John 3 explained: A Night Talk About Starting Over

A leader comes at night (vv. 1-2)

Nicodemus was a Pharisee, part of a group devoted to keeping God's law carefully, and he sat on the council that led the Jewish community in Jerusalem. He comes after dark, possibly to avoid being seen, and admits that Jesus' miracles show God is with him.

A new birth from God (vv. 3-8)

Jesus says no one can belong to God's kingdom without a new birth, a fresh start given by God's Spirit, and Nicodemus takes this literally. The Greek word for 'again' can also mean 'from above', and 'spirit' and 'wind' are the same word in Greek, so this new life is pictured as real but, like the wind, beyond human control.

The snake on a pole (vv. 9-15)

Jesus asks pointedly how a leading teacher of Israel can fail to understand this, and he calls himself the Son of Man, a title he uses for himself as the one who came from heaven and speaks from firsthand knowledge. He recalls an old story in which Israelites bitten by poisonous snakes were healed by looking at a bronze snake Moses raised on a pole, and Christians read his being 'lifted up' as pointing to the cross.

Love, light and darkness (vv. 16-21)

It is unclear whether Jesus is still speaking here or the writer is reflecting, but the point is that God sent his Son out of love, to rescue the world rather than condemn it. Judgment is described as people choosing to stay in the dark instead of coming into the light, where their actions can be seen.

John steps aside gladly (vv. 22-30)

After an argument about ritual washing, meaning washing done to be religiously clean, John the Baptist's followers report that the crowds are now going to Jesus instead. John compares himself to the best man at a wedding, whose joy is to hear the groom arrive, and says Jesus must become greater while he becomes less.

The one from above (vv. 31-36)

Again it is unclear whether John or the writer is speaking, but these lines set Jesus, who comes from heaven and speaks God's words, above every earthly messenger. The chapter ends starkly: trusting the Son brings life, while rejecting him leaves a person under God's anger.

Key verse: John 3:16

Where Christians differ

Christians differ over what being 'born of water and the Spirit' means, with some tying the new birth closely to baptism and others seeing the water as a picture of inner cleansing done by God's Spirit.

Something to think about

Do you think a person can truly start over at the deepest level, and if so, what would it take?