3:9,10
“How can this be?” is better translated as “How can this happen?” What Jesus had just said went against all Jewish practice, against all that the Pharisees had been doing. They had taught the people that obedience to God’s commands was the way into the kingdom of God. They had totally missed the point that man was, on the basis of his own abilities, unable to do this. The Old Testament set out the standards, and demonstrated man’s inability to meet them. Yet it also contained fantastic promises, along with an absolute assurance that the promises would be fulfilled. In order to square the circle, in order to resolve this paradox, man needed to be born again. Jesus rebukes Nicodemus for his failing to appreciate this. Jesus refers to him as “the teacher of Israel”, implying that he was a highly recognised teacher. The new birth was not a departure from Old Testament teaching, but part of the fulfillment of it.
3:11
We get another “very truly”. There are also “we”s in this verse, and this has occasioned speculation on why the we? Some think it refers to Jesus and His disciples, but this does not make sense as at this point their understanding was no better than that of Nicodemus. A more likely explanation is that Jesus is using “we” here in response to the “we” that Nicodemus used at the outset. “You people do not accept our testimony”. It was not just a failure to understand, but a positive refusal to accept the testimony of Jesus. The truth of this would become increasingly evident as the gospel progresses, and is also witnessed to in the synoptics.
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