Today, I would like to explore John 3. This chapter is known for a few things, but one thing you may not have considered is how John touches upon the subject of the Holy Spirit.
John 3 is a chapter filled with red letters, which can be an aid at times to separate what Jesus said vs other people.
Now, there is a movement called “Red Letter Christians”. The claim is that Red Letter Christians emphasize the words that Jesus spoke, which often leans heavily into social issues. Ancient languages usually lack the concept of quote marks, so I take comfort in the fact that the Apostles wrote in red letters so we know what Jesus said. That’s a joke, of course. It’s similar to the old joke that if the King James Bible was good enough for the Apostles, then it’s good enough for me.
I should note that I normally still use the KJV when I study. In spite of any flaws, it still is the most accurate, IMO, even if it is a bit harder to understand. Today, though, I will be using the NKJV throughout, since it is clearer. Keep in mind, though, some of the “fixes” in it are to further personify the Holy Spirit. Otherwise, it pretty much uses the same tradition as the KJV in its approach.
Instead of quotation marks, the ancients relied upon context to determine whether it was something explicitly spoken or not. Often, the writings would say that a person said thus-and-such directly, or it was implied in some cases. The problem with implying something is that you can get it wrong.
One of the most famous quotes from the Bible is Jn 3:16, but the context is ignored in much of the surrounding words. Otherwise, Christians would have very different beliefs. Not only that, but the red letter Bibles seem to be placed inaccurately in context. Again, chapters, verses and red letters are fine tools, but just like looking for mistranslations, they must be looked at carefully for context and accuracy.
Jesus begins the chapter by making His nighttime visitor awkward by suddenly bringing up the unexpected. Jesus was good at catching people offguard, and He did it deliberately yet without malice.
So, let’s dive into John 3 without further ado.
3 There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”
So far, we see a Pharisee named Nicodemus came to visit Jesus by night. You probably know that he is not just a Pharisee but a member of the Sanhedrin. In John 7, we see that Jesus went up to Jerusalem for the Feast, so the religious leaders gathered together would have been part of the influential elite.
45 Then the officers came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why have you not brought Him?”
…
50 Nicodemus (he who came to Jesus by night, being one of them) said to them, 51 “Does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he is doing?”
It is often commented on that Nicodemus came by night perhaps so that no one would know about his visit. Alternatively, Jesus was usually inundated with crowds, so perhaps Nicodemus simply wanted to talk to Him at a quieter time.
One of the real questions, though, is whether the “we” in his statement was meant as popular opinion or the Sanhedrin. In either regard, it is most curious that He was crucified when you stop to think about it. Nicodemus here is acknowledging Jesus as something much more.
Jesus uses this opportunity to say something extraordinary.
3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
It is obvious from what takes place afterwards that this catches Nicodemus off-guard. It thoroughly confuses him.
One thing I find fascinating is that Nicodemus comes to praise Jesus, and yet He turns it around to His core msg: The Kingdom of God (KOG). Jesus took the focus off of Himself. Christ’s msg and focus was always about the KOG. Whenever you hear me speak of Christ being the most humble man Who ever lived on earth, this is just another example of that.
4 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”
5 Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
So, we see here that Jesus is talking about spiritual birth, whereas Nicodemus was thinking about physical birth. Obviously, Jesus was using the physical as a type for the spiritual. The key is that “the wind blows” and yet, you cannot see it. Spirit in the OT was the same word as for breath or wind, ruach. You can see the effects of wind, and you can feel it, but you cannot see it. That does not make it not real, though. Many professing Christians seem to want to believe that spiritual means virtually non-existent when they are pressed on practicalities.
The Greek word gennao covers from conception to birth. Strong’s Definitions says it means to procreate, and is often translated bear, beget, be born, bring forth, conceive, be delivered of, gender, make, spring. I believe procreate is perhaps the most accurate English word for gennao.
Birth is a process, and that is something that is lost on most of all mainstream Christianity. The Greek idea translated “born” can refer to conception, to actual birth or any stage in-between. It refers to the entire process. We are born now in the sense that we are “begotten”, and occasionally the KJV does pick up on that fact. We are not yet “born”, however, in the English sense of the word. That happens at the resurrection, when we will take on characteristics like the wind. Spirit is often compared to water in Scripture. It starts with baptism when the Holy Spirit is given and we are conceived, aka begotten, and the process ends at the resurrection, the actual birth.
9 Nicodemus answered and said to Him, “How can these things be?”
10 Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things? 11 Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?
