John 3

Introduction

John 3 is one of the most theologically dense chapters in the Gospel — perhaps in the entire New Testament. It opens with a nocturnal conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus, a Pharisee and "ruler of the Jews," that moves from polite inquiry to profound bewilderment as Jesus describes a birth "from above" that Nicodemus cannot comprehend. The chapter then reaches its theological apex in vv. 16–21, the passage that has been called "the Gospel in miniature," before closing with John the Baptist's final self-effacing testimony as crowds begin to leave him for Jesus.

Two themes control the chapter. The first is the contrast between above and below, heavenly and earthly, Spirit and flesh. Nicodemus is a man of impressive earthly credentials — a Pharisee, a ruler, a teacher of Israel — but these count for nothing when it comes to the kingdom of God. Entry requires a new birth from above, from the Spirit, that cannot be achieved or explained by human effort or understanding. The second theme is judgment through light: Jesus has come not to condemn but to save, yet his presence in the world is itself a crisis — a dividing moment. Those who love darkness retreat from him; those who practice truth come to the light. The chapter traces a man (Nicodemus) moving from darkness (he comes by night) toward light — a journey that will complete itself in John 19:39 when he brings burial spices for Jesus.

Born from Above (vv. 1–8)

¹ Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. ² He came to Jesus at night and said, "Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs You are doing if God were not with him."

³ Jesus replied, "Truly, truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again."

⁴ "How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Can he enter his mother's womb a second time to be born?"

⁵ Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. ⁶ Flesh is born of flesh, but spirit is born of the Spirit. ⁷ Do not be amazed that I said, 'You must be born again.' ⁸ The wind blows where it wishes. You hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."

¹ Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. ² This man came to him by night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one is able to do these signs that you do unless God is with him."

³ Jesus answered and said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God."

⁴ Nicodemus said to him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter his mother's womb a second time and be born?"

⁵ Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. ⁶ What is born of flesh is flesh, and what is born of Spirit is spirit. ⁷ Do not be surprised that I said to you, 'You must be born from above.' ⁸ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its voice, but you do not know where it comes from and where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit."

Notes

Nicodemus comes νυκτός, "by night." In John, night and darkness carry consistent symbolic weight — they are the realm of ignorance, unbelief, and spiritual blindness (John 1:5, John 9:4, John 11:10, John 13:30). Nicodemus's nocturnal visit is not just caution; it is a marker of his spiritual condition. His opening words are polite and theologically sound ("we know you are a teacher from God"), but Jesus bypasses them entirely with a complete non sequitur: "Unless one is born from above..."

The pivot of the entire passage is the word ἄνωθεν, which carries two meanings: "from above" and "again/anew." Jesus means "from above" — a birth of heavenly origin, from the Spirit of God. Nicodemus hears "again" — a second physical birth — and the misunderstanding produces the dialogue. This kind of deliberate misunderstanding-leading-to-deeper-explanation is a characteristic Johannine technique (see also John 4:10-15 with living water, John 11:11-14 with sleeping). The reader, standing above the dialogue, understands both meanings and gains depth from the tension.

In v. 5 Jesus clarifies: to be born ἐξ ὕδατος καὶ Πνεύματος, "of water and Spirit." The interpretation of "water" here is one of the most debated in New Testament theology:

Baptism — water refers to Christian baptism, Spirit to the inner regeneration that accompanies it
Natural birth — water refers to the amniotic fluid of physical birth (birth "of water"), Spirit to the second birth
John's baptism — water refers to the baptism of repentance John practiced, Spirit to the new birth Jesus brings
Ezekiel 36:25-27 — water refers to the cleansing of the new covenant ("I will sprinkle clean water on you") and Spirit to the indwelling of God's own Spirit promised there

The Ezekiel connection is particularly strong given that in v. 10 Jesus will rebuke Nicodemus for not knowing "these things" as the teacher of Israel — and Ezekiel 36 was a central prophetic promise about Israel's future restoration. A teacher of Israel should have recognized new-covenant language.

The wind/Spirit wordplay in v. 8 is present in both Hebrew (רוּחַ, ruach — wind, breath, spirit) and Greek: πνεῦμα means both "wind" and "spirit/breath." In a single sentence Jesus moves between the two senses — "the πνεῦμα blows where it wishes... so it is with everyone born of the πνεῦμα." The freedom and uncontrollability of the wind becomes an image for the sovereign work of the Spirit in regeneration: it cannot be scheduled, managed, or observed from outside. You can only hear its voice and see its effects.

Earthly and Heavenly Things (vv. 9–15)

⁹ "How can this be?" Nicodemus asked.

