The Word Made Fresh
1Nicodemus, a Pharisee and leader of the Jews, 2came to Jesus at night. He said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher sent by God, because no one can do the things you do unless God is with them.”
3Jesus said, “The truth, I tell you, is that no one can see the kingdom of God unless they have been born anew.”
4Nicodemus asked him, “How can anyone be born anew when they are old? Can you enter a mother’s womb and be born a second time?”
5Jesus said, “The truth is that no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they have been born of water and the Spirit. 6Flesh gives birth to flesh and Spirit gives birth to Spirit. 7Don’t be surprised when I say you must be born anew. 8The wind blows wherever it chooses, and you can hear it, but you don’t know where it comes from or where it’s going. That’s how it is with those who are born of the Spirit.”
9“How can this be so?” Nicodemus asked.
10Jesus replied, “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet don’t understand this? 11The truth is that we talk about what we know, based on what we have seen, but none of you pay any attention to us. 12If you don’t believe what I tell you about earthly things, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 13No one has ever gone up into heaven except the one who came down from heaven – the Son of Man. 14But, just as Moses raised up the snake in the desert, the Son of Man must be raised up, 15so that anyone who believes in him may live forever. 16God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not die, but have eternal life. 17God didn’t send the Son to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. 18Those who believe in the Son will not be condemned. Those who don’t believe are condemned already because they don’t believe in the name of God’s only Son. 19Although the light has come into the world, the judgment is that people loved darkness rather than light, and that is why they do evil things. 20Those who do evil hate the light and refuse to come to it lest their deeds be exposed. 21But those who live truly will come to the light, and it will be clearly seen that they have obeyed God.”
22After this Jesus went with his disciples into the countryside of Judea where he spent some time with them and was baptizing people. 23John was still baptizing at Aenon near Salim where there was plenty of water, and people were coming to be baptized by him – 24he had not yet been imprisoned.
25A discussion arose between some Jews and John’s disciples about being purified. 26They told John, “Rabbi, the man of whom you testified is baptizing across the Jordan, and people are flocking to him.”
27John answered “No one receives anything except what has come to them from heaven. 28You have heard me say that I am not the Messiah, but that I have been sent ahead of him. 29The bridegroom is the one who has the bride. The bridegroom’s friend, who stands with him and hears him, rejoices at his voice. That is why my joy is filled to the fullest. 30And now he must become known, and I must be forgotten, 31for the one who comes from above is above all. The one who belongs to the earth speaks only of earthly things. The one who comes from heaven is above all, 32and he tells what he has seen and heard, but no one believes him. 33Whoever does believe what he says is convinced that God is true. 34And the one God has sent speaks God’s words because God gives him the Spirit without measure. 35The Father loves the Son and has put everything in his hands. 36Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever rejects the Son will have to endure God’s anger, and will not see life.”
Commentary
1-10: Nicodemus is called a “leader of the Jews.” He is a key character in John’s gospel, but unmentioned anywhere else in the Bible. He is a member of the Sanhedrin, the ruling body, and later we will find him defending Jesus in that assembly (7:50). Furthermore, he and Joseph of Arimathea together will bury Jesus (19:38-40). He comes to Jesus by night, indicating that he is personally intrigued by Jesus but does not want his colleagues to know that he is. He refers to “signs” that Jesus has done. Jesus, however, wants to use the occasion to make sure Nicodemus understands that the kingdom of God is not something controlled by the Sanhedrin, but by the Spirit. Nicodemus is probably a Pharisee because he tends to take everything literally, including the Law (see again 7:50). He doesn’t understand what Jesus means by being born again. When Jesus explains the necessity of being born of the Spirit in addition to water (but does he mean the water of the womb, or the water of baptism?), Nicodemus can’t quite grasp the concept and Jesus chides him for his thick-headedness.
11-15: Nicodemus disappears from the conversation at this point. Jesus continues his teaching, however, and it seems clear that his words about the “Son of Man” and being “lifted up” are directed at future readers of the gospel.
16: Perhaps the best-known and most often quoted verse in the gospel, this saying of Jesus forms the centerpiece of John’s understanding of who Jesus is and why he came and what the outcome of faith in him will be.
17-18: The importance of faith in the Son is clearly stated; it is the difference between condemnation and salvation.
19-21: Jesus’ words here recall the beginning of the gospel where light and darkness are first mentioned as overarching symbols of good and evil.
22-24: The place names here have not been clearly identified. The best guess is that “Aenon” means “springs” or “fountains” and that “Salim” is a village on the west side of the Jordan River about halfway between the river and the city of Samaria. John has thus moved further north, and Jesus and his disciples are in Judea baptizing (we are told later that his disciples were doing the baptizing, not Jesus himself — 4:2).
25-30: The Jews are still interested in John and his baptizing operation, and so are naturally curious that Jesus should be giving the impression of having usurped John’s authority to do the same. John will have none of that, but tells them that he is happy to hear about Jesus’ activities. He has already averred that he is not the Messiah, but merely a “friend of the bridegroom” who rejoices when the bridegroom arrives. From now on, he says, Jesus will become more and more important and he less and less.
31-36: Jesus has come “from above,” he says, and those who accept him will be rewarded with eternal life, while those who reject him “must endure God’s wrath.”
Takeaway
Faith is the abiding belief that God is in charge. It doesn’t mean that we will be sheltered from every disappointment and danger that must be faced, but that we will be given the strength and grace to face it.