Last week we read God’s love letter to us declaring how much he loves everyone in the world. He wants us all to choose to trust in Jesus, believing God’s way is the best for our life. His wonderful gift to us is eternal life, a blessed life in his presence forever.
In this passage, we read the end of Jesus teaching Nicodemus. Then John recorded a conversation between John the baptizer and his disciples.
Read John 3:16-21.
- Jesus didn’t come to condemn us. He came to offer spiritual salvation that has the power to make us spiritually whole again, safe from danger and eternal destruction.1
“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:1-2).
- Condemnation comes from our choice to not believe in Jesus’ authority.
- To not believe Jesus is the only Son of the one True God.
- The truth is Light has come into this dark world.
- John wrote one word for light, used three ways.
- The Light that has come into this world illuminates “true knowledge of God and spiritual things.”2
- Jesus is the Light.
- Evil, wickedness, and corrupt deeds do not want to be exposed by the light;2 they prefer hiding in darkness.
- Darkness includes spiritual darkness, ignorance, and error.3
“He said to me, ‘Son of man, have you seen what the elders of Israel are doing in the darkness, each at the shrine of his own idol? They say, “The Lord does not see us; the Lord has forsaken the land”’” (Ezekiel 8:12).
- Evil men continually choose to do that which is wicked, corrupt, depraved, and worthless.4
- Men choose to remain in darkness because they do not want their evil deeds exposed.
- Their deeds are “the works of men in reference to right and wrong as judged by the moral law, the precepts of the gospel.”5
- Their shameful, disgraceful, hidden behavior will be made known.6
- They hate the light and refuse to come to the Light, Jesus.
- Those who willingly seek Truth no longer hide. They step into the light, publicly2 declaring their faith in God.
- Through an inward act of their mind [and] will, those who come to the light choose to do right.7
How have you experienced spiritual wholeness in Jesus?
How does Jesus illuminate the true knowledge of God? 
Why does evil prefer hiding in darkness?
Read John 3:22-26.
- After Jesus taught Nicodemus, he went with his disciples into the countryside.
- According to verse 26, Jesus and John baptized people on opposite sides of the Jordan River.
- This baptism was an immersion in water as a “token of purification from sin and spiritual pollution.”8
- The apostle John didn’t record the “certain Jew’s” name; he wrote only that this person argued with John the baptizer’s disciples.
- They asked John why the person he testified about was also baptizing people.
- They disagreed about ceremonial purification.
- Zodhiates describes purification: “as water cleanses the body in baptism, … grace … cleanses the soul.”9
What significance, if any, do you believe is in Jesus baptizing people with water?
How does baptism function in the believer’s life?
Read John 3:27-30.
- John declared God determined who his ministry would reach, not John’s efforts.
- Jesus was the author and source of whatever he received from God.
“… he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him” (Hebrews 5:9).
- The baptizer claimed he was not the Messiah.
- John clearly stated his role was to come before the Anointed One, pointing people to Jesus.
- John compared his role to the friend of the bridegroom.
- His whole life he waited and listened for the time when God would reveal His Son to the world.
- I wonder if Elizabeth told her son (John) how he leapt for joy in the womb at the sound of Mary’s voice, the mother of the Lord.
“When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit” (Luke 1:41).
- Even before Jesus described his role as the bridegroom, his cousin John declared it in these verses.
- John’s great joy was made complete with Jesus stepping fully into his earthly ministry.
- John preached repentance; Jesus brought true salvation, forgiveness for sins for those who repented, and offered eternal life.
- John’s role in the story was finished.
What meaning might verse 27 hold for us today?
How can we point people to Jesus?
How can we wait and listen for God to reveal His Son in our life?
Read John 3:31-36.
- Jesus came from God above, and He is Lord of all.
- In this John recognized Jesus as fully God, compared to himself as a mortal man.
- Jesus, an authoritative witness who knows, would declare all God gave him to speak.
- He brought the kingdom of heaven to earth.
“… Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9).
- John, a man from earth, certified Jesus as authentic, one who could not lie and spoke only sincere, loving Truth.10
“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).
- Jesus declared his “mission … and the authority [God] which backed him.”11
- He spoke God’s Word, the “doctrines and promises of God revealed and taught in the Bible.”12
- Even before Jesus declared his deity, John, his forerunner, proclaimed the Truth.
“The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands” (John 3:35).
- The apostle John concluded this scene by quoting John the baptizer’s statement of gospel Truth.
“Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him” (John 3:36).
- Those who chose to obey the Son receive the future “blessedness of the righteous.”13 They will experience and enjoy14 eternal life. In contrast, those who chose to reject the Son will receive “divine judgment, inflicted on the wicked.”15
How do we see the Father through Jesus?
How might we use this passage to share the gospel message with others?
- Spiros Zodhiates Th.D., The Complete Word Study Dictionary New Testament (AMG Publishers, 1992), 1353.
- Zodhiates, 1463.
- Zodhiates, 1298.
- Zodhiates, 1209, 1438.
- Zodhiates, 650.
- Zodhiates, 562, 1435.
- Zodhiates, 1187.
- Zodhiates, 310.
- Zodhiates, 794.
- Zodhiates, 122, 1352.
11.Zodhiates, 237.
- Zodhiates, 1263.
- Zodhiates, 107.
- Zodhiates, 1052.
15.Zodhiates, 1055.