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Jesus and Nicodemus
1 Now there was a man among the Pharisees whose name was Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 The same went to Jesus at night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that you have come as a teacher from God, because no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” 3 Jesus answered and said to him,*He does not waste time with the compliment, although it was true enough, but goes directly to a serious theological question. “Most assuredly I say to you, unless someone is begotten from Above,†The basic meaning of the Greek word here, ανωθεν, is ‘from up/above’. A lot of people who say that they have been ‘born again’ have never been begotten from Above. ‘Begotten’ refers to the cause; ‘born’ refers to the result—I take it that the Lord is talking about the cause. he is not able to see‡Is ‘see’ just a synonym for ‘enter’ in verse 5 below, or is a difference intended? the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus says to Him: “How can a man be begotten, being old? He can't enter his mother's womb a second time and be born, can he?” 5 Jesus answered: “Most assuredly I say to you, unless someone is begotten by water§Why ‘water’? Some have understood this to refer to water baptism, but it seems more likely to me that it refers to the Word (see Ephesians 5:26, John 15:3, John 17:17). As it says in Romans 10:17, “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” and Spirit he is not able to enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which has been begotten by the flesh is flesh, and that which has been begotten by the Spirit is spirit.*In 1:13 it is “begotten by God”, here “begotten by the Spirit”, in 3:3 and 7 “begotten from Above”—I take it that the expressions are synonymous. Without God's direct participation no one is saved. 7 Do not be perplexed that I said to you, ‘You (pl) need to be begotten from Above.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you (sg) hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who has been begotten by the Spirit.”†Notice that the Lord is saying here that it is we who are to be unpredictable, like the wind, or the Spirit (“comes” and “goes” are in the present tense). If you are really under the control of the Spirit you will do unexpected things, just like He does. We all know of types of Christian that are rigid, totally predictable—the Lord Jesus Christ says that such ‘Christians’ have not been begotten by the Spirit. A word to the wise…
9 Nicodemus answered and said to Him, “How can these things be?”‡His philosophical orientation was based on keeping the Law, on human responsibility. Jesus introduces the divine factor, declaring it to be indispensable. 10 Jesus answered and said to Him: “You are the teacher of Israel,§The Lord used the definite article with ‘teacher’, which I understand to mean that Nicodemus was the number one teacher at that time. yet you do not understand these things? 11 Most assuredly I say to you, we speak what we know and testify to what we*Why “we”? Jesus begins the verse with “I” and begins verse 12 with “I”; so to whom does the “we” refer? Is it the ‘plural of majesty’, as some say? Perhaps He is including one or both of the other members of the Trinity—actually, it is probably the Father; see John 12:49-50. (This is early in His public ministry and He does not yet have a recognized group of disciples traveling with Him.) have seen, but you (pl) do not receive our testimony.†He had doubtless been teaching, as well as performing miracles, during those days. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I should tell you the heavenly? 13 No one has gone up into Heaven except the One who came down out of Heaven —the Son of the Man, who is in Heaven.‡About 1% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, omit “who is in Heaven” (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.). Presumably those copyists could not figure out how Jesus could be on earth and in Heaven at the same time, so they altered the Text. But let us stop and think about what this verse says—Jehovah the Son came down out of Heaven all right, but when did He go up? If “the Angel of Jehovah” in the OT was Jehovah the Son, as I believe, then He had been back and forth many times. In John 5:19 Jesus said that He could only do what He saw the Father do—so when and how could Jesus see the Father? Even though Jehovah the Son was in the human body of Jesus Christ, evidently there was some sense in which He was also in Heaven; He existed there. Well, that is what John 1:18 says, “who exists in the bosom of the Father.” 14 Also, just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness,§See Numbers 21:8-9. Once bitten, the only way to avoid an early death was to look at the bronze snake. Similarly, the only way to avoid wasting your life is to believe into Jesus. just so the Son of the Man must be lifted up, 15 so that everyone who believes into Him should not be wasted,*Less than 2% of the Greek manuscripts, of inferior quality, omit “should not be wasted but” (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.). The phrase is repeated in verse 16, but this is a conversation between two Jews and it is standard Hebrew procedure to repeat things. But why do I render “be wasted” instead of “perish”? Well, what do you think “perish” means? It cannot mean ‘to die’, because Christians die. It cannot mean ‘to suffer’, because Christians suffer, etc. Although the Greek verb here, απολλυμι, is used in contexts of decay, loss, ruin, destruction, death, I take it that the core idea is ‘waste’—the potential of a person or thing is wasted, does not come to fruition. The potential that your life represents, the reason why you exist, can only be realized if you believe into Jesus—otherwise you will be wasted. but should have eternal life. 16 Because God loved the world so much that He gave His only begotten Son, so that everyone who believes into Him should not be wasted, but should have eternal life.