#150 THE WIND BLOWS WHERE IT WISHES 9-17-26

Jesus’ words to Nicodemus concerning the new birth have certainly been greatly misunderstood. He said, “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit” (John 3:8).

Notice carefully what Jesus actually said. He did not say, “So is the new birth.” He said, “So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” The comparison is not primarily describing the experience of conversion. Jesus is explaining the nature of the people who belong to His kingdom. They are born of the Spirit because His kingdom is a spiritual kingdom.

The wind cannot be seen, but its effects can be heard and observed. You may not see the wind itself, but you see the trees bend, the leaves move, and the dust rise. In the same way, the Spirit is invisible, but the life He produces is evident. “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God” (Romans 8:16). “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God” (Romans 8:14).

Jesus was speaking about a kingdom that cannot be reduced to earthly appearances. “My kingdom is not of this world,” He told Pilate (John 18:36). Paul would later say, “For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Romans 14:17). The kingdom is spiritual because its King is spiritual, its life is spiritual, and its people are born of the Spirit.

This is why we must be careful about turning John 3:8 into a doctrine of emotional experience. Jesus was not teaching Nicodemus that the new birth is merely something mysterious that must be “better felt than told.” He was teaching him that the life of the kingdom cannot be understood merely through fleshly categories. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:6).

Nicodemus was thinking in earthly terms. Jesus was lifting his eyes toward heaven. “If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?” (John 3:12). The new birth brings a person into a new realm, a spiritual relationship with God through Christ.

The wind blows where it wishes. We do not see the wind itself, but we recognize its presence by what it does. Likewise, those who are born of the Spirit belong to a kingdom whose reality is spiritual, whose King is Christ, and whose life is produced by God.

The emphasis is not on chasing an invisible feeling. It is on becoming a new kind of person under the reign of a spiritual King. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

BDD