John 3

3 ¹Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. ²This man came to Jesus at night and said, "Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from our Father, for no one can do these signs you do unless our Father is with him."

³Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I tell you: unless someone is born from above, he can't see the kingdom of our Father." ^a a v3 anōthen means both 'from above' and 'again.' Nicodemus hears 'again' — hence his question about re-entering the womb (v4).

⁴Nicodemus asked, "How can a man be born when he's old? Can he enter his mother's womb again and be born?"

⁵Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I tell you, unless one is born of water and the Holy Spirit, he can't enter our Father's kingdom. ⁶Born of the flesh is flesh, and born of the Holy Spirit is spirit. ⁷Don't be amazed that I said to you, 'You must be born from above.' ⁸Wind blows where it wants; you hear its sound but don't know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit." ^b b v8 The same word means both "wind" and "Spirit" — Jesus uses the one you can feel but not trace to picture the one who gives new birth.

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

¹⁰Jesus answered him, "Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? ¹¹Truly, truly, I tell you: we speak what we know, we testify to what we've seen, yet you don't accept our testimony. ¹²If I told you earthly things and you don't believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? ¹³No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. ¹⁴As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, ^c c v14 Moses raised a bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness so that any Israelite bitten by a snake could look at it and live (Numbers 21:8–9). ¹⁵that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. ¹⁶For our Father so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. ^d d v16 The love that gave the Son is the Father's love. Our Father did not send a stranger into the world — he gave his own Son, Jesus, so we could come home as his children. ¹⁷For our Father did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but so the world could be saved through him. ¹⁸Whoever believes in him isn't condemned; whoever doesn't believe is condemned already, for not believing in the name of the one and only Son of our Father. ¹⁹This is the judgment: light has entered the world, and people loved darkness more than light because their deeds were evil. ²⁰Everyone who does evil hates the light and won't come to the light, so that his deeds aren't exposed. ²¹But whoever does the truth comes to the light, so it may be revealed that his works have been done in our Father."

Baptizing in Judea

²²After this, Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside, where he stayed with them, baptizing. ²³John also baptized at Aenon near Salim, since water was plentiful there, and people came and were baptized, ²⁴for John had not yet been put in prison. ²⁵Now a discussion arose between some of John's disciples and a Jew over purification. ²⁶They came to John and said, "Rabbi, the man with you beyond the Jordan, the one you testified about—he's baptizing, and everyone goes to him."

²⁷John replied, "A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven. ²⁸You yourselves can testify: I said 'I'm not the Christ, but sent ahead of him.' ²⁹The one with the bride is the bridegroom—Jesus. The bridegroom's friend, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice. So my joy is now complete. ^e e v29 John names Jesus as the Bridegroom — the one our Father has long promised would come for his Bride, the people he loves. John's joy is the friend's joy at the wedding finally arriving. ³⁰He must increase, but I must decrease."

³¹The one who comes from above is above all. The one from earth belongs to earth and speaks in an earthly way. The one who comes from heaven is above all. ³²He bears witness to what he has seen and heard, yet no one receives his testimony. ³³Whoever receives his testimony confirms that our Father is true. ³⁴The one our Father sent speaks our Father's words, for he gives the Holy Spirit without measure. ³⁵Our Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand. ^f f v35 The Father-Son love revealed in this verse is the inner life of God himself — eternal, unchanging, and the source of everything our Father has given to the Son to carry into the world. ³⁶Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever disobeys the Son won't see life—our Father's wrath remains on him.