📖 Injili ya Yohana — Sehemu ya 2: Hamna Budi Kuzaliwa Mara ya Pili📖 The Gospel of John — Unit 2: You Must Be Born Again

Utangulizi — Mkuu wa Wayahudi Anakuja UsikuIntroduction — A Ruler Comes by Night

Palikuwa na mtu mmoja jina lake Nikodemo, Farisayo, mkuu wa Wayahudi — mjumbe wa Baraza Kuu (Sanhedrini), mwalimu wa Israeli. Alimjia Yesu usiku. Labda alikuja usiku kwa sababu aliogopa wakuu wengine wangesema nini; labda kwa sababu usiku ndio saa pekee ya utulivu ambayo mtu mwenye shughuli nyingi angeweza kuipata; labda kwa sababu alitaka kumpata Yesu peke yake. Alianza kwa sifa: "Rabi, twajua ya kuwa u mwalimu, umetoka kwa Mungu; kwa maana hakuna mtu awezaye kuzifanya ishara hizi uzifanyazo wewe, isipokuwa Mungu yu pamoja naye." Lilikuwa neno la ukarimu kusema. Lakini Yesu hakuijibu sifa hiyo. Alipita moja kwa moja hadi kwenye hitaji la ndani kabisa la mtu huyo, na alichosema lazima kilimshtua mkuu wa Wayahudi: "Amin, amin, nakuambia, Mtu asipozaliwa mara ya pili, hawezi kuuona ufalme wa Mungu" (Yohana 3:3). Nikodemo alikuwa amefundishwa maisha yake yote kwamba kuwa mwana wa Ibrahimu na kuishika sheria kulitosha. Katika sentensi moja Yesu anamwambia kwamba hakutoshi. Hamna budi kuzaliwa mara ya pili. Huenda nasi tumechanganyikiwa kama Nikodemo alivyochanganyikiwa. Mtu anawezaje kujua kama ametimiza sharti lile moja la kuingia katika mbingu ya Mungu?There was a man named Nicodemus, a Pharisee, a ruler of the Jews — a member of the Sanhedrin, a teacher of Israel. He came to Jesus by night. Perhaps he came at night because he feared what the other rulers would say; perhaps because the night was the only quiet hour a busy man could find; perhaps because he wanted Jesus all to himself. He opened with a compliment: "Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him." It was a generous thing to say. But Jesus did not answer the compliment. He went straight past it to the man's deepest need, and what He said must have stunned a ruler of the Jews: "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God" (John 3:3). Nicodemus had been taught all his life that to be a son of Abraham and to keep the law was enough. In one sentence Jesus tells him it is not enough. You must be born again. Maybe we are confused as Nicodemus was. How can a man know whether he has met the one requirement for entrance into God's heaven?

I. Kuzaliwa Upya ni kwa Kimungu, Kupita Uwezo wa AsiliI. The New Birth Is Supernatural

Bwana wetu alianza na jambo linalojulikana, kwa maana kuzaliwa ni uzoefu wa kila mtu — kila mtu anayesikiliza amezaliwa mara moja. Neno linalotafsiriwa "mara ya pili" lina maana ya pili: "kutoka juu." Ingawa kila mwanadamu amezaliwa kwa njia ya kawaida hapa duniani, akitaka kuiona mbingu hana budi kuzaliwa mara ya pili, kuzaliwa kunakoshuka kutoka juu.Our Lord began with something familiar, for birth is a universal experience — every person listening has been born once. The word translated "again" carries a second meaning: "from above." Though every human being has been born naturally on this earth, if he means to see heaven he must be born a second time, a birth that comes down from above.

Acha nikueleze kuhusu kuzaliwa kwa kwanza — kuzaliwa kwangu mwenyewe. Kwa miezi kadhaa nilikuwa, unaweza kusema, nikipiga mbizi tumboni mwa mama yangu. Kila kitu kilikuwa kikienda vizuri; kitovu kilichoniletea oksijeni kilikuwa salama; nilikuwa nimeridhika. Kisha siku moja maji yakamwagika kutoka kwenye tangi nami nikalazimishwa kutoka katika makao yangu, nikakamatwa na kutikiswa — na hivyo ndivyo nilivyofika katika ulimwengu huu, sawasawa kabisa na kila mmoja wetu. Hatukuchagua kuzaliwa huko kwa kwanza; wazazi wetu walituchagulia. Lakini Yesu anasema kuna kuzaliwa kwa pili, na huku ni kwetu kukupokea. "Mtu asipozaliwa kwa maji na kwa Roho, hawezi kuuingia ufalme wa Mungu" (Yohana 3:5) — maji, kama ninavyoelewa, yakielekeza nyuma kwenye kuzaliwa kule kwa kwanza kwa asili, na Roho kwenye kuzaliwa kwa pili.Let me tell you about the first birth — about my own. For some months I had been, you might say, scuba diving in my mother's womb. Everything was going well; the cord that fed me oxygen was intact; I was content. Then one day the water drained out of the tank and I was forced out of my habitat, grabbed and shaken — and that is how I arrived in this world, exactly as every one of us did. We did not choose that first birth; our parents chose it for us. But Jesus says there is a second birth, and this one is ours to receive. "Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God" (John 3:5) — the water, as I take it, pointing back to that first natural birth, and the Spirit to the second.

