Reflection on John 3

John 3 first records Jesus' one-on-one conversation with "a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council." He was probably a wealthy and influential religious teacher. The Gospel stresses the fact that, "he came to Jesus at night". He came privately and secretly, perhaps unwilling to compromise his position in the Jewish national ruling council. Or maybe a long, undisturbed session with Jesus had been his desire. Years later, the Gospel of John records that this secret visitor Nicodemus publicly defended Jesus in front of the same council. The conversation caused Nicodemus' change in his attitude towards Jesus. And after Jesus was crucified, "Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds" which was a big cost, accompanied Joseph of Arimathea to take Jesus' body to bury.
The conversation that led to Nicodemus' conversion was started by him. He said very politely, "Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him." He honored Jesus with the title "Rabbi" even when Jesus would not be qualified as one by Jewish traditional standard. He sincerely believes Jesus to be a teacher from God, but he was not convinced Jesus was the Messiah. He used "we" instead "I", which confessed that most of the council members could not deny the miracles Jesus performed as signs of God's power given to Jesus, but they couldn't recognize Jesus was the source of His own divine power. Beneath Nicodemus' polite statement lies a basic question, "Who are you, Jesus?" If you have the same question, follow Nicodemus' example and ask Jesus. The best person to ask is Jesus Himself. Jesus answered all the questions you want to ask Him now and later in one book which is the Bible. There is no need and no way to go anywhere else to find the answers.
Jesus did not answer Nicodemus' question immediately because Nicodemus couldn't understand the answer yet. Jesus knows that all Nicodemus' knowledge, morality and social position were not adequate enough for him to understand the true answer to his own question. Jesus first pointed to what Nicodemus needed. Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again." Probably Nicodemus had never questioned whether he had a place in the kingdom of God because he was circumcised when he was only eight days old, a mark of belonging to God's people. The majority of Israelites believed that the circumcision plus external conformity to the law would reserve a place for them in the kingdom of God. Now Jesus plainly told him that he could not even "see the kingdom of God", much less enter it unless "he is born again".
Nicodemus was shocked, he asked, "How can a man be born again when he is old?" Perhaps his question hinted at years of regrets, wrong desires, secret sins, and his longing to change, to start over again. He didn't know how to and he was frustrated. He continued, "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!" He himself denied the physical possibility. Of course, our Lord Jesus did not talk about physical possibility. Jesus obviously talked about "born again" spiritually.
Jesus is merciful and gracious. To make Nicodemus to realize his spiritual blindness, Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, 'you must be born again.'" This time Jesus made it very clear that the "born again" He was talking about meant spiritual one, "born of water and the Spirit." To be "born again" is a change so complete that it is a new birth to be born from above, to be born of the cleansing, life-giving power of God's Word which is pictured by water, to be born of the Holy Spirit who enters and permanently indwells each believer. This "born again" has nothing to do with natural birth. Even if Nicodemus managed to enter his mother's womb and come out again, it is not "born again". Even if he started over physically, he would still be a sinner. "Flesh" speaks of all that a person is naturally, apart from the new life created when Christ through the Holy Spirit indwells his or her heart. No one has the inherent privilege to "enter the kingdom of God" unless "born again" by divine power.
To help Nicodemus to realize "born again" is a divine mystery but also a divine fact, as real an experience as feeling a cool breeze on a hot day, Jesus said, "The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit." No one can tell if others feel the gentle breeze or not. But they have no trouble to tell for themselves. It is very simple. This simple illustration made Nicodemus anxious because he didn't feel it. With all his vast knowledge of the Scripture, many promises of the new birth and gift of the Holy Spirit should have come to his mind, like Isaiah 44, Jeremiah 31, Ezekiel 36, etc. But this didn't happen. Probably in the past, he chose to shut his mind to a truth that made him uncomfortable because it called for him to repent from his heart. Now he poured out his question to the Lord, "How can this be?" Regardless our education level, moral standard, social privilege, if we are uncertain about new birth, or have not experienced it as a cool breeze, why not pour out our question to God like Nicodemus did? In our spiritual darkness, this is the best way to come to light.
Jesus said, "You are Israel's teacher, and do you not understand these things?" Jesus rebuked Nicodemus because he was spiritually ignorant, but also reminded him to dig deeper in Scripture, to tie the Scripture with what the Lord just said and about to say, "I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony." The plural "we" includes not only the Trinity, but also John the Baptist, and those who believed in Jesus and witnessed for Him. "You people", Nicodemus and other members of the council were responsible for their ignorance. Now Nicodemus had a lot to think about with the Scripture he already knew.
