Online Resource Library
Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadBob Utley You Can Understand the Bible - John 3:1 - 3:3
(Show All Books | Show All Chapters)
This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Joh_3:1-3
1Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews; 2this man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him." 3Jesus answered and said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God."
Joh_3:1 "Pharisees" The roots of this political/religious party go back to the Maccabean period. Their name possibly means "the separated ones." They were sincere and committed to keeping God's laws as defined and explained in the oral tradition (Talmud). Just as today some of them were truly covenant people (Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimathea), but some were self-righteous, legalistic, judgmental, "apparent" covenant people (cf. Isa_6:9-10; Isa_29:13). The heart is the key! The "new covenant" (Jer_31:31-34) focuses on internal motivation (i.e., new heart, new mind, law written on the heart). Human performance has been shown to be inadequate, as it always has. The heart circumcision of Deu_10:16; Deu_30:6 is a metaphor for personal trust/faith which issues in obedience and a life of gratitude!
Religious conservatism and/or liberalism can be ugly things. Theology must issue from love and faith. See hyperlink at Joh_1:24.
▣ "Nicodemus" It is surprising for a Jew in Palestine to have only a Greek name (as do Philip and Andrew, cf. Joh_1:40; Joh_1:43), which meant "conqueror of the people" (cf. Joh_7:50; Joh_19:39).
NASB, NKJV "a ruler of the Jews"
NRSV, NJB "a leader of the Jews"
TEV "a Jewish leader"
In this context, this is a technical phrase for members of the Sanhedrin (in other contexts it could mean a leader of a local synagogue), the seventy-member high court of the Jewish people in Jerusalem. Its authority had been quietly limited by the Romans, but it still had great symbolic significance to the Jewish people. See Special Topic below.
It seems probable that John uses Nicodemus as a representative of the orthodox Judaism of the first century. Those who thought they had arrived spiritually were told they had to begin again. Faith in Jesus, not adherence to rules (even godly rules, cf. Col_2:16-23), nor racial background (cf. Joh_8:31-59), determines one's citizenship in the Kingdom. God's gift in Christ, not sincere, aggressive human religiosity, is the door to divine acceptance. Nicodemus' acknowledgment of Jesus as a teacher from God, though true, was not adequate. Personal trust, exclusive trust, ultimate trust in Jesus as the Messiah is fallen mankind's only hope (cf. Joh_1:12)!
hyperlink
Joh_3:2 "by night" The rabbis said that night was the best time to study the Law because there were no interruptions. Possibly Nicodemus did not want to be seen with Jesus so he (and possibly others with him) came to Him at night.
One always wonders in John's writings how often an interpreter should assume a double meaning. John is characterized by a recurring contrast between light and dark (see NET Bible, p. 1898, #7 sn).
▣ "Rabbi" In John this means "teacher" (cf. Joh_1:38; Joh_4:31; Mar_9:5; Mar_11:21). One of the things that bothered the Jewish leaders was that Jesus had not attended one of the rabbinical theological schools. He had no Talmudic study after local synagogue study in Nazareth.
▣ "You have come from God" This clause is placed first in the sentence for emphasis. This possibly alludes to the prophecy of Deu_18:15; Deu_18:18. Nicodemus recognized the power of Jesus' works and words, but this did not mean he was spiritually right with God.
▣ "unless God is with Him" This is a third class conditional sentence which means potential reality.
Joh_3:3; Joh_3:5; Joh_3:11 "truly, truly" This is literally "Amen, amen." It is from the OT word for "faith." It is from the root "to be firm" or "to be sure." Jesus used it to preface significant statements. It was also later used as a way of affirming truthful statements. The initial doubling is unique to John's Gospel. These repeated doublings of the term "amen" reveal the stages in the dialogue between Jesus and Nicodemus. See hyperlink at Joh_1:51.
Joh_3:3 "unless one is" This is also a third class conditional sentence, like Nicodemus' statement in Joh_3:2.
NASB, NKJV,
TEV "born again"
NRSV, NJB "born from above"
This is aorist passive subjunctive. The word (anôthen) can mean
1. "physically born a second time"
2. "born from the beginning" (cf. Act_26:4)
3. "born from above," which fits this context (cf. Joh_3:7; Joh_3:31; Joh_19:11)
This is probably another example of John's use of terms that have two meanings (double entendre), both of which are true (cf. Bauer, Arndt, Gengrich and Danker's A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, p. 77). As is obvious from Joh_3:4, Nicodemus understood it as option # 1. John and Peter (cf. 1Pe_1:23) use this familial metaphor for salvation as Paul uses the term adoption. The focus is on the Father's acts in begetting (cf. Joh_1:13). Salvation is a gift and act of God (cf. Joh_1:12-13; Rom_3:21-24; Rom_6:23; Eph_2:8-9).
▣ "he cannot see" This idiomatic phrase is paralleled in Joh_3:5 with "cannot enter."
▣ "the kingdom of God" This phrase is used only twice in John (cf. Joh_3:5). This is such a key phrase in the Synoptic Gospels. Jesus' first and last sermons, and most of His parables, dealt with this topic. It refers to the reign of God in human hearts now! It is surprising that John uses this phrase only twice (and never in Jesus' parables). See Special Topic below. For John "eternal life" is a key term and metaphor.
The phrase relates to the eschatological (end-time) thrust of Jesus' teachings. This "already, but not yet" theological paradox relates to the Jewish concept of two ages, the current evil age and the righteous age to come which will be inaugurated by the Messiah. The Jews expected only one coming of a Sprit-empowered military leader (like the Judges in the OT). The two comings of Jesus caused an overlapping of the two ages. The Kingdom of God has broken into human history with the incarnation at Bethlehem. However, Jesus came not as the military conqueror of Revelation 19, but as the Suffering Servant (cf. Isaiah 53) and humble leader (cf. Zec_9:9). The Kingdom, therefore, is inaugurated (cf. Mat_3:2; Mat_4:17; Mat_10:7; Mat_11:12; Mat_12:28; Mar_1:15; Luk_9:2; Luk_9:11; Luk_11:20; Luk_21:31-32) but not consummated (cf. Mat_6:10; Mat_16:28; Mat_26:64).
Believers live in the tension between these two ages. They have resurrection life, but they still are dying physically. They are freed from the power of sin, yet they still sin. They live in the eschatological tension of the already and the not yet!
A helpful expression of the tension of the already-but-not-yet in John is found in Frank Stagg's New Testament Theology:
"The Gospel of John is emphatic about a future coming (Joh_14:3; Joh_14:18 f.,28; Joh_16:16; Joh_16:22) and it speaks clearly of the resurrection and final judgment 'in the last day' (Joh_5:28 f.; Joh_6:39 f., 44,54; Joh_11:24; Joh_12:48); yet throughout this Fourth Gospel, eternal life, judgment, and resurrection are present realities (Joh_3:18 f.; Joh_4:23; Joh_5:25; Joh_6:54; Joh_11:23 ff.; Joh_12:28; Joh_12:31; Joh_13:31 f.; Joh_14:17; Joh_17:26)" (p. 311).
hyperlink