Bible Commentary (1871–1879 Edition)
Cfirisi Teacheth NicodeMua JOHN III. the Necentity of Regeneration,
Lord's proposition is universal, that no fallen man Is or can be spiritual without a regenerating operation of the Holy Ghost, and the necessity of a spiritual obedience under wliatever name, in opposition to mere mechanical services, is proclaimed throughout all the Old Testament. 11-13. We speak that we know, and . . . have seen
In relation to God; his manner of thinking, feeling, and acting, with reference to spiritual things, undergoing a fundamental and permanent revolution, cannot see—can have no part In (just as one is said to "see life," "see death," &c.). tlie kingdom of God—whether in its beginning; here (Luke 16. 16), or Its consummation hex-eafter. (ilatthew 25. 34; Epheslans 5. 5.) 4. How, &c.— The figure of the new birth, if it had been meant only of t. e., by absolute knowledge and immediate vision of God, which " the only-begotten Son in tlie bosom of the Father" claims as exclusively His own, ch. 1. 18. The "we" and "our" are here used, though Himself only ia Intended, in emphatic contrast, probably, with the opening words of Nicodemus, ' Rabl)i, we knoiv,' &c. ye receive not, &c.—referring to the class to which Nicodemus belonged, but from which lie was beginning to be separated inspirit. eartlUy things—such as regeneration, tlie gate of entrance to the kingdom of God un earth, and which Nicodemus should have understood bet ter, as a trutli even of tliat more eartlily economy to which he belonged, heavenly things—The things of the new and more heavenly evangelical economy, only to be fully understood after the eflusion of tlie Spirit, from heaven through the exalted Saviour, no man hath ascended, &c.—Tliero
Gentile proselytes to the Jewish religion, would have been intelligible enough to Nicodemus, being quite in keeping with tbe language of that day; but that Jews themselves Should need a new birth was to him incomprehensible.
6. of water and of the Spirit—A twofold explanation of the "new birth," so startling to Nicodemus. To a Jewish ecclesiastic, so familiar with the symbolical application of water, in every variety of way and form of expression, this language was fitted to show that the thing intended was no other than a thorough spiritual purification by the operation of the Holy Ghost. Indeed, element of water and operation of the Spirit are brought together in a glorious evangelical prediction of Ezekiel (36. 2.T-27), which Nicodemus might have been reminded of had such spiritual-
Is soiuolliing paradoxical in this language—'No one has gone up but He that came down, even He who is at onco both up and down.' Doubtless it was intended to startle and constrain His auditor to think that tliere must be mysterious elements in His Person. The old Socinians, to subvert tlie doctrine of the pre-e.'ci.stence of Christ, seized upon this passage as teacliiiig that the man Jesus was secretly caught up to heaven to receive His instructions, and then "came down from lii aveii ities not been almost lost in the reigning formalism. Already had the symbol of water been embodied in an initiatory ordinance, in the baptism of the Jewish expectants of Messiah by the Baptist, not to speak of tlie baptism of Gentile proselytes before that; and in the Christian Church it was soon to become the great visible door of entrance into "the kingdom of God," <fte reality being the sole work of the Holy Ghost. [Titus 3. 5.] 6-8. That which la born, &c. — A great universal proposition;
' to deliver them. But the sense manifestly is tlii.s: 'The perfect knowledge of God is not obtained by any man's going up from earlii to heaven to receive it—no man hutii so ascended—but He whose proper habitalion, in His essen-
'Tliat wliich is begotten carries within itself the nature of that which begat it.' [Olshausen.] flesh— Not the mere material body, but all that comes into the world by birtli, the entire man; yet not humanity simply, but in its corrujited, depraved condition, in complete subjection to Hie law of Hie fall (Upmans 8. 1-9). So that tliough a man "could enter a second time into his mother's womb andbe born," he would be no nearer this "new birth" than before (Jol) 11. -4; Psalm 51. 5). Is gplrlt Partakes of and possesses His spiritual nature. Marvel not, &c.