Exegesis of John 3:1-17
RLD
Step I - (Initial) Acquaintance
A. Comparison of English or other published translations
NRSV
2 Rabbi, signs
3 born from above
8 the wind blows where it chooses
12 earthly/heavenly
16 the world
CEV
2 Sir, miracles
3 born from above
8 The Spirit is like the wind
12 on earth/in heaven
16 the people of this world
Peterson
2 Rabbi, God-pointing, God-revealing acts
3 born from above
8 the wind blows this way and that
12 plain as the hand before your face/things you can''t see, the things
of God?
16 the world
B. Greek/Hebrew Textual Criticism
13 The insertion shown in parenthesis below is supported by a few
Alexandrian texts.
15 The use of Gr. ""en"" instead of ""eis"" is unusual for John when talking
of belief.
C. One's Own Rough Translation
1 But there was a man of the Pharisees, his name Nicodemus, a ruler of
the Jews.
2 He came to Jesus by night and said to him, ""Rabbi, we know that from
God you have come, a teacher, for no one is able to do these signs which
you do, unless God be with him.
3 Jesus answered and said to him, ""Amen, amen, I say to y''all, unless
anyone be born anew, he is not able to see the reign of God.
4 Nicodemus says to him, ""How is a man able to be born, being old? Is he
able into the womb of his mother a second time to enter and be born?
5 Jesus answered, ""Amen, amen, I say to y''all, Unless anyone be born
from water and from spirit, he is not able to enter into the reign of
God.
6 That which has been born of flesh, is flesh. And that which has been
born of the spirit, is spirit.
7 Do not wonder that I said to y''all, ''Y''all must be born anew
8 The spirit spirits where it will, and its sound y''all hear but y''all
don''t know where it comes or where it goes. Thus is everyone who has
been born from the spirit.
9 Nicodemus answered and said to him, ""How can these things be?""
10 Jesus answered and said to him, ""You are the teacher of Israel, and
you know not these things?
11 Amen, amen, I say to y''all, that which we know, we speak. And that
which we see, we bear witness to. And our witness, y''all do not receive.
12 If earthly things I said to you and you did not believe, how if I say
to y''all heavenly things will y''all believe?
13 And no one has gone up into the heaven except he who from the heaven
came down: the son of man. (Variant insertion : who is in the heaven.)
14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, thus to be
lifted up it behoves the son of man.
15 In order that all who believe in him may not perish, but may have
life eternal.
16 For so loved God the cosmos that his son, the only born, he gave, in
order that all who believe into him may not perish, but may have life
eternal.
17 For commissioned not God his son into the cosmos in order that he
might judge the cosmos, but in order that the cosmos might be saved
through him.
Step II - Disposition
A. Genre - How the text says what it says
In this text, Jesus is described as teaching a leader of the
Pharisees. This leader, Nicodemus, has trouble understanding anything
Jesus says, perhaps demonstrating the general unreceptiveness of Israel
or of people of faith in general. This is a controversy story, with a
few important features. First, Nicodemus seeks out Jesus. Second, he
seems to have been won over by Jesus. Nicodemus later defends Jesus
(7.50) and helps to bury Jesus in an honorable manner (19.39).
This is also a story that contrasts earthly/fleshly with
heavenly/spirit-filled life.
B. Personal Interaction - Questions and observations
Nicodemus calls Jesus ""rabbi."" How did one earn this title? What did it
mean to Nicodemus?
How many powerful Jews believed Jesus conducted his ministry in God''s
presence?
Is this a Gnostic-like teaching? How does it differ from Gnostic
thought and how it is similar?
How broad is this salvation? What does it mean to say ""God so loved the
cosmos?""
How do we interpret born from above, or born again, or born anew from
the origin?
C. Organization - Where the elements of "B" are located
My questions for this text seem to center on its meaning for the
Christian life today. Perhaps because this is such a central passage
for U. S. protestants, the subtleties of interpretation tend to take on
significant meaning.
Step III - Composition
A. Immediate Context - preceding/following pericope
Before: The ""first sign"" at the wedding at Cana, followed by Jesus
spending time with his family
The cleansing of the Temple
After: Jesus and his disciples go into the Judean countryside and
baptize
The relative ministries of John and Jesus are clarified.
B. Organization of the Compositional Whole
The Gospel of John can be outlined as follows:
Prologue 1.1-18
Jesus'' public ministry
The search for the Incarnate Word 1.19-4.54
The rejection of the Incarnate Word 5.1-12.50
Jesus'' teachings among his own 13.1-17.26
The rejection and glorification of Jesus 18.1-19.42
The risen Word and the empowerment of his own 20.1-20.31
Epilogue 21.1-21.25
This text falls within the ""search"" section.
C. Issues of Authorship
Step IV - Context
A. Primitive Christianity
NT References from Buschel (TDNT)
John (Gr. anothen) 3.31; 19.11; 19.23
John (always describes birth in terms of origin, i.e. of God) 1.13; 1 Jn
2.29; 3.9; 4.7; 5.18
NT References from Nestle NT - due to a lack of time, I am leaving the
John references blank
Mt 22.16 Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God
in accordance with truth, and show deference to know one; for you do not
regard people with partiality
Jn 2.11! The first of his signs, in Cana
Act 2.22 Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with deeds of
power
James 1.17! Every generous act of giving . . . is ""from above,"" coming
down from the Father of lights
1 Peter 1.23 You have been born anew (Gr. anagegennemenoi), not of
perishable but of imperishable . . .
Mt 18.3 Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children,
you will never enter
1 Cor 6.11 you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in
the name . . .
