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Jesus and Nicodemus

¹There was a man named Nicodemus, one of the Phariseesa. He was an important Jewish leader. ²One night he came to Jesus and said, "Teacher, we know that you are a teacher sent from God. No one can do these miraculous signsb that you do unless they have God's help."
³Jesus answered, "I assure you, everyone must be born again. Anyone who is not born again cannot be in God's kingdomc."
⁴Nicodemus said, "How can a man who is already old be born again? Can he go back into his mother's womb and be born a second time?"
⁵Jesus answered, "Believe me when I say that everyone must be born from water and the Spirit.d Anyone who is not born from water and the Spirit cannot enter God's kingdom. ⁶The only life people get from their human parents is physical. But the new life that the Spirit gives a person is spiritual. ⁷Don't be surprised that I told you, 'You must be born again.' ⁸The wind blows wherever it wants to. You hear it, but you don't know where it is coming from or where it is going. It is the same with everyone who is born from the Spirit."
⁹Nicodemus asked, "How is all this possible?"
¹⁰Jesus said, "You are an important teacher of Israele, and you still don't understand these things? ¹¹The truth is, we talk about what we know. We tell about what we have seen. But you people don't accept what we tell you. ¹²I have told you about things here on earth, but you do not believe me. So I'm sure you will not believe me if I tell you about heavenly things! ¹³The only one who has ever gone up to heaven is the one who came down from heaven - the Son of Manf.
¹⁴"Moses lifted up the snake in the desertg. It is the same with the Son of Man. He must be lifted up too. ¹⁵Then everyone who believes in him can have eternal life."h
¹⁶Yes, God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him would not be lost but have eternal life. ¹⁷God sent his Son into the world. He did not send him to judge the world guilty, but to save the world through him. ¹⁸People who believe in God's Son are not judged guilty. But people who do not believe are already judged, because they have not believed in God's only Son. ¹⁹They are judged by this fact: The lighti has come into the world. But they did not want light. They wanted darknessj, because they were doing evil things. ²⁰Everyone who does evil hates the light. They will not come to the light, because the light will show all the bad things they have done. ²¹But anyone who follows the true way comes to the light. Then the light will show that whatever they have done was done through God.

Jesus and John the Baptizer ²²After this, Jesus and his followers went into the area of Judea. There he stayed with his followers and baptizedk people. ²³John was also baptizing people in Aenon, a place near Salim with plenty of water. People were going there to be baptized. ²⁴This was before John was put in prison.
²⁵Some of John's followers had an argument with another Jew about religious washingl. ²⁶Then they came to John and said, "Teacher, remember the man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan River? He is the one you were telling everyone about. He is also baptizing people, and many are going to him."
²⁷John answered, "A person can receive only what God gives. ²⁸You yourselves heard me say, 'I am not the Messiahm. I am only the one God sent to prepare the way for him.' ²⁹The bride always belongs to the bridegroomn. The friend who helps the bridegroom just waits and listens. He is happy just to hear the bridegroom talk. That's how I feel now. I am so happy that he is here. ³⁰He must become more and more important, and I must become less important.

The One Who Comes From Heaven ³¹"The one who comes from above is greater than all others. The one who is from the earth belongs to the earth. He talks about things that are on the earth. But the one who comes from heaven is greater than all others. ³²He tells what he has seen and heard, but people don't accept what he says. ³³Whoever accepts what he says has given proof that God speaks the truth. ³⁴God sent him, and he tells people what God says. God gives him the Spiritd fully. ³⁵The Father loves the Son and has given him power over everything. ³⁶Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. But those who do not obey the Son will never have that life. They cannot get away from God's anger."

^aPharisee A person who belonged to a Jewish religious group that claimed to follow carefully all Jewish laws and customs.
^bmiraculous sign An amazing act that demonstrates the power of God.
^cGod’s kingdom The “reign” or “rule” of God over all people who submit to him by accepting Jesus as the Messiah (the appointed king), who represents God’s kingdom on earth. Jesus was the perfect example of submission to the will of God. When people give control of their lives to Jesus, they become part of God’s kingdom and begin to enjoy the blessings he has promised his people from the beginning. (Note that in Matthew this term also translates the Greek word “kingdom” by itself or the phrase, “the kingdom of the heavens,” which was used by Jews as a way to avoid saying the divine name.)
^dSpirit See “Holy Spirit.”
^eIsrael Another name for Jacob (see Gen. 32:24-28) and for the nation God chose to accomplish his plan of blessing the world through the Messiah (see “Messiah”). The people of Israel were the descendants of Jacob’s twelve sons. In the New Testament this name is sometimes used in a broader sense to mean all of God’s people.
^fSon of Man The name that Jesus most often used for himself. The phrase in Hebrew or Aramaic means “human being” or “mankind,” but in Dan. 7:13-14 it is used of a future savior and king, and this was later understood to be the Messiah, the one God would send to save his people.
^g3:14 Moses lifted … desert When God’s people were dying from snake bites, God told Moses to put a brass snake on a pole for them to look at and be healed. See Num. 21:4-9.
^h3:15 Some scholars think that Jesus’ words to Nicodemus continue through verse 21.
ⁱ3:19 light This means Christ, the Word, who brought to the world understanding about God.
^jdarkness A symbol for the kinds of things that describe Satan’s kingdom, such as sin and evil.
^kbaptize To perform the act of baptism. See “baptism.”
^l3:25 religious washing The Jews had religious rules about washing in special ways before eating, before worshiping in the Temple, and at other special times.
^mMessiah A Hebrew word that has the same meaning as the Greek word Christ (see “Christ”). It was a title for the kings of God’s people in the Old Testament and for the special king God promised to send as a “savior” to defeat evil and establish the reign of God. Many prophets made it clear that this new kingdom would be eternal; that is, not only would the promised Messiah bring about a time of justice and right living among God’s people here on earth, but also his kingdom would extend beyond this world to life forever with God. However, most Jews of the first century expected the Messiah to be a political ruler here on earth who would defeat the other nations and return the nation of Israel to a position of great glory and power. But God intended his Messiah to establish a new “Israel,” an eternal kingdom that would bless all the nations.
ⁿbridegroom A man who is getting married.