Second Sunday in Lent; 5 March 2023; Lent 1A (RCL); Genesis 12:1-4a; Psalm 121; Romans 4:1-5, 13-17; John 3:1-17.
The fact that modern English doesn’t distinguish between second -person singular and plural makes it almost impossible to translate John’s Gospel with it theology intact. In the KJV, verse 7 reads, “Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.” It’s not Nicodemus who needs to be born again/from above, but some unnamed “you all.” The passage from Genesis is God’s instruction for Abraham and his household to leave his home and kindred and travel to a new land — and forge there a new identity. In the Romans reading, we skip the verses in which Abraham receives circumcision as a sign of that new identity.
Continue reading “Born from above”