1 Cor 12.13 for in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body
Tit 3.5! He saved us . . . through the water of rebirth and renewal by
the Holy Spirit
2 P 1.11 in this way, entry into the kingdom of our Lord . . . will be
richly provided
1.13
Rom 8.5-9 to set the mind on flesh is death . . . but you are not in the
flesh
1 Cor 15.50 flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God . . .
Gal 6.8 but if you sow to the Spirit, you will reap eternal life from
the Spirit
Jn 8.14
14.17
Luk 1.34 Mary said to the angel, ""How can this be since I do not know a
man?""
Jn 9.30
Rom 2.20s (you call yourself) a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of
children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth
Jn 3.32
5.19
8.26, 38, 40
15.15
1 J 1.1-3 we declare to you what we have seen and heard
Luk 22.67! "" If you are the Messiah, tell us. . . "" ""If I tell you, you
will not believe""
1 Cor 15.40! There are both heavenly and earthly bodies . . .
Jn 3.31
6.62
20.17
E 4.9s! He ascended . . . He had also descended into the lower parts of
the earth
1.51!
Rom 10.6 Do not say in your heart, ""Who will ascend into heaven?""
6.62
8.28
12.32, 34
3.36
Rom 5.8 God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners,
Christ dies for us
3.18
1.14, 18
Rom 8.32 He who did not withhold his own sob
Heb 11.17 By faith Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac.
1 Jn 4.9 God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live
through him
Jn 5.24!
10.36!
Gal 4.4 when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a
woman
Jn 12.47
8.15
5.34
10.9
Luk 9.56 app the Son of Man has not come to destroy the lives of humans
but to save them
19.10
Mk 2.17p I have come to call not the righteous but sinners
Jn 3.36
5.24
12.48
Mk 16.16 The one who believes and is baptized will be saved; but the one
who does not believe will be condemned
B. Old Testament and Judaism
References from TDNT (Buschel)
Job 3.4 Let that day be darkness! May God ""above"" not seek it or light
shine on it.
References from Nestle NT
Ezek 36.25-27 I will sprinkle you with clean water . . . I will remove
from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. I will
put my spirit within you . . .
Eccl 11.5 just as you do not know how the breath comes to the bones in
the mother''s womb, so you do not know the work of God
Sir 16.21 Like a tempest that no one can see, so most of his works are
concealed.
Sap 9.16 We can hardly guess at what is on earth, and what is at hand,
we find with labor; but who has traced out what is in the heavens?
Prov 30.4 Who has ascended to heaven and come down?
Dt 30.12 (This commandment is not too hard) It is not in heaven, that
you should say, ""Who will go up to heaven for us, and get it for us . .
.
Bar 3.29 Who has gone up into heaven and taken her (wisdom)?
4 Esr 4.8 ?? Where is fourth Esdras ??
Sap 18.15s When they had resolved to kill the infants of your holy ones
. . . You in punishment took away a multitude of their children
Num 21.8s The Lord said to Moses, ""Make a poisonous serpent, and set it
on a pole . . .""
Isa 52.13 my servant shall prosper; he shall be exalted and lifted up
C. Hellenistic World
Is this like a riddle story, in that the meaning of the message is
difficult to understand?
Possibly it is more like an oracle story, in which someone comes seeking
knowledge, but does not quite understand the answer until a later date
when more has been revealed.
Step V - Distillation
A. Summary of Salient Features
Jesus is bringing a different way of looking at life, a way unlike the
purely materialistic view of the world. And yet, God loves the
world/cosmos and has sent Jesus to save it. Thus, the materialistic
view is not absolutely wrong, it is simply incomplete.
B. Smooth Translation
1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, who was a ruler
of the Jews.
2 He came to Jesus by night and said to him, ""Rabbi, we know that you
are a teacher come from God, for no one is able to do these signs which
you do, unless God is with him.
3 Jesus answered and said to him, ""Amen, amen, I say to y''all, unless
anyone be born anew, he is not able to see the reign of God.
4 Nicodemus says to him, ""How is a man able to be born, being old? Is he
able to enter into the womb of his mother a second time and be born?
5 Jesus answered, ""Amen, amen, I say to y''all, Unless anyone be born
from water and from spirit, he is not able to enter into the reign of
God.
6 That which has been born of flesh, is flesh. And that which has been
born of the spirit, is spirit.
7 Do not wonder that I said to y''all, ''Y''all must be born anew
8 The wind is like spirit, going where it wills, and its sound y''all
hear but y''all don''t know where it comes or where it goes. Thus is
everyone who has been born from the spirit.
9 Nicodemus answered and said to him, ""How can these things be?""
10 Jesus answered and said to him, ""You are the teacher of Israel, and
you do not know these things?
11 Amen, amen, I say to y''all, that which we know, we speak. And that
which we see, we bear witness to. And our witness, y''all do not receive.
12 If I speak of earthly things to y''all and y''all did not believe, how
will y''all believe if I speak of heavenly things?
13 No one has gone up into heaven except he who came down from the
heaven, the Son of Man.
14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, thus will the
Son of Man be lifted up,
15 In order that all who believe in him may not perish, but may have
life eternal.
16 For God so loved the cosmos that he gave his son, uniquely born, in
order that all who believe in him may not perish, but may have life
eternal.
17 For God did not commission his son to go into the cosmos so that he
might judge the cosmos, but in order that the cosmos might be saved
through him.
C. Hermeneutical Bridge
God loves us and the world God made, but does not want to leave us as
shallow and self destructive people. Therefore, God sent us Jesus so
that we could see our life with new eyes by watching and listening to
him.
Step VI - Contemporary Address
A. Description of Audience
This sermon will be preached on the second Sunday in Lent to my regular
congregation.
B. Intended Goals for the Address
To remind us that we continually need to look to God for our vision of
life.
C. Address