¹⁰ "You are Israel's teacher," said Jesus, "and you do not understand these things? ¹¹ Truly, truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, and yet you people do not accept our testimony. ¹² If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? ¹³ No one has ascended into heaven except the One who descended from heaven—the Son of Man. ¹⁴ Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, ¹⁵ that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life."

⁹ Nicodemus answered and said to him, "How can these things be?"

¹⁰ Jesus answered and said to him, "You are the teacher of Israel, and you do not know these things? ¹¹ Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, yet you people do not receive our testimony. ¹² If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? ¹³ No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven — the Son of Man. ¹⁴ And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵ so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life."

Notes

Jesus' rebuke of Nicodemus in v. 10 is pointed: σὺ εἶ ὁ διδάσκαλος τοῦ Ἰσραήλ — "You are the teacher of Israel." The definite article suggests Nicodemus held a recognized position of supreme teaching authority. A man whose job was to know and explain the Hebrew Scriptures should have recognized the language of new birth, water, and Spirit from the prophets.

The phrase in v. 11 shifts pronouns: Jesus says "we speak" and "you (plural) do not receive." The "we" has been interpreted as Jesus speaking for himself and the Father, or as Jesus and John the Baptist (both testified), or as the divine community. What is clear is that the "you" is plural — not just Nicodemus but the entire religious establishment he represents.

The crucial verse is v. 13: "No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven — the Son of Man." ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου is Jesus' characteristic self-designation, drawn from Daniel 7:13-14 where "one like a son of man" receives dominion over all nations. The logic here is: to speak of heavenly things, one must have been there. No human mystic, prophet, or teacher has ascended to heaven and returned. Only the one who descended from heaven — the Son of Man — has the authority to reveal heavenly realities.

The reference to Moses lifting up the serpent (v. 14) draws on Numbers 21:8-9, where God commanded Moses to raise a bronze serpent on a pole so that those bitten by snakes could look at it and live. Jesus says this is a type of himself: καθὼς Μωϋσῆς ὕψωσεν τὸν ὄφιν, "just as Moses lifted up the serpent," so must the Son of Man be ὑψωθῆναι — "lifted up." In John, ὑψόω, "to lift up," carries a deliberate double meaning: the physical lifting of crucifixion and the glorification/exaltation that comes through it (John 8:28, John 12:32-34). The cross is, in John's theology, simultaneously the moment of deepest humiliation and highest glory.

God Loved the World (vv. 16–21)

¹⁶ For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. ¹⁸ Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.

¹⁹ And this is the verdict: The Light has come into the world, but men loved the darkness rather than the Light because their deeds were evil. ²⁰ Everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come into the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. ²¹ But whoever practices the truth comes into the Light, so that it may be seen clearly that what he has done has been accomplished in God.

¹⁶ For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to judge the world, but so that the world might be saved through him. ¹⁸ Whoever believes in him is not judged; whoever does not believe has already been judged, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God.

¹⁹ And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light, because their works were evil. ²⁰ For everyone who does evil hates the light and does not come to the light, so that his works will not be exposed. ²¹ But whoever practices the truth comes to the light, so that it may become clear that his works have been accomplished in God.

Notes

It is debated whether vv. 16–21 are still Jesus speaking to Nicodemus or whether John's narrator has taken over in reflection. Many modern scholars and translations (including the BSB footnote) close the quotation after v. 15 or v. 21. The content is so deeply Johannine in vocabulary — κόσμος (kosmos, "world"), μονογενής (monogenēs, "one and only"), φῶς/σκότος (phōs/skotos, "light/darkness"), κρίσις (krisis, "judgment") — that it reads naturally as either Jesus or John. For this commentary, the distinction matters less than the theological content.

The famous v. 16 turns on three key terms: ἠγάπησεν, "loved" — from ἀγάπη (agapē), the word for self-giving, unconditional love; τὸν κόσμον, "the world" — not the physical creation but humanity in its rebellion and darkness (the same world that loves darkness in v. 19); and μονογενῆ, "one and only/unique." μονογενής does not mean merely "only child" but "uniquely born, one of a kind" — the Son who shares the Father's nature uniquely. The gift is proportional to the love: God gave what was most essentially his own.

The word κρίνω, "to judge/condemn," governs vv. 17–19. The purpose of the Son's coming was not κρίσις, "judgment/condemnation," but σωτηρία (salvation). Yet the very arrival of light in the world creates a de facto judgment — not as external verdict imposed from outside, but as the exposure of what was already present. Those who love darkness do not need to be condemned; they have already chosen their sentence by avoiding the light. The κρίσις of v. 19 is this: that light has come and been refused.