Nikodemo alijikwaa juu ya jambo hili, kama akili ya asili inavyofanya siku zote. "Awezaje mtu kuzaliwa akiwa mzee? Aweza kuingia tumboni mwa mamaye mara ya pili, akazaliwa?" Yeye alikuwa akiwaza juu ya mwili; Yesu alikuwa akinena juu ya Roho. Hapa tunakutana na upofu wa ajabu wa mwenye dhambi: mwalimu msomi wa Israeli hakuweza kuona kile ambacho mtoto anaweza kupokea. Wapagani walikuwa na maigizo yao ya kuzaliwa upya — marabi walimwita Mmataifa aliyeongoka mtoto mchanga; dini za siri za Kigiriki zililiigiza kwa sherehe na damu — lakini hizo zilikuwa ishara tu za mfano. Kuzaliwa upya anakokukusudia Yesu si ishara ya mfano wala si sherehe. Ni kwa kimungu, kupita uwezo wa asili. Ni kazi ya Roho Mtakatifu, na hakuna kitu kidogo kuliko Mungu kinachoweza kukutimiza.Nicodemus stumbled at it, as the natural mind always does. "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?" He was thinking of flesh; Jesus was speaking of the Spirit. Here we meet the strange blindness of the sinner: a learned teacher of Israel could not see what a child can receive. The pagans had their imitations of rebirth — the rabbis called a Gentile convert a newborn child; the Greek mystery religions staged it with ceremony and blood — but those were only symbols. The rebirth Jesus means is no symbol and no ceremony. It is supernatural. It is the work of the Holy Spirit, and nothing less than God can accomplish it.

Mtu asiye na Kristo ni mtu aliyepotea. Nina rafiki ambaye nyumba yake iko juu milimani, nami nimejifunza kwamba ramani iliyo kwenye simu yangu hukata tamaa tu katika eneo lile; zaidi ya mara moja nimelazimika kusimama na kumpigia simu ili nipate njia. Hivyo ndivyo ilivyo nafsi isiyo na Kristo — haina ramani inayofanya kazi, haina barabara ya hakika, haina uhakika njia hiyo inaelekea wapi hata kidogo. Kisha Kiongozi anatokea. Kiongozi huyo ni Kristo, naye huwaongoza waliopotea kutoka gizani na kuwaingiza katika uzima wa kuzaliwa upya.A man without Christ is a lost man. I have a friend whose house sits high in the mountains, and I have learned that the map on my phone simply gives up in that country; more than once I have had to stop and telephone him to find the way. That is the soul without Christ — no map that works, no sure road, no certainty of where the path even goes. Then a Guide appears. The Guide is Christ, and He leads the lost out of the dark and into the life of the new birth.

II. Kuzaliwa Upya ni Badiliko Kamili la NdaniII. The New Birth Is a Radical Transformation

"Kilichozaliwa kwa mwili ni mwili; na kilichozaliwa kwa Roho ni roho" (Yohana 3:6). Mwili unaweza kuzaa mwili tu; hauwezi kujiinua hadi kwenye mambo ya Mungu. Roho peke yake ndiye anayeweza kuzaa roho. Kisha Yesu anachukua picha iliyo huru kuliko zote aliyoweza kuipata: "Upepo huvuma upendako, na sauti yake waisikia, lakini hujui unakotoka wala unakokwenda. Kadhalika ni hali ya kila mtu aliyezaliwa kwa Roho" (Yohana 3:8). Huwezi kuuamuru upepo. Huwezi kuuona. Lakini unaweza kuusikia mitini na kuuhisi usoni pako, nawe unajua ni halisi kwa yale unayoyafanya. Ndivyo ilivyo kwa Roho. Hatuwezi kumwongoza wala kumpangia ratiba; tunaweza tu kufungua mioyo yetu na kupokea kile anachokitenda."That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit" (John 3:6). Flesh can only ever produce flesh; it cannot lift itself up into the things of God. Only the Spirit can give birth to spirit. Then Jesus reaches for the freest picture He could find: "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). You cannot command the wind. You cannot see it. But you can hear it in the trees and feel it on your face, and you know it is real by what it does. So it is with the Spirit. We cannot manage Him or schedule Him; we can only open our hearts and receive what He works.

