John 3:13-15

¹³No one has ever gone into heaven except the One who came from heaven - the Son of Man. ¹⁴Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, ¹⁵that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life.

“Son of Man” is Jesus’ favorite title for Himself (Daniel 7:13-14). It's used 81 times in the 4 Gospels (69 and 12).

Jesus has come to earth from heaven to tell us “these things.” No one else has done that, thus He alone has total authority.

If authority belongs to Christ in heavenly matters, how much more so does it belong to Him in earthly matters? (1 Corinthians 2:16)

“Gone into heaven” figuratively symbolizes “having a pure and complete knowledge of the mysteries of God and the light of spiritual understanding.” It is likely that Nicodemus would have understood Jesus’ statement this way.

Later (John 6:25-45), the Jewish crowd made up of many “superficial believers” question Jesus’ origin from heaven.

Before moving on, let me review verses 9-13 as a whole. By now Nicodemus has twice wondered at what Jesus tells him about regeneration, the heavenly birth that everyone needs in order to see and enter God’s kingdom. So Jesus gives His assessment of the situation. As one who has come from heaven, He has direct knowledge about heavenly matters. Therefore, His testimony about the works of God is true, and He speaks with authority about spiritual things. As trained scholars and religious leaders, Nicodemus and his colleagues appear to be in the best position to understand and believe this testimony, but instead they misunderstand and disbelieve it. This in turn underscores the necessity of regeneration, for unless a person is born again, or born from above, he can neither see nor enter the kingdom of God. When it comes to spiritual things, faith and understanding are connected, but the biblical connection between these is that you must be born again, so that you may both believe and understand. Faith and understanding promote and depend on one another, but both are impossible unless one is first born again. This in turn makes faith and understanding dependent on divine sovereignty and not human decision, as Jesus, John, and Paul repeatedly declare to us. Since the Son of Man, Jesus Christ, has come to us from heaven, His testimony about both earthly (natural) and heavenly (spiritual) things is authoritative and reliable.

Now Jesus shifts focus from His authority to the purpose for His Incarnation, the heart of His mission (in the Covenant of Redemption).

We are introduced in v15 to an important Greek grammar instrument, the “hina” clause, which conveys “in order that” or “for the purpose that” in such a way that the desired result is certain to come about. Keep that in mind as we continue.

This episode is found in Numbers 21:4-9. This TYPE of CHRIST serves as evidence that the Bible is inspired. Just as the bronze snake was ugly and nasty on the outside and pure and clean inside, so Jesus was soiled outside (Isaiah 53:2: “He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him, nothing in His appearance that we should desire Him”), and pure and clean inside. As the Hebrew people were wounded by snakes (The Garden of Eden imagery), so we are wounded by sin, and Jesus “bore our sin (the sin of believers – the sin of the elect) in His body on the tree” (1 Peter 2:24).

1 Corinthians 10:1-11 tells us that these things happened for us. That’s humbling.

“Must be lifted up” – Notice “must” as the description of Jesus’ primary purpose. This is the Father’s Will, that He be put to death.

“Lifted up” – There’s a double meaning here.

Crucifixion & Exaltation – John 8:28 (I AM); John 12:31-34 = public and open and clear manifestation to all kinds of people from all over the world (Galatians 3:1; Revelation 5:9). Preaching the Gospel (Christ crucified) exalts Christ.

“that everyone who believes may have eternal life in Him” – the “hina” clause here gives assurance that Jesus’ being lifted up will accomplish exactly what it was Designed to do – bestow eternal life upon believers. It’s not “that anyone might (alla) have eternal life if they believe…” Rather, it’s “that believers will (alla) have eternal life because of Christ’s cross-work…” That should be comforting.

“everyone who believes” gives this perception of “possibility for all,” but that’s not what it literally states. Literally, it reads, “that every believing one.” It’s particular; it’s limiting. And that’s not popular to say, but that is what the text here says. And we haven’t even gotten to John 3:16 yet… It’s also belief without an object (John 6:47). But we know the object from the context: Jesus.

“Eternal life” speaks of quality, not duration or quantity. The Spirit-filled life is completely “other” (holy) than the flesh-life. It never ends.

Lastly, it is likely that Jesus finishes speaking to Nicodemus here. Most Bibles carry on the quotation through v21, but you’ve probably got a footnote declaring that it might not be the case. I side with the footnote for three reasons:

The text switches to the past tense, which would fit with John’s reflections and commentary, rather than Jesus speaking.

Jesus does not call Himself “God’s one and only Son” anywhere, but John call Jesus that several times (1:14,18; 1 John 4:9).

V19 echoes John 1:9-11, so the passage really fits best with it being John’s commentary. But it’s no less inspired...