The third chapter of John records a conversation between Jesus and a man named Nicodemus who was one of the most respected theologians of his time. Jesus tells Nicodemus that unless he is reborn from above by water and the Spirit, he can’t enter the kingdom of God. In the part of their discussion we read a few moments ago, Jesus mentions Moses and a serpent on a Pole, a Son of Man and a Son of God, people living in light or darkness, doing evil or truth, and receiving condemnation or eternal life. The things he mentions are all drawn from the Old Testament and all the passages would have been familiar to Nicodemus, but he had not fully understood them. Most Christians know John 3:16 by heart, but many of the things Jesus talks about are still a bit of a mystery to them.