Jesus chastises Nicodemus a bit for being a religious and spiritual leader and not being able to grasp these things. Jesus was using birth as a type for the resurrection. Jesus related the process of becoming a spirit being to the process of birth, a physical act (“earthly things”), yet Nicodemus still had problems grasping the concept. It is evident that he understood physical birth, and Jesus was pointing out the physical to reveal the spiritual (aka, “heavenly things”).
There are hints throughout the OT of a spiritual birth, such as Job talking about his “change”, but just how clear were they until Christ came to expand upon our understanding? There is a process, beginning with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit itself is invisible to the eye, but there are times that the power of the Holy Spirit has been manifested, such as it was on the Day of Pentecost after Jesus Christ’s resurrection. Just as it is invisible unless purposefully revealed, spirit beings are invisible unless purposefully revealed. So it will be with us after the resurrection to life.
Then we come to an interesting statement that utterly refutes the idea that we go to heaven after we die.
13 No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man [b]who is in heaven.
“Heaven” in the Greek, ouranos, is similar to the Hebrew word, in that it can mean sky, space or heaven proper. When Jesus spoke about “your Father which is in heaven”, this is the word that is used.
19 So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God.
~ Mk 16:19
Now, your Bible may have Jn 3:13 in red, so let me ask you the question: Was Jesus in heaven when this was spoken? No, of course not. So, this would have been a pretty awkward thing to say under the circumstances. The logical conclusion is that this is an explanation added by John. If so, it is a more powerful statement than even if Jesus had said it. Not because of authority, of course, but again the context shifts because of the timing.
Consider the implications. I’ve heard some preachers out in the world say that people went to heaven after Jesus’ crucifixion. They cite that there was a resurrection of the dead saints for a while after Jesus’ resurrection. However, if it were true that they went to heaven, then John could not have truthfully wrote this. The only logical conclusion is that you don’t go to heaven when you die. Furthermore, the saints were obviously raised to a physical resurrection.
52 and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; 53 and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.
Obviously, this was not a spiritual resurrection. No man except Christ has entered into or exited from heaven.
Please turn to Pro 30:4. Jn 3:13 always reminds me of this verse. It’s only loosely connected, but I think it drives the point that no humans have ever entered into or came from heaven.
4 Who has ascended into heaven, or descended?
Who has gathered the wind in His fists?
Who has bound the waters in a garment?
Who has established all the ends of the earth?
What is His name, and what is His Son’s name,
If you know?
This is a reference to God’s majesty and greatness, and yet it also points out that human beings are incapable of entering heaven.
14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in Him should [c]not perish but have eternal life.
We understand that eternal life is not a given. It is a gift. It must be given to us. Saying you have an immortal soul is a contradiction to this passage. It doesn’t just say “die” but rather to “perish”. I cannot find anywhere in which Strong’s G622 is ever translated as “die”. It can mean perish, destroy or be lost. Flesh perishes. It not only dies, it decomposes, and it is destroyed. It is gone; it is lost. Spirit beings, however, live on. Scholars admit that any other translation is metaphorical, which should raise immediate suspicion.
The reference to Moses raising up the servant is talking about when Israel was wandering the wilderness, they sinned and poison snakes were sent to bite them.
6 So the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many of the people of Israel died.
7 Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord that He take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.
8 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.”
I always found that passage interesting, but it is one that admittedly gives me questions. However, one take-away is that Israel sinned and were punished. Looking to the serpent on a pole would save their lives. Looking to Christ will save our eternal lives.
Is that all we have to do, though? Some take the following out of context to say it is.
16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
The healing power of the symbol of Christ crucified on a stake should be evident.
Jesus was not sent the first time to condemn anyone. There is a reserved time for judgment, and that was not the time. We in the church are being judged now, but the rest of the world is not.
17 For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?
So, when Jesus says to “Judge not, lest you be judged”, it should be a reminder that there is a time and place for everything. We know that knowledge puffs up, so it behooves us to keep our humility. We need to judge ourselves and leave the rest to God.
One of the best examples of this is in the Book of John that we are studying.
2 Now early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them. 3 Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, 4 they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. 5 Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?” 6 This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear.
7 So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” 8 And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. 9 Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. 10 When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?”
11 She said, “No one, Lord.”
And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”
This passage is a Bible study. in and of itself, so I don’t want to get too sidelined here. Obviously, they wanted to trap Jesus in saying and doing something unlawful. Speaking of which, many misconstrue this as another example of Jesus disregarding the law. Make no mistake about it, though. Far from disregarding anything, Jesus upheld the law here perfectly.
