요한복음 Chapter 3

Translation: ESV

1

Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.

Key Message

No matter how great one's religious knowledge or social standing, the Kingdom of God can only be entered through a new birth.

▸Nicodemus has three identities: a Pharisee (strict observer of the law), a ruler of the Jews (a member of the Sanhedrin council), and a teacher of Israel (3:10).

Nicodemus has three identities: a Pharisee (strict observer of the law), a ruler of the Jews (a member of the Sanhedrin council), and a teacher of Israel (3:10). He is a man of knowledge, social standing, and religious devotion. Yet he comes to Jesus. This setup shows that human religious achievement is not sufficient to enter the Kingdom of God.

Related Verses

Nicodemus, who had gone to him before, and who was one of them, said to them,
2

This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, 'Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.'

Key Message

Intellectual acknowledgment through signs is not sufficient for salvation; a fundamental transformation called being born again is necessary.

▸Coming 'by night' was likely to avoid the scrutiny of other Jews.

3

Jesus answered him, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.'

Key Message

Entering the Kingdom of God is possible not through religious effort but only through a new birth from above.

▸Jesus does not respond directly to Nicodemus' words but opens an entirely new dimension.

5

Jesus answered, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.'

Key Message

Being born of water and the Spirit is the work of God's promised new covenant, which fundamentally renews the human interior.

▸The statement that one must be born 'of water and the Spirit' is interpreted in various ways.

6

That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

Key Message

Natural birth produces only natural life; a new birth of the Spirit is necessary for the life of God.

▸Jesus distinguishes two kinds of birth.

8

The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.

Key Message

The work of the Spirit is free and sovereign like the wind, and cannot be controlled or predicted by humans.

▸'Wind (πνεῦμα, pneuma)' and 'Spirit (πνεῦμα, pneuma)' are the same word in Greek.

14

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,

Key Message

Just as the bronze serpent in the wilderness, those who look to Jesus lifted up on the cross receive eternal life.

▸Jesus compares the incident of the bronze serpent in Numbers 21:4–9 to his own cross.

16

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Key Message

God loved the sinful world so deeply that he gave his only Son as a sacrifice, and whoever believes in him receives eternal life.

▸John 3:16 is called a summary of the entire Bible in one verse—the 'heart of the gospel.

17

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

Key Message

Jesus' first coming was not to judge the world but to save the world.

▸The purpose of Jesus' first coming is clearly declared: not judgment but salvation.

19

And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.

Key Message

Judgment is not God's unilateral decision but the consequence of humanity's own decision to choose darkness over light.

▸This verse explains how condemnation (judgment) occurs.

30

He must increase, but I must decrease.

Key Message

A true servant joyfully accepts that he himself decreases and Christ increases.

▸This is John the Baptist's most beautiful confession.

36

Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

Key Message

Those who believe in the Son have eternal life now, and those who reject him already have God's wrath remaining on them.

▸The concluding proposition of chapter 3, a core thesis of John's Gospel, is repeated.