John 3:1-2 - “Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him."
Here we see a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus who was a ruler of the Jews coming to Jesus in the night to speak to him. The Pharisees, as we know historically, were hyper-legalists who followed their law to the T. Every time a rabbi made a rule, it was added to the oral law and it became a gigantic monstrosity of rules. One such work or collection of laws is the Mishnah and they would be always consist of many volumes. However, they did teach a few right things, such as, decree of God, man’s responsibility morally, right in teaching about immortality, teaching of the resurrection of the body, teaching about the existence of spirits. And this is all from only the Old Testament. They even produced some great men, notably Gamaliel, a great Pharisee. And his great student Paul, also a great Pharisee. As well as, a well-known Pharisee that you may have heard of by the name of Josephus, perhaps the most important contemporary historian of that day. However, their biggest problem was that they externalized religion. They concentrated more on the form of godliness, that is appearing holy and clean but did not focus on the heart matters.
They had some crazy laws that they followed:
a. A woman should not look into a looking glass on the sabbath. Why? Because she might see a gray hair and be tempted to pull it out and you weren’t allowed to work on the sabbath.
b. When a person was ill, a common remedy was to drink vinegar for a cold or sore throat. When they drink it, the person was only allowed to swallow the liquid and not gargle it.
c. You could eat an egg that a chicken laid on the sabbath only if you intended to kill the chicken the next day because that chicken should be punished for having laid that egg on the sabbath.
This is what they believed they had to do, to be in a right standing with God. Legalism to the extreme and so this a reason as to why Nicodemus was confused with the idea that everything that had to do with the Kingdom of God lied within man and had nothing to do with the external laws that he was brought up in. They focused on matters that didn’t matter.
- We see that Nicodemus was a very influential person in Judaistic community.
- He was a member of the ruling party of Israel, that is the Sanhedrin.
- He was a rich man as we see him buying expensive ointments and herbs for the embalming of Jesus’ body in John 19:39.
- From John 3:10 we see that He was a teacher of the law and so he was well educated, especially an Old Testament scholar.
Knowing that he was a well-respected and well-read man, Nicodemus comes to Jesus by night and says, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” He knew Jesus was from God because of the miracles Jesus had done during the Passover as recorded in John 2:23. Nicodemus must have seen them and believed He was a teacher from God. So we see that Nicodemus really didn’t know that Jesus was the Messiah but saw Him as a teacher or a prophet. Nicodemus pays Jesus a compliment by calling Him, rabbi. Meaning, teacher, and this shows that Nicodemus in all that he knew and learnt and in his standing in society, recognized that Jesus was something else. He recognised that Jesus knew more and Nicodemus, who was a teacher, came to be taught.
John 3:3 - “Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.””
But Jesus’ response, was not in connection to anything that Nicodemus says. Jesus’ reply here, shows His deity. The Greek word for “Now” connects chapter 2 with chapter 3 and it informs us that the idea that is carried in the last few verses of John 2 are being carried forward to John 3. The idea shows one attribute of Jesus to be God. That is His perception about reality. That He could read the hearts of men, without them even moving their lips. He could read their minds, He knew what they were thinking.
In John 2:24 it says that Jesus did not entrust Himself to them. Why? Because He knew all people. These people were the ones who believed in Jesus only when they saw signs and that’s it. He knew what was in their heart, He knew that they did not have genuine faith. Jesus could read the hearts of men and that’s what He did with Nicodemus. Jesus chose to speak about the Kingdom of God, because that topic was on Nicodemus’ mind. Nicodemus wanted to know how to be a part of the Kingdom of God. How to be part of those people who are redeemed, righteous, and who can live and dwell with God. He wasn’t caught up in practising all the laws, sacrifices, rituals, feasts etc. just for the sake of it. He wanted to be a part of the Kingdom of God. And so we see Jesus answering the question of his heart. “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
John 3:4 - “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?””
But when Jesus did answer his question, Nicodemus was confused. He couldn’t understand. He couldn’t understand because Jesus, in essence, was saying to Nicodemus, “You have to be born again. You need to start over.” Jesus was telling him to turn away from all that he had done throughout his life, turn away from all his laws, and to start over. He had to be a new creation. It wasn’t on the basis of works but on faith. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”, 2 Corinthians 5:17. In essence, Jesus was telling Nicodemus that he had to get rid of his legalistic, ritualistic and ceramonialistic behaviour and he had to be born again from the inside.
