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supper-table was. When he came into the room, he looked around, and then he said, (trying to talk like Samuel,)

"Oh, there is nobody here to give me some supper. I must go and find mother, and ask her for some."

Then he turned round, and walked into the front parlor, and said to Samuel's mother, who was sitting there,

"Mother, will you give me a little more supper?" Then he turned to Samuel, and smiled, and said,

"There, now, is not that a better way to get some more supper?"

Samuel said it was.

"Well then," said his father, "You may now go out in the entry and do so yourself."

Samuel went, and first walked into the supper-room, and then, without crying, came into the front parlor, as if he was going to ask his mother, as his father had directed. But when he came, he did not say any thing, but rubbed his eyes, and leaned on his mother's lap. He was very sleepy.

NICODEMUS AND THE SAVIOUR.

For the Religious Magazine.

JOHN, THIRD CHAPTER.

IT was the feast of the Passover. Great multitudes had come up to Jerusalem, from all parts of the Holy Land, to celebrate the great religious festival. It was appointed by Israel's God, to commemorate their great deliverance, in that midnight hour when the first-born of all Egypt was smitten, "from the first born of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne, to the first-born of the captive that was in the dungeon." In every dwelling of the land, there was one dead. A whole nation brought into mourning, in a night! No people on the face of the earth, since the day of the flood, have had so marked and signal a visitation from the angel of death.

It was the custom of the Egyptians, when any individual of the family died, for the survivors to rush into the street, and mourn and wail, tearing their hair, and wringing their hands. What an affecting and vivid meaning does this give to that single line, with which Moses describes the poignancy of grief, in this night of Egypt's calamity. "And there was a GREAT

CRY in Egypt." The people of the whole land rending the skies with their united, midnight voice of weeping, lamentation and wo!

But the deliverance of the children of Israel and their final rescue from the "house of bondage," was no less signal than the judgment upon Egypt. And we may well suppose, that the annual celebration of this great national jubilee, by a solemn feast of divine appointment, would bring together a vast assemblage, in the city of Jerusalem. Among the number, there were, doubtless, persons of every description of character. Many would join the throng, who went up from all parts of Palestine, only to carry their offerings, to witness the rives, and share in the festivities of the scene. Others came, to offer the sacrifices of grateful hearts, and to recal, with emotions of pious thankfulness, the event of the "Passover," which the annual feast was intended to keep in perpetual remembrance.

It was on this occasion, that our Saviour went up to Jerusalem, that he might improve the opportunities it would afford, for preaching to the people, from every quarter, the things pertaining to his kingdom.

One evening, when the multitudes in the city were, probably, engrossed according as their various inclinations led them, in scenes of religious worship and improvement, or in circles of diversion and pleasure, the following memorable conversation took place :-

Nicodemus, a distinguished Jew, a member of the Sanhedrim, the grand council of the nation, sought out the Saviour, for the purpose of a private interview. He was, no doubt, a man venerable for his age, and of extensive influence. The Sanhedrim, was composed of persons appointed from the chief priests, the elders of Israel, and the scribes. It consisted, of course, of the most venerable, learned and influential individuals in the whole Jewish nation. And, being a Pharisee, Nicodemus, as Paul says of himself, "was of the straitest sect of their religion."

There might have been various reasons why he came by night. Our Saviour was so thronged with the multitude during the day, that an evening hour was, very possibly, the only time in which the desired interview, in private, could be obtained. Nicodemus, too, might have been so much occupied, in the various duties of the Passover week, as scarcely to have time, in the busy hours of the day, for that full and familiar conversation, which he seems to have sought; or, fear of the Jews, might perhaps, have induced him to come at that

hour.

NICODEMUS. "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."

"Rabbi," was with the Jews, a word of respectful address. "We know." He speaks in the plural number. Perhaps he came in behalf of other members of the Sanhedrim, or of leading and influential men in the city, to whom he would carry back a report of the substance of his conversation with the Saviour. Or, he might have spoken in the name of those, who were witnesses to the interview. This meeting, probably, took place at the house of some one of the Saviour's followers in Jerusalem, by whom he was entertained for the night. And we may reasonably suppose a family circle of parents, children, and visiters, listening in attentive silence around, while the distinguished "ruler of the Jews," and the Redeemer of the world were conversing together.

---

"That thou art for no man, &c." The miracles which the Saviour wrought, were much noised abroad, and on his occasion, were unquestionably subjects of much conversation, and of deepest interest at Jerusalem. Nicodemus and his associates, had there been the least ground to suspect that they were the work of imposture, would have thoroughly examined and detected it, and scorned the pretender. But no. The evidence of their reality was incontestible; and, notwithstanding all the prejudices which must have influenced him as a Pharisee, he candidly declared his conviction, that the Saviour "came from God."

THE SAVIOUR. "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." "Verily, verily,” were words used in expressing any thing with very strong emphasis, as most certainly true.