Na liangalie hili vizuri, ndugu yangu: je, ulidhani ulifanyika Mkristo kwa sababu siku moja uliamua hivyo kwa nafsi yako mwenyewe? Hukufanya hivyo. "Hakuna mtu awezaye kuja kwangu," Yesu alisema, "asipovutwa na Baba aliyenipeleka." Kuzaliwa upya ni kazi yake kabla hakujawa kamwe uchaguzi wetu.And mark this well, brother: did you think you became a Christian because one day you decided it on your own? You did not. "No one can come to Me," Jesus said, "unless the Father who sent Me draws him." The new birth is His work before it is ever our choice.

Nakumbuka kuzaliwa kwangu mara ya pili. Nilikuwa mvulana wa miaka minane, chini ya kuhakikishwa dhambi kwa kina wakati wa ibada maalumu katika kanisa letu. Nilienda nyumbani nikazungumza na wazazi wangu na babu na bibi yangu, nasi tukakubaliana kwamba nilikuwa tayari. Sehemu ngumu, katika kanisa la Kibaptisti, ilikuwa kutembea mbele wakati wa mwaliko ili kukiri hadharani, na nikiwa na miaka minane niliogopa sana kusimama pale peke yangu. Sikuhitaji kuwa na wasiwasi — wengine watatu walitembea mbele wakati ule ule. Kati ya maamuzi yote niliyofanya katika miaka mingi tangu hapo, hakuna hata mmoja uliokuwa na umuhimu kama ule niliofanya nikiwa na miaka minane.I remember my own second birth. I was a boy of eight, under deep conviction during some special services at our church. I went home and talked with my parents and grandparents, and we agreed I was ready. The hard part, in a Baptist church, was walking to the front during the invitation to confess it publicly, and at eight years old I dreaded standing up there alone. I need not have worried — three others walked forward at the same moment. Of all the decisions I have made in the long years since, not one has mattered as much as the one I made at eight.

Kinachotokea katika kuzaliwa huko kwa pili si marekebisho madogo; ni badiliko kamili kutoka ndani kwenda nje. Fikiria kiwavi — anayeishi ardhini, mwenye mwendo wa polepole, amefungwa kwenye jani analotambaa juu yake. Anajisokotea kifukofuko, na ndani ya mahali pale palipofichika jambo la kimiujiza linatokea, na kinachotoka si kiwavi bora zaidi bali kiumbe chenye mabawa. Ndivyo alivyo mtu anayekutana na Kristo. Hageuzi tu ukurasa mpya; anafanyika kiumbe kipya. Asili ya kale inauawa, na asili mpya, iliyo hai kwa Mungu, inatolewa mahali pake.What happens in that second birth is not a touch-up; it is a transformation from the inside out. Think of the caterpillar — earthbound, slow, bound to the leaf it crawls on. It spins itself into a cocoon, and inside that hidden place something miraculous happens, and what comes out is not a better caterpillar but a creature with wings. So is the man who meets Christ. He does not merely turn over a new leaf; he becomes a new creature. The old nature is put to death, and a new nature, alive to God, is given in its place.

III. Kuzaliwa Upya ni kwa LazimaIII. The New Birth Is Essential

"Hamna budi kuzaliwa mara ya pili" (Yohana 3:7). Wakati mmoja nilimsikia mwanamke mmoja katika kipindi cha mazungumzo akisema, "Mimi ni Mkristo, lakini si wa aina ile ya waliozaliwa mara ya pili." Sijui alikuwa akisoma Biblia gani. Yesu hatoi kuzaliwa upya kama chaguo moja kwenye orodha ya vyakula; anakiweka kama sharti lisilo na mjadala: hamna budi. Kweli ina tabia ya kuwa thabiti bila kubadilika. Mbili jumlisha mbili ni nne — kamwe si tatu, kamwe si tano. Na ndivyo ilivyo hapa: "Mtu asipozaliwa kwa maji na kwa Roho, hawezi kuuingia ufalme wa Mungu" (Yohana 3:5)."You must be born again" (John 3:7). I once heard a woman on a talk show say, "I am a Christian, but not the born-again kind." I do not know what Bible she was reading. Jesus does not offer the new birth as one option on a menu; He lays it down as an absolute: you must. Truth has a way of being dogmatic. Two plus two is four — never three, never five. And so it is here: "unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God" (John 3:5).

