John 3:4

John 3:4. Nicodemus saith unto 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? These are the words of a man amazed beyond measure. Jesus has read his thoughts, and the answer to his unspoken question has come with the suddenness and surprise of a thunderbolt. The solemn emphasis laid on the words ‘born anew' forbids his thinking of a mere figure of speech, and apparently banishes from his mind the Old Testament expressions which approach the same truth (see John 3:5). The privilege which he attached to natural birth within the bounds of Israel is tom away by a word; the' any one ‘of our Lord's answer, makes all men equal; and the prize which seemed almost within his grasp is given to every one who has been born anew. In his bewilderment he sees no meaning in the words of Jesus, except they be understood physically of a second natural birth; and the evident impossibility of this he expresses in the very strongest terms.