John 3

Nicodemus

Nicodemus

Nicodemus (dressed in grey with a white head dress and a magenta sash), a member of the Jewish ruling council, recognizes God is with Jesus and goes to talk to him at night.

Jesus tells him that no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again—born of water and the Spirit. (The gold swirls in the background of the sky represent the presence of the Spirit and the blue swirls on the land represent the water.)

When Nicodemus asks how it is possible to be born again, Jesus assures him that he knows what he is talking about because he, the Son of Man, has come down from heaven.

The cross and snakes in the upper right corner of the painting illustrate Jesus’ teaching, “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Light has come into the world, but people (hiding behind the trees in the lower right) love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil.