Jesus continued, “You are from below; I am from above. You belong to this world; I do not.
Parallel translations
- WEB He said to them, “You are from beneath. I am from above. You are of this world. I am not of this world.
- KJV And he said unto them, Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world.
- BSB Then He told them, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world.
- NKJV And He said to them, “You are from beneath; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world.
- NASB And He was saying to them, “You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Jesus says they are from below and of this world, while He is from above and not of this world. He highlights the radical difference between His heavenly origin and their earthly outlook.
Overview
Jesus contrasts His divine, heavenly origin with the earthbound, sinful orientation of His hearers, explaining why they cannot understand or follow Him. This gulf can be bridged only by being born from above through faith in Him (John 3:3). His words press home that salvation requires receiving the one who comes from heaven to give life to those below.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- John 3:31He who comes from above is above all. He who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all.
- 1 Jn 2:15–16Don’t love the world or the things that are in the world. If anyone loves the world, the Father’s love isn’t in him.
- John 17:14I have given them your word. The world hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
- John 17:16They are not of the world even as I am not of the world.
- 1 Jn 4:5–6They are of the world. Therefore they speak of the world, and the world hears them.
- 1 Jn 5:19–20We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.
- Jas 4:4You adulterers and adulteresses, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
- Ps 17:4As for the deeds of men, by the word of your lips, I have kept myself from the ways of the violent.
- John 1:14The Word became flesh, and lived among us. We saw his glory, such glory as of the one and only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.
- Jas 3:15–17This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, sensual, and demonic.
- John 3:13No one has ascended into heaven, but he who descended out of heaven, the Son of Man, who is in heaven.
- 1 Cor 15:47–48The first man is of the earth, made of dust. The second man is the Lord from heaven.
- John 15:18–19If the world hates you, you know that it has hated me before it hated you.
- Rom 8:7–8because the mind of the flesh is hostile towards God; for it is not subject to God’s law, neither indeed can it be.
- Phil 3:19–21whose end is destruction, whose god is the belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who think about earthly things.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
John declares him plainly: the eternal Word made flesh, the Lamb of God, the great 'I AM' — bread, light, door, shepherd, way, truth, life, resurrection — that you may believe and have life in his name.
How John 8:23 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.