B. W. Johnson's Bible Commentary
John 3:9
How can these things be?
His skeptical tone is gone and he is an humble inquirer. He has been sobered and awed by the earnestness and moral power of Christ, like the Samaritan woman, or Festus and Agrippa.
How can these things be?
His skeptical tone is gone and he is an humble inquirer. He has been sobered and awed by the earnestness and moral power of Christ, like the Samaritan woman, or Festus and Agrippa.
Verse John 3:9. _HOW CAN THESE THINGS BE?_] Our Lord had very plainly told him how these things could be, and illustrated the new birth by one of the most proper similes that could be chosen; but so...
HOW CAN THESE THINGS BE? - Nicodemus was still unwilling to admit the doctrine unless he understood it; and we have here an instance of a man of rank stumbling at one of the plainest doctrines of reli...
II. ETERNAL LIFE IMPARTED: What it is and What it Includes Chapter 2:23-17 The second part of this Gospel contains the blessed teachings the Son of God gave concerning eternal life, how it is impart...
THE CONVERSATION WITH NICODEMUS. Nicodemus is an example of those to whom the Lord could not trust Himself. The story shows how He tried to bring those whom His teaching had impressed to a truer conce...
Do not be surprised that I said to you: "You must be reborn from above. The wind blows where it will, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know whence it comes and whither it goes. So is every...
THE MAN WHO CAME BY NIGHT (John 3:1-6)...
THESE THINGS. See Jeremiah 31:33; Jeremiah 32:39; Ezekiel 11:19; Ezekiel 18:31;...
John 2:13 TO JOHN 11:57. The Work We here enter on the second portion of the first main division of the Gospel, thus subdivided: The Work (1) among _Jews_, (2) among _Samaritans_, (3) among _Galilean...
_How can these things be?_ He is bewildered; there is no appearing not to understand, as in John 3:4. -Be," COME TO PASS (see on John 1:6)....
John 3:1-21. The discourse with Nicodemus This is the first of the eleven discourses of our Lord which form the main portion, and are among the great characteristics, of this Gospel. They have been u...
ΓΕΝΈΣΘΑΙ. COME TO PASS (see on John 1:6). He is bewildered; but there is no attempt at a rejoinder, as in John 3:4. Comp. Job 40:4-5....
John 3:1-21. THE DISCOURSE WITH NICODEMUS This is the first of the discourses of our Lord which form the main portion, and are among the great characteristics, of this Gospel. They have been used as a...
VER 9. NICODEMUS ANSWERED AND SAID TO HIM, HOW CAN THESE THINGS BE? 10. JESUS ANSWERED AND SAID TO HIM, ARE YOU A MASTER OF ISRAEL, AND KNOW NOT THESE THINGS? 11. VERILY, VERILY, I SAY TO YOU, WE SPEA...
_JESUS AFFIRMS HIS DEITY -- JOHN 3:9-21:_ Nicodemus did not yet understand that if it is true that Jesus is God in the flesh that man's obligation was to obey him. Jesus proved His Divinity by saying,...
ΓΕΝΈΣΘΑΙ _aor. med. (dep.) inf. от_ ΓΊΝΟΜΑΙ (G1096) становиться, быть, случаться, ΤΑΎΤΑ (G3778) _n. pl. от_ ΟΎΤΟΣ; здесь подводятся итоги предыдущей дискуссии....
NICODEMUS ANSWERED, &C.— Our Lord's arguments were undeniable: nevertheless, Nicodemus, who had been accustomed to the pomp and ceremony of an external religion, surprised to hear that Jews (who by bi...
EARTHLY MYSTERIES COMPARED WITH HEAVENLY MYSTERIES _Text 3:9-15_ 9 Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? 10 Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou the teacher of Isra...
EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF JOHN John 3:9-21 We begin with an Analysis of the passage which is before us:— "Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be?" (John 3:9). How this revea...
Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? NICODEMUS ANSWERED AND SAID UNTO HIM, HOW CAN THESE THINGS BE? Though the subject, says Luthardt, still confounds him, the necessity a...
1 We have found an unholy temple, an unspiritual priesthood, and now we are introduced to an ignorant teacher! Intense application to a single text book for a whole life had not taught him the element...
THE NEW BIRTH. JOHN'S TESTIMONY TO JESUS 1-15. Conversation with Nicodemus. The ministry at Jerusalem, though disappointing, was not fruitless. Christ's miracles and teaching had made an impression, n...
