Chapter 3

An Expository Study of John’s Gospel
CHAPTER 3

Scripture Reading: John 3 (KJV)

THE REVELATION OF THE SON OF GOD TO ISRAEL

3:1-2 … “There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: The same came to Jesus by night …” This man, Nicodemus, is an unusual person. He was perhaps the most outstanding teacher in Israel, possibly the dean of teachers at that time. And, as we learn in this chapter, he was a sincere seeker of truth and worshipper of God. He had heard rumors about Jesus and may have seen some of His miracles. At least, he refers to them as if he had seen them and wants to know more about Jesus, paying Him a compliment, as he begins the conversation. We do not know why he came to the Lord at night. Some have said he did not want anyone to know he was going to have contact with Jesus. Or, perhaps he wanted a quite place to have a discussion with Jesus and not be interrupted by the mob. He may have desired a one on one discussion with Jesus. Perhaps he wanted to simply probe deeper to see if, in fact, Jesus was the Messiah. Let him make his own presentation.

3:2 … “... and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.” This is a wonderful admission. Actually, this is a mild confession of faith. He is saying, in effect, “I don't believe anyone can do what You have been doing unless God was with him. I have seen what You are doing and I believe You are a teacher come from God.” Believing that much about Him, he wants to know more. Nicodemus is not like the people who saw the miracles of the Lord and decided, because they were apparently entertained and excited by them, to follow Him. Nicodemus has grasped a fundamental truth and uses it as a basis for approaching the Lord.

3:3 … “Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily …” The Lord frequently says, “Verily, verily.” It means, “let me now tell you sincerely.” Or as we might say, “I'll tell you the truth for sure.” “… I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” It is understandable why this might, at first, confuse Nicodemus. He is a grown man, seasoned and well established as a teacher in Israel, and the Lord begins by talking about being born again, before one can see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus reflects how strange this statement from Jesus was to him:

3:4 … “Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?” He was taking Jesus literally. It seems he might have felt hesitation before saying what he did to Jesus. Both he and Jesus knew that one could not physically be born again. But, being a teacher in Israel, he should have assumed that, though the Lord may have said something he did not fully understand, He could have been alluring to the fact that a man who is already set in his way would have to have his whole sense of approach to life changed in order to see the kingdom of heaven. If Nicodemus had been thoughtful he might have said, “For a man to go back and start over in his physical, emotional, mental and spiritual development, is about as impossible as being physically born again.”

3:5 … “Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” Probably this teacher in Israel knew that being born of water would have something to do with cleansing; with baptism, which the Jews exercised upon the non-Jew coming into the Jewish faith. But, even though Nicodemus was a Pharisee of Pharisees and the teaching Rabbi, still he wondered what Jesus meant, when He said, “born of water and of the Spirit.”

3:6 … “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” Nicodemus should have had a hint that Jesus was not talking about a fleshly birth or simply being immersed in water, but about being born out of water and by the Spirit.

3:7, 8 … “Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.” Like the wind, this is not obvious to the eye, it cannot be seen. When the wind blows strongly, it is easy to know it is present, but we still do not know where it comes from or where it goes. Jesus is saying those born of the Spirit are like that; cannot be determined by human observation or inspection.

3:9-12 … “Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?” Jesus actually says to him, “Art thou THE master (teacher) of Israel, and understaneth not these things?” Jesus continues, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness.” Jesus is evidently referring to Himself and His disciples. “If I told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?” In other words, Jesus is saying, “I’ve used earthly experiences to inform you and if you cannot understand this then how are you going to believe if I leave the earthly and go into the spiritual realm?” He was talking to a man who for a life time had studied about God working through His prophets. Nicodemus knew that David, Elijah and others were inspired. Why did he have trouble accepting Jesus as inspired? Why did he have trouble accepting that people must undergo an inspired experience to enter the kingdom of God?

3:13 … “And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven which is in heaven.” This, too, confused Nicodemus. He could not understand how Jesus could, at the same time, be both Son of Man and Son of God – in heaven while on earth!

