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Testimonies of Jesus and the Baptist

John next narrates Jesus’ ministry to three individuals: Nicodemus, a Samaritan woman, and a royal official, who belong to Judea, Samaria, and Galilee respectively (John 3–4). This shows that Jesus is interested in each individual and his purpose is to bring people of all cultures, regions, and languages into his community.

Jesus’ Testimony before Nicodemus (3:1–21)

Jesus’ dialogue with Nicodemus (3:1–12)

Nicodemus was a Jew, “a man of the Pharisees” and “a ruler of the Jews” (3:1). The designation “ruler” shows his position in the Jewish council (7:50–51). He was “the teacher of Israel” (3:10) who was searching for heavenly truth. So Nicodemus met Jesus, obviously in Jerusalem. By knowing Nicodemus’s inner thirst, Jesus initiates his teaching on the necessity of new birth in order to experience life in the kingdom of God (3:3, 5).

Nicodemus came to Jesus by night. It could have been for secrecy, because many Pharisees were opposing Jesus; or night-time could have been simply a convenient time for him and Jesus; or it could be in line with the custom of the rabbis to study the Law and converse about divine things at night.1 Nevertheless, the twice-repeated remark that Nicodemus came to Jesus at night (3:2; 19:39) makes the symbolic meaning more probable. In John, “night” denotes darkness, an impossible time to do good work and the absence of light causing people to stumble in life because of their evil deeds (3:19–21; 9:4–5; 11:10; 12:35, 36, 46; 13:30). John thus implies that Nicodemus came from the dark sphere of his life to Jesus, the Light that enlightens every human. Nevertheless, many scholars take Nicodemus negatively.2 However, John seems to admire the initial stage of Nicodemus’s faith and shows him later as the one who spoke for Jesus in the Jewish council (7:45–52) and who gave a royal burial to him (19:30–42).

Nicodemus was impressed with the signs that Jesus performed and hence believed that Jesus was a teacher who came from God with divine power (3:2). In this sense, he represents those who believed in Jesus after seeing his signs (2:23). At the initial stage, Nicodemus had only partial understanding of Jesus (cf. 4:19; 9:30–32, 36).

Jesus knew Nicodemus’s imperfect knowledge and equally his inner thirst for heavenly reality. Therefore he tells him, by using the phrase “Truly, truly, I say to you,” that only those who are born from above can experience heavenly life under God’s rule (3:3). The Greek word anōthen used has two meanings: “again” and “from above” (3:31; 19:11, 23; cf. 8:23). Both meanings complement each other, for the experience of being born again (“new birth”) comes from God who is above (1:13). The idea of becoming children of God by a new birth (1:12–13) is developed in 3:3 as the prerequisite to enter the kingdom of God (cf. Matt 18:3). The new community of Jesus is a community that comes under God’s rule by experiencing new birth from above.

The same idea of being born from above is explained by Jesus in 3:5, after Nicodemus expressed his non-understanding of birth from above by his question, “How can a person be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” (3:4). John uses the literary technique of non-understanding so that the heavenly truth may be revealed clearly. John 3:3 and 3:5 are mutually interpreting. The word “seeing” in 3:3 is replaced by “entering” and the word “from above” by “of water and Spirit” in 3:5. “Seeing” in John means both physical sight and spiritual perception. It denotes “experiencing” or “tasting” (3:36; 8:51, 53) divine life by the power of God’s Spirit. Thus, “seeing” and “entering” are identical in meaning. However, “entering” emphasizes the act of coming into the realm of God’s reign and see God as King. What is the meaning of “water and spirit” which interprets “from above”?

