John 3:1-21

3:1 | The Pharisees took a solemn vow before three witnesses that they would give their lives to obeying the Ten Commandments as a means of pleasing God. Their lives were spent defining specific ways to apply the commandments.

3:2 | Rabbis in Jesus’ day often had long discussions with their disciples after dark, once the busy day had ended, Nicodemus may also have come by night because, as a member of the Sanhedrin, he did not want anyone to know that he was meeting with Jesus. Nicodemus had a major flaw in his theology: to him, Jesus was a teacher come from God, not God come to teach. He did not understand that Jesus was God Himself in a body rather than just a representative of God.

3:3-4 | Nicodemus seemed to want an abstract theological discussion regarding Jesus’ identity, but that was not what he needed. Jesus got to the heart of the matter - Nicodemus’ spiritual condition - telling the Pharisee that he must be born again (1:13; Titus 3:5; 1 Pet. 1:23; 1 John 3:9).

3:5 | In the OT, water often symbolized the Scriptures (Ps. 119:9). So Jesus’ statement about being born of water probably refers to the Word of God. To be in the kingdom of God, a person must be born of God’s Word and His Spirit.

3:6-8 | Words for wind and Spirit come from the same Greek word, pneuma. No one can see the wind and whcih way it is blowing, only its effects. Similarly, no one can see the new birth happening, but the results of the Spirit’s life-changing work are evident.

3:11 | Just like the prophets, Jesus’ witness would not be accepted. Israel had a long tradition of rejecting God’s spokesmen (Hos. 9:7).

3:14-15 | Jesus recalled God’s remedy during the plague of poisonous serpents in Moses’ day (Num. 21) - healing those who looked on the bronze serpent - to foretell His death on the cross, where He would be lifted up. ASnyone who looks on Him in faith receives eternal life.

3:16 | This single verse tells more about God and His plan for this world than any other verse in the Bible. God gave the most extravegant thing He could to demonstrate His love for lost humankind, summoning and sending His only begotten Son to pay the debt for sin (Rom. 5:8; 2 Cor. 5:21; Eph. 2:4; 1 John 4:9).

3:17-18 | For Jesus to come that the world through Him might be saved (Matt. 1:21; Rom. 8:1) is good news - except for those who do not believe. While God loves everyone, not everyone accepts that love.

3:19-21 | A light exposes what hides in the darkness (Eph. 5:11-13). The most fundamental reason that people reject Jesus is not because they fail to understand the gospel but because they do not want to change (2 Thess. 2:10). They love darkness rather than light.