Born from above: Nicodemus, the lifted-up Son of Man and the friend of the bridegroom in John 3

John 3 comes from the fourth Gospel, which names no author in the text but credits its testimony to 'the disciple whom Jesus loved' (21:20-24). The church from the late second century, following Irenaeus, identified him with the apostle John, son of Zebedee, writing at Ephesus. Many scholars defend this. Others see a different John (the elder known to Papias) or a community that preserved and shaped the beloved disciple's account. The date is usually put around AD 80 to 100, though some argue for earlier. John writes so that readers may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and have life in his name (20:31). Scholars also disagree about whether John knew Mark and Luke or drew on independent tradition; Nicodemus appears only in John (3:1-21; 7:50-52; 19:39), and the conversation has no parallel in the other three Gospels.

The setting is the early part of Jesus' ministry, soon after the Passover and the temple cleansing in chapter 2. Nicodemus is a Pharisee and a 'leader of the Jews', which means a member of the Sanhedrin, the ruling council. The Pharisees were a movement that stressed careful obedience to the law and held to a resurrection. Nicodemus comes at night, which may be for privacy or caution, or which may carry symbolic weight, since John uses night and darkness as pictures of unbelief (3:19-21; 13:30). He later defends Jesus' right to a hearing and helps with the burial.

The second part of the chapter (3:22-36) is set in the Judean countryside, where Jesus and his disciples baptize while John the Baptist is baptizing at Aenon near Salim. The exact location of Aenon is uncertain. John 4:2 later says that Jesus himself did not baptize, but his disciples did. The two ministries overlap, and John's disciples are anxious, which prompts the Baptist's last testimony.

John 3 is a dialogue in which Jesus makes a claim, the partner misunderstands, and Jesus explains. This is a pattern in John (compare chapters 4, 6, 8). The misunderstanding is often caused by a word with two meanings, and here it is the Greek word anothen, which can mean 'again' and 'from above'. Nicodemus takes it as 'a second time' and asks about re-entering the womb. Jesus means 'from above', a birth from God. Both meanings are intended, and English translations have to choose one. The wordplay works in Greek; if the original conversation was in Aramaic, John has rendered it so as to keep the point. The same is true of pneuma, which means wind, breath and spirit (3:8).

A second question is where Jesus' words end and the evangelist's comments begin. The original Greek has no quotation marks. Many scholars think Jesus' words end at verse 15 or 21, and that the later verses, including 3:16-21 and 3:31-36, are the evangelist's reflection. Others take them as Jesus' words. This does not change the doctrine, and the class treats both as the Gospel's teaching.

The third principle is to read the chapter against the Old Testament. Jesus rebukes Nicodemus as 'Israel's teacher' for not understanding. The new birth and the work of the Spirit are not new ideas but were promised in Ezekiel 36:25-27, Ezekiel 37 and Jeremiah 31:33. The lifting up of the Son of Man is explained by Numbers 21:4-9.

Verses 1–2

Nicodemus calls Jesus 'Rabbi' and says that 'we know' he is a teacher who has come from God, because no one could do the signs unless God were with him. The plural 'we' suggests that he speaks for a group of leaders who were impressed by Jesus, perhaps after the temple cleansing and the signs (2:23). It is respectful but falls short of faith, as 2:23-25 prepared the reader to expect.

Verses 3–8

Jesus does not respond to the compliment. He says, 'Truly, truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.' Nicodemus asks how a man can be born when he is old and whether he can enter his mother's womb a second time. Jesus repeats himself, with an addition: no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. He then distinguishes flesh from spirit: flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear it but do not know where it comes from or goes. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit. The Spirit, like the wind, is free and unseen but real in effect. Birth is done to a person, not by him.

The phrase 'water and the Spirit' has been read in several ways (see the tradition note). All agree that it speaks of a cleansing and renewal that only God can give. The Old Testament background in Ezekiel 36:25-27 joins the sprinkling of clean water, a new heart and God's own Spirit.

