I know this question is a new thread, that spawned from the topic “Why do people Sin?”, but everyone else mulling about in this open forum may not have caught the subtle connection, so I’m providing it here.
In that other topic you asked:
I’m not sure that is “exactly” what Jesus was doing, although I get your point.
I am a simple man, and so I am simply trying to hear your question in the way you are intending us to hear it. Allow me to wrap some context around the scene to which you are refering.
John 3:1-12
There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.
This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him,
“Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God (you have come from above); for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”
Jesus answered and said to him,
“Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again (Gk:ánōthen, from above), he cannot see the kingdom of God (which is above).”
Nicodemus said to Him,
“How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”
Jesus answered,
"Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh (from below), is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit (from above) is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again (Gk:ánōthen, from above).’ 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 (from above)."
Nicodemus answered and said to Him,
“How can these things be?”
Jesus answered and said to him,
"Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things? Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?
Nicodemus, by asking “How can these things be?”, was asking how it was possible that some, born in the flesh, people are also “born” from The Kingdom of God above (am I right here?). So you are suggesting (correct me if I’m wrong) that Jesus was implying (by his chastisement) that Nicodemus, being a teacher of Israel, should have been able to put together the implications of the words in an inspired song of the Sons of Korah with the fresh way of stating this old idea; i.e. a good teacher should readily comprehend that in order to “see the Kingdom of God”, one must be “born from it”. Furthermore, Jesus expects that Nicodemus must be able to see through this veil without the indwelling Holy Spirit of God illuminating him?
Psalm 87
His foundation is in the holy mountains.
The LORD loves the gates of Zion More than all the dwellings of Jacob.
Glorious things are spoken of you, O city of God!
Selah
“I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon to those who know Me;
Behold, O Philistia and Tyre, with Ethiopia: ‘This one was born there.’ "
And of Zion it will be said, “This one and that one were born in her;
And the Most High Himself shall establish her.”
The LORD will record, When He registers the peoples: "This one was born there.”
Selah
Both the singers and the players on instruments say,
“All my springs are in you.”
You say:
I see your point, and I sincerely appreciate the connection you are implying; drawing a dark solid line between the John 3 dialogue and Psalm 87, specifically the references to being both “born in” Zion, and The Kingdom of God. From my simpleton point of view, Nicodemus probably taught the meaning of this Psalm to his students, teaching it from within the milieu of rabbinic tradition. Something like:
“God will eventually call some people from other, gentile nations into the sheepfold of Israel, at some point, and they will become to God as one who was born from Jacob."
It feels to me that Jesus is drawing that solid line between what Nicodemus has taught, and what Jesus, and His disciples, have been testifying;
“We testify of what we clearly know and have plainly seen, and you don’t believe our testimony, how will you believe me when I tell you things that no one but me has ever known or seen?
In other words,
“Nick, you are having difficulty accepting the things that are right in front of your eyes, how will you believe things that have never been seen by any human but me. How? By being born from above. That’s how.
I’m still thinking about this. Thanks for the prompt.
KP