A Study of John's Gospel

John 3:1-3: Only The Born Again Will See God's Kingdom

-Again: "anōthen", "ἄνωθεν"; adverb - anew, over again, indicating repetition. Also, "from above", of things which come from heaven or God.

-He Cannot: "dynamai", "δύναμαι"; verb - to be able, have power.

-Kingdom: "basileia", "βασιλεία"; feminine noun - Jesus employed the phrase Kingdom of God or of heaven to indicate that perfect order of things which he was about to establish, in which all those of every nation who should believe in him were to be gathered together into one society, dedicated and intimately united to God, and made partakers of eternal salvation.

Observation/Summary(short explanation of what the passage says in your own words):

A man named Nicodemus, who was a Pharisee and Jewish leader, came to Jesus at night to speak with Him. He told Jesus "we" know you are a teacher that has come from God because only someone sent by God and who had God with them, could do the miraculous signs Jesus was doing. Jesus answered Him by saying no one who is not born again can see the Kingdom of God.

Implication (what does this mean to us):

In the first chapter of John we read of multiple ways in which people came to Jesus or invited others to, and now we read of another way. Nicodemus, a Pharisee and ruler of the Jews, came to Jesus by night. He did not have people in his life who invited him to "come and see" Jesus. He heard about Him, and came to see Jesus by himself and in secret. Nicodemus was not only a Pharisee, he was a member of the Sanhedrin, the theocratic, ruling group of Jewish elders. Although he was Jewish, the name Nicodemus is Greek, and this indicates he was also well educated, which is not surprising for a wealthy, ruling Pharisee. He was a man of education, wealth and influence, but he came to speak to Jesus at night and in secret. We do not know exactly why he came in secret at night, but the events leading up to this provide some clues.

John the Baptist had been declaring the coming of the Lamb of God, and people had started to follow Jesus, declaring Him to be the Son of God. Then Jesus, after performing the miracle at the wedding in Cana, went to Jerusalem for Passover where He cleansed the temple of the greedy merchants and money changers, driving them out with a whip made of rope. After being confronted by representatives from the ruling Jewish leaders and being asked for a sign of His authority to do so, He told them if they destroyed the temple, that is, His body, He would raise it back up in three days, and then He did perform many miraculous signs while in the city. As a result of these signs and His teaching many people were believing in Him.

All of this would have caused quite a stir among the people and therefore among the ruling Sanhedrin as well. Because of verses like John 12:42 which say, "...many even of the authorities believed in Him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it...", there is a possibility Nicodemus came to Jesus by night because he was afraid of the ire of his fellow Jewish leaders who were by and large already pitting themselves against Jesus. But it is also possible he simply wanted a quiet, uninterrupted conversation with Jesus.

Keeping in mind the narrative of John's gospel as a whole, the wording of this first verse in chapter three is also interesting as it follows the wording of John 2:25 where we read Jesus did not entrust Himself to man because He knows what is in man. Now, we read of this "man" of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This is the best and brightest of all men, who Jesus did not entrust Himself to, coming to Jesus by night and in secret. I think as we read this we are meant to understand a few things:

1. Jesus knows what is in the heart and mind of all men, or in other words, all people. 2. Nicodemus is a wise, learned and powerful man who studied God's Word his whole life.

3. Whatever Jesus says to this representative, or we might say this exemplar of the best of the people, is what we need to hear too, because Jesus knows what is in man.