Personal Renewal in the Spirit

Week One of Counting the Omer

Ben Volman, UMJC Canadian Regional Director

There was a man among the P’rushim, named Nakdimon, who was a ruler of the Judeans. This man came to Yeshua by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know it is from God that you have come as a teacher; for no one can do these miracles you perform unless God is with him.”  “Yes, indeed,” Yeshua answered him, “I tell you that unless a person is born again from above, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.” (John 3:1–3)

He came by night to Yeshua. Nakdimon was a man of consequence, a Rosh Yeshiva among the Pharisees with a place on Israel’s highest counsel, the Sanhedrin. Was it Yeshua’s words or a miracle that drove him to secretly seek out the rabbi from Galilee? Now it is 2000 years later and, as a Messianic Jew, I understand Nakdimon completely. It’s still hard for a Jewish person with status to speak of Yeshua too positively. I remember sharing the Gospel with a distinguished professor who accosted me about becoming a believer. “Do you know what people would say?”  Yes, we know. We’ve gone through it. That’s why this Pharisee comes by night.

Nakdimon had probably been discussing spiritual matters for a while with the rabbi before Yeshua spoke those words that totally perplexed him: “Unless a person is born again from above, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.” Nakdimon objects that he couldn’t possibly begin his spiritual journey or his earthly journey again. But I think our late brother Dr. David Stern elucidates the situation brilliantly because he notes that Yeshua “deals with him at his point of need, which is to be born again from above.”

That’s never been more true: Yeshua has something we need, whether we are resisting him or have followed him a long distance over many years. In particular, there is something deeply troubling at Pesach this year. We are grappling with a world that has piled uncertainties on sorrows: hostages; endless wars; rampant antisemitism. Our hearts yearn to be spiritually renewed.

Yeshua’s prescription to be “born again” has become known as something completely foreign to Israel’s faith, but in many ways it is extremely Jewish. It’s found in rabbinic literature and used in a similar way by Rav Sha’ul when he describes believers as a new creation. But there is still something of mystery to this spiritual prescription. At times like these, it can be difficult to discern how to let the Spirit take hold of our life.

I think it begins with asking an essential question of ourselves. Why am I here? R. Jonathan Sacks points out that there is a similar question which we don’t ask at the Seder table. He calls it the unasked question: Why did Israel have to go through 400 years of exile from the land of promise and be bound in slavery? The answer he gives is that Israel’s remarkable moral grounding as a people with equal dignity for all is rooted in our experience of slavery in Egypt: “Israel had to lose its freedom before it could cherish it.”

Yeshua has a parable like that: something that is lost is more greatly treasured when it is found. There is an even deeper insight for us as followers of Yeshua when we read Rav Sha’ul’s profound understanding of what Yeshua gave up on our behalf.

Though he was in the form of God,
he did not regard equality with God
something to be possessed by force.
On the contrary, he emptied himself,
in that he took the form of a slave
by becoming like human beings are. (Phil 2:6–7)

The Spirit can begin to work powerfully in us and through us when we follow Yeshua’s  example. Consider how his prayer instructs us to let go of all our other priorities and focus on seeking his Kingdom and his will. We are like Thomas, sitting at the table with Yeshua and  asking, “Lord, we don’t know where you’re going; so how can we know the way?” Yeshua’s timeless answer guides us back to what is essential: “I AM the Way — and the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). Everything else that we have been doing can be set aside. Knowing and being known by him is all that matters.

Once we have looked deeply into ourselves, we need to do something else. There is an intriguing story from the Mekhilta, a Jewish source that dates back to the second century. As Israel watched Pharaoh’s army rushing toward them at the edge of the Red Sea there seemed only one way forward. While they stood questioning, dawdling, and praying, Nahshon ben Aminadav leapt into the Sea, expecting that God would guide them through in safety. Of course, he began drowning. Immediately, when God saw him, he told Moshe to stop praying, “Lift your staff, reach out with your hand over the sea, and divide it in two. The people of Israel will advance into the sea on dry ground.”

I believe that the next step is remembering that our faith compels us to give ourselves to him completely. Each of us at a certain point knows that the Lord has given us a calling, a vocation, no matter how humble or limited it may seem. We need to recenter ourselves in the calling of the Spirit, knowing that however we’ve messed up or lost our bearings, “his mercies are new every morning” (Lam 3:22  23). Yeshua is the way, and he has also blessed us with a faithful promise of a meaningful life.

As Yeshua told Nakdimon, no one can tell how the Spirit will powerfully move in us, even in the most unexpected ways. That’s not the end of the story, for after Yeshua is crucified, Nakdimon reveals that he, too, with Yosef of Ramatayim, is willing to be identified with the followers of Yeshua. He brings the spices to prepare the body to be entombed, and together they serve as the rabbi’s Chevra Kadisha (John 19:38–42).  Soon, they will know the resurrected Messiah.  And by the way, that professor who asked, “What would people say?” He’s now been serving the Lord for many years.

We did not come this way alone. As Yeshua continued sharing around the Seder table he gave us this promise: “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another comforting Counselor like me, the Spirit of Truth, to be with you forever” (John 14:17). We’ve not only been blessed by the Spirit, but we’ve been pastored, taught, mentored, and loved by those who were responsive to the leading of the Spirit. I am sure that even as you read these words, names and faces will come to mind and more will come later. Renew your life in the Spirit by following their example. As you’re counting the Omer, ask the Spirit to guide you in prayer that you might bring blessing to others and also pray for those who have been a blessing in the Spirit of Messiah to you.

All Scripture references are from Complete Jewish Bible, CJB.