John 3:1-8
Wind and Spirit
1Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2He came to Jesus at night and said, "Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him."
3In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again."
4"How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!"
5Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. 6Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.' 8The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."
John 16:5-16
The Work of the Holy Spirit
5"Now I am going to him who sent me, yet none of you asks me, 'Where are you going?' 6Because I have said these things, you are filled with grief. 7But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 8When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: 9in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; 10in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; 11and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.
12"I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. 15All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.
16"In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me."
Acts 2:1-13
The Holy Spirit Comes at Pentecost
1When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
5Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. 6When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. 7Utterly amazed, they asked: "Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? 8Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? 9Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs-we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!" 12Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, "What does this mean?"
13Some, however, made fun of them and said, "They have had too much wine."
Jesus teaches Nicodemus at night about the wind and Spirit...Jesus tells Nicodemus that the wind is like the Holy Spirit...The wind is mysterious to us...We cannot see the wind, but we can hear and feel it...The wind will blow wherever it pleases...Only God has control of the wind...One hears it, but really doesn't know where it came from or where it is going, only God does...
In the Acts, chapter two, the wind and the Spirit make their way to Jesus' disciples...Jesus told them they would soon be receiving the Holy Spirit...So in a small way we knew, and the disciples knew where this wind and this Spirit were coming from...But in an earthly way, we do not understand how Jesus sent them and how they arrived at the Pentecost...
We must have a new focus, a new foundation, a new attitude, and a new beginning...We must be reborn to get to the kingdom of heaven...We are sinners...To get to the One that is perfect, we must change...If Perfection touches imperfection, it is no longer perfect...We, therefore, have to change, to get to the kingdom...Perfect Love is infinite...For a finite one with finite love get near Perfect Love it takes much change and much faith...Jesus is the link in this world for our change, our rebirth...He told the disciples that they would receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8)...The Holy Spirit, like the wind, can go wherever it will...The Spirit and wind can even go to even the most remote place on the ends of the earth...
We can hear the wind, like the crowd at the Pentecost, with the disciples...The disciples heard the sound of the violent wind and Spirit and the wind and spirit filled the whole house (that the disciples were in)...The Holy Spirit gave and enabled the disciples the ability to speak in many different languages that day...This was a very special day...No other verses or anywhere else in the Bible are we told of this many people being affected by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, at one time...
We do not understand where the wind comes or where it is going...In a way it is like the Holy Spirit...The Holy Spirit we do not understand...We do not understand where it comes from, or where it is going...Only our faith, gives us some understanding of the Holy Spirit...We understand the Holy Spirit comes from the Father and Son...
Jesus told His disciples that He had to leave before He could send the Holy Spirit...Like the wind, this is hard to understand... Couldn't He both stay with us, teach us more, and send us the Holy Spirit?...But God has a plan and a reason for this plan...Jesus told His disciples that when they received the Spirit, they would better understand (things) and guide them to all truth...After His death, they would receive the Spirit...They received the Holy Spirit, at the Pentecost, with a violent wind accompanying it...
Like Nicodemus, the good student who did not understand and asks more questions...We too have questions...However, we must always remember that faith does not mean understanding...Faith is believing beyond what we can see and hear...Faith must go beyond understanding, that is what faith is and does...It is not this lack of understanding that prevents us from receiving the Holy Spirit...It is our lack of faith that prevents us from receiving the Holy Spirit...We must go beyond understanding and to faith...