DISCOURSES AND SAYINGS

OF

OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST.

EXPOSITION I.

THE GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM,

JOHN iii. 14-21.-And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up; that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned; but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men love darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

INTRODUCTION.

THESE "golden sentences" occur in the narrative of a conversation between our Lord Jesus Christ, and Nicodemus a ruler of the Jews. To understand the record of any conversation aright, it is of great importance to know its occasion-the characters of those engaged in it, and the circumstances in which it took place. These, in the case before us, are but imperfectly known to us; but we shall find that even the very partial notices we have of them, cast much light on what would otherwise be very obscure, if not altogether unintelligible.

Jesus Christ, attended by his five disciples, Peter, and Andrew, and John, and Philip, and Nathaniel, had come up from Galilee to Jerusalem. His external appearance was that of a Jew of humble rank, and his followers were men belonging to

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the same class in society as himself. His expulsion of those traffickers who had desecrated the temple by making one of its courts the scene of their secular commerce, and his performance of a number of miracles, had, however, drawn on him a considerable share of public attention; and many had been induced to regard him as a divine messenger or prophet: though the majority of those who had formed this opinion were persons entirely under the influence of the sentiments almost universally prevalent among the Jews respecting the design of the Messiah's mission, and the nature of the kingdom which he was to establish in the world.

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Among these individuals was Nicodemus, a member of the sect of the Pharisees, which embraced in it the great body of the apparently pious of the Jews; a man of high rank and respectable character; a ruler of the Jews; a "councillor," or member of the Sanhedrim,' the highest court of judicature among the Jews; and a "master in Israel," or expositor of the Jewish law. This man-though he appears at this period to have been entirely secular in his opinions and expectations respecting the Messiah, one of those who were looking, not for a spiritual saviour, but for a temporal deliverer; not for a personal salvation from guilt and depravity and endless ruin, but for a national deliverance from the foreign yoke of the Romans seems to have been a person of an inquisitive and candid mind.

It is not at all likely that he thought that this worker of miracles was, or even supposed that he might be, the Messiah, the promised deliverer, with regard to whose appearance all men's minds were in a state of excited expectation. He must have looked for the Messiah, not from Nazareth, but from Bethlehem; not in the person of an obscure Galilean stranger, but in an acknowledged descendant of the ancient royal house of David.

But he had come to the conclusion that this young Nazarene was a divinely-commissioned messenger, and he wished to have some private conversation with him; no doubt, respecting that "kingdom of God," or "of heaven," which both John the Baptist and Jesus had declared to be "at hand," just about to be established. Probably from a fear of involving himself in danger, either from his colleagues in the Sanhedrim, or from the Roman government, he seems to have wished that the interview should be as private as possible, and accordingly he "came to Jesus by night."

He introduced himself by declaring his conviction, founded on the miracles which he had witnessed, that Jesus was a divine messenger:-"Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him." Instead of permitting him to unfold

3 John ii. 14--23. 5 "Hi

• John iii. 2.

4 John iii. 1.

sive upxovres appellantur. Neh. xi. 1. John vii. 50."-COCCEIUS.

the purpose of his visit, Jesus, who "knew what was in man, and often answered men's thoughts rather than their words,' replied in a manner which showed that he was acquainted with what was passing in his visitor's mind. Instead of showing himself flattered by the recognition of his divine mission by a man of such high rank and extensive influence, and endeavoring to secure his assistance in establishing his claims, he in effect states, that Nicodemus was completely mistaken on the subject about which he had come to converse, and that without an entire change in his mode of thinking, and in his mode of feeling too, he could never become a partaker of the privileges of the new order of things to be established by the Messiah, nor even distinctly apprehend their nature. "Except a man," any man, every man, Jew as well as Gentile, undergo a change not less extensive and thorough than that which a heathen does when he becomes a Jew, and which the Jews were accustomed to call a new birth-"except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.'

Nicodemus, if, as is not improbable, he had heard the preaching of John, and even submitted to his baptism, had not complied with the injunction "repent"-" change your views and expectations respecting the kingdom of God;" and therefore our Lord thus turns his attention to the nature and necessity of this "repentance," this thorough inward change, under another, and still more impressive representation.

"The kingdom of God"-a phrase derived from a remarkable prediction of the prophet Daniel," a denotes the order of things to be established by the Messiah, an order of things rich in blessings to his subjects, both in this life and in that which is to come-both on earth and in heaven.

To "see" the kingdom of heaven, may signify either to apprehend the truth with respect to this order of things, or to enjoy its peculiar privileges. Both ideas may be included, as it is through apprehending the truth respecting the kingdom that men become partakers of its privileges. It is a phrase of similar import as to see good," to " see death," to "see God," to "see of the travail of his soul."12

To be "born again," is equivalent to the undergoing of a thorough change, beneficial in its character, and the cause of which is not in the individual who undergoes it.

7 John viii. 7; vi. 26, 61, 64, 65.

8 Dr. Campbell's notes deserves to be carefully perused.

13

9 John iii. 3. 'Regnum Dei' dicitur is status ecclesiæ, in quo ea soli Deo, ut regi, subjicitur."-COCCEIUS.

10

Το μετάνοια.