3:14, 15 … “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.” Now, the Lord has concluded His interview with Nicodemus; the first of three interviews with three very different people. He has one statement to make before His meeting with Nicodemus officially concludes. Jesus has been talking about wind blowing where it listeth, and that we do not know where it comes from or where it goes, and so is everyone born of the Spirit. In effect, the Lord said to Nicodemus, “There are many invisible things you must accept by faith, but, if you have not understood the things of earth I have explained to you, how do you expect to understand the invisible?” Then in verse 14, The Lord reminds him that the people of Israel once departed from the Lord and God gave them a great number of serpents that bit them. Those bitten died, because there was no antidote. So, God told Moses to make a brass serpent and lift it up so the people could see it. If they would look in belief, in faith, upon the brass serpent, He would heal their snake bite. The brass serpent was made at God's command. It was a symbol of God’s condemnation of those who rebelled against Him. If people came to it and looked to it in faith, for relief from their condemnation, He would grant it. Lifting up of the brass serpent was a preview of Jesus lifted up on the cross. The Greek word for “lifted up” appears only 4 times in all the Scriptures, always relating to Christ being “lifted up” on the cross and they are all in the Gospel of John. Jesus, in effect, said you will have to let that burn into your memory, Nicodemus, and in days to come it will have meaning for you. And, later in the Gospel of John, Nicodemus intervenes for Him before the Sanhedrin and has a part in the burial of Jesus. But Nicodemus does not indicate here whether or not he accepts the Lord or what his response to Him will be. There is a possibility that beginning with verse 16, we have the commentary of the writer, John, instead of the continuing discourse of the Lord. Up to verse 16, Jesus has been referring to God as Father, while verse 16 says, “For God so loved the world” which perhaps may suggest that John, by inspiration, begins now presenting his own commentary, but, it may be the Lord continuing, we cannot be certain. In either case, whether it is the Lord continuing or John giving his comments, it is inspired and has the same impact.

3:16 … “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perrish, but have everlasting life.” Probably, this is the best known verse in Scripture. God loved us and we know about it only because of what it motivated Him to do. If we love God the world will know about it only by what it motivates us to do. The same is true of our faith. Faith that does not respond in ways that can be verified is not true Biblical faith. When someone talks about faith plus works, it is clear they do not understand. There is no such thing as faith plus works. It is faith that works or dead faith (as James says). If our faith is working, it is doing exactly what it was designed to do, because working is a part of faith. God loved and He gave. His grace has provided us all things needed for salvation. “God so loved the world.” The word “so” means, “He loved it to this extent;” to the extent “that he gave his only begotten Son.” We might think that God being God and His Son being a Spirit Being, assuming a human body for a time and living among us was not as much of a sacrifice as one of us giving up a son for a cause. But it was. Jesus did not deserve to suffer. In His true nature there was no reason for Him to suffer. He was beyond suffering. But He laid aside His heavenly glory, His heavenly form, and put on the body of a man, and He became absolutely man, with every sentiment, every feeling, and every nerve, with everything we feel. In Spirit, He was altogether God. But, in His visible nature He was altogether man. It was not easy for God to observe Jesus humiliated, slapped, spit upon, beaten, and nailed to a cross. This is an expression of how much God loves us. How sad, when Christians say, “Do I have to do this and that? What do I have to do?” There is nothing we might do that even touches the fringe of responsibility we have to Him, for what He did for us. Think of the horrors of hell. Jesus Christ snatched us away from hell and we do not have to experience any part of it. We were destined to live under God's wrath for the rest of our days on earth, but He relieved that. Now we do not have to live under God’s wrath. We can now live under His grace, mercy, and love; enjoying every benefit He can bestow on us, which we can use to His glory and our well being. This is what Christ dying on the cross means to each of us. We will never understand it. It is beyond our comprehension. “That whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” Some water down “believe in Him” until it means to only acknowledge in our mind that this is true. And the minute we do, we are saved. Some preachers teach that all one has to do is mentally acknowledge that Jesus came down from heaven and died on the cross, and that saves us. This is a disservice to God. God vested His whole Being in His Son and gave Him to us and He wants us to vest our whole being by surrendering to Him. On no less term will He accept us. God did not give us things. He gave us Himself. And in return, He does not want things from us; not money or anything we possess, only ourselves. When we give God ourselves, we have given Him everything. God has given us all He had in return for all we have – for ourselves. What an exchange. In exchange for God's goodness and holiness, what is our little gift? What is our sinful life worth in exchange? Furthermore, when God gave us His Son we were His enemies; reeking with sin; and He made us pure and fit to have fellowship with Him. Believing means committing ourselves, heart, soul, mind, body; all that we have, to Him. This is the only way to reach eternal life. Even then we cannot say we have earned salvation; it will always be a gift from God. Occasionally, the newspaper will report about someone winning a house worth thousands of dollars. The winner must pay the tax. Has the winner earned the house by paying the tax? By paying the tax, has the winner bought the house? Certainly not. The winner has given only a token of appreciation to the government under which he lives and which protects him and provides benefits. The winner pays the tax because he has won a nice gift. To the winner, it remains a gift even though he pays the tax. All we might give the Lord will not cover the tax, much less be compensation to Him for what He has done for us. When we give ourselves to God, He actually takes nothing and turns it into something. He has to do this before He has anything.

