I will put my Spirit within you” (Ezekiel 36:26).
- “You must be born anew”
In Greek the word “you” here is plural. Jesus is speaking not only to Nicodemus but to everyone. No one enters God's Kingdom through birth, status or religious effort alone. As the footnote on the PIB page explains, the word translated “anew” also means “again” and “from above”. The new birth is a fresh start that comes from God. The apostles echo this: believers have been “born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, through the word of God” (1 Peter 1:23), and God saved us “through the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5).
- “The wind blows where it wants to”
The same Greek word, pneuma, means wind, breath and spirit, as the PIB footnote notes. Jesus plays on this double meaning. You cannot see the wind or control it, and you cannot trace where it comes from or where it is going. Yet you can hear its sound and see its effects in moving trees and rippling water.
- “but don’t know where it comes from”
There is gentle irony here. Nicodemus had opened the conversation by saying, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God” (John 3:2). Now Jesus reminds this confident teacher that there are things he does not know. Spiritual life cannot be fully grasped by human learning. It must be received with humility, as a gift from above, by people willing to admit how much they do not understand.
- “So is everyone who is born of the Spirit”
The Spirit's work is like that. We cannot command it or fully explain it, but its effects are real. Someone born of the Spirit shows a changed life, “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control” (Galatians 5:22). The new birth is God's sovereign work, not a human achievement.
The Significance of John 3:7-8
- Everyone needs new birth
Jesus told a religious leader that he needed to be born anew. Respectability and religious knowledge cannot replace the inner change only God can give.
- Trusting the Spirit's work
We cannot control how or when the Spirit works in someone's life. This frees believers to pray, witness and trust God rather than relying on technique or pressure.
- Evidence of new life
The new birth may be invisible, but it is not without effect. Paul writes, “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
Cross-References:
Ezekiel 36:26: “I will also give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you;” The prophetic promise of inner renewal.
1 Peter 1:23: “having been born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible,” Peter on the new birth.
Titus 3:5: “through the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,” The Spirit's renewing work.
2 Corinthians 5:17: “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.” The result of the new birth.
Conclusion: John 3:7-8 records Jesus telling Nicodemus not to be surprised that everyone must be born anew. Like the wind, the Spirit works freely and unseen, yet his effects are unmistakable. The new birth is God's gift, bringing a new heart and a changed life.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible