James Nisbet Commentary - John 3:2 - 3:3

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James Nisbet Commentary - John 3:2 - 3:3


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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:

A MOMENTOUS INTERVIEW

‘The same came to Jesus by night and said unto Him … Jesus answered and said unto him … Except a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.’

Joh_3:2-3

Why did Nicodemus come to Jesus by night? You say that it was through fear. Perhaps it was. We do not know what men will do when they are afraid (Pro_29:25; Luk_12:4). But it may have been zeal. His duties would occupy him during the day, but sooner than neglect his soul’s welfare, he stole the hours from the night (Luk_13:24; Php_3:14). Or, again, it may have been consideration. He would know how busy Christ was in the day, and might feel it impossible to gain a quiet interview, so he came by night (Eph_5:15-17). At all events, what a grand thing it is to see a man coming to Jesus (Joh_6:37; Joh_6:44; Joh_7:37; Mat_11:28; Rev_22:17), so many refuse to come at all (Joh_5:40). Have you come?

Two things require our attention in studying the narrative.

I. What brought him to the Saviour?—We are not told directly in the passage, but we may infer from our Lord’s discourse that he was dissatisfied with his religious state, that he was anxious about his soul (Job_23:3; Isa_26:9). He was a Pharisee (Joh_3:1). strict in the outward forms of religion (Act_26:5); but that would not satisfy (Php_3:4-14). He had a certain knowledge of Jesus (Joh_3:2), that He was a Divine Teacher (Mat_22:6), but that would not satisfy (1Co_1:20-24). There was sin demanding atonement (Eze_18:4). His soul was craving for peace (Isa_57:19-21; Rom_5:1). This want brought him to the Saviour.

II. What the Saviour said to him.—Jesus knew that the matter in his heart was ‘the Kingdom of God.’ What is that? (Rom_14:17; Luk_17:21). It is of a spiritual character (Rom_8:6). To see it and understand it, therefore, Nicodemus must be spiritual (1Co_2:14-15). He must be born again (Joh_3:3, chap. Joh_1:12-13; 1Jn_5:1). Nicodemus is carnal in his notions, and does not understand (Joh_3:4). So Jesus tells him, that for entrance into the Kingdom he must be born of water and of the Spirit (Joh_3:5). Nicodemus would know to what Christ referred (Eze_36:25-29). The reason is plain: (Joh_3:6). All born of sinful man are sinful. All born of God by the Spirit are spiritual (1Co_15:22; Rom_5:12-21). It is as inexplicable as many a thing in nature (Joh_3:8). But there is the fact—a fact which would meet the want of the soul—‘Ye must be born again.’

—
Bishop Rowley Hill.

Illustration

‘What had Christ to say to Nicodemus that would come to him as fresh light? The Kingdom of God could not come merely as a development from existing human circumstances. It must he a new creation. It must come, not as the completion of an old order, but as the manifestation of a new. There must be a fresh beginning. That which had been born into the old could not, without re-birth, behold the new. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” In other words, Nicodemus did not realise the full significance of sin. He saw that the problems created by the fall of man ran deep, but he failed to appreciate how deep. He felt, as did others, the essential need of redemption and restoration; but he failed to grasp how much was implied in the ideas of pardon and of renewal. He imagined that things could move forward on the same plane until the glorious goal was attained. And the first of the two supreme lessons which our Lord sought to teach him was the fundamental character of this mistake. “No principle can produce results superior to itself. If man is to enjoy a spiritual life, that by which he enters it—his birth—must be of a corresponding character,” “Ye must be born anew.” It was a wholly fresh thought, and it naturally presented itself to Nicodemus as strange and perplexing.’