†The opposite of ‘eternal life’ is not ‘non-eternal life’, it is ‘eternal death’. But ‘death’ does not mean ‘cease to exist’—the human spirit, the image of the Creator, is immortal, it exists forever. There are but two destinies for the human being—unending life or unending death. The central idea in ‘death’ is separation; physical death means the spirit is separated from the body; spiritual death means the spirit is separated from the Creator, forever. The essence of ‘life’ is to be in communion with the Creator, so we can start enjoying our eternal life right here, right now. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world in order to condemn the world,‡The world was already condemned; the Son came to offer a way out. but so that the world might be saved through Him. 18 The one believing into Him is not condemned, but the one not believing has already been condemned,§Since we are sinners by inclination and by choice, we are already under condemnation; the only way out is to believe into the Lord Jesus. because he has not believed into the name*“Believe into the name” = “believe into Him”; a person's name represents that person. of the only begotten Son of God.
19 “Now this is the basis for the condemning, that the Light has come into the world,†The light makes itself available, comes into our area, announces the address, but we must take the initiative to go to that light. but the people loved the darkness rather than the Light, because their deeds were malignant. 20 For whoever practices evil hates the Light and does not come to the Light, so that his deeds may not be exposed.‡In John 7:7 Jesus said, “The world cannot hate you, but does hate me, because I testify about it that its works are malignant”, and in 8:12 He said, “I am the Light of the world”. Those who love darkness generally hate Jesus. 21 But whoever does the truth comes to the Light so that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they are done in God.”
John the Baptizer testifies again
22 After these things Jesus, with His disciples, went into the Judean countryside, and there He spent time with them§Again, He was investing in those men (not yet the full twelve). and baptized. 23 Now John also was baptizing in Aenon, near Salem, because there was plenty of water there.*To this day there is plenty of water in the Aijalon valley, some 15-20 miles WNW of Jerusalem (Salem is an ancient name for Jerusalem; see Genesis 14:18 and Hebrews 7:1)—perhaps that is where it was. I take it that Jesus and John were in the same area, at this point. And people were coming and being baptized; 24 for John had not yet been thrown into prison.
25 Then some of John's disciples had an argument with a Judean about purification. 26 So they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, the One who was with you across the Jordan, about whom you have testified—well, here He is baptizing, and everyone is flocking to Him!”†I imagine that the ‘argument’ mentioned in verse 25 had to do with the efficacy of the two baptisms. 27 John answered and said: “A person can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from Heaven.‡John states a basic truth, which is why it is not good to boast (1 Corinthians 4:7). 28 You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent ahead of Him.’ 29 He who has the bride is the bridegroom, but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands by and hears him, has great joy at the bridegroom's voice. So this my joy has been fulfilled. 30 He must increase, but I must decrease.§Now there we have an excellent example to follow; all of us should have the same attitude—“He must increase, but I must decrease”.
31 “He who comes from Above is above all; he who is from the earth is earthly, and speaks of the earth. He who comes from Heaven*“From Above” = “from Heaven”. John is talking about Jesus. is above all. 32 And to what He has seen and heard He testifies, yet no one receives His testimony.†So where did Jesus do this ‘seeing’ and ‘hearing’? In Heaven. 33 The one who receives His testimony certifies that God is true. 34 For He whom God sent speaks God's words, because God does not give the Spirit by measure.‡The Text does not have “to Him”, but in the context that is presumably to be understood. To the Son the Father gave the Spirit in full measure, but not to us—at least not in the same sense. 35 The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand.§John obviously had a pretty good understanding of who Jesus was. 36 The one believing into the Son has eternal life, but the one disobeying*The Text has “disobeying”, not ‘disbelieving’. ‘Believing into’ has to do with commitment, with identification, with relationship. If you enter into a relationship with the Sovereign of the Universe, He is the Boss. Either you obey or bad things start to happen to you. the Son will not see the Life, but the wrath of God will remain upon him.”†There are differing opinions about where the Baptizer's speech ends—the rest would then be a commentary by the author, John. The verbs in the present tense in verse 32 tip the decision in favor of the Baptizer—John would have had to use a past tense. I take it that the Baptizer's speech goes through verse 35, at least. Verse 36 could be an editorial comment by John, but I see no reason in the Text for taking the verse away from the Baptizer. Notice the verb ‘will remain’; the only way out is to obey the Son. (Perhaps 50% of the Greek manuscripts have ‘remains’, instead of “will remain”, which does not change the impact of the statement.)

