John 3:1-15

John 3:1-15 Jesus talks with Nicodemus about being born again from above

It would be helpful to read this passage in the light of the final verses of the previous chapter.  Some people came to believe in Jesus because of the signs he was doing in Jerusalem, but Jesus did not trust their newfound faith, which may have been a shallow response to his miracles rather than being a deep-seated change of heart.

One of the Jewish leaders now comes to Jesus.  He has not rejected Jesus the way other Jewish leaders have, but he also has not jumped to faith based on Jesus’s signs.  He has questions.

Nicodemus is described in 2 different ways in verse 1 and in a third way in verse 10.  What are told about Nicodemus?

Verse 1 tells us that Nicodemus is (1) a Pharisee and (2) a “ruler” (in most translations) or “leader” (NRSV) of the Jews.  Verse 10 tells us he is a teacher.  A “ruler” probably means a member of the Sanhedrin, the 71-member Jewish council that enforced Jewish religious law and also had political power under the Roman authorities.  The Sanhedrin included the chief priests and the elders of Jerusalem’s leading families, and its members included both Pharisees and Sadducees.  The Pharisees were committed to a zealous adherence to the entire Jewish law and the interpretations of it that had developed over the centuries.  The Sadducees believed only what was stated in the Torah (the first 5 books of our Old Testament) and took a less rigorous approach to religious practices.

Why do you think Nicodemus comes to see Jesus?  Is he like the “come and see” disciples who check out Jesus in chapter 1?

In verse 2, John tells us that Nicodemus came to Jesus at night.  On a practical level, why might he have come at night?  And what symbolism might be suggested in the image of Nicodemus coming at night?

He may be afraid to be found out by those who oppose Jesus.  Symbolically, he is in spiritual darkness and has not yet received the light of Christ.  This fits with something Jesus will say later in the chapter when he contrasts those who come into the light from those who don’t (John 3:19-21).

In verse 2, how does Nicodemus describe Jesus?

In verse 3, Jesus shifts the conversation.  What does he say?

John here tells another story where someone misunderstands Jesus.  The misunderstanding begins with the Greek word that follows the word “born.”  That word can mean “from above” or “again.”  Which way does your translation of the Bible translate that word?

The NRSV and the NABRE choose the translation “from above.”  Most other translations follow the King James Bible in using “again,” although some translations say “anew.”

Some of our modern translations say “born again,” and some say “born from above.”  What does Nicodemus think Jesus is saying, and what does Jesus actually mean?

After Nicodemus shows that he doesn’t understand, Jesus tries again.  Jesus provides a little more explanation in verse 5.  What does he say?

He says we must be born of water and spirit (or Spirit – the Greeks at that time did not have separate letters for lower case and upper case, so we must make our best interpretation).

There is significant disagreement across the various Christian traditions as to how to interpret this verse.

• The Catholic Church sees here a clear reference to the sacrament of Baptism, where people are born of water and the Spirit in a single event: one baptism that involves both a physical washing by water and a reception of the Holy Spirit.  This understanding extends back to the early church.  Justin Martyr, writing around AD 155-157, cited John 3:3-4 in explaining the Church’s baptismal practices (Justin, par. 61).

• The Orthodox, Anglican, and Lutheran Churches also have historical positions that are compatible with a sacramental view of this verse.

• Many evangelicals reject the idea that this verse is referring to sacramental baptism and believe that these words refer to the cleansing and spiritual regeneration that occurs when a person makes a profession of faith.  They point to other passages of Scripture such as Romans 10:9 for their understanding of spiritual regeneration.

• A minority position is that the baptism of water is a reference to our natural birth at the beginning of our lives, but it would have been trite for Jesus to say that a condition of entering the kingdom of God is that you must have been born physically.  The fact that Jesus identified water and spirit suggests that he was thinking of something more when he referred to water.  Moreover, the Greek phrasing suggests that “water and spirit” are not separate but go together, because in the Greek there is no “the” before “spirit”: the phrase is “water and spirit.”

Ezekiel 36:25–27 talks about water and spirit in a way that supports the idea that there is a spiritual transformation that involves both water and spirit in one action of God.

What does it mean to you to be “born again”?

What does it mean to you to be born of water and the Spirit?

In Nicodemus’s mind, to become a child of God, you must be born of a Jewish mother.  Jesus is redefining what it means to be a child of God.