JOHN TELLS THE GOOD NEWS ABOUT JESUS GOSPEL OF JOHN _MARION ADAMS_ CHAPTER 3 JESUS TEACHES NICODEMUS 3:1-21 V1-2 A *Jewish leader called Nicodemus came to speak to Jesus. Nicodemus was a *Pharis...
HOW CAN THESE THINGS BE? — The answer to the previous question has spoken of a spiritual birth and a spiritual life and a spiritual kingdom, but all this is in a region of which the Rabbinic schools k...
CHAPTER 8 THE BRAZEN SERPENT. “Nicodemus answered and said unto Him, How can these things be? Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou the teacher of Israel, and understandest not these things? Ver...
This explanation did not satisfy Nicodemus. He falls back upon his bewilderment, πῶς δύναται ταῦτα γενέσθαι; This question stirs Jesus to a fuller explanation, which is reported in John 3:10-15....
LOVE'S GREAT GIFT: RECEIVED OR REJECTED John 3:9-21 Though physically on earth, our Lord was spiritually in touch with the heavenly realities. He was living among them and bore witness to them. Notic...
Nicodemus would seem to have been one of the finest products of Judaism. He was thoroughly sincere. Moreover, he was determined to investigate for himself, and so came to Jesus by night, not because h...
(3) Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? (3) The secret mystery of our regeneration which cannot be comprehended by man's capacity, is perceived by faith, and that in Christ...
CHAPTER 8 REGENERATION THE GREAT SINE QUA NON John 3:1-21. _“There was a man of the Pharisees, whose name was Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews; the same came to Him by night, and said, Master, we know...
ADDITIONAL NOTES BY THE AMERICAN EDITOR. XII. CHAPTER III. The first twenty-one verses of the third chapter contain the account of the interview between Jesus and Nicodemus. This interview occurred d...
“ _Nicodemus answered and said unto him: How can these things be?_ 10. _Jesus answered and said unto him: Thou art the teacher of Israel, and thou knowest not these things!_ ” Nicodemus does not deny;...
Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? (10) Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? (11) Verily, verily, I say unto thee, W...
The opening verses (John 1:1-18) introduce the most glorious subject which God Himself ever gave in employing the pen of man; not only the most glorious in point of theme, but in the profoundest point...
_THE PUZZLED INQUIRER_ ‘How can these things be?’ John 3:9 In the interview between our Lord and Nicodemus, we have an early instance of difficulties of belief in a candid and thoughtful mind. The...
9._How can these things be? _We see what is the chief obstacle in the way of Nicodemus. Every thing that he hears appears monstrous, because he does not understand the manner of it; so that there is n...
But there was a man (chapter 3) and that a Pharisee who was not satisfied with this inoperative conviction. His conscience was reached. Seeing Jesus, and hearing His testimony, had produced a sense of...
NICODEMUS ANSWERED AND SAID UNTO HIM,.... Remaining still as ignorant as ever, though Christ had explained the phrase "born again", at which he stumbled, by a being "born of water and of the Spirit",...
Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? Ver. 9. _How can these things be?_] Christ had told him that the manner of the Spirit's working is incomprehensible, and yet he is at it...
_Nicodemus answered, How can these things be?_ Christ's explication of the doctrine of regeneration, and its necessity, made it no clearer to him. The corruption of nature, which renders it necessary,...
HOW; Nicodemus here asked a question which Jesus did not answer. He had revealed the fact, its nature, necessity, and author. The manner it was not necessary, and would not be useful, for Nicodemus to...
The witness from above:...
NICODEMUS ANSWERED AND SAID UNTO HIM, HOW CAN THESE THINGS BE?...
NICODEMUS, AND NEW BIRTH (vs.1-21) Among the many who believed because of the miracles, there was however one individual who was more seriously affected. Nicodemus comes to the Lord by night, evident...
1-8 Nicodemus was afraid, or ashamed to be seen with Christ, therefore came in the night. When religion is out of fashion, there are many Nicodemites. But though he came by night, Jesus bid him welco...
Nicodemus had before spoken as if he thought it a thing impossible, understanding our Saviour of a carnal generation, which he knew could not be repeated: perceiving that he spake of a spiritual birth...
Shepherd of Hermas Commandment Fourth And therefore I say to you, that if any one is tempted by the devil, and sins after that great and holy calling. in which the Lord has called His people to everl...
John 3:9 Nicodemus G3530 answered G611 (G5662) and G2532 said G2036 (G5627) Him G846 How G4459 can...
