John 3:13-15

“¹³ No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. ¹⁴ And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵ that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.”

            In the last couple verses Jesus told Nicodemus that he could not know heavenly things without knowing earthly things. Jesus also pointed out that even though Nicodemus was a religious leader, this did not exempt him from understanding the earthly things before he understood the heavenly things. Jesus spoke about those heavenly things at the beginning chapter—being born again in the Holy Spirit. The question then becomes what were the earthly things that Nicodemus needed to accept before understanding the heavenly things?

            The first statement that Jesus made in this passage connects the heavenly to the earthly when He said the only one who has ascended into heaven is the one who as descended from heaven, and He clarified how that is the Son of Man. This is a name for Jesus. This was a foreshadowing as to what will take place after Jesus died. He would be in the grave for three days, rise from the grave, and then ascend back into heaven. This was Jesus playing on those words to prophecy His resurrection but also point Nicodemus to Himself as the only one who can do these things.

            In the next verse, Jesus gave the example from the Old Testament where the children of Israel sinned against God in the wilderness and they were attacked by a plague of snakes that bit them and poisoned them, killing many. So, God told Moses to make a bronze serpent on a wooden pole and when the Israelites looked at the serpent it would heal them. This, again, was Jesus foreshadowing the future. Just as the snake was lifted so He must also be lifted up. This told Nicodemus how He was going to die even though Nicodemus would not understand that part. What Nicodemus would understand being a religious leader, was the implication of just looking at the object of salvation and being healed. Jesus was making a connection from a symbol of what was to come which is now standing in front of Nicodemus and that is Himself.

            If there was still any confusion, Jesus finished the clarification at the end of the passage. Whoever believes in Jesus, His death on the cross and resurrection ending in His ascent into heaven, will have eternal life. This was the earthly thing that Nicodemus must accept and all must accept. Nicodemus could not yet accept this because it had not happened yet but Jesus was showing Him the pathway to eternal life, to understanding heavenly things, to seeing the kingdom of God, and finally entering into the kingdom of God. It is through believing in Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection.

            For Christians, this is the gospel we must spread to those who do not believe. First is that Jesus is God, that He came down to earth, He died on the cross, and that He was resurrected and ascended into Heaven. We must be careful not to skip over this part because, as Jesus said to Nicodemus, people must understand the earthly before they can understand the heavenly. We must also continue to grow in this knowledge by reading our Bibles every day, through prayer, and gathering together in these activities.

            For non-Christians, this is what you must accept first before you can be born again and understand the things of the Holy Spirit. Jesus—who is God—came to earth, lived among the people of the time, died on the cross for your sins, was resurrected and then ascended into heaven. It is time to put away the foolish ideas that everyone else has where they try to understand the world without first understanding the person who created the world. That is Jesus and He is calling to you now.