I want to concentrate upon the matter of judgment, though. Some points:
1. Jesus was asked to judge. He was and is a king and a judge, but He Himself did not come to condemn anyone at that time. We are told to be very careful about judging. It is also not our place to condemn the world. A rough parallel to this is that we do not have a history of trying to proselytize others. Herbert W Armstrong used to quote, “Someone convinced against his will is of the same opinion still.” Yet, are we not also told to have a ready answer if someone asks? We can say what the Bible states without judgment. It is up to God to do that. It is up to the Father who to call. It is not up to us to get in people’s faces and try to “convert” them, nor is it up to us to get involved in judging others and telling them what to do.
2. Still, why did Jesus accept this? The woman did not ask for this, after all. The scribes and Pharisees unwittingly laid their own trap for themselves, for who was judged in the end? “He who is without sin” is an indictment against them. When they turned over judgment against the woman to Jesus, they were unaware that they were also turning over judgment against themselves. This is something we should consider seriously if we ever are tempted to wish judgment upon someone else.
What were they convicted of? At very least hypocrisy. They demanded the woman be stoned for adultery, but why just the woman? Doesn’t it take two to tango, as they say? Now, given what we know, I have some speculation that since she was “caught in the act” her partner in crime was among those in the crowd. What did Jesus write in the dirt? Was it names and dates of all who had been with the woman in the past? Speculative, but I’m willing to hear other reasons for which not a one of them wanted to stone her thereafter.
Think about that speculation while looking at Mt 7:1-2.
7 “Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.
It appears that Jesus did exactly that with the crowd that brought the woman to Him for judgment. He judge them according to the measure they tried to bring against the woman.
Sorry for the side trip, but I thought it was important to elaborate on this point. Certainly, I think people are becoming far less tolerant and far more judgmental over time. Look at the politics in this country. People wonder why I don’t spend more time on this or that “social media”. Yet, half the time, it’s all about people criticizing and judging one another. I think we need to be mindful to not fall into that trap.
Back to John 3.
18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
Literally, one commentary says, “We can be born again and escape the judgment of God by simply [emphasis mine] believing in Him.” However, where is the word “simply” in the verses we just read? What is godly belief? Is it not something that leads to action? Belief is the basis for our deliverance.
6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
Note the diligence required. How is this made manifest? That does not sound like “simply believing”.
22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
Faith must lead to action, else we are deceived.
Back to John 3. Notice even John talks about “deeds”.
19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21 But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”
Here, it is made clear that we ourselves condemn ourselves by our deeds. Likewise, our good deeds illuminate our belief. Remember, faith without works is dead (Jas 2:17). Our faith must lead to good works.
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
Our salvation is a gift. We cannot earn it. That much is clear. However, it is also clear that we are saved in order to do the good works of Jesus Christ. He was our example of faith in action, and we must emulate Him.
The next section of John 3 goes a new direction. In some Bibles, it may be subtitled “John the Baptist Exalts Christ”.
22 After these things Jesus and His disciples came into the land of Judea, and there He remained with them and baptized. 23 Now John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there. And they came and were baptized. 24 For John had not yet been thrown into prison.
25 Then there arose a dispute between some of John’s disciples and the Jews about purification. 26 And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, He who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified—behold, He is baptizing, and all are coming to Him!”
We aren’t told the exact thing the dispute was about, but somehow it led to a discussion about who was baptizing more. Were John’s disciples jealous of John’s declining popularity? It is important to also realize that God works with whom He pleases.
27 John answered and said, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven. 28 You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent before Him.’ 29 He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled. 30 He must increase, but I must decrease.
John was a unique indiv, called by God from even before birth. However, he understood his place in God’s plan. The reference to a bridegroom is also interesting. Did John understand more than we are told? Perhaps. There is a lot the Bible does not tell us, else it would be too big to carry around. We are told enough for salvation.
31 He who comes from above is above all; he who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all. 32 And what He has seen and heard, that He testifies; and no one receives His testimony. 33 He who has received His testimony has certified that God is true. 34 For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure.
Here again is a tie-in to God’s Spirit. While the OT does talk of God’s Spirit, the topic is much expanded on in the NT. Verse 34 is particularly interesting to me b/c it states that God is generous with His Spirit. When you consider the parable of the talents, the one who was given only one talent called his master “a hard man”. If you read it carefully, I think you can see that the man thought his master was a miser who only gave as he had to instead of a generous man giving according to ability.
35 The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand. 36 He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”
Again, without faith it is impossible to please God. While I have spoken much about judgment in this age, don’t be fooled that there isn’t a day of judgment in the end. By faith, we obey, just as Abraham obeyed. When we obey, repent and are baptized, we are given the Holy Spirit, which leads back to the beginning of John 3. We must be born of water and of the Spirit.