In verse 7, the first “you” is singular – talking to Nicodemus – but the second “you” is plural: “You all must be born again/from above.”  Jesus is not just saying that Nicodemus must be born again/from above, he is saying this to everyone.

Regardless of whether you interpret this passage sacramentally or as referring to a spiritual regeneration that comes with a profession of faith, it needs to be lived out on an ongoing basis.  What does a life that is born again or born from above look like?

Jesus refers to “the kingdom of God” in both verse 3 and in verse 5.  This is the only place that phrase appears in the Gospel of John.  It appears more regularly in the Synoptic Gospels.

In verse 3, Jesus says we need to be born again or from above to “see the kingdom of God,” and in verse 5, he says we need to do this to “enter the kingdom of God.”  So being born again or from above is the process or step that allows us to see or enter the kingdom of God.  What do you think Jesus means by “the kingdom of God”?

What do you think it means to see or enter the kingdom of God?

Jesus makes a pun in verse 8 that is not obvious to us in English.  In both Hebrew and Greek, there is one word that means both “wind” and “spirit” (John uses the Greek word pneuma).   Jesus says the pneuma blows and you hear it, referring to wind.  And he says we are born of the pneuma, by which he means the Spirit.  Jesus says that we don’t know where the wind comes from or goes, but we are able to perceive that it is there; and he says that people who are born of the Spirit have a similar experience.  How are they similar?

We can’t see the Holy Spirit, but we see the effects of the Spirit.

In what ways do you perceive the presence of the Holy Spirit even though you cannot see him?

Nicodemus still does not understand what Jesus is saying, and Jesus chides him in verse 10 for not understanding even though he is a teacher.  Nicodemus then disappears from the story, though he will return later (John 7:50) and will eventually do a courageous good deed (John 19:39).

The “we” in verse 11 may refer to Jesus and John the Baptist, though it also could be the author’s view of the contrast between the Christian community and the Jews around it.

The second “you” in verse 11 and all the instances of “you” in verse 12 are plural.  Jesus is now speaking not just to Nicodemus but to anyone who has not put their faith in him.

In verse 13, what does Jesus say about the Son of Man?

He descended from heaven and will ascend to heaven.  This description of the Son of Man makes it more clear than in the Synoptic Gospels that the “Son of Man” is a heavenly person, not just a human.

How important to you is it that Jesus came down from heaven and returned to heaven, and why?

Verses 14-15 refer to an incident from the Old Testament involving Moses.  John has already suggested that Jesus is greater than Moses (1:17).  Let’s see what he is talking about here.

Read Numbers 21:4-9.

Why do you think Moses hangs the bronze serpent on a pole?

This allows him to lift it up for people to see, even from a distance.

Look at John 3:14.  John does not explain here what “lifted up” means (he will make it clearer later in his Gospel), but we know what it means, as did John’s readers.  What does Jesus mean when he says that he will be lifted up?

Jesus will be lifted up on the cross in his Crucifixion.  He will also be lifted up from the grave in his Resurrection and lifted into heaven at his Ascension.

The bronze serpent that Moses lifted up in the desert gave life to people who otherwise would have died of a snake bite.  According to John 3:15, what does Jesus being lifted up do?

Ironically, the bronze serpent eventually became an idol and King Hezekiah ultimately destroyed it in 2 Kings 18:4.

Satan appeared as a snake in the Garden of Eden to tempt Adam and Eve.  Genesis 3:15 says that the snake will continue to strike at the heel of Eve’s offspring.  In Numbers, snakes were biting the Israelites in the desert.  If we interpret the story in Numbers as an allegory, the snakes that were biting the people might represent Satan, and the bronze serpent that was lifted up represents Jesus.  How does Jesus’s action of being lifted up protect us from the deadly attacks of Satan?

How is Jesus in chapter 3 calling us to a deep-seated change and not just to a single moment of faith?

Take a step back and consider this:

Although churches that believe in sacramental Baptism see it as a one-time event, and churches that focus on a profession of faith only expect you to make that profession once, they all agree that faith is about more than a single moment.  Faith is an ongoing process of conforming yourself more and more fully to the person of Jesus.

How can you live your life in a way that more fully reflects your status as a person who has been born again, born from above, born of water and the Spirit?