together, John stresses the twofold function of the Holy Spirit: life-giving and empowering. Both are related experiences in the realm of God’s rule.
John introduces another dramatic dualism: a life controlled by the flesh against the life controlled by the Holy Spirit (3:6). Anyone who is not born of the Spirit lives still in the realm of flesh, that is, under the rule of the fallen human nature that is prone to sin, and therefore exhibits the deeds of the flesh (cf. Gal 5:19–21). In contrast, those who are born of God by the Spirit exhibit the works of the Spirit. They partake in the divine nature and show divine qualities (cf. Gal 5:22–23).
After exhorting Nicodemus not to marvel at his teaching on new birth (3:7), Jesus clarifies that the origin and work of the Spirit within a person is imperceptible to anyone who lives in the realm of flesh, just like the origin and direction of the blowing wind cannot be perceived (John 3:8; cf. Eccl 11:5), because spirit and flesh are opposed to each other (Gal 5:17). What a natural person can see is the fruit of new life manifested in a person who is born of the Spirit, but no one can comprehend the mode of the Spirit’s work within that person. With astonishment, Nicodemus questioned, “How can these things happen?” (3:9). Jesus rebuked him for his lack of understanding, although he was a teacher of the Law in Israel (3:10). Nicodemus must have known about regeneration by the Spirit from the OT itself, which speaks of the Spirit’s work that gives a new heart and life (Ps 51:10; Isa 44:3; Ezek 11:19–20; 36:26–27; Joel 2:28–29).
By using the phrase “truly, truly, I say to you,” Jesus affirms, “We speak what we know and testify to what we have seen but you do not receive our testimony” (3:11). The plural pronouns “we” and “you” show that Jesus is speaking as the representative of the new covenant community, by treating Nicodemus as the one among the Jewish authorities who rejected the church’s testimony to Jesus. First, the sharp conflict between Jesus’ community, which was testifying to Jesus, and the synagogue authorities, who did not accept their testimony, in the late first century was the re-enactment of the rejection of Jesus’ testimony by the same authorities in his lifetime. Secondly, Jesus’ affirmation betrays the dualistic tendency of the Gospel to divide people into two opposing groups: insiders (those who believe in Jesus) and outsiders (those who do not accept Jesus).
Jesus rebukes the unbelieving authorities by questioning how they can understand and believe in him if he speaks of heavenly things directly, while they do not understand his message of God’s kingdom spoken in earthly terms such as rebirth and wind (3:12). After this question, Nicodemus disappears from the scene until 7:45–52 and 19:38–42. However, the subjects of Jesus’ dialogue, such as believing, experiencing divine life, and a heaven-earth dualism, link 3:1–12 with 3:13–21, and therefore it seems more probable that 3:13–21 is a part of Jesus’ discourse to Nicodemus.
Jesus’ monologue (3:13–21)
Jesus now teaches, “No one has ascended to heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man” (3:13).4 The statement that no human has ascended to heaven seems to be a polemic against the claims of some Jews, including some rabbis, that they had ascended to heaven and had seen God’s glory. However, the emphasis lies on the descent of the Son of Man, Jesus. The Son of Man was pre-existent with God in heaven before he descended by incarnation to earth (John 3:13; cf. Eph 4:9–10) with a mission of revealing God in his glory and to give heavenly life to all who believe in him (cf. John 1:50–51; 3:31; 6:32, 38, 42, 46, 50–51, 58, 62; 8:23; 9:33). At the time when John’s Gospel was written, the “Son of Man” was understood as a heavenly figure, the “Elect One” or Christ (see comment on 1:51 for a study on “the Son of Man”).
However, Jesus speaks of the divine necessity for the Son of Man to be lifted up (3:14). The verb “lifted up” (hupsaō) in John has a double meaning: to be exalted and to be glorified (cf. Isa 52:13 LXX). The verb is connected to the Servant’s glorification through his vicarious suffering and death (Isa 52:13—53:12). Similarly, both meanings in John refer to one event: Jesus’ death on the cross, which is an act of being lifted up and exalted/glorified (12:23–24, 32–33). In the glorification of the Son of Man on the cross the Father reveals his glory (13:31–32). Both Jesus’ death and ascension after resurrection are merged together in the verb “lifted up.”
In order to rectify the Israelites’ sin that caused poisonous snakes to bite them to death (Num 21:5–9), Moses made a fiery serpent with bronze and set it on a pole so that anyone bitten by a snake could look up to the bronze serpent and live. Similarly, the Johannine Jesus is the one who, in accordance with God’s plan, must be lifted up on a pole, the cross, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. Instead of “looking up” to the bronze serpent, John has “believing in him,” and in the place of “would live” John has “eternal life” (3:15). Looking to the lifted-up serpent is the mark of “turning towards” God and so also is believing in the lifted-up Son of Man (Wis 16:7).
That the one who believes in him has eternal life is a recurring theme in John (see 3:15–16; 5:24; 6:40, 47; 20:31). “Believing” means “coming to Jesus” in obedience (6:35–37; cf. 12:35–36), and this is the same as “turning towards God.” It also means appropriating Jesus’ life that is available on the cross. “Believing” and “eating his flesh and drinking his blood” lead one to eternal life (6:53–54). “Believing” is also used in parallel with “seeing” (12:44–45). The crown and culmination of all Greek words for “seeing” is to be found in the word “believing.”5 “Believing” in John is synonymous to “receiving” and “knowing” in the sense of coming into intimate relationship with Jesus (1:12; 17:8). The purpose of God in exalting Jesus is that those who believe in the Son of Man lifted up on the cross should have eternal life (3:15).
“Eternal life” refers to the “life of the age to come” (cf. Dan 12:2). This life will be given at the resurrection of the believers on the last day (John 6:54) and therefore it is called the “resurrection of life” (5:29; cf. 5:25). Sometimes John uses the word “life” to denote “eternal life” (e.g., 6:33, 51; 20:31). It is the very life of God given by him to Jesus (5:26; 6:57; cf. 1:4) and is obtained now and in future by those who believe in Jesus. Jesus gives life to whom he wills (5:21) and it cannot be destroyed by physical death (11:26). It is the life of the kingdom of God given to those who are born of the Spirit (3:3, 5). Those who obey Jesus’ words and believe in the Father who sent him have already passed from death to life (5:24). Since Jesus is the giver of life (6:27), he himself is life (11:25; 14:6). The words “whoever believes in him” in 3:15–16 show the universal effect of Jesus’ exaltation on the cross and also the inclusive nature of God’s new community.
The universal effect of Jesus’ mission is obvious in Jesus’ continuous teaching to Nicodemus who remains still a silent listener (3:16–21). The conjunction “for,” and the reference to the availability of eternal life to everyone who believes in the Son (3:16) link the whole section with 3:13–15. The word “only Son [of God]” is synonymous to the title “Son of Man” in 3:14 (cf. 5:26–27). Jesus assures of God’s intensive love for sinful humanity, which, however, loves darkness rather than light (3:19). “God so loved the world” means “this is how [houtōs] God loved the world” (NJB): by handing over the Son of Man to be crucified to remove human sin and give new life (3:16).6
The manner and content of God’s love is expressed by the statement “. . . that he gave his only son.” Abraham’s offering of his only and beloved son, Isaac (Gen 22:2, 9–10, 16), prefigures God’s gift of his unique Son not only to be offered on the cross as a sacrifice to take away human sin (John 1:29, 36; 8:32; 1 John 4:9–10), but also to raise him up from the dead to grant new life for those who believe (Heb 11:17–19). God’s purpose of giving his Son is that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life (3:16; cf. 3:15). Both “eternal
