“No man hath ascended up to heaven, but He that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up” John 3.13,14
by J. Alan Davidson, N. Ireland
THE CONVERSATION BETWEEN THE LORD AND NICODEMUS
THE COMMUNICATION OF NEW LIFE THROUGH THE WORD OF GOD AND THE SPIRIT OF GOD
THE COMING OF THE SON OF MAN FROM HEAVEN
THE CROSS WHERE THE SON OF MAN WAS LIFTED UP
THE CONVERSION OF THOSE WHO BELIEVE
The purpose of the inspired writer of these chapters of John’s Gospel is to introduce the reader to several individuals, such as: the religious man at night, chapter 3; the sinful woman at noon, chapter 4; the infirm man at the pool, chapter 5; the blind man cast out, chapter 9.
Jesus knew what was in the heart of the individual. Wuest writes: “This gives us an insight into the plan of John’s Gospel. John is primarily a theologian in his Gospel, whose main purpose is to demonstrate the Deity of the Son of God. But in connection with his theology, John has an evangelical outreach for lost souls. He tells the reader what is in man, and thus shows him what is wrong with man. Then he brings to his attention the Divine cure for sin.”1 This is the sending of “His Son into the world”, which God did, “not … to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved” Jn.3.17.
- 1 Wuest, Kenneth “Word Studies in the Greek New Testament”. Eerdmans, 1952.
THE CONVERSATION BETWEEN THE LORD AND NICODEMUS
As the Newberry margin shows, John chapter 3 begins “But there was a man” v.1: this continues the last paragraph of chapter 2, by way of contrast. The Lord recognised an earnest enquirer. He “Himself” 2.24, knew that here, among the many spectators who had come to the Passover, was one like Nathanael, whom He had seen “under the fig tree” 1.48. Nathanael was under an actual fig tree, while Nicodemus belonged to what the fig tree pictures: the nation of Israel. Like Nathanael, he too was earnestly seeking the coming of Messiah to establish His Kingdom, 3.3,5. Individuals, such as Nathanael and Nicodemus, in personal conversation with the Lord Jesus in John’s Gospel were convicted and challenged by the omniscient, omnipotent Son of God.
“Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: the same came to Jesus by night” vv.1,2. This was a chief man from among the most orthodox of the Jews. He was a Pharisee, a member of the Sanhedrin, a rabbi, a master of Israel of high ecclesiastical rank, perhaps with priestly duties. He was sufficiently in earnest to seek and hear the truth alone with Jesus. Nicodemus still feared the condemnation and scorn of his fellows, who were already opposed to the cleanser of His Father’s house, 2.13-17. John refers several times to those who had a fear of the Jews, 7.13; 9.22; 12.42,43; 19.38.
“The true Light” 1.9, was about to shine in the darkness of that “night”. The five nights of John’s Gospel reveal the urgent need for the “light of men”:
- The night of the new discovery. This eminent Jewish teacher learned that night, “Ye must be born again” 3.7.
- The night of great danger. It was dark on the storm-tossed lake, and “Jesus was not come to them” 6.17.
- The night of the awful departure. Judas Iscariot, the son of perdition, was found out. “He went immediately out: and it was night” 13.30.
- The night of fearful dread. After the cross and the sepulchre, at evening, “the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews” 20.19.
- The night of bitter disappointment. “That night they caught nothing” 21.3.
As the bright, warm rays of sunshine dismiss the darkness of night and the grey mists of morning, so the brilliant outshining of the glory of the Son of God dispelled the gloom of every dark night. Nicodemus, the teacher of Israel, recognised in Jesus One Who had come from God, proving by the miracles that God was with Him.
The Lord did not proceed to teach the old man, v.4. Nicodemus, as a legal Pharisee, saw the carpenter’s Son as a humble peasant, and at best a prophet or rabbi performing miracles. The Lord did not begin to teach or develop the understanding of the natural man, no matter how devout his Jewish beliefs were. Many unbelievers have a rational understanding that Jesus was ‘a good man’. The Lord presented the Kingdom itself, but to see it and to enter it, one must be born again, v.3. Nicodemus, the devout Jew, was attracted by the signs and miracles, v.2. What he encountered in his conversation that night was the supreme Divine perfection and prerogative of penetrative Divine power in the heart-searching word of the Son of God.
