John 3:1-15

Expanded Bible

Nicodemus Comes to Jesus

3 There was a man named Nicodemus who was one of the Pharisees [^Ca religious party which strictly observed OT laws and later customs] and ·an important Jewish leader [^La ruler of the Jews; ^Cprobably a member of the Sanhedrin, the highest Jewish court of the time]. ² ·One night [or By night; ^Cperhaps with connotations that he could not “see” spiritually] Nicodemus came to Jesus and said, “·Teacher [^LRabbi], we know you are a teacher sent from God, because no one can do the ·miracles [^Lsigns; 2:11] you do unless God is with him.”

³ Jesus answered, “·I tell you the truth [^LTruly, truly I say to you], unless you are born ·again [or from above; ^Cthis may be a play on words, meaning both “again” and “from above”], you cannot ·be in [experience; ^Lsee] God’s kingdom.”

⁴ Nicodemus said to him, “But if a person is already old, how can he be born ·again [or from above; 3:3]? ·He cannot enter his mother’s womb again. So how can a person be born a second time [^LCan he enter his mother’s womb a second time and be born]?”

⁵ But Jesus answered, “·I tell you the truth [^LTruly, truly I say to you], unless you are born from water and the Spirit [^Cequivalent to being born again (3:3); water could symbolize physical birth, but more likely symbolizes spiritual cleansing which brings renewal; Ezek. 36:25–27], you cannot enter God’s kingdom. ⁶ ·Human life comes from human parents [^LThat which is born of the flesh is flesh; ^Cflesh here means human nature], but ·spiritual life comes from the Spirit [^Lthat which is born of the Spirit is spirit]. ⁷ Don’t be ·surprised [amazed; astonished] when I tell you, ‘You [^Cplural, referring to the Jews or the Jewish leaders] must be born ·again [or from above; 3:3].’ ⁸ The wind [^Cone word means both “wind” and “spirit” in Greek] blows where it wants to and you hear the sound of it, but you don’t know where the wind comes from or where it is going. It is the same with every person who is born from the Spirit.” [^CWe cannot comprehend or control the Spirit, but we experience his effect.]

⁹ Nicodemus ·asked [replied], “How can this ·happen [be]?”

¹⁰ Jesus ·said [replied; answered], “You are ·an important teacher in Israel [^Lthe teacher of Israel], and you don’t ·understand [know] these things? ¹¹ ·I tell you the truth [^LTruly, truly I say to you], we talk about what we know, and we ·tell [testify; bear witness] about what we have seen, but you don’t ·accept what we tell you [^Lreceive our testimony/witness]. ¹² I have told you about things here on earth [^Cthe teaching about being born again], and you do not believe me. ·So you will not [^LSo how will you…?] believe me if I tell you about things of heaven. ¹³ ·The only one who has ever gone up to heaven is [^LNo one has gone up into heaven except] the One who came down from heaven—the Son of Man^[a] [^Ca title for the Messiah; Dan. 7:13–14].

¹⁴ “Just as Moses lifted up the ·snake [^Tserpent] in the ·desert [wilderness; ^CMoses put a bronze snake statue on a pole, and those who looked at it were healed of snake bites; Num. 21:4–9], the Son of Man must also be lifted up [^Can allusion to the cross and resurrection]. ¹⁵ So that everyone who ·believes can have eternal life in him [or believes in him can have eternal life].