—If a spiritual nature only can see and enter the kingdom of God; tial and eternal nature, is lieaven, hath, bytukiug human flesh, descended as the "Son of man" to disclose the Father, whom He knows by immediate gaze aiike in the flesh as before He assumed it, being essentially and unchangeably "in the bosom of the Father" ' (ch. 1. IS). Ht16. And as Moses, etc.—Here now we liave tiie " heavenly things," as liefore tlie "earthly," but under a veil, for tlie reason mentioned in v. 12. The crucitixion of Messiah is twice after this veiled under tlie same lively term "upif all we Ijring into the world with us be the reverse of spiritual; and if this spirituality be solely of the Holy Gliost, no wonder a new birth is indispensable, ye must —'Ve, saj-s Jesus, not tee.' [Bengel.] After those universal propositions, about what "a man" must be, to "enter the kingdom of God,"— tliis is remarkable, showing that our Lord meant to hold himself fortli as "separate from sinners." The wind, &c. Breath and spirit (one word Ijoth in Hebrew and Greek) are constantly brought togetlier in .Scripture as analogous (Job 27.3 ; ;i3.4; Ezekiel lifting," ch. 8. 28; 12. 32, 33. Here it is still farther veiled— though to us who know what it means, rendered vastly more instructive—by reference to the brazen serpent. The venom of the ttery serpents, shooting tlirougli the veins of the rebellious Israelites, was spreading death through tlie camp—lively emblem of the perishing condition of men by reason of sin. In both cases the remedy was divinely provided. In both the way of cure strikingly resembled tliat of the disease. Stung by serpents, by a serpent they are healed. By " tiery serpents" bitten serpents, probably, with skin spotted fiery-red (Kuktz)— the instrument of cure is a serpent of brass or copper, having at a distance ^/le 4ame a^)pema>ictf. So in redemption, as by man came death, by Man also comes life Man, too, " in the likeness of sinful flesh," differing in nothing outward and apparent from those who, pervaded hy the poison of the serpent, were ready to perisli. But as the uplifted serpent had none of the venom of wliich the serpent-bitten people were dying, so while the whole human family were perishing of the deadly wound inflicted on it by the old serpent, "the .Second Man," who arose over humanity with healing in His wings, was without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing. In both cases the remedy is conspicuously displayed; in the one case on a pole, in the otlier on the cross, to "draw all men unto Hiin" (ch. 12. 32). In both cases it is by directing tlie eye to the uplifted Remedy that the cure is effected ; in tlia one case the bodily eye, in tlie other the gaze of the soul by "believing in Him," as in that glorious ancient proclamation—"/.ooA; unto me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth," &c. (Isaiah 45. 22). Both methods are stumbling to human reason. What, to any thinking Israelite, could seein more unlilcely than tlial a deadly poison should be dried up in his body by simply looking on a
87. 9-14). canst not tell, &o.—The laws which govern the motion Of the winds are even yet but partially discovered but the risings, fallings, and change in direction many times in a day, of those gentle breezes here referred to, will probably ever be a mystery to us : So of the operation of the Holy Ghost in the new biith. 9, 10. How, 5:e.— Though the subject still confounds him, the neces Mlty and;>ossibilily of the new birth is no longer the point witli him, but the nature of it and how it is brouglit al)out. [LuTiiARDT.] ' From this moment Nicodemus says noliiing more, but has sunk unto a disciple who hfts found his true teacher. Therefore tlie Saviour now graciously advances in his communications of truth, and once more solemnly brings to the mind of tliis teaclier in Israel, now become a learner, his own not guiltless ignorance, that He may then proceed to utter, out of the fulness of His Divine knowledge, such fartiicr testimonies both of eartlily and heavenly things as his docile scliolar may to his own profit receive.' [.Stiek.] master, 'teacher.' The question clearly implies that the doctrine of regeneration is so far disclosed in tlie Old Testament that JS'icodemut vjas culpable in being ignorant of it. Nor is it merely as something that should be experienced under the Gospel that the Old Testament holds it forth— as many distinguished critics allege, denying that there was fcuy such thing as regeneration before Christ. For our
GoiCs great Love tt the W(/rld. JOHN III. John Bapl'ul's Teslirnonxj to his Mas'er.
