I gotta have my orange juice.

Jesus and Nicodemus discuss regeneration in John 3:

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?”

Evangelicalism commonly reads this as referring to individual regeneration, but I’m convinced that is not in view. Nicodemus, a ruler of the people, knows that the church-body is dead; she is still living in wickedness and is still undergoing a kind of exile from God’s favor. In the background are several passages from the prophets. Ezekiel 6 refers to the death of Israel:

And I will lay the corpses of the children of Israel before their idols, and I will scatter your bones all around your altars.

And Ezekiel 37 refers to her resurrection:

The hand of Yahweh came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of Yahweh, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones. Then he caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and indeed they were very dry. And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”

So I answered, “O Lord Yahweh, You know.”

Again he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of Yahweh! Thus says the Lord Yahweh to these bones: “Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know that I am Yahweh.” ’ ” . . .

Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They indeed say, ‘Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off!’ Therefore prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Behold, O my people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I am Yahweh, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up from your graves. I will put my Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I, Yahweh, have spoken it and performed it,” says Yahweh.’ ”

I believe that Nicodemus’s question is like Ezekiel’s reply and like Mary’s answer to the angel: how can this be? Also in the background is Israel’s resurrection from the womb-ground in Isaiah 66:

“Before she was in labor, she gave birth;
Before her pain came,
She delivered a male child.
Who has heard such a thing?
Who has seen such things?
Shall the earth be made to give birth in one day?
Or shall a nation be born at once?
For as soon as Zion was in labor,
She gave birth to her children.
Shall I bring to the time of birth, and not cause delivery?” says Yahweh.
“Shall I who cause delivery shut up the womb?” says your God.
“Rejoice with Jerusalem,
And be glad with her, all you who love her;
Rejoice for joy with her, all you who mourn for her;
That you may feed and be satisfied
With the consolation of her bosom,
That you may drink deeply and be delighted
With the abundance of her glory.”

Nicodemus understands this much. What he does not understand is that this corporate regeneration—in fact, the regeneration of the cosmos—would be accomplished by the rebirth, from the earth, of one man, the representative of Israel.