John 3 Verses 9-13

John 3:9 “Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? 10 Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? 11 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. 12 If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? 13 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.” 

“Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be?”  The previous statements of Jesus to Nicodemus had gone completely foreign to what Nicodemus and the Pharisees had believed.  They believed that they were righteous through the observing of the Law of Moses and the ordinances of God.  Their righteousness was self-righteousness.  That there was a work of God and the need for a spiritual birth was foreign to their way of thinking.  Thus, Nicodemus asked the question “How can these things be?”   

“Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?”  Nicodemus claimed to be a master (teacher) of Israel, and yet he knew not the most basic principle of eternal life and how it was brought about.  Many today claim to be teachers of the scriptures who know not the basic principle of the sovereignty of God in bringing about the spiritual birth.  You would expect a teacher to have a basic understanding of the things in which he teaches.  Jesus told Nicodemus that he did not have a basic understanding of the things in which he was teaching. 

“Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness.”  A witness is to speak that which he knows and to testify that which he has seen.  Jesus is the greatest witness of all things, both natural and heavenly.  Nicodemus was not yet ready to receive or understand the witness of Jesus.   

“If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?”  Jesus as was so often the case used natural things to illustrate spiritual lessons.  If we don’t believe when he tells us of earthly things, how can we believe if he tells us of heavenly things? 

“And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.”  In this verse Jesus states that as the Son of man that he possesses the attribute of God’s omnipresence.  While on earth, Jesus said that he had ascended up to heaven and came down from heaven and was now in heaven.  He is everywhere present and no where absent.   

John 3 Verses 14-15 

John 3:14 “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: 15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.” 

In looking at this passage we need to remember that we were shown the relationship between belief and the new birth in John 1:11-13 and that was that the new birth precedes belief.  Thus belief cannot be the cause of the new birth.   

Num. 21:5 “And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread. 6 And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. 7 Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. 8 And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. 9 And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.”   

Because of the sin of the people, God sent fiery serpents among the people and much people of Israel died.  When the people acknowledged their sin, then God had Moses to make a serpent of brass and set it upon a pole.  Subsequently when someone was bitten of a serpent when he beheld the serpent of brass he lived.   

Notice that the serpent of brass did nothing for those who had already died, and it would have had little interest to those who had not been bitten.  However, after it was erected, when a person was bitten of a fiery serpent and looked upon the serpent of brass he lived.   

The Lord compared himself to the serpent of brass.  He compared the serpent of brass to himself being lifted up, which of course came to pass when he was crucified.  Christ was our sin bearer on the cross and died to put away our sins.  Like the serpent of brass was to those who were bitten of a fiery serpent, so Christ is to those who have felt the condemnation of their sins.  The only ones who feel the condemnation of their sins are those who have been born of the spirit of God.  This is consistent with verses 1-8 of this chapter where the Lord said except a man be born again he cannot see or enter into the kingdom of God.  These who have been born again feel the conviction of their sins and hear the gospel of Jesus Christ and believe on Christ see that he has redeemed them from the condemnation of their sins and also that Christ has given them eternal life.  It is Christ being lifted up on the tree of the cross and suffering the wrathful judgment of our sins that has delivered us from the condemnation of our sins.  Thus, we are assured who believe the gospel truth of Jesus Christ that we shall not perish but that we have eternal life.