Worldly things and supernatural things

Devotions from Jefferson Vann # 2382

John 3:9-15

Joh 3:9 “How can these things be?” answered Nicodemus.

Joh 3:10 “Are you a teacher of Israel and you don’t know these things?” Jesus replied.

Joh 3:11 “Sincerely I am telling you, we are speaking what we know and we are testifying to what we have seen, but you are not receiving our testimony.

Joh 3:12 If I have told you about worldly things and you don’t believe, how will you believe if I tell you about supernatural things?

Joh 3:13 No one has ascended into the sky except the one who descended from the sky– the Son of Man.

Joh 3:14 “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,

Joh 3:15 so that everyone who is believing in him may have permanent life.

Worldly things and supernatural things

Jesus’ words to Nicodemus unfold in a deliberate progression, and the “earthly things” He mentions point to the natural analogies He has just used—things drawn from the created world, things any thoughtful reader of Scripture should already understand. The wind in verse 8 is the clearest example. Jesus has been explaining the new birth by appealing to a visible, familiar phenomenon. The wind moves invisibly, unpredictably, and freely, yet its effects are unmistakable. In the same way, the Spirit’s work in bringing about birth from above is unseen, sovereign, and evident in its results. This is an earthly illustration—something grounded in human experience.

Nicodemus, as a teacher of Israel, knew the Scriptures. He knew Ezekiel’s promise of a new heart and a new spirit. He knew the imagery of God breathing life into dry bones. Yet he still struggled to grasp that spiritual life must come from God’s initiative rather than human effort. If even these earthly analogies were difficult for him, Jesus asks how he will comprehend the heavenly realities that follow.

At this point, Jesus shifts from earthly things to τὰ ἐπουράνια—supernatural things. To make that transition, He draws on another familiar moment from Israel’s history: the bronze serpent in Numbers 21:4–9. The people were dying from venomous snakes, and God provided an unexpected remedy. Those who looked at the lifted-up serpent lived. It was a physical act that restored temporary, earthly life.

Jesus reveals the deeper fulfillment of that story. Just as Moses lifted up the serpent, the Son of Man must be lifted up. But the comparison is intentionally limited. The bronze serpent restored only mortal life for a time. The lifting up of the Son—His crucifixion—grants something infinitely greater: ζωὴ αἰώνιος, permanent life, unending life, life untouched by death. And this life is given to the one believing in Him (ὁ πιστεύων ἐν αὐτῷ), the one who looks to the crucified and risen Son as Israel once looked to the bronze serpent.

The movement is clear:
• Earthly things—wind, birth, natural analogies.
• Supernatural things—the mystery of the cross, God’s saving plan, eternal life.

Nicodemus came in the night, but Jesus was already shining heavenly light.

LORD, thank you for the divine plan, making it possible for humanity to live forever.