The name of the Messiah is Yeshua, short for Yehoshua (יהושע). It means ‘Yah is salvation’. The forms Yahshua and Yahoshua are the names of the Messiah in Aramaic
On one occasion, Nakdimon also known as Nicodemus, (a Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin) came to see Yeshua by night and had a conversation with him.
John 3:1-5 1 And there was a man of the Pharisees, Nakdimon was his name, a ruler of the Yehudim. 2 This one came to יהושע by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from Elohim, for no one is able to do these signs You do if Elohim is not with him.” 3 יהושע answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born from above, he is unable to see1 the reign of Elohim.” 4 Naḵdimon said to Him, “How is a man able to be born when he is old? Is he able to enter into his mother’s womb a second time and be born?” 5 יהושע answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he is unable to enter into the reign of Elohim". [Yeshua's words in purple]
What did Yeshua mean by born from above or born again?
Yeshua did not come to create a new religion or do away with the Torah
Matthew 5:17 17 Do not think that I came to destroy the Torah or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to complete {expand, develop}
THE CONTEXT OF THE NAZARENE WRITINGS (NEW TESTAMENT) IS THE TANACH (OLD TESTAMENT)
THE CONTEXT OF THE NEW BIRTH IS IN THE BOOK OF EZEKIEL
In Ezekiel 36 the Eternal (יהוה) is calling His people back to the land of Yisrael (at the time of the end), cleanses them with water and puts His Spirit in them that causes them to go back to the Torah (the Eternal’s laws and right-rulings)
Ezekiel 36:24-27
24 “And I shall take you from among the gentiles, and I shall gather you out of all lands, and I shall bring you into your own land.
25 “And I shall sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean {born of water} – from all your filthiness and from all your idols I cleanse you.
26 “And I shall give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. And I shall take the heart of stone out of your flesh, and I shall give you a heart of flesh,
27 and put My Spirit within you {born of the Spirit}. And I shall cause you to walk in My laws and guard My right-rulings and shall do them {return to the Torah}.
Water is the word of the Eternal (the Scriptures) and the Spirit is the Set-Apart Spirit or Ruaj HaKodesh [known as the Holy Spirit]. Both are necessary to change our ‘heart of stone’ into a ‘heart of flesh’.
The kingdom of the Eternal (יהוה), ruled by Yeshua the Messiah, will be here on earth and have its headquarters mainly in the territory of what now is Israel. The land which has been defiled shall be cleansed by Yeshua at his coming and the people shall be re-born or born again before they enter it.
When Yeshua tells Nakdimon that he must be born again to be able to enter the kingdom of the Eternal, Nakdimon could not understand (verse 9) a concept that was in the Torah because as a Pharisee he concentrated more on the oral tradition than the Torah.
Yeshua answers <Are you the teacher of Yisra’el, and do not know this?> (verse 10). As if saying, you teach the Scriptures and you do not know something that is in the Scriptures?
Yeshua, who was a practising Jew, is talking to another Jew. Yeshua taught the Torah of His Father while Nakdimon taught the tradition of the elders (the oral transmission of the words of the wise men of past centuries). They were both Jews but had different perspectives.
MEANING OF BORN AGAIN
‘Born’ in Greek is gennao (γεννάω) – bear, beget, be born, bring forth.
‘Again’ in Greek is anōthen (ἄνωθεν) – from above, again, from the beginning or origin.
Yeshua is saying that to enter the kingdom of the Eternal you must be ‘born from the beginning’ or ‘born from the origin’.
THE BEGINNING OR ORIGIN OF EVERYTHING IS THE TORAH!
Yeshua is telling Nakdimon to abandon the oral law and the traditions of the elders (man-made laws) and go back to the Torah that the Eternal gave to Moshe (Moises).
To be born again, from above, from the origin, we must go back to the beginning. We must go back to the Torah.
YESHUA IS TELLING US TO ABANDON MAN-MADE DOCTRINES AND GO TO THE BEGINNING – THE TORAH!
THE WORD OF THE ETERNAL HAS INFINITE DIMENSIONS AND INTERPRETATIONS. THIS ARTICLE DOES NOT CLAIM TO BE THE ONLY INTERPRETATION OF THESE VERSES.
Source:
Cesar Garavito
Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture was taken from The Scriptures,
Copyright by Institute for Scripture Research.
Used by permission.