Joh 3:1-11 | KingComments | STEP | At the end of the previous chapter, we read that the Lord Jesus knows what is in man and therefore He does not entrust Himself to them. Now a man comes to Him. It’s not just anyone. It’s a man of the Pharisees. His name is mentioned, Nicodemus, and also his function, he is a ruler of the Jews. So he is a deeply religious man who is also held in high esteem by the people. The Lord calls him “the teacher of Israel” ( ). Nicodemus, like his colleagues, has seen the signs that the Lord has done. With him, it has awakened a longing for the Lord Jesus that has brought him closer to God inwardly and makes him seek Him. He is such a single person in the crowd who feels the need to get to know Christ better. That is why he goes to Him for a personal meeting. As an orthodox and also a religious, distinguished Jew, Nicodemus should have gone to the temple and do so by day. However, he doesn’t go to the temple but to the Lord and he does so by night. Whoever has been touched in his conscience and shows interest in Christ, like Nicodemus, immediately feels that the world will be against him. That is why he comes by night. He is afraid of the world because he knows that he is dealing with God and also knows that the world is resisting God. Nicodemus addresses the Lord Jesus as “Rabbi”, which means “Teacher” ( ). This is the title with which scribes are addressed by their disciples. He acknowledges Him as a Teacher. He then declares that he and his colleagues – he speaks of “we” – know that Christ has come from God as a Teacher. The signs they have seen of Him cannot be denied. Like his colleagues, Nicodemus is convinced that He is a special Teacher. Yet he is still far away from the true knowledge of Him. He speaks of the Lord as One of Whom it can be said that God is with Him, as if He were a prophet. Yet his interest is not based on a purely intellectual conviction. There is a deeper interest in him, worked by the Holy Spirit. He is not yet aware of this, but it drives him to the Lord. However, he only sees Him as a Teacher and also that God is with Him. In doing so he thinks he is paying a great tribute to Him; however, it falls completely short with regard to His Person. By the way, it is beautiful to see that Christ is always available to anyone who sincerely seeks – and Nicodemus is such a person – even though it is in the night. He does not blame Nicodemus for seeking Him at this time. The conversation that develops between the Lord and Nicodemus is one of the several personal conversations of the Lord Jesus that John mentions in his Gospel. For us this is an important indication to have an eye for the individual.

‏ John 3:1-11

Nightly Visit

At the end of the previous chapter, we read that the Lord Jesus knows what is in man and therefore He does not entrust Himself to them. Now a man comes to Him. It’s not just anyone. It’s a man of the Pharisees. His name is mentioned, Nicodemus, and also his function, he is a ruler of the Jews. So he is a deeply religious man who is also held in high esteem by the people. The Lord calls him “the teacher of Israel” (Jn 3:10).

Nicodemus, like his colleagues, has seen the signs that the Lord has done. With him, it has awakened a longing for the Lord Jesus that has brought him closer to God inwardly and makes him seek Him. He is such a single person in the crowd who feels the need to get to know Christ better. That is why he goes to Him for a personal meeting.

As an orthodox and also a religious, distinguished Jew, Nicodemus should have gone to the temple and do so by day. However, he doesn’t go to the temple but to the Lord and he does so by night. Whoever has been touched in his conscience and shows interest in Christ, like Nicodemus, immediately feels that the world will be against him. That is why he comes by night. He is afraid of the world because he knows that he is dealing with God and also knows that the world is resisting God.

Nicodemus addresses the Lord Jesus as “Rabbi”, which means “Teacher” (Jn 1:38). This is the title with which scribes are addressed by their disciples. He acknowledges Him as a Teacher. He then declares that he and his colleagues – he speaks of “we” – know that Christ has come from God as a Teacher. The signs they have seen of Him cannot be denied. Like his colleagues, Nicodemus is convinced that He is a special Teacher. Yet he is still far away from the true knowledge of Him. He speaks of the Lord as One of Whom it can be said that God is with Him, as if He were a prophet.

Yet his interest is not based on a purely intellectual conviction. There is a deeper interest in him, worked by the Holy Spirit. He is not yet aware of this, but it drives him to the Lord. However, he only sees Him as a Teacher and also that God is with Him. In doing so he thinks he is paying a great tribute to Him; however, it falls completely short with regard to His Person.

