Commentary by John Calvin
John 3:1-6
1. Now there was a man of the Pharisees, called Nicodemus, a ruler
among the Jews. 2. He came to Jesus by night, and said to him, Rabbi,
we know that thou art a teacher come from God, for no man can do these
signs which thou doest, unless God be with him. 3. Jesus answered and
said to him, Verily, verily, I say to thee, Unless a man be born again,
he cannot see the kingdom of God. 4. Nicodemus saith to him, How can a
man be born when he is old? Can he enter again into his mother's womb
and be born? 5. Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say to thee, Unless a
man be: born of water, and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the
kingdom of God. 6. That which is born of flesh is flesh; and that which
is born of the Spirit is spirit.
1. Now there was a man of the Pharisees. In the person of Nicodemus the
Evangelist now exhibits to our view how vain and fleeting was the faith
of those who, having been excited by miracles, suddenly professed to be
the disciples of Christ. For since this man was of the order of the
Pharisees, and held the rank of a ruler in his nation, he must have
been far more excellent than others. The common people, for the most
part, are light and unsteady; but who would not have thought that he
who had learning and experience was also a wise and prudent man? Yet
from Christ's reply it is evident, that nothing was farther from his
design in coming than a desire to learn the first principles of
religion. If he who was a ruler among men is less than a child, what
ought we to think of the multitude at large? Now though the design of
the Evangelist was, to exhibit, as in a mirror, how few there were in
Jerusalem who were properly disposed to receive the Gospel, yet, for
other reasons, this narrative is highly useful to us; and especially
because it instructs us concerning the depraved nature of mankind, what
is the proper entrance into the school of Christ, and what must be the
commencement of our training to make progress in the heavenly doctrine.
For the sum of Christ's discourse is, that, in order that we may be his
true disciples, we must become new men. But, before proceeding farther,
we must ascertain from the circumstances which are here detailed by the
Evangelist, what were the obstacles which prevented Nicodemus from
giving himself unreservedly to Christ.
Of the Pharisees. This designation was, no doubt, regarded by his
countrymen as honorable to Nicodemus; but it is not for the sake of
honor that it is given to him by the Evangelist, who, on the contrary,
draws our attention to it as having prevented him from coming freely
and cheerfully to Christ. Hence we are reminded that they who occupy a
lofty station in the world are, for the most part, entangled by very
dangerous snares; nay, we see many of them held so firmly bound, that
not even the slightest wish or prayer arises from them towards heaven
throughout their whole life. Why they were called Pharisees we have
elsewhere explained; [54] for they boasted of being the only expounders
of the Law, as if they were in possession, of the marrow and hidden
meaning of Scripture; and for that reason they called themselves
phrvsym (Perushim.) Though the Essenes led a more austere life, which
gained them a high reputation for holiness; yet because, like hermits,
they forsook the ordinary life and custom of men, the sect of the
Pharisees was on that account held in higher estimation. Besides, the
Evangelist mentions not only that Nicodemus was of the order of the
Pharisees, but that he was one of the rulers of his nation.
2. He came to Jesus by night. From the circumstance of his coming by
night we infer that his timidity was excessive; for his eyes were
dazzled, as it were, by the splendor of his own greatness and
reputation. [55] Perhaps too he was hindered by shame, for ambitious
men think that their reputation is utterly ruined, if they have once
descended from the dignity of teachers to the rank of scholars; and he
was unquestionably puffed up with a foolish opinion of his knowledge.
In short, as he had a high opinion of himself, he was unwilling to lose
any part of his elevation. And yet there appears in him some seed of
piety; for hearing that a Prophet of God had appeared, he does not
despise or spurn the doctrine which has been brought from heaven, and
is moved by some desire to obtain it, -- a desire which sprung from
nothing else than fear and reverence for God. Many are tickled by an
idle curiosity to inquire eagerly about any thing that is new, but
there is no reason to doubt that it was religious principle and
conscientious feeling that excited in Nicodemus the desire to gain a
more intimate knowledge of the doctrine of Christ. And although that
seed remained long concealed and apparently dead, yet after the death
of Christ it yielded fruit, such as no man would ever have expected,
(John 19:39.)
Rabbi, we know. The meaning of these words is, "Master, we know that
thou art come to be a teacher." But as learned men, at that time, were
generally called Masters, Nicodemus first salutes Christ according to
custom, and gives him the ordinary designation, Rabbi, (which means
Master, [56] ) and afterwards declares that he was sent by God to
perform the office of a Master. And on this principle depends all the
authority of the teachers in the Church; for as it is only from the
word of God that we must learn wisdom, we ought not to listen to any
other persons than those by whose mouth God speaks. And it ought to be
observed, that though religion was greatly corrupted and almost
destroyed among the Jews, still they always held this principle, that
no man was a lawful teacher, unless he had been sent by God. But as
there are none who more haughtily and more daringly boast of having
been sent by God than the false prophets do, we need discernment in
this case for trying the spirits. Accordingly Nicodemus adds:
For no man can do the signs which thou doest, unless God be with him.