The main issue of interpretation concerns whether the term “water” refers to a baptism of repentance or to the Jewish proselyte baptism or to Christian baptism. Almost all scholars agree that “spirit” here means the outpouring of the Holy Spirit which brings regeneration (see Ezek 36:25–27, where “water” symbolizes the Spirit of God). That water baptism is a prerequisite for entering the kingdom of God is found neither in the NT nor in any other Christian writings. Even the Baptist’s baptism is a symbol of repentance only and is superseded by the coming of Christ, who will baptize with the Holy Spirit (1:26–27, 33). In John’s Gospel, “water” is mainly used as a symbol for the Holy Spirit, who will lead the receipient to eternal life (John 4:14–15; 7:37–39; cf. Ezek 47:9). One can say that in 3:5 water and Spirit are used synonymously, one being the symbol and the other reality. It is the Spirit that enables one to be reborn into the family of God and thus to come under the rule of God. The meaning of 3:3 and 3:5 finally is merged into the phrase “born of the Spirit” (3:8).3 Why, then, does John write “water and spirit” if both refer to the Holy Spirit as the source of rebirth? By placing both the terms 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 life” and “perishing,” being end-time events, are opposed to each other. The former denotes salvation of the believers and the latter the eternal condemnation of those who do not believe in the Son. Human destiny has only these two ends. Such dualism is used in John to urge human beings to choose life (cf. Deut 30:18–19).

God giving his only Son is parallel to God sending his Son into the world. God did not send his Son to condemn the world, but to save the world through the Son (3:17). The phrase “not to perish” (3:16) is interpreted as “not to condemn,” and the phrase “to have eternal life” (3:16) is interpreted as “to save.” The term “everyone” is read in 3:17 as a collective term “the world,” meaning the sphere of human life. The word “sending” has a missional thrust. The purpose of Jesus’ mission in the world is to save all people from eternal destruction and to give heavenly life to those who allow him to direct their lives. “The one who does not believe is condemned already” (3:18) implies that anyone who does not accept God’s provision for human salvation is already judged as guilty and hence is given up to death. Jesus did not come to judge the world, but to save it from the power of darkness (12:47). But the reason for eternal condemnation is the refusal to believe in the name of the only Son (cf. 1:12). Unbelief is the root of all evil deeds (cf. 16:9).

John refers to the descent of the Son of Man to the world (3:13–15), and then he speaks of the sending/giving of the Son to the world (3:16–18), and in 3:19–21 he speaks of the coming of the Light into the world (cf. 1:9–11)—all denoting the coming of Jesus into the world. In 3:19–21, John describes the Logos incarnate, Jesus, as the Light who came into the world (cf. 8:12; 9:5; 12:35–36, 46). Since human works are naturally evil, all people love to live in darkness rather than in light. Therefore they themselves fall under God’s judgment (3:19), an eschatological event that is in operation at present (3:18; 5:24). The Light not only shines and illumines (1:5, 9), but also exposes the evil deeds of humankind and therefore the world hates the Light and does not come to it (3:20).

In contrast, those who do the truth are recognized as those who love the Light and live in it (3:21). They exhibit their faithfulness to the covenant relationship of God by obeying his commandments. Doing good deeds is the same as doing the truth by living in the Light and in fellowship with God (cf. Matt 5:16). The coming of Jesus thus divides human beings into those who love darkness and perform evil and those who come to the Light and perform good deeds (cf. 1QS 3.1—4.26). Nevertheless, the division was caused not by the coming of Jesus into the world but by the response of the people to his coming.

The Baptist’s testimony to Jesus (3:22–30)

The phrase “after these” (3:22) links the mission of the Baptist with the mission of the Son of God (3:16–21). After Jesus’ ministry in Jerusalem, Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean land, where he was staying with them and baptizing. Since Jesus was already in Judea, his move into the land of Judea seems irrelevant. Therefore some scholars suggest that 3:22–30 should be read after 2:12 and that 3:1–21 should be followed by verses 31–36. However, the word “land of Judea” can also mean “Judean countryside” (NRSV and ESV).7 Jesus and his disciples might have moved from Jerusalem into the countryside, where water was available for baptism. Jesus himself was not baptizing, but his disciples were (4:2).

