John 3:1-3, 8

   Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. He came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.” Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born form above... The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes.

“The answer my friend is blowin’ in the wind; the answer is blowin’ in the wind. – Bob Dylan.

Nicodemus probably knew every word of the Torah. He probably recited it from memory every Shabbat. But as John’s gospel cleverly points out, he was still in the dark about what the instruction of scripture really meant.

It is ever so common to say that the three Abrahamic religions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, are religions of the Book. How can that be clearer than in the opening of John’s Gospel, which said “…and the Word was God.” This is why Jews and Muslims go to such an effort to read and memorize scripture in their original languages. Many Christians take a passage a day, memorize it, and reflect on it all day. It is even more focused by the Protestant principle that all faith must be based on scripture.

This principle, from Martin Luther, creates great scholars, and it has guided me for decades. But that is not the whole story. How do I know? Because the Bible tells me so. You can know all the words, but somehow, the music can escape you. Speak the words, shout the words, and sing the words until the words become one with your breath, one with your spirit.

- Bruce Marold