THE COMMUNICATION OF NEW LIFE THROUGH THE WORD OF GOD AND THE SPIRIT OF GOD
“Jesus answered and said unto him” v.3. The Lord did not begin with mere mental instruction. Nicodemus was occupied with the visible; the Lord spoke about the spiritual. As a representative of Israel, Nicodemus did not receive witness to earthly things; the Lord came from heaven and spoke of heavenly things, v.12. The Pharisees had long since departed from God’s precepts of law and loving promises through the Old Testament Scriptures, which pointed on to the fulness of atonement by the promised sacrifice and blood of Christ. They now imposed upon the people a system of bondage to rules and regulations; the notion of salvation based on merit, achieved by good works; a religion of self-righteousness.
“Jesus answered” v.3, but to what did He answer, as no question had been asked? The Lord made answer to what he knew was the query in the heart of Nicodemus. Like all Jews, the inquirer was expecting the coming of the Messiah to set up His Kingdom. He may even have been wondering if he had found Him. It was not a kingdom where Nicodemus would have a place as by right due to his being of the seed of Abraham, as the Jews claimed, 8.39. The Lord declared, “Before Abraham was, I am” 8.58. The first needful thing was to be “born again” 3.3,7, born anew, born from above by a spiritual birth. “Verily, verily” v.3, denotes a statement of great importance and utmost solemnity. It is peculiar to John’s Gospel.
“Except a man [‘any one’] be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” v.3. Instead of satisfying speculation as to His own relationship to God, Christ first searches the heart of His questioner: He goes to the root of the great necessity of the new birth in order to “see” v.3, to “enter” v.5, to have any part in, this glorious Kingdom. The “kingdom” was not a Divine government of outward physical sovereignty that would defeat the Romans, deliver the nation of Israel, and eclipse the majesty of Caesar. Nicodemus was learning that he needed a vital, personal, new beginning, a second birth.
“Nicodemus saith unto Him, ‘How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?’” v.4. Nicodemus expressed alarm, blank astonishment and incredulity. It would be preposterous to re-enter the womb, even when a young boy. Whatever an educated, religious man, such as this “teacher of Israel” v.10 (Newberry margin), makes of himself, a moral, upright, keeper of the law could never bring his soul into the presence and fellowship of the holiness of God.
The word “again” in “born again” may be translated either ‘again’ or ‘from above’. Both expressions teach that every human being is born in sin and, even though religious, has a past so sinful that a completely new beginning is necessary. The Jews considered newborn children to be a blessing from God. However, the ‘new birth’ of which the Lord spoke does not indicate the repetition of an act from the same source, as Nicodemus incorrectly understood it. This annuls Jewish dependence on being the sons of Abraham. It must be a work of God, ‘from above’.
The natural mind seeks a literal, material, worldly interpretation of spiritual things. Nicodemus thought of a literal, natural birth. The woman at the well thought that the Lord spoke of literal water, 4.11. The Jews believed Him to be speaking of literal bread, 6.51,52. They confused the resurrection of His body with the literal building of the Temple, 2.19,20, and when Peter used a literal sword, the Lord rebuked him, 18.11: Peter had to be shown that His kingdom was not of this world. The gospel preacher must always keep in mind that he is preaching a message that addresses the heart of his hearer, not just the head. Salvation is by this application of the Word of God through the conviction of sin by the Spirit of God to bring to repentance and faith in the Person of Christ alone. This is not just an intellectual understanding appealing to the mind. “That is, the word of faith, which we preach … with the heart man believeth unto righteousness” Rom.10.8,10. The Saviour proclaimed to this self-religious man that “whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” 3.15,16.
“Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” v.5. This new birth means to “be born of water and of the Spirit”. These tremendous words bring into focus man’s hopeless, helpless need in himself. To give life is the peculiar prerogative of God. Without new life, we cannot enter the glorious, pure, holy kingdom of God. We would not enjoy such a realm even if we could get there in our natural state. Yet we can be genuine citizens of the Kingdom without religious rank, Pharisaical learning or Jewish lineage. A person possessed the privileges of Judaism by being born of the seed of Abraham after the flesh. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” v.6. Entrance into the kingdom of God is not peculiar to the nation of Israel; it is not hereditary to the descendants of Abraham. Neither is it achieved by law-keeping or outward rituals. It is the direct act of God by the Holy Spirit. Being “born of the flesh”, flesh begotten by man, brings into this world all the evils and passions of fallen humanity, even though mingled with national privilege.
