_CHRIST TEACHETH NICODEMUS THE NECESSITY OF REGENERATION: OF FAITH IN HIS DEATH. THE GREAT LOVE OF GOD TOWARDS THE WORLD. CONDEMNATION FOR UNBELIEF. THE BAPTISM, WITNESS AND DOCTRINE OF JOHN CONCERNING CHRIST._ _Anno Domini 30._... [ Continue Reading ]
THERE WAS A MAN OF THE PHARISEES, &C.— Nicodemus was a member of the great council, and, as some suppose, a ruler of a synagogue; for αρχων, the title here given him, is often used in this sense by the evangelists: compare Matthew 18:23 with Luke 8:41. Accordingly, John 3:10 on this very occasion, J... [ Continue Reading ]
THE SAME CAME TO JESUS BY NIGHT,— Lest any offence should be taken at his conversing openly with Jesus, by his brethren of the council, who from the very beginning were Christ's enemies, he came secretly, _by night,_ in order to have a private conference with him at his own lodgings; and with the gr... [ Continue Reading ]
JESUS ANSWERED AND SAID— It is remarkable, that the evangelist introduces this passage of the history, with observing that Jesus _knew the thoughts of all men:_ probably he meant to signify, that in the course of the conversation, Jesus prevented Nicodemus by forming his discourse to him in such a m... [ Continue Reading ]
NICODEMUS SAITH UNTO HIM, &C.— Nicodemus, hearing Jesus affirm that the posterityof Abraham needed a second generation and birth to fit them for becoming the people of God, could not take his words in the sense which he, with the other doctors, commonly affixed to them, when speaking of proselytes,... [ Continue Reading ]
JESUS ANSWERED, VERILY, VERILY, &C.— Jesus replied, that he was not speaking of a natural, but of a spiritual regeneration; _Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a "man be born of water,_ that is, be baptized, the only appointed means of admission into the visible church; _and of the Spirit,_ tha... [ Continue Reading ]
THAT WHICH IS BORN OF THE FLESH IS FLESH;— That Nicodemus might see the absurdityof his notion, Jesus told him, that whatsoever is begotten, must necessarily partake of the nature of that which begets it; and therefore, that a man's being begotten and born a second time by his natural parents, were... [ Continue Reading ]
YE MUST BE BORN AGAIN.— "Even _you,_ though the descendants of Abraham; even you, scribes, Pharisees, and doctors of Israel, however proud of superior sanctity and knowledge; even you _must be born again,_ in this spiritual sense." The passage is remarkably strong and emphatical.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE WIND BLOWETH, &C.— Our Saviour observed, that there was no cause for Nicodemus to be surprised if there were some things in this doctrine of regeneration of an obscure and unsearchable nature; because even in the natural world many things are so. As much as to say, "It is true, thou mayest not u... [ Continue Reading ]
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 birth were the people of God,) must be begotten and born again, still urged that the thing was impossi... [ Continue Reading ]
WE SPEAK THAT WE DO KNOW,— Some have supposed, that, as Christ speaks here in the plural number, he may refer not only to the doctrine which was delivered by _himself,_ but to the testimony which was given to the truth of it by John the Baptist, and to the preaching also of his own disciples, who al... [ Continue Reading ]
IF I HAVE TOLD YOU EARTHLY THINGS,— "If you believe not these obvious truths concerning the spiritual nature of God's kingdom, and the qualifications of his subjects, how shall you believe the more sublime doctrines of religion, which I am come to teach you?" OurLord goes on, "In the mean time, you... [ Continue Reading ]
AND AS MOSES LIFTED UP— Our Lord, by telling Nicodemus that the death of the Messiah was prefigured by types in the law, shewed him, that it was agreeable both to the doctrine of Moses, and to the councils of heaven, that the Messiah should be in a suffering state; consequently he insinuated, that t... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD,— Our Lord here assures Nicodemus, that men owed the unspeakable happiness spoken of in the preceding verse, to the free and unutterable love of God the Father, who desired their salvation with such ardency, that he sent his only-begotten Son to bestow everlasting life on... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR GOD SENT NOT HIS SON—TO CONDEMN THE WORLD;— God is often represented as an avenger in the Old Testament: and as mankind had incurred his wrath by their iniquities, it might be expected that when he sent his Son into the world, it would have been to inflict punishments upon them, as the word rend... [ Continue Reading ]