Observe here, that Nicodemus had asked no questions as yet. He respectfully stated his belief, that Jesus was a teacher sent from God. His miracles were unanswerab e proofs of it. But the Saviour does not stop to assent to this, nor to deepen and establish the conviction of its truth. He goes on, immediately to answer the inquiries, which he knew that Nicodemus was intending to make. It is, indeed, possible, that Nicodemus may have distinctly proposed his inquiries, while the sacred writer omitted to record them. This supposition, however, it is not necessary to make; for it is plain, from the last verses of the preceding chapter, that the Saviour might easily have anticipated what his visitor was going to say. They are verses which have the most intimate connexion with the account which follows them, and should be considered as introductory

to it. Indeed, the account of this conversation, as a whole, seems to commence with the 23d verse of the 2d chapter.

In the verses alluded to, we are told, that he "knew all men," and "needed not that any should testify of man, for HE KNEW what was in man." He knew what was in the heart of all the multitudes, who came around him, to hear his instructions, as well as in that of the single individual, with whom he conversed. We often, find in the narrations of the gospel, that he speaks to others, in a way, that shows he knew, perfectly well, what they were thinking of. See Mark 2: 6, 7, 8. Luke 5:22. Mat. 9:4.

So, at this time, our Saviour knew, when Nicodemus came, the object of his visit, and the very questions even, which he had it in his heart to propose; and he did not wait for Nicodemus to express them. How the wondering "Ruler" must have felt, to find the Saviour giving him, at once, the precise information he wanted, before he asked it! He had, already, evidence enough of his divine power; but now, he was met with a most unexpected and astonishing proof of his divine knowledge. "What man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man, which is in him?" "Thou LORD, even thou only, knowest the hearts of all the children of men." 1 Kings, 8:39.

"Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Nicodemus was expecting, as all the Jews were, the Messiah, foretold in the prophets. They supposed he was coming, invested with all the splendor and equipage of an earthly prince, to throw off from the Jews the yoke of Roman bondage, to restore again the kingdom to Israel," and to establish himself as their temporal king. And they eagerly looked forward to his kingdom, as like other kingdoms of the world, only that its protection and privileges would exalt them to higher prosperity and happiness, than any other people had ever enjoyed. Our Saviour cuts off, at once and entirely, all these expectations. He announces his kingdom to be of altogether a different character. A "new birth" is declared as absolutely requisite for admission into it at all. "His kingdom was not of this world." Still it seems that Nicodemus did not yet fully understand its nature.

"To see the kingdom of God," means, as appears from the 5th verse, to "enter into" it; to enjoy its protection and blessings. It implies the becoming a member of God's spiritual kingdom, whether as it exists in this world, or in a heavenly

state.

NICODEMUS.

"How can a man be born, when he is old?

can he enter a second time into his mother's womb, and be born?" Probably he was an old man himself, and this inquiry indicates the personal interest he felt.

THE SAVIOUR. "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God."

Water was an eniblem of purification, and, to a Jew and a Pharisee, was peculiarly significant as such, from its frequent use in his ceremonial observances. "The Spirit" comes from heaven, renews the heart, and awakens in it those holy and heavenly affections, which are pleasing to God. Thus, in Titus 3:5, the change of heart is called "the washing of regeneration, and the renewing of the Holy Ghost." And in 1 Cor. 6:11, the Apostle addresses the professing Christians at Corinth, in these words: "Ye are washed, ye are sanctified, in the name of the Lord Jesus, and BY THE SPIRIT OF OUR GOD." See also Ezekiel 36:25-28, which passage, and others of a similar import, in the Law, the Prophets and the Psalms, Nicodemus ought to have understood. Had he from his youth, with prayerful heart, made the Holy Scriptures the "man of his counsel," and his guide, he would not have lived until his head was silvered with age, ignorant of this great doctrine of a change of heart, taught in the Old Testament, as well as in the New.

THE SAVIOUR adds, "That which is born of the flesh, is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit, is spirit." He here explains, more particularly, the nature of the "new birth," by describing the character of a man, before the change, and after it. The heart, which is not changed by the renewing influences of the Holy Spirit, is called, in the Scriptures, "flesh," "carnal," "sinful." In Rom. 8:5, it is said, "they that are after the flesh, do mind the things of the flesh; and they that are after the Spirit, the things of the Spirit" that is, "they who are after the Spirit," are those who, in Eph. 4:22, are said to have "put off the old man, which is corrupt, according to the deceitful lusts; being "renewed in the spirit of their minds," and to have put on the new man, which, after God, is created in righteousness and true holiness. And all who are not thus "created in Christ Jesus," are represented as engrossed in the sinful pursuits and pleasures of time and sense, and as "dead in trespasses and sins." Like Nicodeinus, they think these things are "hard to be understood." And it is accordingly said, in 1 Cor. 2: 14, "The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, neither can he know them, for they are spiritually discerned."

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