Christ sanctifies and cleanses with “the washing of water by the word” Eph.5.26. This cannot refer to water baptism, which does not save and is a sign of death, not life. “Ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you” Jn.15.3. It is the mighty quickening power of the Word of God communicated as a sovereign act by the Spirit of God. This brings forgiveness and new birth to both Jew and Gentile: “repentance … and forgiveness” Acts 5.31; being “alive from the dead” Rom.6.13; being “a new creature” 2Cor.5.17; “being quickened” Eph.2.1; “put[ting] off the old man” and “put[ting] on the new” Col.3.9,10; made “partakers of the Divine nature” 2Pet.1.4; “pass[ing] from death unto life” 1Jn.3.14.
Paul, as Saul of Tarsus, was, like Nicodemus, a devout Pharisee of the Pharisees. He writes: “not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost” Titus 3.5.
To emphasise again directly to His listener, the Lord repeated the lesson which Nicodemus was not understanding, and gave him a simple everyday illustration. “Marvel not that I said unto thee, ‘Ye must be born again.’ The wind bloweth where it listeth [‘willeth’], and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit” vv.7,8. The origin and destination of the wind are unknown but the reality and effect are heard by the ear, seen by the eye and are undeniable in result. In the original creation, “the Spirit of God moved” Gen.1.2: the verb “moved” was used of the fluttering of an eagle over her young, Deut.32.11. In new creation, the sovereign working of the Spirit convicts of sin, the striving of the Spirit indicates a time of visitation, and the seal of the Spirit proves who is saved and who is not. The wind blows at God’s command; it is invisible; no one ever saw it and it varies in strength and direction by the sovereign will of God. The blowing of the wind has a purifying effect on stagnant air and unpleasant odours. So, the dealings of the Spirit of God will stir the conscience that has lived long in deep, secret sins. The stormy wind will search through cracks previously unnoticed and find hidden places, like as the Spirit, through the Word of God, tries the heart and disturbs the conscience. Storm force winds may bring destruction: flowers may wither and die and trees fall. The mighty ‘cedars’ of pride must fall if we are to come to repentance and faith as a little child. The wind clears the sky of dark clouds; it dispels the fog and early mist, such as were in the mind of the religious man of John chapter 3. The spring breeze is necessary to dry and to ripen, so that the fruit may grow and the harvest may be gleaned. The gospel must be preached with the power of the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven. The direction of the wind foretells what is coming, whether cold hurricane storms from the north or south winds blowing softly. The Lord said of the Holy Spirit, “He shall glorify Me” Jn.16.14, and “He will shew you things to come” Jn.16.13. Heaven or hell as the sinner’s destination is settled by his or her response to the Spirit’s dealings. This new birth, this regeneration, is a definite individual, personal, vital transaction: there is a time when, a manner how, and a place where the sinner passes from death to life, followed by an evident practical change in the life to prove the possession of eternal life.
As they stood that night, perhaps under the olive trees in the garden where Jesus so often prayed, He may have drawn the attention of Nicodemus to the blowing of the wind rustling among the leaves. Though majestic in truth, the deep mysteries of the dealings of the Spirit of God were not understood by the learned rabbi. The carnal mind is still so sensuous and rational today that of itself it will not accept the inward and spiritual by faith. Let us be careful that our Gospel preaching is Scriptural and well-founded relative to the sovereign work of the Holy Spirit in conviction of sin, and human responsibility to accept the forgiveness of sin and the new birth through faith in Christ.
THE COMING OF THE SON OF MAN FROM HEAVEN
“Nicodemus answered and said unto Him, ‘How can these things be?’ Jesus answered and said unto him, ‘Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?’” vv.9-12. The Authorised Version accurately distinguishes between the singular and the plural. Nicodemus is addressed as “thee” (singular pronoun). “Ye” indicates with precision the people (plural) of Israel, especially the Pharisees. The rabbinical school represented by Nicodemus received not the witness of the Lord or His forerunner, John the Baptist, 1.5,11,19; 2.19-25. This testimony was evidenced by miracles and the experimental knowledge of those who were blessed by healing. These “earthly things” were visible, plain and obvious and might have been expected to be believed.