Why should Jesus’ disciples baptize people, when the Baptist was already giving baptism at Aenon near Salim where there was much water (3:23)?8 Probably the crowd, which followed Jesus in larger number than that which followed the Baptist (3:26; 4:1), asked for baptism similar to that given by the Baptist. The disciples gave baptism with Jesus’ approval and in his name. The narrator comments that John the Baptist had not yet been put in prison (3:24). This comment means that Jesus’ ministry in Judea began before the arrest of the Baptist, whereas his ministry in Galilee began after his imprisonment (Mark 1:14).

There arose a controversy over the rite of purification between the Baptist’s disciples and a Jew, who might have been one of “the Jews” (3:25). Since baptism was treated as a rite of purification in Judaism, the Jew might have questioned the credibility of the Baptist’s baptism compared to the baptism given by Jesus’ disciples, which attracted more people. Because the Baptist’s disciples, at least some of them, were provoked to jealousy, they came to their master and complained that many were going to Jesus to be baptized.9 Without rightly understanding Jesus in spite of the Baptist’s earlier witness (1:29–34), they refer to Jesus in the third person, “He who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified” (3:26a). They considered Jesus as a rival to the Baptist, whom they mistook as the Christ. This setting gives an occasion for the Baptist to intensify his witness to Jesus.

The Baptist speaks first proverbially by saying that no human can receive even one thing unless it is given from heaven (3:27), that is, “from God who dwells above in heaven” (cf. 3:3; 8:23; 19:11). Jesus was involved in God’s mission with the authority that comes from God. Then the Baptist speaks factually by reminding them of his witness that he was not the Christ, although he was sent chronologically before Jesus (3:28; cf. 1:20, 23, 30). The phrase “you yourself bear me witness” shows that when the Baptist was being probed by the “Jews” on his identity, his disciples had heard his testimony (cf. 1:19–28). The Baptist confirms the greatness of Jesus by speaking metaphorically that Jesus is a bridegroom and he himself is the “friend” or the “best man,” whose function is to stand and hear the bridegroom’s voice on the joyful occasion of the wedding (3:29). The bridegroom is naturally more significant than the best man. In the OT the word “bridegroom” refers to God who rejoices over his “bride,” the people of Israel, by covenant relationship (Isa 62:5b; Jer 2:2; Ezek 16:8–14; Hos 2:16, 19–20). So also, those who go to Jesus are his bride (cf. Matt 25:1; Mark 2:19; 2 Cor 11:2; Eph 5:23–27, 31–32; Rev 21:2; 22:17).

When the bridegroom takes the bride by speaking to her and making his vow, the best man rejoices,10 or when the friend hears the shout of exultation by the bridegroom when he discovers the bride a virgin in the bridal chamber, he rejoices by hearing the joyful voice of the bridegroom. The work of the best man is then complete.11 Now the Baptist hears that more people are following Jesus and are baptized. This marks the voice of bridegroom’s joy. He, who is subordinate to Jesus, fully rejoices that his mission of testifying to Jesus as the Christ is complete. For the Baptist, Jesus must increase but he must decrease (3:30), implying that Jesus should be projected as the Christ, the Son of God, whereas he himself must become less significant. Thus, the Baptist takes away the rival spirit of his disciples against Jesus.

Summary statements (3:31–36)

3:31–36 seems to be the continuation of the Baptist’s witness to Jesus. Some find a good transition from 3:30 to 3:31. Others argue that 3:31–36 contain the sayings of Jesus and therefore that it should be placed after 3:21. However, 3:31 does not give a relevant sequence to 3:21. Dodd regards 3:22–36 as an explanatory appendix to 3:1–21.12 Since 3:31–36 recapitulates the words of Jesus and those of the Baptist (3:1–30), we may treat 3:31–36 as a summary placed by the Evangelist or an editor13 fittingly at the end of the first phase of Jesus’ ministry in Judea.