12 Ps. xxxiv. 12. John viii. 51. Matth. v. 8. Isa. liii. 11.

11 Dan. ii. 44.

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13 Erasmus Cyrilli opinionem sequutus adverbium йvw0ɛv male transtulit supernis:' Ambigua est, fateor, ilius significatio apud Græcos, sed Christum Hebraicé cum Nicodemo loquutum esse scimus. Porro illic amphibologiæ locus non fuisset, qua deceptus Nicodemus in secunda carnis nativitate pueriliter haesitat."----CALVIN in loc.

See Note A.

Nicodemus, who thought that the Jews, because descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, were to be the subjects of the Messiah, "the children of the kingdom," declared that this statement of Jesus seemed as strange to him as if he had said that a man of mature age must, in the literal sense of the terins, be born again. "Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born ?"14

It is not at all necessary that we should suppose Nicodemus to have been so stupid as to apprehend our Lord's obviously figurative language literally, or so profane as to attempt to turn into ridicule the words of one whom he acknowledged to be "a teacher come from God." It was customary among the Jews, as has been already hinted, when a heathen proselyte was admitted into "the commonwealth of Israel," to term the change he underwent a new birth. In Nicodemus' estimation, he and all Israelites, being the children of Abraham, were also "children of the kingdom." "The kingdom of heaven" was, in their reckoning, merely the more complete development of the theocratic system under which they already were; and he could not conceive what change was necessary to pass on them, to secure their sharing in its immunities and privileges. Had Jesus said, unless a Gentile be born again, "he cannot see the kingdom of heaven," this could have been understood. But the general declaration, "except a man," very probably so uttered as to convey the idea, except you, be born again (for it is plainly to this saying, and the equally indefinite one in the 7th verse, that our Lord refers, when he says, "marvel not that I said to thee" a councillor, a master in Israel, "ye" Jews "must be born again") was so utterly incongruous to all his notions, that he in effect says, "This new birth on the part of Jews, in order to their becoming participants of the honors and blessings of the Messiah's reign, seems to me as strange, and incredible, and useless a thing, as that a grown up-man should be again born of his mother."

66

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Jesus repeated the statement, adding some circumstances fitted to lead Nicodemus into correct views with regard to the nature of that change which he had represented as necessary for the enjoyment of the advantages of the Messiah's reign: Verily, verily, I say into thee, except a man be born of water, and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. which is born of the flesh is flesh;" and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou

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16

That

15 66 Aqua denotat Baptismum Joannis in Christum Jesum, v. 23, 24.”—Bengel. 16 “Crescit severitas. Non potest intrare, nedum videre. Quod non natum est neque oculis, neque pedibus utitur."-BENGEL.

17 "Caro vera, sed et caro mera, spiritus expers, spiritui adversa."-BENGEL. 18 "Spiritus, proprie, nam huic non vento voluntas et vox est; et ex hoc nascimur, et qui ex hoc nascitur est, ut hic. Cum vento non immediate compararetur renatus, sed spiritus ipse."-BENGEL.

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hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. This is equivalent to, 'Strange as my statement may appear to you, it is indubitably true. The change I refer to is not one of external profession merely, but of inward character. Except a man not only make a profession of a change of mind, such as that made by those who submitted to John's baptism; but actually undergo that change of mind which is produced by the operation of the Holy Ghost, he cannot be a participant of the blessings of the Messiah's reign.

120 b

"That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." "Flesh" may here mean, 'human nature as depraved,' or 'human nature apart from supernatural influence.' In the first place it is equivalent to, 'Depraved man can have a son only in his own likeness. Man must become God's son to become fit for His holy kingdom.' In the second case it is equivalent to, 'As the natural descendants of Abraham, you may be, you are, possessors of external privileges; but you must be spiritually born, that is, in your inward views and feelings you must be radically changed, in order to your being fitted to enjoy spiritual privileges. The Jewish people are born of the flesh,- "of blood, of the will of the flesh, of the will of man, they are men, and may enjoy these external privileges, which it is competent for you as men to enjoy; but the kingdom of God is a spiritual kingdom; none but those who are spiritual can enjoy its privileges, and none can be spiritual without a thorough change being produced on their spiritual nature by "the Spirit," plainly the Spirit of God. This seems wonderful to you; but that is no reason why you should not believe it.'

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The words that follow have been usually thus interpreted:'You have had no experience of this spiritual change, and you have no distinct notion of the manner in which it is to be produced, or why it is necessary; but you never think of denying the existence of wind, which indeed proves itself by its effects, though it is invisible, and though its movements are regulated by laws over which you have no control, and of which you have little knowledge.'

This interpretation does not seem to be satisfactory, as it obliges us to give to the word which occurs so often in the passage, properly rendered "Spirit," an unusual sense, that of "wind." I am therefore inclined to keep to the ordinary sense of the word, Spirit, retaining the same meaning throughout, and to consider our Lord as saying, 'This spiritual new birth, which you find it so difficult to understand and believe, has the common character of spiritual operations. For example, in inspiration

19 John iii. 5-8.

20"From the fact that Jesus says nothing more of the water, but proceeds to explain the operation of the Spirit, it is plain that the former was merely a point of departure to lead to the latter."-NEANDER.

21 John i. 13.

2 πνεύμα.

b See Note B.

• See Note C.