John 3:1-21
Jesus Teaches Nicodemus
1 Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”
3 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”
4 “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”
5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
9 “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.
10 “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? 11 Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. 12 I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? 13 No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. 14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”
16 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. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.
2 Kings 2:11
Elijah Ascends into Heaven
11 As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind.
To be an expert on a subject, specifically a place, you need to visit or live there or have been there and then know many things about that place...Who else knows more about heaven than God and Jesus?...So, we can believe Jesus when He tells us that no one has ever gone into heaven except the One who came from heaven—the Son of Man...If we put this into context of the things He tells Nicodemus, we can see that He is our heavenly expert...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...And after His resurrection, He ascended back into heaven...Jesus has done all these things and knows about heaven...So even though Elijah and others have went to heaven, they have not came back to talk about heaven, as Jesus did, or have the extensive knowledge of heaven that Jesus does...Jesus willingly came to earth from heaven, to teach us things that are heavenly and of heaven...
So Jesus is telling Nicodemus that He is our Expert on and about heaven and puts His knowledge of heaven into context for us...He is our Expert on heaven, because He has lived in heaven from the beginning, and He tells us about things of heaven...It is only Him that descended from heaven to earth, to tell us about where He lived, and it is heaven...It is only Him who has ascended back into heaven...So as He tells Nicodemus about heavenly things, we speak of what we know...He knows of heaven...We do not have this information and facts about heaven, like He does...He has the information and knowledge and is an eyewitness from heaven and He knows heaven...Therefore, He is qualified to speak to us about heaven and the Kingdom of Heaven...He is our Expert on heaven...