Verses 9–15

'How can this be?' Nicodemus asks. Jesus answers that Nicodemus is Israel's teacher and does not understand these things. He speaks of what he knows and has seen, and they do not accept his testimony. If he has told them earthly things and they do not believe, how will they believe heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended, the Son of Man. Then: as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. In Numbers 21 the people, bitten by snakes for their rebellion, looked at a bronze serpent Moses raised on a pole and lived. The Greek verb 'lift up' (hypsoo) can mean to raise on a pole or cross and to exalt. John uses it with both senses (8:28; 12:32-34).

Verses 16–21

'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.' The love of God for the world, the gift of the Son and belief are the three parts of the verse. 'World' (kosmos) here means humanity in its need, not creation as such. 'Perish' and 'eternal life' are the two destinies. God did not send the Son to condemn the world but to save it through him. Whoever believes is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is already condemned. The verdict is that light has come into the world and people loved the darkness because their deeds were evil. Those who do evil hate the light and avoid it, for fear of being exposed, but whoever practices the truth comes to the light, so that it may be seen that his deeds are done in God. Judgment happens in response to the light, which reveals the choice.

Verses 22–30

Jesus and his disciples go into the Judean countryside and baptize. John is baptizing at Aenon near Salim because water is plentiful there. His disciples argue with a Jew about ceremonial washing and report to John that everyone is going to Jesus. John answers that a man can receive only what is given him from heaven. He had said that he is not the Christ but is sent ahead of him. The bride belongs to the bridegroom, and the friend of the bridegroom stands and listens and is full of joy at the bridegroom's voice. That joy, John says, is now complete. 'He must increase; I must decrease.' The Old Testament uses the bridegroom image of God himself (Isaiah 62:5; Hosea 2:19-20).

Verses 31–36

The one who comes from above is above all, and the one from the earth speaks as one from the earth. He testifies to what he has seen and heard, and no one accepts it, yet whoever does accept it affirms that God is true. The one God sent speaks God's words, since God gives the Spirit without limit. The Father loves the Son and has put all things in his hands. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever rejects the Son will not see life, and God's wrath remains on him.

John 3 contains one of the most important statements of the Christian message: the new birth. Without being born from above, no one can see or enter the kingdom of God. This is God's work, not man's. The Old Testament promised it in Deuteronomy 30:6 (the circumcised heart), Jeremiah 31:33 (the law written on the heart) and Ezekiel 36:26-27 (a new heart and God's Spirit). Other texts refer to it: James 1:18; 1 Peter 1:3, 23; Titus 3:5; 1 John 5:1. The traditions differ about how it relates to faith and to baptism (see the tradition note).

The chapter also teaches the love of God. Verse 16 is the center, and verse 17 explains the purpose of the Son's coming: to save the world, not to judge it. The chapter teaches that faith is the way the gift is received: whoever believes has eternal life. And it teaches judgment as a present reality, produced by response to the light. This is not a contradiction of the future judgment taught elsewhere but its beginning: those who refuse the light stand already under condemnation. Theologians have differed over whether 'the world' in verse 16 means all humanity or all kinds of people. The text says that the love of God extends to the world and that the promise is to everyone who believes.

The last section adds that the Father loves the Son, puts all things in his hands and gives him the Spirit without limit, and that the Son gives eternal life to those who believe. This belongs to the Gospel's teaching on the Trinity.

John 3 presents Jesus as the one who comes from heaven. He is the Son of Man who descended, the one who knows heavenly things because he has been there, the Son whom God gave and sent, and the one who gives eternal life. The Son of Man title, from Daniel 7:13-14, appears in 3:13-14, and it is joined here with the language of suffering: he must be lifted up.

The connection to Numbers 21 is a type that Jesus himself makes. In the wilderness those bitten by snakes looked to the bronze serpent and lived. Those who look to the Son of Man lifted up on the cross receive life. The 'must' (dei) shows that the cross is part of God's plan. John himself says later that the lifting up refers to the kind of death Jesus would die (12:32-33). The new birth 'of water and the Spirit' fulfills the promise of Ezekiel 36:25-27, and the Spirit is given without limit to the Son, in whom he rests (1:32-33).

John the Baptist adds the picture of the bridegroom. In the Old Testament, God is the husband of his people. When John says that the bridegroom has the bride and he is only the friend who rejoices to hear the bridegroom's voice, he places Jesus in the role the Old Testament gave to God. Jesus also calls himself the bridegroom (Mark 2:19-20), and Revelation 19 and 21 complete the picture.