The phrase "practices the truth" (ποιῶν τὴν ἀλήθειαν) in v. 21 is a Semitic idiom for living in integrity and honesty before God (see 1 John 1:6). The person who "does truth" comes to the light — and their motive for doing so is that they want it to be seen clearly (φανερωθῇ) that their works have been accomplished "in God." This is not self-congratulation but transparency: the person with nothing to hide comes into the light.

John the Baptist's Final Testimony (vv. 22–36)

²² After this, Jesus and His disciples went into the Judean countryside, where He spent some time with them and baptized. ²³ Now John was also baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because the water was plentiful there, and people kept coming to be baptized. ²⁴ (For John had not yet been thrown into prison.)

²⁵ Then a dispute arose between John's disciples and a certain Jew over the issue of ceremonial washing. ²⁶ So John's disciples came to him and said, "Look, Rabbi, the One who was with you beyond the Jordan, the One you testified about—He is baptizing, and everyone is going to Him."

²⁷ John replied, "A man can receive only what is given him from heaven. ²⁸ You yourselves can testify that I said, 'I am not the Christ, but am sent ahead of Him.' ²⁹ The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom stands and listens for him, and is overjoyed to hear the bridegroom's voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. ³⁰ He must increase; I must decrease.

³¹ The One who comes from above is above all. The one who is from the earth belongs to the earth and speaks as one from the earth. The One who comes from heaven is above all. ³² He testifies to what He has seen and heard, yet no one accepts His testimony. ³³ Whoever accepts His testimony has certified that God is truthful. ³⁴ For the One whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit. ³⁵ The Father loves the Son and has placed all things in His hands. ³⁶ Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. Whoever rejects the Son will not see life. Instead, the wrath of God remains on him."

²² After this Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside, and he stayed there with them and was baptizing. ²³ John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water there, and people were coming and being baptized. ²⁴ For John had not yet been thrown into prison.

²⁵ Now a dispute arose between some of John's disciples and a Jew about purification. ²⁶ And they came to John and said to him, "Rabbi, the one who was with you across the Jordan, whom you testified about — look, he is baptizing and everyone is going to him."

²⁷ John answered, "A person cannot receive a single thing 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 The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice. This joy of mine is now complete. ³⁰ He must increase, but I must decrease.

³¹ The one who comes from above is above all. The one who is from the earth is earthly and speaks in an earthly way. The one who comes from heaven is above all. ³² He testifies to what he has seen and heard, yet no one receives his testimony. ³³ Whoever receives his testimony has set his seal to this: that God is true. ³⁴ For he whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for he does not give the Spirit by measure. ³⁵ The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand. ³⁶ Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

Notes

The Baptist's response to the news that crowds are leaving him for Jesus is one of the most selfless speeches in the New Testament. His disciples frame it as a complaint — "everyone is going to him" — but John frames it as completion.

The bridegroom metaphor in v. 29 is the key. John identifies himself as ὁ φίλος τοῦ νυμφίου — "the friend of the bridegroom," a figure in Jewish custom who arranged the wedding and stood outside the bridal chamber to hear the bridegroom's voice confirming the marriage. The ὁ φίλος does not resent the bridegroom; his entire purpose has been to bring the bride to him. When he hears the bridegroom's voice, his χαρά, "joy," is complete. John's ministry was preparation; its completion is not diminishment but fulfillment.

The summary statement of v. 30 is one of the most quoted in the New Testament: ἐκεῖνον δεῖ αὐξάνειν, ἐμὲ δὲ ἐλαττοῦσθαι — "He must increase, but I must decrease." The δεῖ ("must") is the same word used in v. 14 ("the Son of Man must be lifted up") — a divine necessity. John's decrease is not loss but the proper ordering of things.

Verses 31–36 are likely the narrator's theological reflection (like vv. 16–21) on the encounter, summarizing the contrast between the one ἄνωθεν ἐρχόμενος, "coming from above," and those of earthly origin. The one from above speaks the words of God and gives the Spirit οὐ... οὐ... ἐκ μέτρου, "not by measure" — without limitation or apportionment. The chapter ends with the same binary that governs the whole: belief brings ζωὴν αἰώνιον, "eternal life"; rejection of the Son leaves one under ὀργὴ τοῦ Θεοῦ, "the wrath of God" — not a punishment imposed, but a condition that remains.

Note that v. 36 uses ἀπειθῶν — "the one who disobeys/does not comply" — rather than the ἀπιστῶν ("unbeliever") one might expect. This is theologically rich: unbelief in John is not merely intellectual doubt but a refusal to comply, an act of the will against the Son.