By the way, it is beautiful to see that Christ is always available to anyone who sincerely seeks – and Nicodemus is such a person – even though it is in the night. He does not blame Nicodemus for seeking Him at this time.

The conversation that develops between the Lord and Nicodemus is one of the several personal conversations of the Lord Jesus that John mentions in his Gospel. For us this is an important indication to have an eye for the individual.

Born Again

The Lord does not respond to the tribute of Nicodemus and his fellow Pharisees, but tells him what is necessary to really get to know Him. Nicodemus does not need an education from Him as a Teacher, but a completely new nature. This goes much further than being convinced in conscience. Nicodemus does not yet know himself as completely depraved and spiritually dead in sin. He needs to be made alive and not a new idea that can enrich his life.

God does not teach and improve human nature. Man needs to be renewed in the origin of his nature. Without that renewal he cannot see the kingdom of God. That kingdom of God stands here before Nicodemus. It is present and visible in the Son of the carpenter (cf. Lk 17:21). To see and acknowledge that inwardly, one has to be born again, that is to receive new life in a completely new way and from a completely new source.

The statement that a new birth is necessary is introduced by the Lord with “truly, truly” (Greek: ”amen, amen”). This double ”truly” occurs 25 times in this Gospel. The Lord hereby declares the absolutely certain truth of what He is going to say, whereas He underlines the importance of it once more by adding “I say to you”.

This makes it clear how important the content is of what He is saying here. It is indeed of immeasurable importance. It is the only way to see anything of God’s kingdom. He who has not been born again will see nothing of it, even though he is still so well versed in the Scriptures and even though he has such a high religious function as Nicodemus.

Questions About the New Birth

That Nicodemus sees no more than the natural course of events is evident from his reaction to the Lord’s words. He presupposes something that is in fact impossible, but which also shows that he does not understand what the Lord means by a new birth from a totally new source.

The reason for this is that Nicodemus does not yet recognize himself as a sinner. Otherwise he would have understood that even if it were possible for a human being to be born a second time from his mother’s womb, it would still be flesh born from flesh. No clean thing can ever come out of an unclean being (Job 14:4; Psa 51:5). Man would still be blind and unable to see the kingdom of God and therefore be as far away from it as ever.

Born of Water and the Spirit

Again the Lord introduces His answer with the impressive “truly, truly, [amen, amen] I say to you” to underline again the importance of the words He then speaks. He points out that in order to be born again two things are absolutely necessary: water and the Spirit. He does not say “of water and of the Spirit”, but He uses the word “of” only once. By saying it this way, water and the Spirit are intimately linked. They cannot be separated, but work together inseparably.

”Water” is sometimes thought of as baptismal water, but that cannot possibly be the case. If it were baptismal water, someone who has not been baptized would not be able to enter the kingdom. This would mean that the criminal on the cross who repented could not enter the kingdom, because he died unbaptized. However, the Lord assured him that he would be in Paradise with Him (Lk 23:43).

On the other hand, someone baptized would receive a new nature by baptism. This in turn would mean that only those who have been baptized would enter the kingdom and also that he who was baptized could never be lost, for he would have received eternal life through baptism. Both teachings are obviously follies. In addition, baptism with water nowhere speaks of giving life, but of death (Rom 6:3-4).

So what does the water represent? Water represents the Word of God in its cleansing power (Psa 119:9; Jn 15:3; Eph 5:26). The Lord Jesus speaks here of water as a picture of the cleansing power of the Word of God applied in the power of the Spirit.

If an unbelieving person reads or hears the Word of God, the Word will judge his whole life. He will see himself as a sinner. At the same time as he acknowledges this, the Word and the Spirit work new life in him. Through this new life he will receive new thoughts and affections. The nature of the Spirit is received and becomes active. Such a person is a new creation (2Cor 5:17; Gal 6:15).

The Lord establishes in Jn 3:6 that flesh always remains flesh and that what is born of the Spirit is partaker of the nature of the Spirit. Each of these two natures bears fruit according to its nature (cf. Gen 1:12). Thus He underlines what He has just said about being born of a new source, of the Spirit of God. The water is not mentioned in Jn 3:6, because it concerns the characteristic work of the Spirit. The Word without the Spirit does not work a new life, for it is the Spirit Who makes alive and gives the life of Christ.

