John 3 - Wiersbe Study Bible

3:1,2 Nicodemus was a Pharisee, which meant he lived by the strictest possible religious rules. Not all of the Pharisees were hypocrites (as one may infer from Jesus’ comments recorded in Matt. 23), and evidence indicates that Nicodemus was deeply sincere in his quest for truth. He came to Jesus by night, not because he was afraid of being seen, but because he wanted to have a quiet uninterrupted conversation with the new Teacher “come from God.”

3:5–8 Jesus was not teaching that the new birth comes through water baptism. In the New Testament, baptism is connected with death, not birth, and no amount of physical water can effect a spiritual change in a person. The emphasis in vv. 10–21 is on believing, because salvation comes through faith (Eph. 2:8,9). The evidence of salvation is the witness of the Spirit within (Rom. 8:9), and the Spirit enters your life when you believe (Acts 10:43–48; Eph. 1:13,14).

3:6 Human birth involves travail (16:21), and so does the birth from above. Our Savior had to travail on the cross so that we might become members of the family of God (Is. 53:11). Concerned believers have to travail in prayer and witness as they seek to lead sinners to Christ (1 Cor. 4:15; Gal. 4:19).

3:7 Nicodemus must have had a surprised and bewildered look on his face, for the Lord had to say, “Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ ” But Nicodemus was born a Jew. He was a part of God’s covenant people (Rom. 9:4,5). Certainly his birth was better than that of a Gentile or a Samaritan! And his life was exemplary, for he was a faithful Pharisee. He could well understand Jesus telling the Romans that they had to be born again, but certainly not the Jews.

3:8–13 It is likely that the evening wind was blowing just then as Nicodemus and Jesus sat on the housetop conversing. The word “wind” in both Hebrew and Greek can also be translated “spirit.” One of the symbols of the Spirit of God in the Bible is the wind or breath (20:22; Job 33:4; Acts 2:2). Like the wind, the Spirit is invisible but powerful, and you cannot explain or predict its movements.

3:14 The verb “lifted up” has a dual meaning: to be crucified (8:28; 12:32–34) and to be glorified and exalted. In his Gospel, John points out that our Lord’s crucifixion was actually the means of His glorification (12:23ff.). The cross was not the end of His glory; it was the beginning of the full revelation of His glory (Acts 2:33). Jesus was also using the event recorded in Numbers 21:4–9 to point to God’s precedent in lifting up a way of healing and salvation for those who would trust.

3:19–21 This is one of the major images used in this gospel (1:4–13). Why will sinners not come into the “light of life” (8:12)? Because they love the darkness! They want to persist in their evil deeds, and this keeps them from coming to the light, for the closer sinners get to the light, the more their sins are exposed. “Intellectual problems” don’t keep people from trusting Christ; moral and spiritual blindness keeps them loving the darkness and hating the light.

3:22–24 The matter of purifying was important to the Jews (Mark 7:1–23). Under the Old Testament law, it was necessary for them to keep themselves ceremonially clean if they were to serve God and please Him. Unfortunately, the Pharisees added so many extra traditions to the law that the observing of it became a burden.

3:29 The image of the bridegroom would have been significant to the Jewish people, for Jehovah had a “marriage covenant” with the nation (Is. 54:5; 62:4,5; Jer. 2:2; 3:20; Ezek. 16:8; Hos. 2:19,20). Alas, Israel had been unfaithful to her vows, and God had to put her away temporarily. Today, God is calling out a people for His name, the church, the bride of Christ (2 Cor. 11:1–3; Eph. 5:22–33). One day the Bridegroom will come to claim His bride and take her to her home in heaven (Rev. 19:6–9; 21:9ff.).

3:31 Since Jesus came from heaven, He represents the Father; and to reject His witness is to reject the Father (5:23). We know that His witness is true because He is the true God. We can trust it and rely on it.

3:32,33 Jesus shares what He has seen and heard from the Father (8:38). Those who receive His witness and act on it know by personal experience that His witness is true (7:17). Our Lord’s teachings are not to be studied intellectually, separated from everyday life. It is when we obey His Word and put it into practice that we see its truth and experience its power.

3:36 “Eternal life” does not simply mean eternity in heaven. The believer possesses that life right now! It is the life of God in the believer. The opposite of eternal life is eternal death, the wrath of God. A person does not have to die and go to hell to be under the wrath of God. “But he who does not believe is condemned already” (v. 18). The verdict has already been given, but the sentence has not yet been executed.