John 3

Pharisees were one of several groups of Jews. Pharisees were known not only for strictly keeping the laws of Moses but also for keeping hundreds of other laws that were a bit like the rules in church manuals today. See the footnote for John 1:24.

It’s unclear what Jesus meant. In Bible times, water and similar words such as dew were polite ways of talking about semen. So one theory is that “water,” referring to semen or perhaps to the pregnant woman’s water that breaks before delivery, means physical birth. “Spirit” may refer to spiritual birth that takes place years later, when a person decides to start living like a citizen of God’s kingdom, devoted to him and his principles of love, compassion, and justice. Another theory is that the water represents baptism. So “water” and “Spirit” together might refer to one spiritual experience. “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. . . . I will put my Spirit in you” (Ezekiel 36:25, 27, New Living Translation).

The word for “spirit” is pneuma, which is Greek for breath, wind, or spirit. We use this word (pneumatic) when we talk about air-powered tools. When Jesus compares the wind to the Spirit, he’s using the same Greek word for each. That probably makes his example all the more engaging for Nicodemus. The Spirit is like the wind. We don’t understand how either works. But we can experience both and know they are real.

Bible scholars don’t seem to have a handle on what Jesus meant here. The most obvious question, often ignored in commentaries: “If Jesus is saying that only he goes up to heaven, where are the godly dead, like Abraham, Moses, and King David?” No solid answer. Scholars, instead, say Jesus was emphasizing that he had unique insight into heavenly matters because heaven is his hometown. Some might speculate, based on this verse, that godly souls remained in a spiritual holding pattern until the resurrection of Jesus opened the gates of heaven. But as Jesus seemed to say in John 3:8, we don’t understand the wind or the Spirit. And we may not know much more about heaven than Nicodemus did. Yet believers trust God to do right by them, as Jesus taught that his Father would do (see John 3:16).

During the exodus out of slavery in Egypt, many Jews got bitten by poisonous snakes (Numbers 21:4-9). They were saved if they looked at the snake image that Moses lifted up on a pole. Jesus, too, would be lifted up on a pole during his crucifixion. Those who looked to Jesus, putting their faith in him and his teachings, would be saved.

Jesus is saying this to Nicodemus, who has come to him under the cover of darkness, perhaps to hide this discussion from his colleagues who hated Jesus.

Location of Aenon and Salim are both uncertain. Scholars identify several possible well-watered sites along the Jordan River, including Wadi Al-Far’a. It’s a stream from the central highlands near Nablus that empties into the Jordan River at the Damia Bridge. The bridge is about 15 miles (24 km) north of Jericho, as the dove flies, if it flies straight.

Jews, in certain situations, would wash not to get rid of physical dirt, but to get rid of spiritual dirt. Some would wash before eating, to make sure they were ritually clean if they had come into contact with some kind of defilement, such as touching a non-Jew. Women had to bathe after their monthly period before they could worship at the Jerusalem Temple. Jews had to wash in “living water,” which came from a moving source such as a river, an underground spring, or a well that has tapped into an underground lake. Ponds that lay stagnant were not kosher for this ritual.