“Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We
have seen, and you do not receive Our witness.” John 3:11
After Jesus
confronts Nicodemus about his need to have two births, both physical and
spiritual (John 3:1-8), Nicodemus is still confused. “Nicodemus
answered and said to Him, ‘How can these things be?’” (John 3:9). Nicodemus
wants to know how this spiritual transformation takes place. “Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Are
you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things?’” (John 3:10). Jesus says, “Nicodemus, you are one of the main guys.
You have given your life to the study of the Scriptures, and yet, you can’t
wrap your mind around this very basic spiritual truth? You don’t know what it
means to be born from above?”
Jesus
continues, “Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify
what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness.” (John 3:11).Nicodemus had begun his conversation with Jesus by humbly referring to
himself as one of many authoritative figures who believed that Jesus had come
from God when he said, “we
know.” (John 3:2). Now Jesus
describes Himself as one of several authoritative Figures who was speaking the
truth, when He says, “We
know.” (John 3:11). Jesus states that His teaching about new birth can
be relied upon because it is based upon what He knows and has seen with His
Father and the Holy Spirit in heaven. Jesus claimed to be speaking the truth as
an Eyewitness along with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit, but Nicodemus
was rejecting Their witness at this time (“you do not receive Our witness”).
John’s
purpose in this gospel, similarly, was that his readers would accept his
witness that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God (John 20:30-31).
Nicodemus had rejected this witness at this time, and Jesus saw him as
representing many other Jewish religious leaders who also did as the word “you”
in John 3:11 is plural. Nicodemus had failed to understand (John 3:9), but his
more serious error was his refusal to believe Jesus’ testimony at this time about
the new birth. It reflected a refusal to acknowledge who Jesus really was, the
Christ and the Son of God, which His signs and insight into Scripture revealed
(John 20:30-31).
What about you?
Do you receive Jesus’ witness about your need to be born from above
spiritually? Or do you think your own goodness and religiosity is enough to
get you to heaven? Please do not make the same mistake that Nicodemus did at
this time. You will regret it for eternity.
Jesus goes on
to say, “I should not be shocked, Nicodemus…”
“If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how
will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?” (John 3:12). In other words, it should come as no surprise that your sinful mind
does not grasp this spiritual truth. Only the one born from above can
understand God’s truth.
Jesus had authority to teach about
heavenly things because He lived in heaven. He said to Nicodemus, “No one
has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of
Man who is in heaven.” (John 3:13). Jesus is explaining to Nicodemus why He could speak
authoritatively about heavenly things. No human teacher had “ascended
into heaven” bodily and returned to teach about heavenly things.
The reason no
human had ascended to heaven was because believers did not ascend to heaven
until Jesus ascended to heaven after His resurrection (Ephesians 4:8-10; 2
Corinthians 5:8; Philippians 1:21-23; Revelation 4:1-4; 19:7-9, 14). Before
Jesus’ ascension to heaven, believers went to Paradise or Abraham’s bosom (Luke
16:22; 23:43). They could not ascend to heaven until Jesus’ blood was shed and
removed their sins forever (John 1:29; Ephesians 1:7; Hebrews 9-10).
In John 3:13, Christ was referring to being personally present in heaven since, obviously, many prophets had received visions of heaven (e.g. Isaiah 6; cf. 2 Corinthians 12:2-4; Revelation 1:10-20). However, the “Son of Man . . . descended from heaven” so He could teach about heavenly things. The apostle John is contrasting no human who could have ascended bodily into heaven, with the God-man who really did descend from heaven. Jesus claims to be the Messianic “Son of Man” (Daniel 7:13-14) who had come “from heaven” to reveal God to humankind (cf. John 1:18, 51). Throughout this his gospel, the apostle John insists on Jesus’ heavenly origin. This is one way in which he brings out his point that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God (John 20:31). Here, His heavenly origin marks Jesus off from the rest of humanity as the Messiah-God.
Because Jesus
is from heaven, He alone can get those who believe in Him to heaven (John
14:2-3, 6). When
sharing the gospel with a religious unsaved person, we need to confront them with the truth of their need
for two birthdays (John 3:1-8) – both
physical and spiritual – and confront them with
the truth about Jesus’ heavenly origin (John 3:9-13). Jesus is God who
descended from heaven to share with us how to get to heaven. Next time, we will
focus on what Jesus says we must do to get to heaven.
From Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus, we learn the following:
Being born again is not about human efforts. If anyone “deserved” eternal life, it would appear that Nicodemus had all of the right qualifications. He was a “Pharisee” (John 3:1), who was extremely devoted to studying and applying the Scriptures to his life. He seems worthy of eternal life. But this conversation reminds us that salvation is not about human effort or merit. We are also reminded that:
Position does not get you to heaven. Nicodemus was “a ruler of the Jews” (John 3:1), one of the seventy-one who comprised the Sanhedrin – the Jewish Supreme Court. He was a part of the religious elite. He had a distinguished religious position. But a certain position does not get you to heaven. Being a pastor, a Sunday School teacher, a member of the board at a non-profit organization, an imam, a priest, or a monk does not save you. Being born again is not about human efforts. It is not about positions.
Popularity does not get you to heaven. The name “Nicodemus” means “a conqueror or victor of the people”. Nicodemus was well liked or popular. Here was a man who won the approval of the people. He was well known and respected in the community. He was popular. He was recognized as a spiritual leader. Mothers pointed to Nicodemus and told their children, “There is a good man. You grow up to be like Nicodemus.” He was extremely popular. But popularity does not save you. Being recognized as a “Christian” person or as a spiritual leader does not save you. Being born again is not about popularity.
Prestige does not get you to heaven. Jesus identified
Nicodemus as “the teacher of Israel” (3:10). He was the one to whom people turned for
spiritual answers. He was recognized as the spiritual adviser, the religious
guru, the one who spent his life studying the Scriptures, but he did not
possess eternal life. He knew the Scriptures, but he did not know the Author of
the Scriptures. Nicodemus was “the” man when it came to religious matters but
he was not saved. He was not born from above because prestige does not save
you.
Piety does not get you to heaven. Nicodemus
possessed great religious knowledge. As a member of the Pharisees, he knew and
lived what was considered right and wrong. His first words to Jesus, “we
know” (3:2) express a certain level of spiritual knowledge. Yet the
reality is that Nicodemus did not know Jesus personally nor did he possess
eternal life. He was ignorant of spiritual truth, yet he was religious to the
core. The Pharisees went to drastic measures to make sure they obeyed the
letter of the law. They fasted and prayed and studied the Scriptures. They lived
spiritually disciplined lives, but they were lost. Why? Because piety does not
save. You can go to church, to a mosque or to a temple, and practice spiritual
disciplines daily and still be without Christ. Piety does not save. Why?
Because all of us have disobeyed God with our thoughts, our
words, and our actions. The Bible tells us,
“For all have sinned and fall short of
the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
Regardless of how good we are, we have still sinned against God. You may not
agree with this, but God is the One we must answer to and His Word says, “All
we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way…” (Isaiah
53:6a). Each of us has gone astray from God and His Word. We have all chosen
our own way instead of God’s way.
Even though we have rebelled against God, He still loves us
and paid the penalty for all of our sins when He died on the cross. “And the
Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:6b). Three days after Jesus died on the cross,
He rose from the dead (I Corinthians 15:4-6) and He is alive today. Jesus
invites you right now to trust Him alone to save you. Jesus said, “He who
believes in Me has everlasting life.” (John 6:47).
So being born again is not about human efforts. It is
not about position, popularity, prestige, or piety. It is about recognizing your
own sinfulness and inability to save yourself and then believing in Christ
alone who died for your sins and rose from the dead to give you everlasting
life and a future home in heaven. If you just trusted in Jesus for His free
gift of everlasting life, you may tell Him this in prayer.
“Dear Jesus, I
realize that I have sinned against You in so many ways. I did not want to admit
it before because I thought I was good enough to get to heaven on my own. My
human efforts, my position, my popularity, my prestige, and my piety do not change the fact
that I am a sinner who needs a Savior. Lord Jesus, I believe You died
for me and rose from the dead. I am now trusting You alone, Jesus (not my human
efforts, position, popularity, prestige or piety), to give me everlasting life
and a future home in heaven. Thank You, Jesus, for the everlasting life I now
have and the future home I will have in heaven. I want to thank You by living
for You now. In Jesus’ name. Amen.”
To help you grow in your new relationship with Jesus Christ, please explore www.seeyouinheaven.life or www.knowing-Jesus.com or www.evantell.org.
Jesus does not want you to keep this
good news of new birth to yourself. He wants you to “testify” or share what
you have “seen” and now “know” (John 3:11) with others who do not
know Jesus as the only Giver of everlasting life. So if you found this article
to be helpful, please share it with those you want to see in heaven. Thank
You and may Jesus richly bless you as you make Him known to others.