Nicodemus was a Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin was the Jewish council made up of religious leaders that adjudicated on various political, religious and other disputes among the Jewish people. There were two types of Sanhedrin. The lesser Sanhedrin judged within local towns and cities. The Great Sanhedrin was located in Jerusalem and acted as the Supreme Court among the Jewish people. Though Israel was under Roman Rule, the Romans chose to let the Jewish people settle their own disputes using this system. Since Jesus enters into the land of Judea later in the chapter we can presume He was not in Jerusalem and Nicodemus was part of the lesser Sanhedrin in another township or city.
Remember from our Chapter I study that the Pharisees were mostly scribes and teachers of the Law and enjoyed the support of the common people. They accepted the resurrection of the dead, the final judgement, the existence of angels and demons, God’s direct providence and messianism. Knowing this, we can see that Nicodemus acknowledged much of what Jesus was teaching but desired to learn more of who this person was.
Unfortunately, the legalistic and extremist views of the Pharisees showed itself when Nicodemus interpreted the words of Jesus literally thinking we would have to pass through our mother’s womb a second time to be born again. Jesus explains that flesh begets flesh, but Spirit begets spirit. Therefore, though we are born of the flesh we must also be born of the Spirit for to understand the things of the Spirit we must be of like spirit. Then He chastises Nicodemus for not understanding these things and rejecting the important testimonies of Christ and His disciples while at the same time being a teacher of the Law to the people. If Nicodemus a respected teacher of the people cannot understand the simplest things how can he ever understand the greater things that Jesus is proclaiming?
Jesus uses the messianic teachings found in the Law so Nicodemus would understand that the Messiah was here and what must happen to Him to fulfill the Law. He uses Moses testimony in the wilderness showing this as a precursor to the Messiah’s crucifixion and resurrection. He also uses it to illustrate the importance of looking to the Messiah for redemption from sin and death and ultimately resurrection and everlasting life. Then, He goes on to explain why people do not accept what is right and good for them and why they reject Jesus’s teachings. They are embarrassed and fear the repercussions for what they know they have done in the sight of God. Yet, Jesus is showing them the grace and ease with which God is willing to take these burdens from them that they may no longer live in the darkness. All they need to do is simply believe. Unfortunately this was quite the opposite to the teachings of the Pharisees. Notice the use of light and dark, good and evil as John addresses the gnostic listeners in this Gospel writing.
Numbers 21:4-9
4 They traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, to go around Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way; 5 they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!”
6 Then the Lord sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died. 7 The people came to Moses and said, “We sinned when we spoke against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take the snakes away from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.
8 The Lord said to Moses, “Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.” 9 So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived.
John 3:22
22 After this, Jesus and his disciples went out into the Judean countryside, where he spent some time with them, and baptized. Many people only think of John as baptizing, but Jesus disciples also baptized with water. Perhaps not Jesus Himself performed this, but certainly His disciples. This was clarified in Chapter 4. Baptism is a form of purification and consecration from uncleanness. It is an outward manifestation of an inward change in the person. The person being baptized has forsaken their old ways and decided to cleanse themselves from their past was and inwardly becoming a new person in Christ.
There are people who debate the effectiveness of sprinkling water to purify versus full emersion baptism. The thought being that full emersion is like one dying and being buried as they submerge into the water then are reborn and resurrected to new life as they reemerge. The problem with this is that it puts more emphasis on the physical act than on God Himself. If God is not consecrating and purifying the individual through baptism then there is no baptism taking place. There are 40 or more sections of the scriptures that mention various ways to cleanse and purify an individual ranging from sprinkling water, washing clothes, bathing the body to full submersion. In each scripture, it is God that cleanses for we are spiritual beings and require spiritual cleansing for spiritual purification. Only that which is of the Spirit can cleanse the spirit.
https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Ritual-Washing
John testifies to this in the following verse, 27 To this John replied, “A person can receive only what is given them from heaven. This was in response to an argument, presumably by a Pharisee, with John’s disciples concerning ceremonial washing. This most likely was along the same lines as when the Pharisees and Sadducees questioned John’s authority to perform baptisms discussed in Chapter I and whether Jesus has the right to do the same.
John again testifies to his role as one who has been sent ahead of the Messiah to prepare people and purify them for what is to come. Now that the Messiah has been identified as among us, John’s mission is complete and he must now withdraw by honoring Christ and humbly becoming less. Again, John testifies that the Messiah is God and that John is not that Messiah. In the first chapter he identifies Jesus as the Messiah or Christ, the anointed one.
John 3:31-36
31 The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth. The one who comes from heaven is above all. 32 He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. 33 Whoever has accepted it has certified that God is truthful. 34 For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit. 35 The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands. 36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.