The “heavenly things” are the purposes of God and His doings in the heavens, removed from human view. These things cannot be revealed in their unveiled glory to human sight. They are the profound and inscrutable things of the redemption of men, stretching beyond time into the great eternal reality of everlasting life.
“And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but He that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven” v.13. This tremendous statement is arguably the highest revelation in this beautiful chapter, leading from the glory of the incarnation of the Son of man to His crucifixion on the cross. No mere man is qualified to speak of heavenly things. No one has ascended and returned to be able to speak of heavenly things. The Lord Jesus, being equal with God, took upon Himself the form of a servant and the fashion of a man. God “gave” Him, v.16; He was “sent” by God, v.17; 1.14; 1Jn.4.4-10. He, the Son of man, was there bodily on earth in conversation with Nicodemus, yet at the same time, He was in heaven. Both were true because, while, in coming to earth, He partook of humanity, yet He never ceased to be what He had ever been: the Son of God in heaven. “Being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself” Phil.2.8. He was perfectly Man but a different Man, not just a prophet or a messenger, but He Who came down from heaven. He was God, Jn.1.1. As one with the Father, His continual unity with Him means that He alone, having been in heaven, having seen heavenly things, being incarnate as the Son of man without ceasing to be what He was before, can speak of these heavenly things. In the phrase “which is in heaven”, “which is” means ‘the being one’, a title used in Rev.1.4,8; 4.8; 16.5.
- Yes, He has come
- Down from the peerless throne,
- Has laid His former glory by,
- Leaving for us the heaven’s bright joy,
- O wondrous love!
- And He has been Upon this barren scene,
- The Father’s heart has open laid,
- And reconciliation made,
- O wondrous love!
- (Author unknown)
THE CROSS WHERE THE SON OF MAN WAS LIFTED UP
“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up” 3.14. The Lord illustrated these profound heavenly truths to Nicodemus by this Old Testament reference in Numbers chapter 21. Nicodemus was a student of the writings of Moses. This was the last recorded miraculous act of Moses before the people of Israel entered the Promised Land. It is the last of a sequence of Divine provisions revealing God’s mercy, love and forgiveness, all three of which are beautiful types of Christ: the ashes of the red heifer, Numbers chapter 19, for purification; the water from the rock, Numbers chapter 20, for revival; and the brazen serpent upon a pole, Numbers chapter 21, for forgiveness.
In the deserts of Arabia venomous reptiles abound. “The people spake against God, and against Moses” Num.21.5. Divine protection was withdrawn on this occasion and “they bit the people; and much people of Israel died” Num.21.6. This illustrates the burning, lethal poison of sin. The flying serpent with its poisonous venom is an emblem of Satanic evil in Hebrew literature. The serpent of brass, in the likeness of the deadly plague, was not flying from tent to tent but hoisted triumphantly upon a pole as a sign of conquest. It was displayed there publicly, where all could behold it, as an ensign, a beacon of hope, a banner of love; a message was heralded to all: look and live. So Christ, at Passover time, was lifted up before the Nation upon the cross. The brazen serpent was a serpent without poison, and Christ was a Man without sin. The serpent upon the pole was a reminder of the very thing that had poisoned the Israelites. Thousands were bitten, and all needed the same remedy. “For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him” 2Cor.5.21.
“And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld [looked expectantly or attentively towards] the serpent of brass, he lived” Num.21.9. This suggests looking away from self and from Moses, to the God-appointed object of faith. Nicodemus was a recognised authority on the Law of Moses. He knew about the priesthood, the ordinances, the Tabernacle, and the offerings. What this “master of Israel” realised that dark night, we do not specifically know. It must have been obvious to him that the Lord was teaching about a vital experience beyond the keeping of Jewish meats, drinks and divers washings. When he later reached up, to reverently take “the body of Jesus” down from the cross, Jn.19.38-40, he certainly by then had believed the full gospel story that the Law could not give life. “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” Rom.8.3,4.
The “serpent of brass” had been formed by passing through the intense heat of the fire and in itself it was lifeless. When Joseph of Arimathaea “craved the body of Jesus … Pilate marvelled if He were already dead” Mk.15.43,44. We believe that “Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the scriptures” 1Cor.15.3,4. Nicodemus believed that He was buried, for he was there. He could literally agree with John, who wrote, “our hands have handled, of the Word of life” 1Jn.1.1.