3:17, 18 … “For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world . . .” That would, as an incidental to His coming, take place. But, it was not the chief reason for which Jesus was sent. We have already learned why He was sent – to save and not to judge. “. . . but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” Anyone who is capable but does not accept Jesus Christ as Lord is already judged; already doomed. This is not a “sealed” doom, but until that person accepts Jesus, as God’s Son and Savior, it is a “continuing” doom. If we have accepted Christ we do not have to wait until God pronounces judgment on the world to know the outcome. The judgment was pronounced when His Son came to earth as Savior. Savior argues for the pre-existence of sin. If there had been no sin, there would have been no need for a Savior. The fact that we needed a Savior of the magnitude of Jesus meant sin was of that magnitude. Here is the beautiful part: when we truly believe on the Lord, surrendering our lives to Him, we have also been judged. But, we did it ourselves.

Judging ourselves
When, in our unredeemed life, we confront the Lord for the first time and see Who He is and what we are and need to be, we judge ourselves unworthy of fellowship with Him. At this point we judge ourselves. We say, “Lord, I don't like my life. I want my sinful life to die. I want to live the life Christ will give me when I have fellowship with His death, burial and resurrection.” As Christians, we have judged ourselves and if that judgment has been adequate and if we have, wholeheartedly and without reservation, given ourselves to the Lord, then we will never be judged again. A Christian will never again die or be judged. A Christian, when assembled at the Lord’s right hand, will hear words like, “Enter ye into the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world! Come, ye blessed of my Father!” But to those on His other hand, what a sad, sad story; because they will hear words like, “Depart from me into the hell prepared for the devil and his angels!” If this is the kind of life we are living and if we continue to refuse redemption, we will be doomed for eternity. We can also be redeemed and later become “re-doomed.” Peter tells us this latter state is worse then the first. We will be no more lost than before, but we can become lost after being enlightened and redeemed. Furthermore, the Word of God teaches us that the chance of one ever being “re-redeemed” is unlikely. How wonderful it would be if everyone of us could be convinced that if we have not accepted Jesus as Lord we do not have hope in this world or the one to come.

3:19-21 … “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.” How we feel toward the Lord and His enlightenment is determined by the quality of our own lifestyle. If we love the Lord, we love the truth. We love having our shortcomings exposed by the truth so that we can eliminate the exposed wrongs. If we hate the truth; refusing to hear and obey it, in all of its forcefulness, then something is wrong in our lives. If we do not change, we can be assured that one day the Lord will be our Judge. We need to change. That is why the light of truth is a search light, helping us see ourselves in the light of God’s will. Preaching is not an easy task. While it does have joys, it also has grief. Sometimes the preacher comes to know and love people who, when exposed to the light of God’s truth, say, by their actions, “I don't want it. I will not accept it.” That becomes a deeply felt pain because it is the devoted purpose of a preacher’s life to bring the lost to Jesus Christ. It is like making something; designing it at great expense and loving care; when finished, will not work – a failure. Often a preacher feels like a failure because he is unable to make it work. An everlasting soul has been confronted by the light of God’s Word, in love, kindness and compassion, and rejected it. But thanks be to God that while there is life, hope prevails. Each of us needs to be aware of how we feel about every aspect of God’s truth. Is it enlightening; comforting; reassuring; sweeter than honey; sweeter than the droppings of honeycomb? How often do we pursue it on our own? Jesus teaches us that if we abide in Him, letting His Word abide in us, we can be His disciples. Does His Word abide in us? Do we abide in His Word? Are we conscious of His Word every day? The Lord wants us to consider this everyday. He wants to be foremost in our thoughts; in our concern; in our love; and in our lives. He will not accept any other place. He demands the place of preeminence. Not because He has some giant ego, but because He knows that is the only way we can be saved. Every command of God is filled with love. God does not order arbitrary commands. He wants us to obey His Word, because it is good for us. It shows us the kind of life we must live to have fellowship with God. Heaven is where God’s fellowship pervades and if we do not find joy obeying His will on earth, how could we ever be joyful or feel comfortable in heaven? So, if we do not change while living on this earth, we simply will not be there. How much do we want to go to heaven? We cannot love God enough to be saved, unless we hate sin too much to be lost.