*3:3 He does not waste time with the compliment, although it was true enough, but goes directly to a serious theological question.

†3:3 The basic meaning of the Greek word here, ανωθεν, is ‘from up/above’. A lot of people who say that they have been ‘born again’ have never been begotten from Above. ‘Begotten’ refers to the cause; ‘born’ refers to the result—I take it that the Lord is talking about the cause.

‡3:3 Is ‘see’ just a synonym for ‘enter’ in verse 5 below, or is a difference intended?

§3:5 Why ‘water’? Some have understood this to refer to water baptism, but it seems more likely to me that it refers to the Word (see Ephesians 5:26, John 15:3, John 17:17). As it says in Romans 10:17, “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.”

*3:6 In 1:13 it is “begotten by God”, here “begotten by the Spirit”, in 3:3 and 7 “begotten from Above”—I take it that the expressions are synonymous. Without God's direct participation no one is saved.

†3:8 Notice that the Lord is saying here that it is we who are to be unpredictable, like the wind, or the Spirit (“comes” and “goes” are in the present tense). If you are really under the control of the Spirit you will do unexpected things, just like He does. We all know of types of Christian that are rigid, totally predictable—the Lord Jesus Christ says that such ‘Christians’ have not been begotten by the Spirit. A word to the wise…

‡3:9 His philosophical orientation was based on keeping the Law, on human responsibility. Jesus introduces the divine factor, declaring it to be indispensable.

§3:10 The Lord used the definite article with ‘teacher’, which I understand to mean that Nicodemus was the number one teacher at that time.

*3:11 Why “we”? Jesus begins the verse with “I” and begins verse 12 with “I”; so to whom does the “we” refer? Is it the ‘plural of majesty’, as some say? Perhaps He is including one or both of the other members of the Trinity—actually, it is probably the Father; see John 12:49-50. (This is early in His public ministry and He does not yet have a recognized group of disciples traveling with Him.)

†3:11 He had doubtless been teaching, as well as performing miracles, during those days.

‡3:13 About 1% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, omit “who is in Heaven” (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.). Presumably those copyists could not figure out how Jesus could be on earth and in Heaven at the same time, so they altered the Text. But let us stop and think about what this verse says—Jehovah the Son came down out of Heaven all right, but when did He go up? If “the Angel of Jehovah” in the OT was Jehovah the Son, as I believe, then He had been back and forth many times. In John 5:19 Jesus said that He could only do what He saw the Father do—so when and how could Jesus see the Father? Even though Jehovah the Son was in the human body of Jesus Christ, evidently there was some sense in which He was also in Heaven; He existed there. Well, that is what John 1:18 says, “who exists in the bosom of the Father.”

