NLT Study Bible - Gospel of John - Flipbook - Page 13
John 3:4
1774
4“What do you mean?” exclaimed Nico
demus. “How can an old man go back into
his mother’s womb and be born again?”
5Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can
enter the Kingdom of God without being
born of water and the Spirit. 6eHumans can
reproduce only ehuman life, but the Holy
Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. 7So don’t
be surprised when I say, ‘You must be fborn
again.’ 8The wind blows wherever it wants.
Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell
where it comes from or where it is going, so
you can’t explain how people are born of
the Spirit.”
9“How are these things possible?” Nicode
mus asked.
10Jesus replied, “You are a respected Jew
ish teacher, and yet you don’t understand
these things? 11I assure you, we tell you what
we know and have seen, and yet you won’t
believe our testimony. 12But if you don’t be
lieve me when I tell you about earthly things,
how can you possibly believe if I tell you
about heavenly things? 13No one has ever
gone to heaven and returned. But the Son
of Man has come down from heaven. 14And
as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a
pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man
must be lifted up, 15so that everyone who
believes in him will have eternal life.
16“For this is how God loved the world: He
gave his gone and only Son, so that everyone
3:5 water and the Spirit (or and
spirit; the Greek word Spirit can also be
translated wind; see note on 3:8): John
the Baptist baptized with water; Jesus
baptizes with the Spirit (1:33).
3:6 the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life: Literally what is born of the
Spirit is spirit.
3:7 The Greek word translated You is
plural; also in 3:12.
3:8 Wind translates the same word in
Greek as spirit (Greek pneuma). The
wind is an apt image for the Spirit, who
is sent from heaven and cannot be
contained or controlled.
3:13 There is great distance between
this world and heaven (see 1:51; 3:31;
6:38, 42). Jesus bridged that distance,
validating his divine status by defeating
death and returning to heaven (16:5-11).
Son of Man: Some manuscripts add
who lives in heaven. “Son of Man” is a
title Jesus used for himself.
3:14-15 Jesus was lifted up on the cross
so that all people could understand the
way of salvation, look to him in faith,
and have eternal life.
3:15 everyone who believes in him
will have eternal life: Or everyone
who believes in him will not perish but have
eternal life. 17God sent his Son into the
world not to judge the world, but to save the
world through him.
18“There is no judgment against anyone
who believes in him. But anyone who does
not believe in him has already been judged
for not believing in God’s hone and only
Son. 19And the judgment is based on this
fact: God’s light came into the world, but
people loved the darkness more than the
light, for their actions were evil. 20All who
do evil hate the light and refuse to go near
it for fear their sins will be exposed. 21But
those who do what is right come to the light
so others can see that they are doing what
God wants.”
3:7
fanothen gennao
(0509, 1080)
John 3:31
John the Baptist Exalts Jesus
Jesus and his disciples left Jerusa
lem and went into the Judean countryside.
Jesus spent some time with them there, bap
tizing people.
23At this time John the Baptist was baptiz
ing at Aenon, near Salim, because there was
plent y of water there; and people kept com
ing to him for baptism. 24(This was before
John was thrown into prison.) 25A debate
broke out between John’s disciples and a
certain Jew over ceremonial cleansing. 26So
John’s disciples came to him and said, “Rabbi,
the man you met on the other side of the
Jordan River, the one you identified as the
3:16
Rom 5:8; 8:32
1 Jn 4:9-10; 5:13
gmonogenes (3439)
John 3:18
3:17
John 12:47
3:18
John 5:24
hmonogenes (3439)
Heb 11:17
3:19
John 1:5, 9; 8:12; 9:5;
12:46
3:20
Eph 5:11-13
3:21
1 Jn 1:6
3:22
John 3:26; 4:1-2
22Then
who believes will have eternal life in
him. The Greek syntax allows for either
interpretation.
3:16-21 Because there are no quotation
marks around Jesus’ speech in Greek,
translators debate where Jesus’ speech
ends and John’s commentary begins;
3:16-21 might be John’s commentary.
3:16 The truth that God loved the world
is basic to Christian understanding (1 Jn
4:9-10). God’s love extends beyond the
limits of race and nation, even to those
who oppose him (see “The World” at
17:5-26, p. 1807). The Son came to
save—not condemn (3:17)—men and
women who habitually embrace the
darkness (3:19-21).
3:18 As light penetrates and exposes
the world’s darkness, God’s judgment
on the world has already begun. Those
who see this light and recognize the
tragedy of their own situation have the
responsibility of believing in God’s . . .
Son (3:16-17).
3:19-20 When people live in spiritual
darkness, they do not desire to be
enlightened by Jesus, “the light of the
world” (8:12; 9:5). Evil and darkness
do not ignore the light; they wage war
3:5
Ezek 36:26-27
Titus 3:5
2 Pet 1:11
3:6
John 1:13
Rom 8:15-16
1 Cor 15:50
Gal 4:6
esarx (4561)
Rom 8:4
3:8
Eccl 11:5
3:13
John 6:38, 42
Eph 4:8-10
3:14
Num 21:8-9
John 8:28; 12:34
3:15
John 20:31
1 Jn 5:11-12
against it, trying to bring it down. But
the darkness cannot extinguish the light
(1:5). Those who refuse to believe live
in darkness (cp. 13:30) and stumble
because they cannot see (11:10). In the
end, however, their sins will be exposed
(5:28-30; Rev 20:11-15).
3:21 can see that they are doing what
God wants: Or can see God at work in
what he is doing. The Greek syntax allows for either interpretation.
3:22-36 John the Baptist identifies Jesus
as the one who is truly from above
(3:31); this requires John’s followers to
shift their allegiance to Jesus.
3:22 Jesus spent some time . . . baptizing: See 4:2, which clarifies that Jesus’
disciples did the baptizing.
3:24 Before John was thrown into
prison (see Matt 14:1-12; Mark 1:14;
6:14-29; Luke 3:19-20), he and Jesus
worked together at the Jordan River.
Once John was arrested, Jesus moved
north into Galilee (Mark 1:14).
3:25 a certain Jew: Some manuscripts
read some Jews.
3:26 everybody is going to him: Jesus’
popularity made some of John’s followers envious.