ment. 2.5. 20. between some of—rather, ' on the part of. and tiie .Jews—rather (according to the best M.SS.), "and a Jew." about purifying i.e., baptizing, the symbolical meaning of washing with water being put (as in ch. 2.0) for the act itself. As John and Jesus were the only teachers who baptized Jews, discussions mighteasily arise between the Baptist's disciples and such Jews as declined to submit to that rite. Rabbi, &c.—'Master, this mau tells us that He to whom thou barest such generous witness beyond Jordan is requiting thy generosity by drawing all the people away to Himself. At this rate, thou shall soon have no disciples at all.' The reply to this is one of the noljlest and most affecting utterances that ever came from tlie lips of man. S7-30. A man, Ac.-' I do my heaven-prescribed work, and that is enough for me. Would you have me mount into my Master's place? Said repl leof bvass? Suoli a stumbling-block to tlie Jews and to tl e Greeks foolish iiess was faith in the crm-iflcd Nazarene as a way of Ueliveranee from eternal perdition. Yet was tlie warrant in both cases to expect a cure equally rational and well grounded. As the serpent was God's onlii Kinoe for the cure of every bitten Israelite, so is Christ for the salvation of every perishing sinner—the one however a purily arbilrary ordinance, the other divinely addpled to man's complicated maladies. In both cases the efficacy is the same. As one simple look at the serpent, however distant and however weak, brought an ln»;antaneous cure, even so, real faith in the Lord Jesus, however tremulous, liowever distant—be it l)ut r«i; faith —brings certain and instant healing to the perishing soul. In a word, tlie consequences of disobedience are the same in botli. Doubtless many bitten Israelites, galling as their case was, would reason rather than obey, would
I not unto you, I am not the Christ? The Bride is not mine, why shouhl the people stay with me? Mine it is to point the burdened to the -Lamb of God that taketh away
Rpeeulate on the absurdity of expecting the bite of a living serpent to be cured by looking at a piece of dead metal in the shape of one—speculate thus till they died. Alas! is not salvation by a crucilied Redeemer subjected to like treatment? Has "the otfeuce of tlie cross" yet ceased?
the sin of the world, to tell them there Is Balm in Gilead, and a Physician there. And shall I grudge to see tliein, in obedience to the call, flying as a cloud, and as doves to their windows? Whose is the Bride but the Bridegroom's? Enough for me to be the Bridegroom's friend, sent by Him to negotiate the match, privileged to bring together the Saviour and those He is come to .seek and to save, and rejoicing with joy unspeakable if I may but "stand and hear the Bridegroom's voice," witnessing the blessed espousals. Say ye, then, they go from me to Him? Ye bring me glad tidings of great joy. He must increase, but
(Cf. 2 Kings 5. 12.) For God so lovc«l, &c.—What proclamation of the Gospel has been so oft on the lipsol missionaries and preachers in every age sine* it was first uttered ? what has sent such thrilling sensations tliriiugh millions of mankind? wliat lias been honoured to bring such multitudes to the leet of Christ? what to kindle in the cold and selfish breasts of mortals the fires of self-
6acriti;ung love to mankind, as these words of transparent
I must decrease; this, my joy, therefore is fulfilled.' A man can receive, Ac- ' can assume nothing,' i. e., lawfully and with any success ; (]. d.. Every man has his work and sphere appointed him from above. Even Christ Himself came under this law (Hebrews 5. 4). 31-34. He that, itc—Here is the reason why He must increase while simpli'-ity, yet overpowering majesty ? The picture embraces several distinct compartments : "The Woklu"—