‘Nicodemus answered and said to him, “How can these things be?” ' Nicodemus still does not understand. ‘How can these things be?', he asks. What is clear to many a Christian child is a total mystery t...
It is of much importance to keep the closing verses of chap. 2 in close connection with the opening verses of chap. 3 (see the commentary on John 3:1). Rejected by the theocracy of Israel Jesus turns...
John 3:9. NICODEMUS ANSWERED AND SAID UNTO HIM, HOW CAN THESE THINGS COME TO PASS? The tone of this answer is very different from that of John 3:4. Here, as there, the question is, _How can_ …? But th...
HOW? (Πωσ;) Nicodemus is not helped either by the use of υδωρ or πνευμα to understand δε γεννηθηνα ανωθεν (the necessity of the birth from above or regeneration). He falls back into his "stupid mis...
John 3:9 The Christian Mysteries. The Feast of Trinity succeeds Pentecost; the light of the Gospel does not remove mysteries in religion. This is our subject. Let us enlarge upon it. I. Consider suc...
John 3:1. _There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: the same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man...
This is a very wonderful chapter, because, while it teaches the doctrine of regeneration, and the necessity of a great moral and spiritual change, it yet also reveals the doctrine of salvation by fait...
Let us once more read together part of this blessed soul-saving chapter. I suppose that more souls have been saved through the reading of this chapter than through almost any other portion of Holy Wri...
We can scarcely find a chapter in which the gospel lies so compact and so plainly stated. John 3:1. _There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:_ Christ's door is open at...
John 3:1. _There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: the same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man...
If you were called in to see a person who was dying, and wished to read a chapter from the Word of God, and you were afraid that the sick one did not know the way of salvation, you could not select a...
If we were asked to read to a dying man who did not know the gospel, we should probably select this chapter as the most suitable one for such an occasion; and what is good for dying men is good for us...
If you were sent for to visit a dying man, and you wished to select a chapter which would set the truth before him very briefly and very clearly, you could not make a better choice than this 3 rd chap...
CONTENTS: Nicodemus and the new birth. The last testimony of John the Baptist. CHARACTERS: God, Jesus, Holy Spirit, Nicodemus, John the Baptist, Moses, John's disciples. CONCLUSION: Since the natural...
John 3:1. _Nicodemus, a ruler of the jews._ This rabbi is named by John as defending our Saviour in the council, and as attending the crucifixion. A gospel of the passion and the resurrection of Chris...
HOW CAN THIS BE? His problem is that he had thought he was already in the Kingdom....
_How can these things be?_ RELIGIOUS REVIVALS This question is often asked concerning revivals of religion, and in dealing with it I would show I. THAT THERE ARE SOLID GROUNDS ON WHICH TO BUILD A H...
1-36 CHAPTER 3 _There was a man_, &c. Nicodemus means in Greek _the conqueror of the people._ Such was this man; who, overcoming the fear of the people, the Pharisees, and the priests, believed in Ch...
_Nicodemus answered_, &c. "For the animal man" (such as Nicodemus at that time was) "perceiveth not the things of the Spirit" (1Co 2:14). Just as rustics do not understand scholastic questions. VER. 1...
_EXPLANATORY AND CRITICAL NOTES_ John 3:1. In John 2:23, we read of many who believed in Jesus because of the miracles He wrought. But their belief was so imperfect that Jesus had “no faith” in it. He...
EXPOSITION This is the first of the eleven discourses recorded by this evangelist, and for the most part addressed to the cultivated, hierarcical party in Jerusalem, who questioned him in an unfriend...
Have we got a message for you tonight from the Word of God! John chapter 3 and 4, oh my, how rich! How blessed! There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews (John 3:1). We k...
Isaiah 42:16; John 3:4; John 6:52; John 6:60; Luke 1:34;...
These things. Such as the new birth. Be [γ ε ν ε σ θ α ι]. Literally, come to pass....
THE NEW BIRTH John 3:1 INTRODUCTORY WORDS The story of Nicodemus is common to us all, and yet there is, perhaps, much in it which needs to be emphasized, and there may be some things hidden away th...
SALVATION MADE PLAIN John 3:1 INTRODUCTORY WORDS We are using the story of Nicodemus as the basis of our message for today. However, we are planning to bring out some very vital considerations whic...
Observe here, 1. How Nicodemus, consulting only with carnal reason, persists in his apprehension concerning the absurdity and impossibility of our Saviour's notion of regeneration, or being born of th...