John 3: Nicodemus and For God so loved the world

A visitor after dark

Nicodemus is introduced as a Pharisee and a ruler of the Jews, a respected member of the council in Jerusalem. He comes to Jesus by night, perhaps to avoid being seen, perhaps simply to talk without crowds. He opens politely, calling Jesus a teacher come from God, and Jesus answers with a riddle: unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

The Greek word translated “again” can also mean “from above,” and Nicodemus takes it in the most literal sense, asking how a grown man can be born a second time. Jesus speaks of being born of water and of the Spirit, and compares the Spirit to the wind, which you hear without knowing where it comes from or where it goes.

What does John 3:16 mean?

Just before the famous verse, Jesus recalls a strange story from Numbers 21. When the Israelites in the wilderness were bitten by serpents, Moses lifted up a bronze serpent on a pole, and those who looked at it lived. In the same way, Jesus says, the Son of man must be lifted up, a phrase John uses for the cross.

Verse 16 then gives the reason for all of it: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son. The word “so” here means “in this way” as much as “so much.” God's love is shown by what he gives. The verse goes on to promise that whoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life, and verse 17 adds that the Son was sent not to condemn the world but to save it. Scholars debate whether these lines are still Jesus speaking or the evangelist reflecting, since the original text had no quotation marks; either way, the message is the same.

From stadium signs to baptism cards

Martin Luther is often credited with calling John 3:16 the Gospel in miniature, and generations of children have learned it as their first memory verse. It appears on banners at sporting events, on the bottom of fast food cups and on countless baptism and confirmation cards. The discussion of being born of water and the Spirit is also read at many baptisms, which is one reason a John 3:16 print is so often chosen for a baptism or a new believer.

Nicodemus comes back

Nicodemus does not vanish after this chapter. In John 7 he reminds the council that the law does not judge a man without hearing him, and in John 19 he arrives with a hundred pounds of myrrh and aloes to bury Jesus. The same chapter 3 also contains John the Baptist's own humble summary of his mission: he must increase, but I must decrease.