9Nicodemus said to Him, “How can these things be?” 10Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and do not understand these things? 11“Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know and testify of what we have seen, and you do not accept [receive] our testimony. 12“If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13“No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man. 14“As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; 15so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.
16“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. 17“For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. 18“He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19“This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. 20“For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21“But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”
Interesting Words
testify
martureó – bear witness, testify, give evidence, testify, give a good report
• John 1:6-8, 15;
• Acts 10:43;
receive
lambanó – receive, get, take, lay hold of, “actively lay hold of to take or receive, seize”
• John 1:11-12;
• Acts 10:43;
believe
pisteuó – believe, have faith in, trust in; pass: I am entrusted with.
• John 1:11-12, 3:16;
• Acts 10:43;
Son of Man
ho huios tou anthrōpou – definite article (ho = the), son, descendent, of man, also the generic term for “mankind“; the human race
• Dan 7:13, 14;
• Matt 8:20; Luke 5:24;
serpent
ophis – a snake, a type of sly cunning or an artfully malicious person, used of the devil or Satan, 5The people spoke against God and Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this miserable food.” 6The LORD sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. 7So the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, because we have spoken against the LORD and you; intercede with the LORD, that He may remove the serpents from us.” And Moses interceded for the people. 8Then the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a standard; and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, he will live.” 9And Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on the standard; and it came about, that if a serpent bit any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived.
Numb_21:5-9
Cross References
• Phil 2:5-6; 7-8 – Jesus was God incarnate, God in human flesh
• Isa 49:5, 6 – Jesus, God’s servant will be instrumental in saving the nations, the gentiles.
• John 14:6 – Jesus claims to be the only way to heaven.
Discussion Questions
- What are the implications of John 3:11? From a legal, courtroom setting?
• This is sworn testimony… “Truly, truly”
• The case against the unbeliever is strong because of multiple witnesses… “we speak”
• These are expert witnesses, speaking what they know.
• They bring eyewitness accounts of the facts.
• Still they do not accept their testimony. - Who are those referred to by the plural verbs “speak” and “have seen”, and the plural pronoun in “our testimony” (John 3:11)?
• We could be, and Jesus probably is referring to the Trinity, Father thru the works being done, and the Spirit confirming the truth in their hearts.
• It could also include the disciples. Although they were there and on Jesus’ side, they did not have direct evidence on the spiritual side of things at this point.
• If Jesus alone was speaking, only the Holy Spirit could confirm what He said.
• Things only Jesus saw, backed by the Holy Spirit
• At least one time Jesus sent those whom He healed to the priests to make sure they were aware of the signs He was performing – Mark 1:44; - John 3:12 points out that the references to this point are about earthly things. How does that impact our discussion from last week (Spiritual birth, being born again)?
• Jesus is speaking about His earthly ministry, healing the sick, calling people to repentance.
• He was talking about the deeds He performed right in front of them.
• If they did not believe His words backed up by their own eyes seeing the miracles (God’s works) how could they extrapolate to heavenly things like eternal life, being born into His Kingdom. - What is Jesus saying about Himself in John 3:13?
• No one has gone into heaven and returned with a report.
• He was in heaven and came down to tell us about it… He is uniquely the only report we have (John 14:6).
• He has given Himself the title Son of Man (Nicodemus should have know this reference). - How did He descend from heaven?
• Born of a virgin according to the scriptures
• Raised a a Jew, sunless.
• God coming down and becoming man (Phil 2:5-8)…
• Actually God but emptied Himself
• Humbled Himself and became a man
• Took on the form of a bond-servant
• Became obedient, suffering unto death
• Even death on a cross, as a criminal - Why did Jesus refer to Himself as the Son of Man?
• He is God incarnate. Born of a woman with God as His father. Both God and man.
• He could totally relate to man’s situation (Heb 2:18), tempted in all things like we are, yet without sin (Heb 4:15).
• He came to conquer Satan and did it as a man. The lowliest of mankind, at a low period, as a Jew, from a backwater community… Surprise, lethal attack. (Gen 3:15; John 12:31-32,34)
• He is currently, and will be King, reigning in His Kingdom for ever and ever as stated by Daniel related to the Son of Man (Dan 7:13,14)