It is evident, he says, that Christ has been sent by God, because God
displays his power in him so illustriously, that it cannot be denied
that God is with him He takes for granted that God is not accustomed to
work but by his ministers, so as to seal the office which he has
entrusted to them. And he had good grounds for thinking so, because God
always intended that miracles should be seals of his doctrine. Justly
therefore does he make God the sole Author of miracles, when he says
that no man can do these signs, unless God be with him; for what he
says amounts to a declaration that miracles are not performed by the
arm of man, but that the power of God reigns, and is illustriously
displayed in them. In a word, as miracles have a twofold advantage, to
prepare the mind for faith, and, when it has been formed by the word,
to confirm it still more, Nicodemus had profited aright in the former
part, because by miracles he recognizes Christ as a true prophet of
God.
Yet his argument appears not to be conclusive; for since the false
prophets deceive the ignorant by their impostures as fully as if they
had proved by true signs that they are the ministers of God, what
difference will there be between truth and falsehood, if faith depends
on miracles? Nay, Moses expressly says that God employs this method to
try if we love him, (Deuteronomy 13:3.) We know also, the warning of
Christ, (Matthew 24:14,) and of Paul, (2 Thessalonians 2:9,) that
believers ought to beware of lying signs, by which Anti-Christ dazzles
the eyes of many. I answer, God may justly permit this to be done, that
those who deserve it may be deceived by the enchantments of Satan. But
I say that this does not hinder the elect from perceiving in miracles
the power of God, which is to them an undoubted confirmation of true
and sound doctrine. Thus, Paul boasts that his apostleship was
confirmed by signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds, (2 Corinthians
12:12.) To whatever extent Satan may, like an ape, counterfeit the
works of God in the dark, yet when the eyes are opened and the light of
spiritual wisdom shines, miracles are a sufficiently powerful
attestation of the presence of God, as Nicodemus here declares it to
be.
3. Verily, verily, I say to thee. The word Verily (amen) is twice
repeated, and this is done for the purpose of arousing him to more
earnest attention. For when he was about to speak of the most important
and weighty of all subjects, he found it necessary to awaken the
attention of Nicodemus, who might otherwise have passed by this whole
discourse in a light or careless manner. [57] Such, then, is the design
of the double affirmation.
Though this discourse appears to be far-fetched and almost
inappropriate, yet it was with the utmost propriety that Christ opened
his discourse in this manner. For as it is useless to sow seed in a
field which has not been prepared by the labors of the husbandman, so
it is to no purpose to scatter the doctrine of the Gospel, if the mind
has not been previously subdued and duly prepared for docility and
obedience. Christ saw that the mind of Nicodemus was filled with many
thorns, choked by many noxious herbs, so that there was scarcely any
room for spiritual doctrine. This exhortation, therefore, resembled a
ploughing to purify him, that nothing might prevent him from profiting
by the doctrine. Let us, therefore, remember that this was spoken to
one individual, in such a manner that the Son of God addresses all of
us daily in the same language. For which of us will say that he is so
free from sinful affections that he does not need such a purification?
If, therefore, we wish to make good and useful progress in the school
of Christ, let us learn to begin at this point.
Unless a man be born again. That is, So long as thou art destitute of
that which is of the highest importance in the kingdom of God, I care
little about your calling me Master; for the first entrance into the
kingdom of God is, to become a new man. But as this is a remarkable
passage, it will be proper to survey every part of it minutely.
To SEE the kingdom of God is of the same meaning as to enter into the
kingdom of God, as we shall immediately perceive from the context. But
they are mistaken who suppose that the kingdom of God means Heaven; for
it rather means the spiritual life, which is begun by faith in this
world, and gradually increases every day according to the continued
progress of faith. So the meaning is, that no man can be truly united
to the Church, so as to be reckoned among the children of God, until he
has been previously renewed. This expression shows briefly what is the
beginning of Christianity, and at the same time teaches us, that we are
born exiles and utterly alienated from the kingdom of God, and that
there is a perpetual state of variance between God and us, until he
makes us altogether different by our being born again; for the
statement is general, and comprehends the whole human race. If Christ
had said to one person, or to a few individuals, that they could not
enter into heaven, unless they had been previously born again, we might
have supposed that it was only certain characters that were pointed
out, but he speaks of all without exception; for the language is
unlimited, and is of the same import with such universal terms as
these: Whosoever shall not be born again cannot enter into the kingdom
of God
By the phrase born again is expressed not the correction of one part,
but the renovation of the whole nature. Hence it follows, that there is
nothing in us that is not sinful; for if reformation is necessary in
the whole and in each part, corruption must have been spread
throughout. On this point we shall soon have occasion to speak more
largely. Erasmus, adopting the opinion of Cyril, has improperly
translated the adverb anothen, from above, and renders the clause thus:
unless a man be born from above. The Greek word, I own, is ambiguous;
but we know that Christ conversed with Nicodemus in the Hebrew
language. There would then have been no room for the ambiguity which
occasioned the mistake of Nicodemus and led him into childish scruples
about a second birth of the flesh. He therefore understood Christ to
have said nothing else than that a man must be born again, before he is
admitted into the kingdom of God.