The Lord is spoken of as being lifted up, in His death, 3.14; 8.28; 12.32. He was also raised up, in His resurrection, Acts 2.24; 10.40; 13.34; Rom.8.11, and taken up, in His ascension, Acts 1.2,9,11,22. The death, burial and resurrection of Christ form the essential basis of the preaching of the glorious gospel, 1Cor.15.3,4. It is clear that in speaking of being “lifted up” the Lord is “signifying what death He should die” 12.33: clearly crucifixion, a death of violence.
“That whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life” 3.15. Every one without exception that “believeth”, that is, who looks by faith as the Israelites did, will not perish: will never be in hell.
In these verses, we are, in the words of the title of this book, ‘beholding His glory’ on the cross. “On the cross we see the moral necessity of the death of the Son of man; we see the ineffable gift of the Son of God. … On the cross, Christ is not on earth, but lifted up from it, rejected ignominiously by man, but withal through this presented as a victim on the altar to God.”2
- 2 Darby, J.N. “Synopsis of the Books of the Bible, Volume 3”. Loizeaux Brothers, reprinted by Believers Bookshelf Inc., 1992.
Only the eternal Son of God can reach up to reveal the counsels of the Father. By faith, as we remember His birth, we must bow humbly as we enter the cattle stall. In Gethsemane we reverently creep by faith into the shadows of the garden. Here, we look up by faith at the cross that we may “have eternal life”. This is the unmistakable, undeniable passing from death to life eternal, from darkness to light. The Spirit convicts, love conquers and the blood cleanses.
- We, by sin and Satan wounded,
- Helplessly did lie;
- But the Son of God from heaven
- Came to die.
- Lifted up in pain and anguish,
- He was crucified –
- Jesus bore the sinner’s judgment
- When He died.
- (Author unknown)
In chapter 3, Nicodemus was a timid listener; he was an honest defender in chapter 7 verses 50-52. At what stage he became a courageous man of faith is not revealed. Nicodemus must have clearly recalled the words “lifted up” when he came, evidently having previously prepared, to take Him down from the cross. He brought “a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pound weight” 19.39. This huge quantity of spices would not have been readily available for an unexpected event. The Lord Who was lifted up by rough hands was taken down from the cross with deep reverence and tender hands. “Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes [fold after fold] with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury” 19.40. There was no reason why a faithful band of devout believers, such as Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimathaea and Mary of Bethany, could not have known from the Old Testament Scriptures about the violent nature of the Lord’s death and the exact date when Messiah would be “cut off”, as recorded and dated exactly in Dan.9.26.
THE CONVERSION OF THOSE WHO BELIEVE
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” Jn.3.16. The Lord’s discourse flows uninterrupted until v.21. We cannot accept that the Lord would have let Nicodemus depart without the confirmation that the Son of man was none other than the Son of God, and without the great affirmation of God’s love. There is not the slightest proof that the rest of the passage is John’s summary or comments. It may have been the first time John heard the Lord referring to Himself as “Son of God”.
“God so loved the world.” This last word must have been difficult for Nicodemus to grasp: that God so loved not only the chosen nation, but the whole world of mankind, for which He gave His unspeakable gift. Believing in, trusting, or exercising faith in, is accepting what God has provided freely in His Son, not doing something to merit it, like law- keeping. “As Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us: that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me” 17.21. The Lord spoke of “heavenly things”, yet this verse expresses the sublime revelation of the glorious gospel in simple words and concise clarity that a child can grasp by faith.
This Defines God’s Supreme Love – “For God so loved the world”
It is vast. “God so loved the world” that “lieth in wickedness” 1Jn.5.19. Thieves, adulterers, lawless and menstealers are easily found, but you cannot find one in all the world whom God does not love. We cannot measure this love by human standards. We ourselves remember injury, we resent hurt, we take offence easily, and our professed love is usually with an element of self-interest. God’s love is unexplainable. Amid the thorns and briers of human pride this love is a fragrant rose in an arid place. This love springs from the infinite; it flows down from the eternal throne; its secret source is in everlasting Deity. It is righteous: there can be no pardoning grace without loving atonement. The glory of such love conquers every hindrance, surmounts every obstacle, reaches any distance, pursues the most destitute and conquers sea, death and hell. “Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it”’s of S.8.7. “But God commmendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” Rom.5.8.