Hili ndilo sharti muhimu kuliko yote maishani mwako, kwa sababu kuna miadi ambayo hakuna hata mmoja wetu atakayeikosa. "Na kama vile watu wanavyowekewa kufa mara moja, na baada ya kufa hukumu" (Waebrania 9:27). Amosi alilisema waziwazi: "Jiandae... ukutane na Mungu wako" (Amosi 4:12). Fikiria mlango uliofungwa, na nyuma yake ufalme wa Mungu, na makundi ya watu wamesimama mbele yake wakitamani kuingia — lakini mlango umefungwa kwa kufuli, na kuna ufunguo mmoja tu. Ufunguo huo ni kuzaliwa upya. Au fikiria mpaka wa nchi: hakuna mtu anayevuka kuingia nchi nyingine bila pasipoti, na kuzaliwa upya ndiyo pasipoti iliyopigwa muhuri na mbingu. Bila hiyo hakuna kuingia.This is the most important requirement of your life, because there is an appointment none of us will miss. "It is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment" (Hebrews 9:27). Amos put it plainly: "Prepare to meet your God" (Amos 4:12). Picture a closed door, and behind it the kingdom of God, and crowds standing before it longing to go in — but the door is locked, and there is only one key. The key is the new birth. Or think of a border: no one crosses into another country without a passport, and the new birth is the passport stamped by heaven. Without it there is no entry.

IV. Nyoka Aliyeinuliwa, na Upendo wa MunguIV. The Serpent Lifted Up, and the Love of God

Kisha Yesu, akiendelea kumfundisha mkuu huyu usiku, alimrudisha kwenye hadithi ambayo Nikodemo aliijua kwa moyo. Jangwani watu walikuwa wakifa kwa kuumwa na nyoka, naye Mungu akamwambia Musa ainue nyoka wa shaba juu ya mti; kila aliyemtazama aliishi. "Na kama vile Musa alivyomwinua nyoka jangwani, vivyo hivyo imempasa Mwana wa Adamu kuinuliwa; ili kila amwaminiye awe na uzima wa milele katika yeye" (Yohana 3:14–15). Hapo ndipo — msalaba, ukitabiriwa kwa mgeni wa usiku wa manane. Waliokuwa wakifa hawakulazimika kupanda wala kujipatia kwa juhudi wala hata kuelewa; walihitaji tu kutazama, na kuishi. Ndivyo ilivyo kwa Mwokozi aliyeinuliwa: mtazame Yeye nawe uishi.Then Jesus, still teaching this ruler by night, took him back to a story Nicodemus knew by heart. In the wilderness the people were dying of serpent bites, and God told Moses to lift up a bronze serpent on a pole; whoever looked at it lived. "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:14–15). There it is — the cross, foretold to a midnight visitor. The dying did not have to climb or earn or even understand; they had only to look, and live. So it is with the lifted-up Savior: look to Him and live.

Na kisha unakuja mstari ambao Biblia nzima inaonekana kuuelekea: "Kwa maana jinsi hii Mungu aliupenda ulimwengu, hata akamtoa Mwanawe pekee, ili kila mtu amwaminiye asipotee, bali awe na uzima wa milele" (Yohana 3:16). Sikia neno hilo — kila mtu. Si wenye kustahili, si Wayahudi peke yao, si walio safi — kila mtu. Mlango ni mpana kama maneno "kila mtu." "Maana Mungu hakumtuma Mwana ulimwenguni ili auhukumu ulimwengu, bali ulimwengu uokolewe katika yeye" (Yohana 3:17). Hakuja na nyundo ya hakimu; alikuja na msalaba.And then comes the verse the whole Bible seems to lean toward: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). Hear that word — whoever. Not the worthy, not the Jew only, not the clean — whoever. The door is as wide as the word "whoever." "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved" (John 3:17). He did not come with a gavel; He came with a cross.

Basi, kwa nini watu wanabaki nje? "Na hii ndiyo hukumu; ya kwamba nuru imekuja ulimwenguni, nao watu wakapenda giza kuliko nuru; kwa maana matendo yao yalikuwa maovu" (Yohana 3:19). Msiba si kwamba nuru ni hafifu mno; ni kwamba watu hufumba macho yao na kulipenda giza. Lakini yule anayekuja kwenye nuru amezaliwa na Mungu. Kwa hiyo nakuacha pale Yesu alipomwacha Nikodemo — pamoja na ulazima na mwaliko katika pumzi moja. Hamna budi kuzaliwa mara ya pili; na ye yote atakayekuja, anaweza. Je, umezaliwa mara ya pili? Si kanisa lako, si urithi wako, si nia zako njema — wewe. Ikiwa Roho anakuchochea hata sasa, usistaajabu; fungua moyo wako na uipokee karama ya Mungu.Why, then, do men stay outside? "This is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil" (John 3:19). The tragedy is never that the light is too dim; it is that men shut their eyes and love the dark. But the one who comes to the light is born of God. So I leave you where Jesus left Nicodemus — with the necessity and the offer in one breath. You must be born again; and whoever will come, may. Have you been born a second time? Not your church, not your heritage, not your good intentions — you. If the Spirit is stirring even now, do not marvel; open your heart and receive the gift of God.

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