New Testament Commentary - John 3

by Don R. Hender

Scriptural Text [& Editorial]	Commentary & Explanation	Footnotes ~ References ~ JST
CHAPTER 3 Jesus tells Nicodemus men must be born again—God so loved the world that the Only Begotten Son came to save men—John the Baptist testifies: He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life.
1 THERE was a man of the Pharisees, named ^aNicodemus, a ^bruler of the Jews: 2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these ^amiracles that thou doest, except ^bGod be with him. 3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be ^aborn ^bagain, he cannot ^csee the kingdom of God.		1^a D&C 128:20; 2^a Mark 9:2 (2-13); Luke 9:29 (28-36); John 1:14; 2 Pet. 1:16 (16-19); TG Jesus Christ, Glory of;
4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? 5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be ^aborn of ^bwater and of the ^cSpirit, he cannot ^denter into the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.		1^a D&C 128:20; 2^a Mark 9:2 (2-13); Luke 9:29 (28-36); John 1:14; 2 Pet. 1:16 (16-19); TG Jesus Christ, Glory of;
7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be ^aborn again. 8 The ^awind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the ^bSpirit.		1^a D&C 128:20; 2^a Mark 9:2 (2-13); Luke 9:29 (28-36); John 1:14; 2 Pet. 1:16 (16-19); TG Jesus Christ, Glory of;
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 ^atestify that we have seen; and ye receive not our ^bwitness.		1^a D&C 128:20; 2^a Mark 9:2 (2-13); Luke 9:29 (28-36); John 1:14; 2 Pet. 1:16 (16-19); TG Jesus Christ, Glory of;
12 If I have told you earthly things, and ye ^abelieve not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? 13 And no man hath ^aascended up to heaven, but he that ^bcame down from heaven^a, even the ^cSon of man which is in heaven.	13^a no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven Now Jacob had seen in his dream the angels of heaven descending and ascending the ladder of heaven. We are all the spirit sons and daughters of God the Father of Spirits. Our spirits have descended from heaven. To redeem is to bring one back again from whence they have been. This is the 'redemption' of the Lord, to redeem God's children back into God's kingdom and presence. Jesus as Jehovah was the Firstborn of all living, and all we have been so born after as the spirit children of the Father. We have come down from heaven to fulfill various purposes in this life. And we may therefore expect that through Christ's redemption to again ascend back up to heaven and into the presence of God the Father of Spirits, heaven being the Celestial Eternity in which the Father does dwell.
14 ¶ And as Moses lifted up the ^aserpent in the wilderness, even so must the ^bSon of man be lifted up: 15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
16 ¶ For ^aGod so ^bloved the ^cworld, that he ^dgave his ^eonly begotten ^fSon, that whosoever ^gbelieveth in him should not perish, but have ^heverlasting ⁱlife. 17 For God ^asent not his Son into the world to ^bcondemn the world; but that the world through him might be ^csaved.
18 ¶ He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that ^abelieveth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the ^bname of the only begotten Son of ^cGod. 19 And this is the condemnation, that ^alight is come into the world, and men loved ^bdarkness rather than light, because their ^cdeeds were evil.
20 For every one that doeth ^aevil ^bhateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 21 But he that ^adoeth ^btruth cometh to the ^clight, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
22 ¶ After these things came Jesus and his disciples into the land of Judaea; and there he tarried with them, and ^abaptized. 23 ¶ And John also was baptizing in Aenon near to Salim, because there was much ^awater there: and they came, and were ^bbaptized. 24 For John was not yet cast into prison.
25 ¶ Then there arose a question between some of John's disciples and the Jews about purifying. 26 And they came unto John, and said unto him, Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou barest witness, behold, the same baptizeth, ^aand all men come to him. 27 John answered and said, A man can ^areceive nothing, except it be given him from heaven.
28 Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him. 29 He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled. 30 He must increase, but I must decrease.
31 He that cometh from ^aabove is above all: he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth: he that cometh from heaven is above all. 32 And what he hath seen and heard, that he ^atestifieth; and no man receiveth his testimony. 33 He that hath received his testimony hath ^aset to his ^bseal that God is true.
34 For he whom God hath sent ^aspeaketh the words of God: ^bfor God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him. 35 The Father loveth the ^aSon, and hath ^bgiven all ^cthings into his hand. 36 ^aHe that believeth on the Son hath ^beverlasting life: and he that ^cbelieveth not the Son shall not see life; but the ^dwrath of God abideth on him.