John 3:9-15

EARTHLY MYSTERIES COMPARED WITH HEAVENLY MYSTERIES

Text 3:9-15

9

Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be?

10

Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou the teacher of Israel, and understandest not these things?

11

Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that which we know, and bear witness of that which we have seen; and ye receive not our witness.

12

If I told you earthly things and ye believe not, how shall ye believe if I tell you heavenly things?

13

And no one hath ascended into heaven, but he that descended out of heaven, even the Son of man, who is in heaven.

14

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up;

15

that whosoever believeth may in him have eternal life.

Queries

a.

Who is the we of John 3:11?

b.

What are earthly things and heavenly things?

c.

Why is the comparison made with the serpent in the wilderness?

Paraphrase

Nicodemus said to Jesus, How is it possible for all these things to come to pass? Jesus replied to Nicodemus, Are you the teacher of Israel and do not understand these things? I tell you positively, that John the Baptist and I are speaking that which we fully know, and we are testifying to that which we have actually seen with our own eyes, and yet none of you are receiving our testimony. If I have told you the earthly things of the kingdom which happen within the realm of human experience and you continue to disbelieve, how shall you believe if I tell you of the heavenly counsels of an Omniscient God? No mortal has ever ascended into heaven to obtain first hand knowledge of God's eternal will except He that has come down from heaven, even the Son of Man. And in like manner as Moses lifted up the brazen serpent in the wilderness, even so it is necessary that the Son of Man be lifted up in order that everyone who looks unto Him in believing obedience may be cured of sin's deadly bite and may have eternal life.

Summary

Nichodemus is curious as to the exact manner of working of the Holy Spirit in the new birth. Jesus tells him that inability to comprehend the secret actions of the eternal God is no excuse for unbelief. What is necessary for man to know, God has revealed through His Son.

Comment

Nicodemus-' continual how? (John 3:4; John 3:9) is like that of so many men and women today. He cannot understand the secret doings of an Infinite God and therefore he refuses to obey the mysteries of this God which have been revealed and which may be empirically known. There are those today who will admit the historical verity of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth but they will not give their souls over to God in trustful obedience to His Word because they cannot probe into and prove to their senses every unveiled mystery of an omnipotent God.

In John 3:10 Nicodemus is informed that he should have had some knowledge concerning the subject under discussion, i.e., regeneration. The use of the article the in the Greek language emphasizes identification. Since the article is used with both teacher and Israel in John 3:10, the emphasis is that Nicodemus was one of the esteemed teachers in all Israel. He may even have been the leading teacher of the day, as Gamaliel was a few years later. The Pharisees were supposed to be the spiritual leaders of the nationthey were supposed to be the experts in the Scriptures. Nicodemus-' ignorance of the subject of regeneration was inexcusable and should have been embarrassing. The law and the prophets spoke again and again of Jehovah's demand for a renewal of heart and mind (cf. Deuteronomy 30:6; Psalms 51:10-12; Psalms 51:17; Isaiah 1:16-20; Isaiah 57:15; Jeremiah 24:7).

There are various interpretations of the plural we in John 3:11: (a) Jesus speaks of Himself and the twelve disciples; (b) Jesus refers to Himself and the Old Testament prophets and writers; (c) Jesus means Himself and His forerunner, John the Baptist. We prefer the latter of the three as the most likely meaning. Both Jesus and John the Baptist knew the Spirit for they were filled with the Holy Spirit; both had seen the Holy Spirit in a visible manifestation (Matthew 3:16; Mark 1:11; Luke 3:22; John 1:33-34); both were sent to testify as to the work of the Holy Spirit and to preach repentance and regeneration. Both were eyewitnesses of the working of the Holy SpiritJesus-' testimony being greater than John'S, of course, for He had descended from Heaven and from intimate communion with the Father. Jesus and the Baptist went about testifying as eyewitnesses to the reality of the Holy Spirit, but the Pharisees rejected their testimony and their message of repentance and were, in essence, calling both Jesus and John liars! The cause for rejection by the Pharisees is made plain in Luke 7:29-30. When the outcasts of society heard John's message of repentance they justified God (put God in His rightful place of Divine authority) and were baptized of John. But when the Pharisees heard, they rejected the counsels of God (dethroned God) and refused John's baptism. The Pharisees rebelled because they did not want to bring forth fruits worthy of repentance (cf. Luke 3:7-14).

