Nicodemus (Alternate Translation of John 5:1-4)
John 3:1-5 (KJV)
1 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:
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.
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.
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?
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.
Alternate Translation
1 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:
2 And the carnal mind of Nicodemus[1] said, Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher of God because no man could do the miracles that you do unless God was with him,
3 And Jesus said to Nicodemus, I'm telling you the truth, unless [Adam] is born again within a mortal man, [that mortal man] cannot recognize the Kingdom of God[2] [in another man],[3]
4 And Nicodemus said, [Adam] is born a second time [when Ze=ir Anpin] enters [the Shekinah], the [lower] Garden [ofEden,[4] but the Shekinah has departed from Israel]. How, then, can Adam [of] old be regenerated [in a mortal man]?[5]
5 Then Jesus answered, [saying], I'm telling you the truth [Nicodemus], unless the [spiritual] waters[6] of a mortal man are regenerated by the Spirit [of God], he will never enter into the Kingdom of God.
[1] The Name, AJesus,@ does not appear in the Interlinear Text of verse 2, which reads "the carnal mind (night) [of] this same [Nicodemus, who was a ruler of the Jews], appeared and said,....
Jesus knew that Nicodemus was speaking out of his carnal mind.
[2] The Kingdom of God is the Neshamah aspect of the soul (the Mind of Christ).
[3] What is wrong with what Nicodemus said? Miracles do not prove that a teacher is of God, because Satan can perform miracles also (2Cor. 11:14). The only way to know for sure that a teacher or a miracle worker is of God, is to recognize Adam/Christ Jesus doing the work within that man, and only Adam/Christ Jesus in one man can discern Adam/Christ Jesus in another man. (1 Cor. 2:15, 2 Cor. 5:16).
[4] Nicodemus was well versed in Kabbalah. (See, Message #551, The World Of Points And "The Fall," in the Christ-Centered Kabbalah Classroom, for an in-depth study of the Garden, the Fall, and the Rectification. See, also, the Christ-Centered Kabbalah Glossary for a broader understanding of Kabbalah terminology.)
[5] Nicodemus had a knowledge of Kabbalah.
[6] The Aspiritual waters@ of mortal man are the secret of Amayim nokbim,@ the female waters that ascend to arouse the male waters ofZe=ir Anpin to mate with the Shekinah, who then gives birth to Adam. Jesus= response alludes to the restoration of the Shekinah to Israel.
The Shekinah is appearing today as the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ, and Ze=ir Anpin is appearing as Christ Jesus. The Christ child is birthed when the Holy Spirit within the believer mates with Christ Jesus (Acts 4:27, 30; 1 Tim. 2:15).