Jesus continued to help Nicodemus to go beyond merely recognizing Him as a teacher sent from God, but to acknowledge He is the divine authority Himself. Jesus said, "I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven-the Son of Man." Jesus told Nicodemus who He is. He is "from heaven", "the Son of Man". Then Jesus prepared Nicodemus for the tremendous revelation of the redemptive work of the cross. To help Nicodemus understand later how His death on the cross would bring salvation and eternal life, Jesus referred to a well known event in Israel's early history. "Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life." God promised to heal anyone who, bitten by a snake, looked on the brass snake lifted up on a pole. Jesus would be lifted up on the cross. God promised that when we look by faith at Jesus, Son of God and Son of Man, bearing both our sin and its punishment on the cross, we receive eternal life.
John 3:16 is the most quoted verse, "For God so loved the world that he gave His one and only Son, that whoever believe in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." Out of His great love, God chose to save sinners from judgment. God willingly gave His Son to suffer for us. "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him." But until we receive God's love by faith in His gift of His Son, we are all perishing. So "whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son." Today, people often laugh at hell as though it doesn't exist. Laughter cannot change reality. Jesus warns of hell even more than He speaks of heaven. Unless we believe and receive trustingly from God this gift of salvation through Jesus Christ, there is no doubt we will perish. Just as pictures of heaven's golden streets describe beauty and blessing greater than we can imagine, so the reality behind pictures of hell's sulfur fire must be far worse than we can comprehend now. It is deadly dangerous to ignore the reality of the eternal punishment.
Then Jesus told Nicodemus and anyone else of their personal responsibility. The true moral state of our heart and mind is judged by the attitude we take toward Jesus and toward the Bible, which reveals Him. "This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed." We were or are people who refused or refuse to come to Jesus because we didn't or don't want our sin exposed. Do not need to fear, because Jesus can deliver us from our deep-rooted sin, however much it had or has wrapped it's cords around us. Do we want Him to do this for us? We need to come to Him to confess that we are sinners and unable to save ourselves, unable to understand God's love. This is the proof that we truly seek Him in our brokenness, like Nicodemus did.
The second part of John 3 is mainly John the Baptist's testimony about Jesus. At that time, Jesus and His disciples were doing ministry near where John the Baptist and his followers doing their ministry. John the Baptist was continuing baptize people with water, to help people to realize their sin, to point them to Jesus for final solution. People began to leave John the Baptist and go to Jesus. This upset John's loyal disciples. They probably thought that Jesus was just another teacher, like Nicodemus thought. So they couldn't help but complained to John, "Rabbi ... everyone is going to him."
A friendly sympathetic suggestion of unjust treatment can be the worst possible thing. It causes us to feel sorry for ourselves, nourish bitterness and envy. John the Baptist resisted the temptation to self-pity, bitterness and envy. Because he knew who Jesus is and who he is. He understood there was no comparison between Jesus and Himself. He also understood his disciples didn't understand who Jesus is. His followers didn't learn the lesson he taught them. He needed to teach them more.
John taught them, "A man can receive only what is given him from heaven." He was content with the work God had given him. He asked his disciples to stop fighting for the position they thought he should have or they should have, but yield to God's good and perfect will for them. He reminded them, "You yourselves can testify that I said, 'I am not the Christ but am sent ahead of Him.'" He asked his disciples to focus on Christ since his only job was drawing people to Christ. The fact that people left him to go to Jesus fit into his expectations. He told his disciples what truly gave him joy and satisfaction, "The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for Him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom's voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete." In Scripture, "the bride" represents God's people. John called Jesus the bridegroom and referred to himself as the friend who brings the bride to the bridegroom. Today every believer is Jesus' friend, is privileged to have a job to bring His lost people to Jesus, to teach them to pour their love on Jesus only. John brought people to Jesus joyfully since he had a deep aim: "He must become greater; I must become less." If we have received Christ, claimed to be His disciples, is this our life goal: Christ to increase and self to decrease?
John the Baptist was determined to make Jesus' identity clear. He told his disciples four distinct and divine qualities which set Jesus Christ apart from himself. First he said Jesus "comes from above, is above all." Then he pointed out that Jesus "testifies to what he has seen and heard" from insight above. Continued, he said that "God is truthful" and Jesus speaks truthful "words of God". Last he said "God gives the Spirit without limit" to Jesus. Since "the Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands." Jesus, the Son of God, lived His life as the Son of Man on earth in power of the Holy Spirit without limit.
After John the Baptist finished his testimony about Jesus, he warned his audience, "whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him." Two opposite attitudes and accompanying actions result in two opposite and eternal consequences. John's audience included his disciples, his enemies, onlookers, and us. Do we take his warning seriously?