Born of Water and the Spirit

John 3:5-10 (WEB) Jesus answered, “Most certainly I tell you, unless one is born of water and spirit, he can’t enter into God’s Kingdom. That which is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Don’t marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born anew.’ The wind blows where it wants to, and you hear its sound, but don’t know where it comes from and where it is going. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

Nicodemus answered him, “How can these things be?”
Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and don’t understand these things?

When I read this exchange between Jesus and the Teacher of Israel, I can't help but think of Ezekiel.  

In chapter 16, Ezekiel prophesies of Jerusalem, speaking of Jerusalem being born like a baby in filth and poverty, neglected: 

Ezekiel 16:4 (WEB) As for your birth, in the day you were born your navel was not cut. You weren’t washed in water to cleanse you. You weren’t salted at all, nor wrapped in blankets at all.

The prophecy goes on to say how God took pity on this baby and washed her and cared for her, and raised her to be his bride, but then she took pride in her royal estate, and became a prostitute:

Ezekiel 16:9-15 (WEB) “‘“Then washed I you with water. Yes, I thoroughly washed away your blood from you, and I anointed you with oil. I clothed you also with embroidered work, and put sealskin sandals on you. I dressed you with fine linen and covered you with silk. I decked you with ornaments, put bracelets on your hands, and put a chain on your neck. I put a ring on your nose, and earrings in your ears, and a beautiful crown on your head. Thus you were decked with gold and silver. Your clothing was of fine linen, silk, and embroidered work. You ate fine flour, honey, and oil. You were exceedingly beautiful, and you prospered to royal estate. Your renown went out among the nations for your beauty; for it was perfect, through my majesty which I had put on you,” says the Lord Yahweh.

“‘“But you trusted in your beauty, and played the prostitute because of your renown, and poured out your prostitution on everyone who passed by. It was his.

The next 16 chapters are filled with the curses resulting from her prostitution, as well as the punishments meted out against those who abuse her. All the while that she is prostituting herself, God pleads:

Ezekiel 18:31 (WEB) Cast away from you all your transgressions, in which you have transgressed; and make yourself a new heart and a new spirit: for why will you die, house of Israel?

And then finally, in chapter 36, the transformation happens:

Ezekiel 36:25-27 (WEB) I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your filthiness, and from all your idols. I will also give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you. I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes. You will keep my ordinances and do them.

In this long passage, which Nicodemus should know, being the Teacher of Israel (John 3:10), Israel is born anew of both water and the spirit, both the flesh and the spirit.

I can't say definitively that Jesus was making an allusion to this long passage in Ezekiel, but it sure seems likely to me.

You want to bathe the prostitute before being cooped up in an enclosed space with her or taking her out in public, but more than that, you want her to have a new spirit that is clean.