The greatness of Jesus is underlined again in 3:31–36. The close relationship between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit in terms of their corporate function is also visible. The phrase “he who comes from above” indicates not only the heavenly origin of Jesus (3:31c; cf. 3:2), but also contrasts him with anyone who belongs to the earth. A dualism is presented between the nature of the one who is from above and of the one who is of earth (cf. 3:6; 8:23). Humans, who came out of dust, belong to this earth and therefore they speak and work seeking for earthly things. In contrast, Jesus, who comes from heaven, bears witness to heavenly things, which he has seen and heard from the Father (3:32a; cf. 6:46; 8:26b; 12:49).

The same idea is expressed in 3:34: “For he whom God has sent speaks the words of God.” Jesus is the agent who was sent into the world by God. It is essentially the same as “he who comes from above.” He could speak the words of God because God gives the Spirit to him without measure (3:34; cf. 1:32–33). Thus God the Father works together with the Son and the Holy Spirit to reveal himself to the world as true.14 God, out of his love (17:23b-24), has given all things into Jesus’ hand (3:35). “All things,” entrusted to the Son, may imply God’s own life (5:26), authority to judge (5:22, 27), authority over all humans to give eternal life (17:2), Jesus’ followers (6:37; 17:6), the words to speak (12:49; 17:8), God’s name (17:6, 11–12) and glory (17:22; cf. 1:14).15

Although the Son testifies to what he has seen and heard with the Father, no human receives Jesus’ testimony (3:32). This means that no one among Jesus’ opponents received his testimony to the one true God. But whoever believes sets the seal on the fact that God is true (3:33). The Greek word sphragizein, translated “to set the seal,” when it is followed by “that” (hoti), means “to attest, certify, acknowledge,”16 referring to an approval of a legal document by putting a seal on it (cf. Esth 8:8, 10). The one who accepts Jesus’ testimony experiences God’s love and life-giving power and consequently attests that God is indeed trustworthy.

The summary ends with a reference to heavenly life, which is available to those who believe in the Son, and to God’s wrath, which remains on anyone who does not obey the Son (3:36). “Believing in the Son” and “obeying the Son” are parallel terms (see comments on 3:15–16). Similarly, “eternal life” or “life” is set against the eschatological wrath of God, which rests now upon those who do not accept and obey the Son. Both eternal life and the end-time wrath of God are spoken in the present tense (“has eternal life” and “rests upon”), implying that they are already in operation among human beings. At the same time, the future-tense “shall not see life” indicates that the one who does not obey now will not experience the future life with God (cf. 5:24; 8:51, 52). Such dualism urges human beings to choose life now by believing in the Son.

1. Str-B: 2.419–20.

2. E.g., de Jonge 1977: 36; Culpepper 1983: 134–36; Neyrey 2007: 76–78; Hakola 2009: 438–55.

3. For the argument that both water and spirit stand for the Holy Spirit see Ridderbos 1997: 127–28; Kruse 2008: 109.

4. Some manuscripts add “[the Son of Man] who is in heaven,” and other manuscripts add “[the Son of Man] who is from heaven.” These additions were made perhaps to explain the pre-existence of the Son of Man.

5. Phillips 1957: 83–96.

6. Cf. Keener 2005: 1.566–67.

7. The meaning of the Greek gē in 3:22 is “region, country” (BDAG, 196).

8. The name “Aenon” may come from the Hebrew word ‘ayin, “spring,” implying that there were more springs of water; Kruse 2008: 121.

9. The complaint that “all are going to him” (3:26b) is an exaggeration, meaning that many people are going to Jesus (cf. 4:1; 11:48; 12:19).

10. Lindars 1992: 17.

11. Kruse 2008: 123.

12. Dodd 1958: 311; cf. Ridderbos 1997: 148.

13. Cf. Brown 1978: 1.159–60.

14. Gruenler 1986: 32–34.

15. Brown 1978: 1.162.

16. BDAG, 980.