John 3:20

For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. FOR EVERYONE THAT DOETH EVIL HATETH THE LIGHT, NEITHER COMETH TO THE LIGHT, LEST HIS DEEDS SHOULD BE REPROVED - by being brought out to the light....

20._For whosoever doeth what is evil. _The meaning is, that _the light _is hateful to them for no other reason than because they are wicked and desire to conceal their sins, as far as lies in their power. Hence it follows that, by rejecting the remedy, they may be said purposely to cherish the ground of their condemnation. We are greatly mistaken, therefore, if we suppose that they who are enraged against the Gospel are actuated by godly zeal, when, on the contrary, they abhor and shun the light, that they may more freely flatter themselves in _darkness _...

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 welcome, and hereby taught us to encourage good beginnings, although weak. And though now he came by night, yet afterward he owned Christ publicly. He did not talk with Christ about state affairs, though he was a ruler, but about the concerns of his own soul and its salvation, and went at once to them. Our Saviour spoke of the necessity and nature of regeneration or the new birth, and at once directed Nicodemus to the source of holiness of the heart. Birth is the beginning of life; to be born again, is to begin to live anew, as those who have lived much amiss, or to little purpose. We must have a new nature, new principles, new affections, new aims. By our first birth we were corrupt, shapen in s...

Verse John 3:20. _FOR EVERY ONE THAT DOETH EVIL HATETH THE LIGHT_] He who doth vile or abominable things: alluding to the subject mentioned in the preceding verse. The word φαυλος, _evil_ or _vile_, is supposed by some to come from the Hebrew פלס _phalas_, to _roll_, and so _cover oneself in_ _dust_ or _ashes_, which was practised in token of _humiliation_ and _grief_, not only by the more eastern nations, see Job 42:6, but also by the Greeks and Trojans, as appears from _Homer_, Iliad xviii. l. 26; xxii. l. 414; xxiv. l. 640; compare _Virgil_, AEn. x. l. 844; and _Ovid_, Metam. lib. viii. l. 528. From the above Hebrew word, it is likely that the Saxon _ful_, the English _foul_, the Latin _vilis_, and the English _vile_,

THAT DOETH EVIL - Every wicked person. HATETH THE LIGHT - This is true of all wicked men. They choose to practice their deeds of wickedness in darkness. They are afraid of the light, because they could be easily detected. Hence, most crimes are committed in the night. So with the sinner against God. He hates the gospel, for it condemns his conduct, and his conscience would trouble him if it were enlightened. HIS DEEDS SHOULD BE REPROVED - To “reprove” here means not only to “detect” or make manifest, but also includes the idea of “condemnation” when his deeds are detected. The gospel would make his wickedness manifest, and his conscience would condemn him. We learn from this verse: 1.That one design of the gospel is “to reprove” men. It convicts them of sin in order that it may afford consolation....

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 unfriendly spirit. On the sources of these records, and the degree to which John's subjectivity coloured his record of them, see Introduction. JOHN 3:1 BUT THERE WAS A MAN OF THE PHARISEES. Is this narrative introduced, as Baur thinks, to give a specimen of wrongly directed faith, to which Christ did _not _entrust himself? and was the evangelist busy at once on his great mission of undervaluing the Jewish parties and nation? Certainly not. We have a clear proof that, in the case of the genuine inquirer, Christ did open His very heart; and to a "ruler of Jews," to a "Pharisee," to a "teacher of Israel," he deigne

FOR EVERY ONE THAT DOTH EVIL, HATETH THE LIGHT,.... Every man, the series of whose life and conversation is evil, hates Christ and his Gospel, cause they make manifest his evil deeds, convict him of them, and rebuke him for them: NEITHER COMETH TO THE LIGHT; to hear Christ preach, or preached; to attend on the Gospel ministration and means of grace: LEST HIS DEEDS SHOULD BE REPROVED; or discovered, and made manifest, and he be brought to shame, and laid under blame, and advised to part with them, which he cares not to do; see Ephesians 5:11....

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 all hours. You may come to Christ by day. You may come to Christ by night. There is never a time when Christ is from home. He that seeketh findeth, and, to him that knocketh, it shall be opened. «The same came to Jesus by night.» Perhaps he was timid. It is just as likely that he was prudent, and did not wish to commit himself till he had seen what it was that Jesus taught. Perhaps, too, he was busy, and had no time except at night. Better come at night than not come at all. «The same came to Jesus by night.» John 3:2. The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that th

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 imparted and what it includes. Everything in these Chapter s is new. The story of Nicodemus, the woman at Sychar's well, the healing of the impotent man, the discourses of our Lord, etc., are not reported by the synoptic Gospels. There is not a word of the Sermon on the Mount reported by John; the many miracles, so significantly arranged in Matthew, are omitted (except the feeding of the 5000); nor do we find a single parable concerning the Kingdom of Heaven. The progressive revelation concerning eternal life will be brought out in the annotations. As already stated the teachings begin with the new birth, in which eternal life is imparted, and end with the destiny of those who are born again. This...

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 conception of the Messianic kingdom. Here as in all the Johannine speeches the conversation is recorded in terms which reflect later thought, and it passes out into more general thoughts and ideas Nicodemus disappears, and before the end the author is teaching the men of his own time. We cannot satisfactorily separate speech from comment. And yet throughout the subjects and thoughts have naturally grown out of the historical situation. The author is not simply developing, in the light of later Jewish controversy, his views on the necessity of Christian baptism, and the spiritual character of Christian Messianic expectation. A leader of the Jewish party, favourably disposed by what he has seen and...