- Could we with ink the ocean fill,
- And were the skies of parchment made,
- Were every stalk on earth a quill,
- And every man a scribe a trade;
- To write the love of God above Would drain the ocean dry;
- Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
- Though stretched from sky to sky.
- (F.M. Lehman)
This affirmation of God’s love has been on the lips of missionaries and preachers ever since it was first written. These words of transparent simplicity come with overpowering majesty. Thoughts of such sacrificial love have kindled repentance in the cold, selfish breasts of multitudes, reached by the gospel in the continents of earth and the islands of the sea during this Day of God’s grace.
This Describes God’s Sublime Gift – “that He gave His only begotten Son”
“In this was manifested the love of God” 1Jn.4.9, but it cannot be measured. We esteem gifts by the giver’s sacrifice, thoughtfulness, or self- denial. God freely gave; God can freely forgive. The first reference to love in the Authorised Version text of the Bible is “Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest … and offer him … for a burnt offering” Gen.22.2. God gave His Son to exile among men, to live with the “bulls of Bashan” Ps.22.12, to the slander of liars, to be beaten by murderers, to hunger, thirst, and spitting, to a criminal’s death on a cross of wood. “God so loved the world”; “Christ … loved the Church” Eph.5.25; individually we worship “the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me” Gal.2.20. “All other love can measured be, But not Thy dying love to me” (Joseph Denham Smith). The central word of these twenty-five words of Jn.3.16, A.V., is the word “Son”. “He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” Rom.8.32.
This Discharges God’s Saving Purpose – “that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish”
“That” [the second “that” in the verse, meaning ‘in order that’] whosoever believeth in Him should not perish”: God can deal in love with the sinner. Sin fills battlefields with the dead, asylums with the demented, hospitals with the diseased, graves with the decayed, hell with the doomed, and the lake of fire with the damned. God loves; God is able to save. Courts prosecute, prisons punish, doctors prescribe, and wealth provides. God gives; God “will have all men to be saved” 1Tim.2.3,4.
This Determines Men’s Eternal Destiny – “but have everlasting life”
This declares Deity, divides humanity, and decides eternity. Eternal life is the result of the new birth. God the Spirit convicts of sin. God the Son shed His blood to cleanse from sin. God the Father, through the Son, has conquered sin. Eternal life is offered freely. It is no academic award or scholastic prize or skilful work. The dull, the unlettered, the poor, the destitute can possess it by faith. It is everlasting; no robber can steal it, no rust can cause it to corrode, no rodent can spoil it. At the end of physical life, when the grave beckons, riches are left behind; when health is gone and friends fade from the vision, eternal life is richer, rarer, more precious. “God’s Word is infallible, God’s Son is eternal, God’s promise is everlasting.”3 John’s characteristic words in this tremendous Gospel are light, life and love.- 3 Barnes, S. (compiler) “Sermons on John 3:16 (by C.H. Spurgeon and others)”. Ambassador, 1999.
“For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn [‘judge’] the world; but that the world through Him might be saved” 3.17. The word “gave” in 3.16 is replaced by the word “sent” in this verse, denoting the Son of God’s specific mission into the world. The Son was not about to judge the world as He will judge in the last day, 5.28,29; 12.48. Judgment is not the purpose of His first coming. Christ is “the Saviour of the world” 4.42. Divine love is the sublime source of the whole redeeming purpose of God and it has been lavished on “the world”. “He is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world” 1Jn.2.2. “When the terms ‘gave’, ‘only begotten Son’, ‘believeth’, ‘life, ‘perishing’, ‘God’, ‘the world’, are fully interpreted, then the words of this text gather an ever-augmenting force and fulness of meaning … the word ‘sent’ … arrests attention by denoting the immediate function of the Son of God’s mission … Salvation … means all that is elsewhere denoted by ‘justification’, but much more than that. It connotes all that is included in ‘regeneration’ and ‘sanctification’ … It includes all that is involved in ‘redemption’ and ‘adoption’ … and also the conditions of ‘appropriation’ … such as ‘faith’ and ‘repentance’ … These Divine blessings originated in the bosom of the Father, where the only begotten Son forevermore abides, and they are all poured forth through the Son upon the world in the coming of the Christ. He was sent to save.” 4
- 4 Spence, H.D.M. and Exell, J.S. (editors) “The Pulpit Commentary, Volume 17”. Hendrickson Publishers, 1985.
