Today, I had the opportunity to receive a question from one of the members of our church. I love moments like this.

This was a really good question — the kind of question that shows me someone is not just reading the text but actually engaging with it, thinking critically, and paying attention to every word. You would have heard that before I preach, I usually say something along the lines of, “Let’s read paying attention to each one of the words.” That’s what we should all be doing when we approach Scripture — not just skimming over it, but paying attention to each word, searching for meaning, and asking the right questions. That’s when we grow.

So, here’s the question I received:

“Who is the ‘we’ that Jesus refers to in John 3:11?”

This is the text in context:

John 3:1-12 (ESV)

1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.

2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.”

3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”

5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’

8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

9 Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?”

10 Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things?

11 Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony.

12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?

My answer:

Now, this is a great question because there’s actually a lot of debate about it. If you look at different commentaries, you’ll see people take completely different positions on it because the text doesn’t make it explicitly clear of whom the Lord is referring. But instead of jumping to conclusions, let’s just look at the biblical evidence and let Scripture speak for itself.

Here’s my answer: I believe the “we” refers to Jesus and the prophets of the Old Testament, with Jesus being the ultimate Prophet. It also includes John the Baptist, who was one of the last prophets before Christ and someone the Jews had rejected.

My reasons are the following:

First, the context of the passage. Nicodemus is a teacher of the law, and he belongs to the group of people who were rejecting Jesus as the Messiah, as the Son of God. Jesus, in everything He’s saying here, is actually bringing an accusation against Nicodemus and his group—that they are not accepting Him. So, if this “we” includes Jesus, who is being rejected, then the others who are part of the “we” must also be those who were rejected. That would be the prophets of old and John the Baptist. This makes sense because later in the book of John, Jesus will accuse them of rejecting the prophets before Him.

Second, Jesus speaks about “our testimony.” Testimony is something that has been spoken, proclaimed, and preached. In Scripture, the word “testimony” is often used for those who herald a message from God. And who does that? The prophets. So again, this points to Jesus speaking of Himself alongside the prophets and John the Baptist, who also came as a messenger from God.

Third, Jesus says, “What we have seen.” This speaks about revelation — about God revealing things to His prophets. And this is the coolest part for me because, as I am now studying Typology, I see a beautiful pattern here.

If you go to the Old Testament, you see a progression in prophetic revelation. Prophets like Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Jeremiah had visions and insights into God’s plans — they saw glimpses of what was to come. But then there’s an escalation with John the Baptist. For the first time, John saw the Spirit descending upon the Son of God, Jesus, and recognised Him as the Revealed Son of God.

BUT then, at the highest level, we have Jesus Himself. He doesn’t just receive a vision — He has seen the Father directly and speaks what He has seen from Him.

So look at how this unfolds: The prophets had visions. John the Baptist saw Jesus. Jesus has seen the Father in Heaven. And now, we have seen Jesus by faith. I call this the escalation of revelation.

This pattern of escalation makes perfect sense in the Gospel of John because Jesus will keep using this language throughout the book. He constantly points out that He has seen the Father, that He speaks what He has seen, and that His testimony is true because He comes from heaven.

By the way, escalation means going up the stairs, like moving from one level to another — a progression, a rising movement. I’m not sure if that’s a word that’s commonly used in spoken English, but it’s the best way I can describe it — it’s like climbing, going up, reaching higher levels of revelation.

This pattern of escalation makes sense in the Gospel of John because Jesus will continue to use this kind of language throughout the book — He constantly points out that He has seen the Father, that He speaks what He has seen, and that His testimony is true because He comes from heaven.

So for those reasons, I believe the “we” refers to Jesus, the Old Testament prophets, and John the Baptist — all of whom bore witness to God’s truth and were rejected by the religious leaders.

I love getting questions like this! It’s not just about finding an answer — it’s about learning how to engage with Scripture in a deeper, more meaningful way. 

Blessings!