_There was a man of the Pharisees_ Belonging to the sect so called. What is here related, doubtless, occurred while our Lord was attending at Jerusalem to keep the passover, as is mentioned in the latter part of the preceding chapter: _a ruler of the Jews_ A member of the great council, termed the s... [ Continue Reading ]
_Jesus answered_ Jesus, knowing the prejudices Nicodemus laboured under, both as a Jew and a Pharisee, judged it necessary immediately to acquaint him with the absolute necessity of experiencing a thorough change, both of his heart and life, to be wrought by divine grace; a change so great as might... [ Continue Reading ]
_Nicodemus_ Exceedingly surprised at Christ's declaration; _saith, How can a man be born when he is old_ As I now am? _Can he enter_, &c. As if he had said, It would be perfectly absurd to think that thou intendest thy words to be taken in a literal sense, and yet, I confess, I am at a loss to know... [ Continue Reading ]
_That which is born of the flesh is flesh_ Only flesh, void of the Spirit: or is carnal and corrupt, and therefore at enmity with the Spirit. _And that which is born of the Spirit is spirit_ Is spiritual, heavenly, divine, like its author. As if our Lord had said to Nicodemus, Were it possible for a... [ Continue Reading ]
_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, and the operation of the Spirit, which renders it practicable, were as great mysteries to him as th... [ Continue Reading ]
_We speak that we do know_ I, and all that truly believe in me. Or, he may refer to the testimony that was given to the truth of his doctrine by John the Baptist, and to the preaching also of his own disciples, who all concurred in testifying the same things, the certainty of which they were assured... [ Continue Reading ]
_If I have told you earthly things_ As the truths which I have taught you concerning the spiritual nature of God's kingdom, and the qualifications of his subjects, may properly be termed, because they are capable of being represented to you in a familiar way, and of being illustrated by such obvious... [ Continue Reading ]
_As Moses lifted up the serpent_ As if he had said, And even this single witness, bearing testimony of heavenly things, will soon be taken from you; yea, and in a most ignominious manner. Or, as Dr. Doddridge connects the words with what precedes, “And now I mention the Son of man, let me rectify th... [ Continue Reading ]
_For God so loved the world_, &c. Here our Lord proceeds to inform Nicodemus, that men owed the blessings above mentioned to the free and immense love of God the Father, who desired their salvation with such ardency, that he sent his only-begotten Son to bestow it upon them; and that it is designed... [ Continue Reading ]
_For every one that doeth evil_ That is conscious to himself that he lives in known sin, and is inclined to continue to do so; _hateth the light_ Which would detect and expose his evil practices, and thereby cause anguish and shame to his guilty mind; _neither cometh to the light_ But keeps aloof fr... [ Continue Reading ]
_After these things_ That is, some time after our Lord's conference with Nicodemus; _came Jesus and his disciples_ From Jerusalem, where they had kept the passover together; _into the land of Judea_ That is, into a part of it which was at some distance from the capital city; _and there he tarried wi... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then there arose a question_ Or a dispute; _between some of John's disciples and the Jews_ Or rather, _a certain Jew:_ for, “though the common editions read _Jews_, the greater number of MSS., among which are some of the most valuable, some ancient expositors also, and critics read, _a Jew_, in the... [ Continue Reading ]
_John answered_ With a humility and integrity agreeable to the rest of his character, _A man can receive nothing_ Neither he, nor I, nor any man; _unless it be given him from heaven_ Whence every good gift cometh, James 1:18; a general truth, very applicable in this case. Different employments are a... [ Continue Reading ]
_He must increase_ And appear continually more and more glorious, like the growing moon; _but I must decrease_ Must gradually wane and decline, till I disappear: for the end of my ministry is now, in a great measure, answered, and therefore I quickly expect to be dismissed from it. _He that cometh f... [ Continue Reading ]
_And what he hath seen and heard_ This is spoken in allusion to what was said in the preceding verse, of his being from above, where he enjoyed the most intimate communications of the divine counsels; _that he testifieth_ Clearly, fully, and faithfully; _and no man receiveth his testimony_ That is,... [ Continue Reading ]
_The Father loveth the Son_ Incomparably, beyond the most faithful of his servants, and with an affection very different from the regard which he hath manifested, does, or ever will manifest to any of his other messengers. They were _servants_, and were treated as such, being endued with scanty port... [ Continue Reading ]