3:22, 23 … “After these things came Jesus and his disciples into the land of Judaea; and there he tarried with them, and baptized.” We will find later that Jesus did not personally baptize, but His disciples did. “And John also was baptizing in Aenon near to Salim, because there was much water there: and they came, and were baptized.” If this was the only verse in the Bible that referred to baptism, we would know that the Lord’s baptism took much water. It does not take “much water” to sprinkle or pour. The Word of God teaches that the Lord’s baptism was a burial and these verses are consistent with everything said earlier by Jesus in the 3^rd chapter of John; by Paul in Romans 6; Galatians 3; and by Peter in 1 Peter 3. It is the same throughout God’s Word. If we are serious about truth we can easily find it.

3:24-30 … “For John was not yet cast into prison. Then there arose a question between some of John’s disciples and the Jews about purifying. And they came unto John, and said unto him, Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou barest witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and all men come to him. John answered and said, A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven. Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him. He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled. He must increased, but I must decrease.” John was a humble man. He knew that he was a forerunner and not the object of the world’s concern. He was not the one prophesied to come and redeem the world to God. He was to prepare the way for Him. He was not jealous, envious or humiliated that he was lower in rank. John the baptizer did a great job introducing people to Jesus because of his wonderful spirit. Jesus will later say that of all men born of women there has never arisen a greater than John. He fulfilled his role well. That is all God wants from anyone. If we have ten talents, five, two, or one, it does not matter, because God will not judge us on the basis of a standard we cannot meet. He will, however, judge us on the basis of the endowments He has given us. If they are high, then His judgment will be high. If they are low, His judgment will be low. God’s judgment will be in proportion to our ability and talent. John was judged in proportion to his talent and he used what he was given well, even though it was far less than our blessed Lord.

3:31, 32 … “He that cometh from above is above all: he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth: he that cometh from heaven is above all. And what he has seen and heard, that he testifieth; and no man receiveth his testimony.” He did not mean literally, none, but the majority of people who heard the Lord did not receive Him. Most of those to whom the Lord preached, did not accept His preaching. Likewise, a preacher today should not expect every person to receive his message and love him as God’s messenger – people did not do that for the Lord Himself.

3:33-34 … “He that hath received his testimony hath set to his seal that God is true. For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him.” Some say, “There is no measure of the Spirit.” But, there has to be some measure of the Spirit or John would not have said, “for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him.” God gave Jesus the Spirit without measure. There was nothing that God in heaven could do that Jesus on earth could not do. Jesus later says in John’s Gospel that nobody is going to take My life. Did they kill Jesus on the cross? No; Jesus was not slain. Men sought to slay Him and they thought they splayed Him, but He, alone, had the power to lay down His life and the power to take it up again, and that is exactly what He did. He was not subject to man’s extermination. Man and the devil did everything possible to kill Him, but because they were dealing with God, they did not succeed. These verses teach us that Jesus came from heaven, knowing all things in heaven, and is the only One with the message we need to hear and obey.

3:34-36 … Consider again v. 34, “For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him. The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.” Here John equates believing on Christ and obeying Him. “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life”, “and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life but the wrath of God abideth on him.” So, believing and obeying Him are one in the same. We do not truly believe if we do not obey. Likewise, if we do not obey, we certainly do not believe. Some are not able to separate, from man’s point of view, man’s good deeds – done in man’s name, for man’s own reason – from the things God wants us to do. A child of God can give a cup of cool water to a stranger and have more approval from God than a man of the world receives from God if he gives a million dollars. There is no gift a man can give because he is a man, even if he is kind, compassionate, tender and loving, that is praised by God, because worldly men have no standing in heaven. For a rich man to do something for a poor man, one man helping another man without giving the glory to God, is about the same as a farmer slopping his pigs. It has no eternal consequences, because it has no eternal motivation – God receives no glory. God created the rich man and gave him his money. His riches are not his. Who is he to think he can earn something by taking God’s own possession, loaned to the rich man for a while on this earth (expending it without giving God the glory), and then expect God to approve of it? This is why Jesus told us that an evil tree cannot bring forth good fruit. And, a good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit. God tells us that if we belong to Him, everything we do, however small, will not be overlooked in heaven. It is recorded somewhere in the Lamb’s Book of Life. Not because it has merit, but because it is a loving response to love – a loving, faithful response to grace. This is what gives it value, certainly not merit. Today Satan abides under the wrath of God, and he wants us to be where he is, forever. Hell was made for the devil and his angels and their doom is set and cannot be overturned. They will spend eternity under God’s wrath. We have the choice of joining them or the angels around God’s throne. This is the meaning of the Gospel. That is why we have the Gospel according to John.