John 3:12 - Printer Friendly

ESV: If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?

NIV: I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things?

NASB: If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?

CSB: If I have told you about earthly things and you don't believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things?

NLT: But if you don’t believe me when I tell you about earthly things, how can you possibly believe if I tell you about heavenly things?

KJV: If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?

NKJV: If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?

Because Jesus is God and was with God in the beginning (John 1:1), He has direct knowledge of what He's claiming. Jesus states that if a person won't believe His words about things on earth, they won't believe His words about things in heaven. There are two applications of this. First, some spiritual ideas are comparatively easy, others are not. If a person won't accept the basic teachings of Christianity, such as salvation, they aren't going to grasp more complex ideas, such as the Trinity. This is why debates over certain spiritual issues are best kept between mature believers.

Second, if a person is so skeptical of Christianity that they won't even believe mundane facts connected to it, they have no hope of understanding the gospel. It is one thing for a non-believer to doubt miracles or the existence of God. It's another to be so hardened against religion that even non-spiritual ideas are resisted. That's not even true skepticism; it's cynicism and a refusal to believe. This is reflected in grossly inaccurate claims about the Bible, often used as reasons why someone does not 'believe. If they won't accept simple, everyday facts, they certainly won't accept miraculous ones.

John 2:24—3:15 describes a meeting between Jesus and a Pharisee. The last two verses of chapter two highlight the fact that Jesus knew men better than they knew themselves. Nicodemus was the ancient equivalent of a politician, cleric, and professor all rolled into one. Jesus proves that this man doesn't understand religion as well as he'd like to think. In contrast to the loud, public spectacle of clearing the temple, this encounter is a private, nighttime meeting. Their actual conversation was probably longer than the summary recorded here.

John chapter 3 is one of the most important passages in the entire gospel. Many crucial ideas are explained here, including the role of Jesus as Savior. After the loud, public commotion at the temple, John transitions to a quiet, nighttime discussion. The speakers are Jesus and a Pharisee, Nicodemus, who is sincerely interested in understanding Jesus' ministry. These verses make it clear that Christ—and Christ alone—is the means of salvation for the entire world. This text also states that those who reject Jesus are rejecting God.

The gospel of John intends to prove that Jesus is God. Chapter 3 contains some of the most direct, most important concepts in Christianity. The ideas of spiritual rebirth and the necessity of belief in Christ are reinforced by the rest of the information in this gospel. John continues to use contrast, moving from the loud and public temple cleansing to the quiet of this conversation. After Jesus injects humility into a powerful leader, chapter 4 will transition again, as Jesus gives dignity to an outcast stranger.

The disciple John wrote the gospel of John decades after the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke were written. The author assumes that a reader is already familiar with the content of these other works. So, John presents a different perspective, with a greater emphasis on meaning. John uses seven miracles—which he calls "signs"— to prove that Jesus is, in fact, God incarnate. Some of the most well-known verses in the Bible are found here. None is more famous than the one-sentence summary of the gospel found in John 3:16.