HE THAT BELIEVETH ON HIM IS NOT CONDEMNED:— From the gracious design of God towards the world, mentioned in the preceding verses, our Lord concludes, that they who believe on the Son of God are not condemned; whereas they who do not believe, are condemned already for that sin; and justly, because th... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THIS IS THE CONDEMNATION,— That is, the _cause_ of condemnation; they will not receive the light of the _Logos,_ the God of Christians, because they will not obey him.... [ Continue Reading ]
HE THAT DOETH TRUTH— _He that practiseth truth:_ that is, "is exercised in righteousness and goodness." See Ephesians 5:9. This phrase often occurs as the character of a good man: compare. Psalms 119:30. Isaiah 26:2. 1 Peter 1:22. 1 John 1:6.; and it is used with peculiar propriety, since there is r... [ Continue Reading ]
AFTER THESE THINGS— Some time after the conference with Nicodemus, Jesus and his disciples, leaving Jerusalem, went into the land of Judea, or those parts of Judea which were remote from Jerusalem. As he took this journey that he might have an opportunity of baptizing his disciples, that is, the per... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE JEWS— It should be observed, that the word _Jews,_ in this place and some others, does not mean persons of that nation in general, but of the country of Judea (see John 3:22.), where baptism had just then been administered under the direction of Jesus; and where, as most of John's disciples... [ Continue Reading ]
A MAN CAN RECEIVE NOTHING, &C.— "A man of God, or prophet, can assume no greater dignity and authority, than God has thought fit to confer on him: you yourselves bear me witness, even by the words you have just now made use of, describing Jesus by the character of him, to whom I bear witness, that I... [ Continue Reading ]
HE THAT HATH THE BRIDE, IS THE BRIDEGROOM:— "So far am I from envying his growing fame, or the number of his disciples, that I greatly rejoice in both; just as the bridegroom's friend, who is appointed to stand and hear him converse with his bride, rejoices in the love that she expresses to him; of... [ Continue Reading ]
HE MUST INCREASE,— "I am not ignorant that his fame and the number of his disciples shall every day increase, while mine shall decrease; for he is a person of infinitely greater dignity than I am, possesses far more intimate knowledge of the divine will; and the discoveries which he makes thereof as... [ Continue Reading ]
WHAT HE HATH SEEN, &C.— In allusion to his being from above, where he enjoys the most intimate communications of his Father's counsels; _that he testifieth; and no man receiveth his testimony;_ particularly concerning the spiritual nature of the kingdom of God, and the qualifications requisite in hi... [ Continue Reading ]
HATH SET TO HIS SEAL, &C.— Hath made a most becoming and substantial acknowledgment of the veracity of God, who by his prophets in antient times foretold what the nature of the Messiah's kingdom would be; and who speaketh now to men by his only-begotten Son, in such a manner as he never did by any m... [ Continue Reading ]
THE FATHER LOVETH THE SON,— The affection which the Father bears to his only-begotten Son, is altogether different from the regard which he shewed to his other messengers. They were _servants,_ and were treated as such, being endued with scanty portions of the Spirit in comparison: whereas this is G... [ Continue Reading ]
HE THAT BELIEVETH ON THE SON, &C.— "This," says the Baptist, "is the substance, and this is the end of my whole testimony; that _he who has a lively faith in this_ only _Son of God, hath everlasting life;_ hath a title to it, and the beginning of it already wrought in his soul; _but he who disobeys... [ Continue Reading ]