THE LEPER IN EACH OF US

John 3:3                               

Unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.

Looking for meaning in the concept of a formerly ostracized now-declared-clean leper, let's follow the path of his rehabilitation in the presence of the Almighty and amidst the community of Israel. One of the last stages is a tevilah טבילה, or an immersion, commonly called in Greek: baptismo. Our sages have always understood ritual immersion as an illustration of being born-again. They say that people "immerse in order to emerge a born-again new creature in God" (Yevamot 47b and 48b). The whole idea illustrates returning into the maternal waters in order to be reborn. In a sense, this pronounced clean leper now shaved from head to toe looked like a new-born baby and was going to immerse in baptismal waters of rebirth (Leviticus 14:9). He was one who was alive, who went though some form of death, was healed of this death, and was now going to be reborn as a new/renewed creature.

In ancient Israel, the idea of the born-again ritual immersion was used as a mode of proselityzation, for people desiring to become Jewish. The idea is that as they totally immersed, it was as though they died. They went in the water as pagan Gentiles, they died and were reborn as new "members of the commonwealth of Israel" (Ephesians 2:12).In a sense again, he who was alive died and was reborn a new/renewed creature.

When Yeshua therefore tells Nicodemus, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God" (John 3:3), the Master actually tells the great teacher of Israel that unless he goes through a procedure of conversion to Judaism, he cannot be a part of the Kingdom of God. That explains the shocked teacher’s answer, "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 3:4)" By this he meant, "How can I convert to Judaism if I am already Jewish?" To which Rabbi Yeshua wisely answers, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit (John 3:5-6), or in other words, “It is not enough to be well bred; you must also have an immersion of repentance from sin!” This was the reoccurring theme in both John the Immerser and Yeshua’s teaching (Matthew 3:9–11).

Saved and redeemed Israel went through rebirth through a national /immersion. Both the converted pagan proselyte and the leper enter the community of Israel through rebirth/immersion. What does this teach us? All of us share the fate of the leper. We are all lepers in his sight and we all need healing and rebirth through immersion. That's what Yeshua told Nicodemus.

The master sent us into all the world to make disciples of all nations by immersing them (Matthew 28:19:20). Reborn that we are, may we remember each day to also immerse in his renewing words that we may continue in the new life he died to give us.

P. Gabriel Lumbroso

www.thelumbrosos.com

For P. Gabriel Lumbroso's devotional UNDER THE FIG TREE in Kindle edition click here.

REBIRTH AND BAPTISM

1 Corinthians 10:2

All were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.

                                                                                                             

The Children of Israel could have left Egypt, traveled directly northeastward and be in Canaan in less than a few weeks. Instead, Hashem had them make a small detour crossing the Red Sea by the Gulf of Aqaba. Were the reasons given for this detour (Exodus 13:17-18) the only real purposes?

The Israelites had just spent several generations in Egypt. They needed to be cleansed from idolatry and Egyptian culture. They needed to be reborn into Hashem’s people, and into the culture of the Kingdom of Hashem.  This is where the idea of ‘born-again’ came from: from two tractates written by Jewish sages that say that total immersion into water (baptism) is like being born again. We go into a water and stop breathing which is like being in a grave where we do not have breath anymore, and we come out resurrected a new person. The sages mention the ‘born-again’ idea mostly in regards to converts to Judaism (Yevamot 47b and 48b). They immerse in order to emerge a born-again new creature in God. This is what God had in mind in this nation-wide immersion through the Red-Sea (1 Corinthians 10:2).

When Yeshua told Nicodemus that he needed to be reborn, the modern-day ‘born-again’ Christian movement did not exist, so Yeshua was using the term according to its Talmudic value, and this is why Nicodemus answered the Master accordingly. What Nicodemus said in essence was “Why do I need to convert when I am already Jewish?” To which Yeshua basically answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:5-6). In other words, the Master reiterated John the Immerser’s message that biological descent into God’s family was not enough, but repentance into a new creature for Hashem was also needed (Matthew 3:9). The Israelites crossing the Red Sea were already Israelites, but they needed to also be baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea (1 Corinthians 10:2).

Yeshua continued answering Nicodemus with, “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit." (John 3:8). Just like the wind cannot be seen and is only perceived though its effects, so we are. The virtues of the new life that we now live, its positive influences on others, and its reflection of Hashem, are the only testimony given to others of our rebirth.

As we claim to have been reborn, as we claim to have been immersed unto Yeshua, let the effects of our rebirth be felt by others. May we live and walk in the newness of life that He has given us to be God’s children, and as the healing reflection of His spirit on our poor world.