In its widest sense ready "to perish;" the immense "Love of God" to lluit perishiny world, measuraljle only, and conceivable only, iiy the gift which it drew fortli from Him; tme Gift itself—" He so loved the world that He (jave His only begotten Son," or, in the language of Paul, "spared not His own Son" (Romans S. 32), or in that addressed to Abraham when ready to offer Isaac on the all human teachers must decrease. The Master " cometU from above"—descending from His proper element, the region of those " heavenly things" which He came to reveal, and so, although mingling with men and things on the earth, is not "of the eauth," either in Person or Word. The servants, on the contrary, springing of earth, are of the earth, and their testimony, even though Divine in authority, partakes necessarily of their own e.arthiness. (So strongly did the Baptist feel this contrast that the last clause just repeats the first.) It is impossible for a sharper line of distinction to be drawn between Christ and all human teachers, even when divinely commissioned and speaking by the power of the Holy Ghost. And who does not perceive it? The words of prophets and apostles are undeniable and most precious truth ; but in the words of Christ we hear a voice as from the excellent Glory, the Eteinal Word making Himself heard in our own fiesh. w hat he hath seen and heard—(See on v. 11 and ch. 1. 18.) no man recelveth, itc.—John's disciples had said, "All come to Him" {v. 20). The Baptist here virtually saj'S, Would it were so, but alas! they are next to "none." [Bkngel.] They were far readier to receive himself, and obliged him to say, I am not the Christ, and he seems pained at this, hatli set to His seal, &c.—gives glory to God whose words Christ speaks, not .as prophets and apostles by a partial commuiiicjit ion of the Spirit to them, for God giveth-not the Spirit by measure—Here, again, the sharpest conceivable line of distinction is drawn between Christ and .all human-inspired teachers: 'They have the .Sjiirit in a limited degree; but God giveth notfto HimJ the .Spirit by measure.' It means the entire fulness of Divine life and Divine power. The present tense "giveth," very aptly points out the permanent communication of the Spirit by the Father to the Son, so that a constant flow and rellow of living power is to he understood, altar, " withheld not His Son,. His only Son, wliora He loved" (Genesis 22. l(i) ; the Fruit of this stupendous gift not only deliverance from impending "perdition," but t/^e bestowal of exierlastintj life; and the mode in wiiicli all takes ell'ect—by " believing" on tlie Son. How would Nicodemus' narrow Judaism become invisible in the blaze of this Sun of righteousness seen rising on " the world" with healing in His wings! 17-;J1. not to con<Srinn, &c.—.\ statement of vast importance. Though "condemnation" is to many the ismie of Christ's mission (v. 19), it is not the object of His mission, wliich is purely a saving one. Is not condemntti—Having, immediately on liis believing, "passed fiom deatll unto life," eh. 5. 24. condemned already—Rejecting tlie one way of deliverance from tliat " condomiiation" which God gave His Son to remove, and BO willnlly remaining condemned. tUis Is the t-ondeiniia Cion, &c. — Emphatically so, revealing the condemnation already existing, and sealing tip under it those wlio will not be delivered from it. llfj Jit Is come Into tl>e world—in the Person of Him to whom Nicodemus was listening, loved darkness, tic—This can only be known by the deliberate rejection of Christ, but that does fearfully reveal it. reproved—by detection, doetli Irntlt—whose only object in life is to be and do what will l)ear t he light. Therefore he loves and "comes to the light," tli.at all he is and does, being thus thoroughly ti'Sted, may bo seen to have nothing in it but what is divinely wrought and divinely approved. This is the "Israelite, indeed, in whom is no guile."
'2%-S(y. Jesus in the Nkiohbouhhood of the Raptist —His NoBtiK TicsTiMONV TO His Mastkk. 'M-'H. land of .Jn«lea-Tlie rural parts of that province, the foregoing :»nversation being held in the capital. l»aptl-/.ed— in the sense explained In cli. 4. 2. ^non . . . Sallm—on the west of Jordan. (Cf. i'. 28 with ch. 1.28.) .lolm not yet cast into prison—Hence it is plain that our Lord's ministry did not (-o/(»».cHce with the imprisonment of .Tohn, though, but for this, we should have drawn that Inference from Matthew 4. 12, &-c,„ and Mark's (1.11) express state132
(Cf. ch. 1. 51.) IOlshausen.] 3.1, 30. The Father lovetli, &c.—See on Matthew 11. 27, where we have the "delivering over of all things into the hands of the Son," while here we have the deep spring of that august act in the Father's inoll'able " love of the Son." hath cverlnstinju;llfe—already hath It. See on D. 18 and Chi 5. 24. shall not see life—The contrast here is strlkiut; : The ouc has already a life that