172 Karl Olav Sandnes has heaven as his place of origin. But Christ “holds out the possibility of birth a[nwqen in a derivative sense to humankind” (51). Although Gnosticism is slippery to define, I take these reservations to imply that the likeness addressed in this article does not in any way justify labelling Johannine thinking as “Gnosticism”. John explores the nature of faith or birth a[nwqen with the help of the disputes about Jesus’ identity, and thus brings out some anthropolo- gical implications of his christology. With the Nicodemus dialogue as the point of departure, the following observations hold true both for Jesus’ identity and the believer’s faith: Both are mysterious and enigmatic. There is something elusive (52) about Christ in John’s Gospel, and this is connected to his whence and whither. The nature of faith is similarly mysterious; it is beyond human capacity to comprehend it. The whence of faith is explained by help of the equally mysterious whence and whither of Jesus. The mysterious whence and whither both of Jesus and faith implies a given. The identity of Jesus is explained in terms of given, not taken. This is implied when faith in chap. 3 is compared with the whence and whither of the wind as well as of Christ. From this follows that both Jesus and faith are dependent solely on God or the Father. The whence and whither of both Jesus and faith are, finally, a reference to God in Heaven. That is where the origin, with the mentioned reservations in mind, of both is to be found. This corresponds very much with birth a[nwqen as being born from above. As the story progresses, the parabolic saying about the wind (3,8), which pointed out both its reality and the mysterious nature, takes on a new level of meaning. The story led us to the Christological disputes in chaps. 7–9 with emphasis on the divine origin of both Jesus and faith. Finally, this is confirmed in chap. 13 and the following chapters where the “hour” of departure has arrived. Hence uJpavgw is now in focus. This verb now refers to Jesus’ return to his Heavenly Father (13,3.33.36; 14,4.5.28; 16,5.19). The verb is combined with preposi- tional phrases like pro;" to;n patevra/pro;" to;n qeovn/pro;" to;n pevmyantav me. This final phrase includes the whence of Jesus, which is also the case in 13,3 where povqen is replaced by ajpo; qeou' ejxh'lqen. Jesus’ (51) NICHOLSON, Death as Departure, 111. (52) This term has been coined by M.W.G. STIBBE, John’s Gospel (New Testament Readings; London – New York 1994) 6, 15, 21, 23, 24, 29.