ILLUSTRATION: Rusted Car
Jesus had used a physical concept of being born again to represent a spiritual idea and also we know that it is something spiritual Jesus is referring to because He introduced a spiritual concept in v.3, which is the “Kingdom of God”. So some bible scholars are led to believe that Nicodemus did actually know what Jesus was talking about and that he is trying to avoid the spiritual ramification of what Jesus said. On the other hand, some people think that Nicodemus really didn’t understand Jesus.
Whatever the case, Jesus proceeds to reiterate and explain His statement in v.5.
John 3:5 - “Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”
The most plausible explanation of “born of water and the Spirit” is based on Jesus’ statement in v.10. Jesus rebukes Nicodemus for not understanding “these things” that Jesus had explained to him in v.5-8 on the basis that he was a great teacher of Israel, who is a scholar in Old Testament scripture, and he should have known what Jesus was talking about. So we need to turn to the Scripture that existed at that time to understand what Jesus meant by, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”
In the OT, it is primarily the “spirit” that God uses to brings life. We see that even in creation (Genesis 2:7, 6:3; Job 34:14) but many OT writers look forward to a future when God’s spirit will be poured out on mankind, as its said in Joel 2:28 as a result of which there will be blessings and righteousness (Isaiah 32:15-20, 44:3; Ezekiel 39:29) and inner renewal which cleanses God’s people (Israelites) from their idolatry and disobedience (Ezekiel 11:19-20, 36:26-27). When water is used in the OT, it is figuratively used to denote cleansing or renewal, especially when it is found together with “spirit”. This sometimes is hidden behind the english language sometimes as, ‘pouring out’ of the spirit (cf. Numbers 19:17–19; Psalm 51:9–10; Isaiah 32:15, 44:3–5, 55:1–3, Jeremiah 2:13, 17:13; Ezekiel 47:9; Joel 2:28–29; Zechariah 14:8). Amoungst all the references, the most important one is Ezekiel 36:25-27 - “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.”
In these verses, the figurative usage of water and spirit come so forcefully together to denote, first, the cleansing from impurity and second, to depict the transformation of heart that will enable people to be in complete fellowship with God. So in short, “ born of water and the Spirit” indicates a new creation, a new birth that cleanses and renews. The same cleansing that was promised by the OT prophets. The emphasis is on the need for radical transformation. The need for purification and this purification is done by none other than the Holy Spirit.
And this is the baptism of the Holy Spirit which happens at the point of salvation for a person. It is at that time that a believer is regenerated, baptized, indwelt and sealed by the Holy Spirit and all this happens in one instant. Hence Paul says what he says in Ephesians 4:4-5, “There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call – one Lord, one faith, one baptism”. The Spirit of God is the one who purifies us and when that is done within us, that’s when we, as a believer, can enter into the Kingdom of God. This is exactly what Jesus was saying to Nicodemus. “Nicodemus, if you want to enter the Kingdom of God, the Holy Spirit must regenerate you.” It’s all about the internal regeneration rather than external regulations. Jesus was, in essence, telling Nicodemus that his laws, ceremonies and rituals had nothing to do with the Kingdom and that if he continued the path he was on, he wasn’t going to enter the Kingdom of God.
John 3:6-8 - ”That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
With all his learning and with all that he believed upto that point, Nicodemus found it hard to accept all that Jesus was saying. In his mind, he was thinking of all the things he thought he had to do to gain favour with God and then Jesus says, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” “Nicodemus, you have no part in it. No matter what you do, it is contrary to God and you will remain where you are”. “You cannot change you.” Just as it says in Jeremiah 13:23, “Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? Then also you can do good who are accustomed to do evil.”
Jesus was trying to explain to Nicodemus that it would take a divine miracle from God, by which a person can only be regenerated from within and then only a person can enter the Kingdom of God. Nicodemus must have been surprised that Jesus was addressing every point he was thinking and especially because Jesus was talking about things which had no visible proof. For Nicodemus, he had all the rituals and ceremonies that were passed down from Moses which were tangible and believable and had a symbolic meaning that he could relate to. And then Jesus says, “Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”” Just because you can’t see the Holy Spirit, doesn’t mean He doesn’t exist. You can’t see the wind, but does it exist? Yes. Because you can feel the wind and see it’s effect on trees, flowers, you can feel it physically. Just as you can feel the wind and see it’s effects, the same way you can see the Holy Spirit’s results in a person’s life.