The omniscient Teacher now shows the mortal teacher it is unless to discuss Heavenly mysteries. Nicodemus cannot even understand earthly things. There are two general interpretations of what is meant by earthly things in John 3:12: (a) that Jesus means the wind, or (b) that He means the earthly things within the kingdom of God, e.g., things that may be experienced such as faith, repentance, baptism, and renewal of mind and heart. We prefer the second interpretation, for it fits the context better. If Nicodemus could not understand that a new heart and a new spirit was necessary to be pleasing unto God (something he should have known from the Old Testament), how much more incredible would be God's eternal purposes to such a carnal mind! It was evident even then to Jesus that the cross would be a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles. How could Nicodemus understand it was necessary that the Son of Man be lifted up, like Moses lifted up the serpent in the wildernesshe could not even understand the Prophets whom he had pledged to study all his life!

Even when mortal man asks, How can these things be? God's wisdom is so infinite and unsearchable that none can know except they ascend into heaven and sit in personal conference with him. None except the Son of man and the Holy Spirit have ever enjoyed this intimate bosom-acquaintance with the Father. Paul informed the Corinthians the wisdom he spoke was God's wisdom, infinitely greater than men's eloquence. Such wisdom God had hidden since the foundations of the worlds, but it had been given unto the apostles by a special revelation of the Spirit which searcheth the deep things of God, (cf. 1 Corinthians 2:6-11). The last phrase of John 3:13, who is in heaven, is omitted in many ancient manuscripts. It is omitted in the most recent Codexthe Bodmer Papyrus (see Introduction). Most authorities believe it to be a scribal gloss and we have, upon textual evidence above, omitted it from our paraphrase.

The incident referred to by Jesus in John 3:14 is found in Numbers 21:4-9. The Israelites were in the wilderness country south of Mt. Hor, near to the Red Sea and the land of Edom when they began to rebel against Moses and God. The Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and many were bitten and died. The people repented of their murmuring and came begging Moses to intercede on their behalf for mercy. Jehovah God then revealed His plan of salvation to Moses who was to tell it to the people. Moses would fashion a serpent from bronze and raise it up on a pole or a standard. Every Israelite who obeyed God's plan and looked upon the brazen serpent would be cured and restored to life. Commentators have wrested Jesus-' use of this incident as an illustration in order to carry out their own analogies. There seems to be at least two main points of analogy or illustration which are relevant to the context: (a) just as the brazen serpent was the only cure for the deadly bite of the fiery serpents, so the lifting up of the Son of Man is necessarya mustas the only remedy for the deadly bite of sin (cf. John 8:28; Joh. 12:-32); (b) God provides the remedy for sin through His Son and only that man who looks upon Him in trusting obedience will be saved, Although God provided the children of Israel with a cure for snake bite, not one would have lived had they stubbornly refused to look upon the brazen serpent, Obvious! a reader says, Yet how many today who have been bitten by that old serpent, the devil are refusing to do the obvious thing and obey the gospel? Did the Israelites hold back, like Nicodemus, harping on the how can this be? Did they demand an explanation of the scientific and medical relationship between a bronze serpent and cure of snake bite? Indeed they did not! These people were saved, not because they understood God's requirement, but because they trusted God and obeyed His demand to look upon this brazen serpent. Whom among mortals can explain fully the relationship between Christ's death on the cross and His commandment to believe and be baptized with salvation? How is this possible?it is not possible for us to fully comprehendbut it is possible for us to trust and obey! This was the lesson Nicodemus needed to learn, this was the lesson the disciples had to learn and the lesson we must all learn. Trust and obey, for there's no other way.

Quiz

1.

Why should Nicodemus have known of the subject of regeneration?

2.

Give three Old Testament Scripture references that speak of regeneration.

3.

What is the best interpretation of we in John 3:11? Why?

4.

What are the earthly things that Nicodemus could not believe?

5.

Give the two main points of comparison between the brazen serpent and the lifting up of the Son of Man.