THE CONDEMNATION OF THOSE WHO BELIEVE NOT
“God is light” 1Jn.1.5, and “God is love” 1Jn.4.8,16. “In Him was life; and the life was the light of men” Jn.1.4. When sin first entered, Adam hid himself with fig leaves behind the trees of the garden of Eden. Ever since, “men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil” 3.19. For those who choose to remain in the darkness, to continue undisturbed in their evil, and refuse to come to the light, 3.20, the “condemnation”, the judgment, the penalty of sin, remains upon them, “already” 3.18.
THE CONFESSION OF THE GLORY OF CHRIST BY JOHN THE BAPTIST
This is the last recorded testimony of the forerunner before being cast into prison. John, the friend of the Bridegroom, testified: “He that cometh from above is above all” 3.31: he testified to the glory of His origin; the unique perfection of His teaching, as acquainted with all the Father’s counsels; the unlimited supply of the graces of the Spirit; the dignity and sovereignty of His mediatorship; and His authority to give life.
John clearly taught his hearers that he was not the Christ but was sent ahead to prepare the way for the One Who was coming from heaven, the Sent One from God. About forty times the Gospel of John refers to Him Whom God “sent”, including two references in this chapter, 3.17,34. Thus John the Baptist affirmed the Deity and heavenly origin of Christ, as well as God’s sovereignty and love. “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” 1Jn.4.10. “And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world” 1Jn.4.14.
It brought great joy to John the Baptist to testify to the glory of the Son of God and thus to continue the theme of this lovely chapter. To illustrate his work in preparing for the arrival of Christ, John the Baptist refers to the joyful custom at Eastern weddings. “The friend of the bridegroom” 3.29, was only a messenger, not the main participant at the marriage. He assisted with the necessary arrangements for the ceremony and introduced the guests to the bridegroom. John stood and pointed to “the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” 1.29. John witnessed the Spirit descending like a dove to abide upon Him, 1.32. In the river valley, John heard the voice from heaven announce the Father’s pleasure after about thirty years of obscurity. Now John rejoices with joy unspeakable as he stands, to hear “the Bridegroom’s voice” 3.29, as he witnesses the blessed espousals. John the Baptist was himself a voice crying in the wilderness, but now this is the voice from the glory, the eternal Word (the Logos, 1.1), making known the glory of God in His own flesh. John was the porter who opened the door to the true Shepherd, 10.3.
“He that hath received His testimony hath set to his seal that God is true. For He whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto Him. The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into His hand” 3.33-35. These words show Jesus to be in every way superior to John the Baptist. John was an important and Divinely-authorised messenger. The Lord said about John that “among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater” Matt.11.11. John spoke as one from “the earth”; the Son came “from heaven” Jn.3.31. The Son of God was not merely a messenger of God but, as God, He spoke the words of God. The Father’s love endowed the Son with complete authority to execute God’s purpose. The believer in the Son has eternal life, “and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him” 3.36. This is the only time the apostle John uses the word “wrath” in his Gospel or Epistles, but he uses it six times in Revelation. “The Father loveth the Son” occurs twice in John’s Gospel and on this occasion it emphasises that God has given to the Son control of all things.
This glorious chapter reveals three great imperatives. For the sinner, the message is “Ye must be born again” v.7. As to the Saviour, it states that “even so must the Son of man be lifted up” v.14. The lesson for the servant is: “He must increase, but I must decrease” v.30. John the Baptist was delighted with the falling away of his own popularity. His joy was complete as he preached to his followers, pointed them all to Another, and rejoiced as they left him to follow Jesus. The statement “John was not yet cast into prison” v.24, proves that John the apostle wrote much later than the writers of the other Gospels, who record how the disciples of John respectfully buried the headless body of this noble servant.
The practical lesson of these verses for every servant of God is to serve humbly; self must decrease and fade out of sight, while Christ must have all the glory. We should live and preach to the glory of our blessed Lord so that others, through us, may be left, by faith, “beholding His glory”.