John 3:9-10 - “Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” [10] Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? ” Nicodemus couldn’t accept what Jesus was telling him and so Jesus rebukes him. Of all the people in Israel who should understand the things Jesus spoke about, Nicodemus should have understood it easily. But because of Nicodemus’ reluctance, Jesus places a charge on Nicodemus for not believing. Jesus puts the blame clearly on Nicodemus. ‘Nicodemus! You as the teacher of Israel, who knows the OT in its entirety, cannot understand that the prophets taught about spiritual rebirth? What I teach builds up on what the Prophets taught in the Old Testament. If anyone wants to see the Kingdom of God, it will take a divine miracle which can come only from God. That involves God Himself reaching into a person’s life and regenerating him/her, cleansing and purifying that person.’
John 3:11-12 - “Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?”
Here Jesus shows that people do not believe the gospel because they are ignorant. They do not want to believe because in v.11 He says, “but you do not receive our testimony” and then in v.12, “you do not believe”.
Nicodemus couldn’t or didn’t want to grasp Jesus’ teaching about the new birth that takes place in a person’s life on earth. Nicodemus wanted more insight into the spiritual things about the Kingdom of God but if he couldn’t understand the spiritual rebirth that takes place on earth, how then was he going to understand the deeper spiritual truths about the Kingdom of God in heaven? That’s why Jesus says to him, “If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?”
John 3:13 - “No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.”
Here, Jesus explains why he has the authority to speak about heavenly things. There are many stories and myths about saints who ascend into heaven from their earthly home and learn heaven’s deep truths and received special insights into God’s ways. There are so many world systems that say you do such and such a thing and then you can hear or see God. What people don’t realize is that we, humans are in the natural box, and human beings are in a delusion thinking that there is something they can do or say to experience or find God. That cannot happen because we are finite beings trapped in the box which has limits. God is infinite who is outside the box and He is the one who created the box. If we are to find God, God has to come into the box, into this natural world which limits us and He must reveal Himself to us. And that’s exactly what He did. “No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.”, John 3:13. With that one statement, people don’t realize, Jesus destroys all religious ideas and teachings. You cannot find God. We know about God, because He chose to reveal Himself through His Word and “in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things” (Hebrews 1:2). And so you need to believe Jesus.
John 3:14-15 - “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.”
From here, Jesus explains how this new birth becomes a reality for human beings, who would believe in the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. These verses are a veiled prophecy of what was going to happen to Jesus Christ.
What happened in the wilderness (Numbers 21) is parallel to what Jesus did on the cross.
Wilderness Event: While the Israelites were wandering in the wilderness, the people becoming impatient while they were going from Mount Hor to go around the land of Edom and they spoke against God and against Moses. And as a punishment, God sent fiery serpents among the people and when the people were bitten by them, many people died. They realized that they sinned and came to Moses to pray to the Lord so that He can take away these serpents. God told Moses to make a bronze serpent and to put it on a pole and instructed Moses that, “everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” Moses made the bronze serpent and Numbers 21:9 tells us, “And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.”
So the principle is this, if people who were bitten had to look at the bronze serpent, those people had to do two things. One, they have to believe that what they did was wrong, that is their sin caused the problem. And secondly, they had to believe that the serpent represented God’s healing power. Then, if they believed all that, their faith was put to the test BECAUSE the camp of the Israelites was huge. They had millions and millions of people. This pole with the bronze serpent would be in one location and wherever these people were, they had to crawl to where the serpent was SO that they could look at the serpent and be instantly healed.
Jesus was alluding to the same thing. If you want to be made whole, if you want to be regenerated, if you want to be healed and freed from the poison of “the ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan” (Revelations 12:9), first, you must believe that it was sin that distances yourself from God and second, you must believe that it is only Jesus’ finished work on the cross that provides instant healing in your life. That is the truth you must believe and accept. “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” So anyone who is poisoned by sin, can look at the Son of Man who is lifted up, that is Jesus Christ and in faith when he/she believes, they will be healed spiritually and instantly. And the gift of that healing is eternal life (v.15) which is not a quantity life but quality life.
That is the answer to unbelief. You have to believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who has the authority to take away the sins of the world for those who will believe and trust Him. You have to believe. True faith is putting your life in His hands.
