Does this verse have multiple meanings?
John 3:8 KJV
“The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.”
Well lets take a look at this verse in a slightly broader context. Jesus is approached by a man by the name of Nicodemus, a Pharisee. Nicodemus is a religious man of high station and is extremely well educated in the Hebrew Old Testament. He is described as a "ruler of the Jews".
John 3:1 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews
John 3:2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.
In the next verse Nicodemus comes to Jesus and addresses him as "Rabbi". Nicodemus acknowledges the authority of Jesus and knows that He is anointed by God and that His Spirit dwells with Him.
John 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
John 3:4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?
John 3:5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
John 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
John 3:7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
Jesus is attempting to explain to Nicodemus that a man must be "born of again" to be inducted into the Kingdom of God. Yet Nicodemus replies in a manner of confusion asking how a man who is old be born again. This is significant because this demonstrates that despite the position of the Pharisee Nicodemus, he in all of his knowledge of the Hebrew Old Testament, cannot grasp what Jesus is telling him. There is a important precedent that we see in the Old and New Testament, that unless the Holy Spirit unveil to a person something, they will not grasp what it is. A excellent example is prophecy throughout the Bible.
Jesus then tells Nicodemus that a man must be "born of water and of the Spirit". Being "born of water" can be taken as a literal breaking of water of the mothers womb. Or it can be interpreted as the "Baptism of Water" in being cleaned and washed away of ones sin and becoming forgiven of those sins and being presentable before God. Being "born of spirit" is about (in the nerdy terms of dungeons and dragons) changing ones moral alignment to the God of Creation and His Son Jesus Christ. In the Old Testament there were only a few select people that the Holy Spirit would dwell with, it is not until the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus that the Holy Spirit is able to dwell with anyone who accepts Jesus as Savior and Master.
I would define the term flesh as "being of the carnal world, absent of God". Mankind is in a fallen state since the fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Mankind since the Great Flood and the Tower of Babel have removed the Creator from there lifes and pursue their own desires. When a person is born there are born into a carnal world absent of the Creator. So In order for a person to "Enter the Kingdom of God" they must go through a complete, total, absolute transformation to put behind their carnal flesh and be inherited back into The Kingdom (or better yet family) of The Creator. So now this leads up to verse 8, the verse in question.
John 3:8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
Matthew Henry's commentary for this verse is worded extremely well, so I will paraphrase a bit from his commentary. The wind is being used as a example to describe a force that we can feel and confidently know is there, yet we cannot see or witness it. The Holy Spirit can dispense itself when and where and to whom it may see fit. The Holy Spirit can move as subtle or as powerful with whom it may. While we cannot see its cause, the effect of God's Holy Spirit is evident and clearly manifested in its actions. The operations and workings of the Holy Spirit may be a riddle, or mysterious to us at times, but we can be confident that it is used to its ultimate effectiveness by God Himself.
One more thing I would like to add that I think is critical to understanding one of the many functions of the Holy Spirit is the revealing or unveiling of knowledge that is not known by earthly, carnal, or fleshly wisdom.
In the book of Matthew, Peter acknowledges who Jesus Christ really is and Jesus responds to Peter's statement.
Matthew 16:16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
Matthew 16:17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
All we need is to look a bit further back into the gospels to have a greater understanding of Nicodemus speaking to Jesus. The Holy Spirit can reveal things to us that all the accumulated knowledge of the carnal world can never show us. Hopefully I was able to help out.
I'm reading through a religious book called Unseen World by Michael Heiser. It's interesting so far and seems to be rooted in biblical tradition and exegesis. We'll see how it holds up.
I've learned alot from Michael Heiser's work. He basically takes what the scriptures say in their original language and context and simply provides that information to the viewer. I respect him because there is no spin-zone or sensationalist approach to his work, he simply presents the text as it is. I actually got to meet him in person back in January of 2013 and he really is a cool dude.
I dont agree with everything he has done, but his work has definitely helped refined my approach to learning/understanding the scripture.