§3:14 See Numbers 21:8-9. Once bitten, the only way to avoid an early death was to look at the bronze snake. Similarly, the only way to avoid wasting your life is to believe into Jesus.

*3:15 Less than 2% of the Greek manuscripts, of inferior quality, omit “should not be wasted but” (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.). The phrase is repeated in verse 16, but this is a conversation between two Jews and it is standard Hebrew procedure to repeat things. But why do I render “be wasted” instead of “perish”? Well, what do you think “perish” means? It cannot mean ‘to die’, because Christians die. It cannot mean ‘to suffer’, because Christians suffer, etc. Although the Greek verb here, απολλυμι, is used in contexts of decay, loss, ruin, destruction, death, I take it that the core idea is ‘waste’—the potential of a person or thing is wasted, does not come to fruition. The potential that your life represents, the reason why you exist, can only be realized if you believe into Jesus—otherwise you will be wasted.

†3:16 The opposite of ‘eternal life’ is not ‘non-eternal life’, it is ‘eternal death’. But ‘death’ does not mean ‘cease to exist’—the human spirit, the image of the Creator, is immortal, it exists forever. There are but two destinies for the human being—unending life or unending death. The central idea in ‘death’ is separation; physical death means the spirit is separated from the body; spiritual death means the spirit is separated from the Creator, forever. The essence of ‘life’ is to be in communion with the Creator, so we can start enjoying our eternal life right here, right now.

‡3:17 The world was already condemned; the Son came to offer a way out.

§3:18 Since we are sinners by inclination and by choice, we are already under condemnation; the only way out is to believe into the Lord Jesus.

*3:18 “Believe into the name” = “believe into Him”; a person's name represents that person.

†3:19 The light makes itself available, comes into our area, announces the address, but we must take the initiative to go to that light.

‡3:20 In John 7:7 Jesus said, “The world cannot hate you, but does hate me, because I testify about it that its works are malignant”, and in 8:12 He said, “I am the Light of the world”. Those who love darkness generally hate Jesus.

§3:22 Again, He was investing in those men (not yet the full twelve).

*3:23 To this day there is plenty of water in the Aijalon valley, some 15-20 miles WNW of Jerusalem (Salem is an ancient name for Jerusalem; see Genesis 14:18 and Hebrews 7:1)—perhaps that is where it was. I take it that Jesus and John were in the same area, at this point.

†3:26 I imagine that the ‘argument’ mentioned in verse 25 had to do with the efficacy of the two baptisms.

‡3:27 John states a basic truth, which is why it is not good to boast (1 Corinthians 4:7).

§3:30 Now there we have an excellent example to follow; all of us should have the same attitude—“He must increase, but I must decrease”.

*3:31 “From Above” = “from Heaven”. John is talking about Jesus.

†3:32 So where did Jesus do this ‘seeing’ and ‘hearing’? In Heaven.

‡3:34 The Text does not have “to Him”, but in the context that is presumably to be understood. To the Son the Father gave the Spirit in full measure, but not to us—at least not in the same sense.

§3:35 John obviously had a pretty good understanding of who Jesus was.

*3:36 The Text has “disobeying”, not ‘disbelieving’. ‘Believing into’ has to do with commitment, with identification, with relationship. If you enter into a relationship with the Sovereign of the Universe, He is the Boss. Either you obey or bad things start to happen to you.

†3:36 There are differing opinions about where the Baptizer's speech ends—the rest would then be a commentary by the author, John. The verbs in the present tense in verse 32 tip the decision in favor of the Baptizer—John would have had to use a past tense. I take it that the Baptizer's speech goes through verse 35, at least. Verse 36 could be an editorial comment by John, but I see no reason in the Text for taking the verse away from the Baptizer. Notice the verb ‘will remain’; the only way out is to obey the Son. (Perhaps 50% of the Greek manuscripts have ‘remains’, instead of “will remain”, which does not change the impact of the statement.)

© 2016 Wilbur N. Pickering, ThM, PhD