John 3:16 - “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
Verse 14-15 flows into v.16 and what it is saying to us is this. That the Son of God had to be lifted up, that is, He had to die for the reason mentioned in v.16. “For God so loved the world”.
- What John is conveying here is that Jesus’ mission was the consequence of God’s love.
- The opening phrase says that God loved the world, not Israel. The Jews thought that the Messiah was only going to come for his people Israel BUT here Jesus says that God loved the world. God’s love transcends race.
- The words “so loved the world that He gave His only Son” emphasizes the intensity of his love AND specifies the greatness of His gift. The Father gave His best, his unique and beloved Son.
- God’s love should not be admired because He loves the world, which is big, being filled with billions of people, BUT it should be admired because the world is so bad and filled with evil people. People who have made themselves enemies to God, who rebel against God, who are weak. And God still sent His son, because He loved us, so that we may not face His wrath which is His just punishment for us sinners. “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.” Romans 5:6-10
And the following verses explains that the immediate result of God’s love was to send His only Son Jesus Christ into this world to offer salvation to those who believe in Him. And whoever believes in Him experiences a new birth (John 3:3, 5), has eternal life (John 3:15, 16) and is saved (John 3:17). But the alternative is to perish (John 10:28), to lose one’s life (John 12:25) and be doomed to destruction (John 17:12). There are no other options.
APPLICATIONS:
- For the unbelievers or unsaved, this is an invitation to know our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. An opportunity to commit your life to Him and allow Him to take control of your life. To regenerate your dying self with the help of the Holy Spirit and to make you a new creation, so that you can be made alive with Christ, so that by grace you can be saved through faith.
- God’s love transcends race, He didn’t come just for the His people, Israel. He came for the world. “For God so loved the world”. Jesus redefined the boundaries and expectations of God’s love.The same way we need to redefine the boundaries and focus of our Christian love. It needs to point outwards. From within the Church to the outside world. It needs to radiate out to the people who do not know the love of God. That’s what Jesus did. He came for the lost. “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” Matthew 9:12-13
The same we need to give to the unbelieving community, we need to show love to the outside world that is lost. We need to break away from our shell which involves our problems, our desires and our plans and serve God in the mission field, His vineyard. “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” Matthew 9:37-38. We shouldn’t just be happy receiving the good news of the kingdom and then be complacent where we are. We need to work in the mission field which could be anywhere, the workplace, or school etc. wherever God leads you.
- In his book, John develops a theology of love relations between the Father and the Son and makes it clear that, that love also applies to his disciples. The love of God is not the consequence of the love of human beings but the mere fact that God is love (1 John 4:16).
We see that the Father loves the Son (John 3:35; John 10:17; John 15:9-10; John 17:23-24, 26), the Son loves the Father (John 14:31) and Jesus loves His own, true disciples (John 11:5; John 13:1, John 33, John 34; John 14:21; John 15:9-10, John 12; 21:7, John 20). What is more is that John even talks about the the disciples loving one another (John 13:34-35; John 15:12-13, John17; John17:26).
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:34-35
Love must be the distinguishing mark of Jesus’ disciples. The Mosaic Law commands to love the Lord with all one’s powers and to love one’s neighbor as oneself (Lev. 19:18; cf. Deut. 6:5; Mark 12:28–33), BUT Jesus’ own love and teaching deepen and transform these commands. Jesus even taught love for one’s enemies (Matt. 5:43–48). The command to love one’s neighbor was not new; the newness was found in loving one another as Jesus had loved his disciples (cf. John 13:1; 15:13). In light of Jesus’ subsequent death and the love that He talked about, it implies we need a love that is even willing to lay down one’s life for another (see John 15:13).
If Jesus taught love for our enemies how much more we need to love our own family. For that kind of love how much we need to work to put aside our pride and the issues we have with each other, the same way God did. God had many issues with us. We crossed over the line with His commandments, we have rebelled against Him, we have taken the Lord’s name in vain, we have spoken against Him, we have missed the mark, we have practised sin. We are enemies to God. But still, “For this is how God loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” So is it too much for us to lay aside our differences and negativity, and our ill-feelings abs then, love all our brothers and sisters? We are to imitate Christ, “For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his footsteps.” 1 Peter 2:21.
As God’s children, are we following in His footsteps of love? Do we love everyone around us, the same way God so loved the world?