Another thing that is important to realize well is the fact that the two natures, flesh and Spirit, remain completely separate. There is no way they can be brought into harmony with each other. There is constant enmity between them (Gal 5:17). The ‘flesh’ can never be transformed into the ‘Spirit’.

The Lord mildly reproaches Nicodemus that he should not have been surprised at what He said. He establishes a general truth. The word “you” in the sentence “you must be born again” is plural. This “be born again” applies to him personally as well as to the Jew and all people in general.

Nicodemus, as “the teacher of Israel” (Jn 3:10), could have known from Ezekiel 36 what the Lord speaks about (Eze 36:24-32). This is about a profound cleansing of Israel that the people will undergo at the beginning of the realm of peace. Yet the meaning of that word has passed Nicodemus by because he does not consider it as applicable to himself. That heathens have to become clean, he can understand that, but he himself, as a Jew ...?

Like the wind, the Spirit is invisible (“wind” and “spirit” are the same word in Greek). The origin of the wind and where it goes remains unknown to us (Job 38:24), but we can perceive its working (Psa 29:5 ; Psa 107:25; 1Kgs 19:11). So it is with the Spirit. When the Spirit, through the Word, works the new birth in someone, no one knows how it went. Like the wind, the Spirit cannot be controlled or directed by us.

What is possible, however, is that we perceive His workings. In this way His work becomes visible in someone who has been born again because from his new birth he loves the Lord Jesus, he speaks about Him with love and does His will. This applies to “everyone who is born of the Spirit”. Therefore, it applies not only to the Jews, but also to the Gentiles.

How Can These Things Be?

Again Nicodemus reacts from a human perspective to the Lord’s teaching. He asks how these things can be. Yet the question he asks makes it clear that there is a growing awareness that the Lord Jesus is telling him the truth. He feels that the Lord can provide for the true needs of his soul. Furthermore, in this section we hear nothing more from the mouth of Nicodemus.

The Earthly and the Heavenly Things

The Lord begins the answer to Nicodemus’ question again with a mild reproach. He points out to Nicodemus that he could have known what He meant if he had read the prophets correctly. Nicodemus knows the prophets, but not their real meaning because his thinking is directed toward the glory of Israel and not toward the glory of the Messiah. As ‘the teacher of Israel’ he should have known what the Lord means. After all, he will have had sections like Isaiah 44 and 55 and the aforementioned Ezekiel 36 often enough for his attention (Isa 44:3 ; Isa 55:1; Eze 36:24-32). Yet because he was not born again, he has never understood its true meaning.

After this mild reproach, the Lord does not close the discussion, but continues His teaching and even extends it to the heavenly things. For the third time He uses the double “truly” followed by “I say to you” to emphasize the importance of His teaching. He assures Nicodemus that He does not talk about unfamiliar things. He is perfectly able to speak about the things He has just said because He has seen what He is testifying of. Only God can say that He ‘knows’ what He is talking about. With Him it is perfect ‘knowing’. He possesses the perfect knowledge of the essence of all things.

The Lord Jesus knows what is in man, for He knows what is in man (Jn 2:25). He knows what is in God, for He knows God because He is God. He makes God known (Jn 17:6 ; 26). The Lord speaks in the ‘We’-form because He testifies together with the Holy Spirit. He and the Holy Spirit are Divine Persons Who have perfect knowledge of all things. Like the Son, the Holy Spirit also knows perfectly what is in man and what is in God. He is perfectly familiar with this. No one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God (1Cor 2:11).

For a man to be able to share and know the things of God, he must first be born again and receive the Spirit. Through the new birth he is able to understand the things of God. The natural, unborn man does not accept the things of God because they are spiritually appraised (1Cor 2:14). He cannot even accept those things because he has no part in the life that is needed to do so.

The Lord has spoken about the earthly things, that is, things that the prophet Ezekiel has communicated and that are necessary for the earthly blessings in the realm of peace. The new birth is an earthly matter that is necessary to enter the earthly realm of peace. And Nicodemus does not even understand this. So how then would he understand anything if the Lord is going to speak about heavenly things?

For the kingdom of God has not only earthly but also heavenly aspects (Heb 12:22-24; Eph 1:10; Col 1:20). The heavenly things will be fully revealed by the Spirit after Christ has shed His blood and ascended into heaven. In the Son of God Who is speaking here with Nicodemus, these heavenly things are present in perfection. Only Nicodemus does not (yet) have an eye for them.