The Gospel According to
John 3
36 verses≈ 6 min3 peopleBSB
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In this chapter
Jesus and Nicodemus
Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs You are doing if God were not with him.”
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Jesus
Jesus replied, “Truly, truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”
Nicodemus
“How can a man be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked. “Can he enter his mother’s womb a second time to be born?”
Jesus
Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh is born of flesh, but spirit is born of the Spirit. Do not be amazed that I said, ‘You must be born again.’
The wind blows where it wishes. You hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
Nicodemus
“How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.
Jesus
“You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and you do not understand these things? Truly, truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, and yet you people do not accept our testimony.
If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except the One who descended from heaven—the Son of Man.
Born of…
Whiteboard
Nicodemus pictured a birth he could manage, like the first one. Jesus speaks of a birth only God can give. You can’t see the wind, but you hear it and see what it moves. So it is with the Spirit.
Reflect
Coming at night
Nicodemus came to Jesus “at night,” carrying real questions. “How can this be?” he asked, and Jesus kept talking with him. If you came to Jesus tonight the way Nicodemus did, what question would you bring?
Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,
that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life.
For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.
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Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain
For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.
to save the world through Him
John 3:17
Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
The Light has come into the world
John 3:19
Question
Quick question
To explain why He had come, Jesus reached back to a story from Israel’s years in the wilderness.
What did Jesus compare His own lifting up to?
John’s Testimony about Jesus
After this, Jesus and His disciples went into the Judean countryside, where He spent some time with them and baptized.
Stylised map · locations approximate
Where it happened
Two baptizers
Jesus stays with His disciples in the Judean countryside. John is baptizing at Aenon near Salim, probably further north in the Jordan valley, because the water was plentiful there. Earlier, beyond the Jordan, he had testified about Jesus.
Now John was also baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because the water was plentiful there, and people kept coming to be baptized. (For John had not yet been thrown into prison.)
Then a dispute arose between John’s disciples and a certain Jew over the issue of ceremonial washing.
John’s disciples
So John’s disciples came to him and said, “Look, Rabbi, the One who was with you beyond the Jordan, the One you testified about—He is baptizing, and everyone is going to Him.”
John replied, “A man can receive only what is given him from heaven. You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but am sent ahead of Him.’
The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom stands and listens for him, and is overjoyed to hear the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete.
He must increase; I must decrease.
The One who comes from above is above all. The one who is from the earth belongs to the earth and speaks as one from the earth. The One who comes from heaven is above all.
He testifies to what He has seen and heard, yet no one accepts His testimony. Whoever accepts His testimony has certified that God is truthful. For the One whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit.
The Father loves the Son and has placed all things in His hands.
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. Whoever rejects the Son will not see life. Instead, the wrath of God remains on him.”
Pray
He must increase
John said, “He must increase; I must decrease,” and he called that his complete joy. Ask God to make Jesus greater in your life this week: in your plans, your words and your hopes. Ask for John’s joy in pointing others to Him.
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John 3
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A verse to carry with you
For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16
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