4. How can a man be born when he is old? Though the form of expression
which Christ employed was not contained in the Law and the prophets,
yet as renewal is frequently mentioned in Scripture, and is one of the
first principles of faith, it is evident how imperfectly skilled the
Scribes at that time were in the reading of the Scriptures. It
certainly was not one man only who was to blame for not knowing what
was meant by the grace of regeneration; but as almost all devoted their
attention to useless subtleties, what was of chief importance in the
doctrine of piety was disregarded. Popery exhibits to us, at the
present day, an instance of the same kind in her Theologians. For while
they weary out their whole life with profound speculations, as to all
that strictly relates to the worship of God, to the confident hope of
our salvation, or to the exercises of religion, they know no more on
these subjects than a cobbler or a cowherd knows about the course of
the stars; and, what is more, taking delight in foreign mysteries, they
openly despise the true doctrine of Scripture as unworthy of the
elevated rank which belongs to them as teachers. We need not wonder,
therefore, to find here that Nicodemus stumbles at a straw; for it is a
just vengeance of God, that they who think themselves the highest and
most excellent teachers, and in whose estimation the ordinary
simplicity of doctrine is vile and despicable, stand amazed at small
matters.
5. Unless a man be born of water. This passage has been explained in
various ways. Some have thought that the two parts of regeneration are
distinctly pointed out, and that by the word Water is denoted the
renunciation of the old man, while by the Spirit they have understood
the new life. Others think that there is an implied contrast, as if
Christ intended to contrast Water and Spirit, which are pure and liquid
elements, with the earthly and gross nature of man. Thus they view the
language as allegorical, and suppose Christ to have taught that we
ought to lay aside the heavy and ponderous mass of the flesh, and to
become like water and air, that we may move upwards, or, at least, may
not be so much weighed down to the earth. But both opinions appear to
me to be at variance with the meaning of Christ.
Chrysostom, with whom the greater part of expounders agree, makes the
word Water refer to baptism. The meaning would then be, that by baptism
we enter into the kingdom of God, because in baptism we are regenerated
by the Spirit of God. Hence arose the belief of the absolute necessity
of baptism, in order to the hope of eternal life. But though we were to
admit that Christ here speaks of baptism, yet we ought not to press his
words so closely as to imagine that he confines salvation to the
outward sign; but, on the contrary, he connects the Water with the
Spirit, because under that visible symbol he attests and seals that
newness of life which God alone produces in us by his Spirit. It is
true that, by neglecting baptism, we are excluded from salvation; and
in this sense I acknowledge that it is necessary; but it is absurd to
speak of the hope of salvation as confined to the sign. So far as
relates to this passage, I cannot bring myself to believe that Christ
speaks of baptism; for it would have been inappropriate.
We must always keep in remembrance the design of Christ, which we have
already explained; namely, that he intended to exhort Nicodemus to
newness of life, because he was not capable of receiving the Gospel,
until he began to be a new man. It is, therefore, a simple statement,
that we must be born again, in order that we may be the children of
God, and that the Holy Spirit is the Author of this second birth. For
while Nicodemus was dreaming of the regeneration (palingenesia) or
transmigration taught by Pythagoras, who imagined that souls, after the
death of their bodies, passed into other bodies, [58] Christ, in order
to cure him of this error, added, by way of explanation, that it is not
in a natural way that men are born a second time, and that it is not
necessary for them to be clothed with a new body, but that they are
born when they are renewed in mind and heart by the grace of the
Spirit.
Accordingly, he employed the words Spirit and water to mean the same
thing, and this ought not to be regarded as a harsh or forced
interpretation; for it is a frequent and common way of speaking in
Scripture, when the Spirit is mentioned, to add the word Water or Fire,
expressing his power. We sometimes meet with the statement, that it is
Christ who baptizeth with the Holy Ghost and with fire, (Matthew 3:11;
Luke 3:16,) where fire means nothing different from the Spirit, but
only shows what is his efficacy in us. As to the word water being
placed first, it is of little consequence; or rather, this mode of
speaking flows more naturally than the other, because the metaphor is
followed by a plain and direct statement, as if Christ had said that no
man is a son of God until he has been renewed by water, and that this
water is the Spirit who cleanseth us anew and who, by spreading his
energy over us, imparts to us the rigor of the heavenly life, though by
nature we are utterly dry. And most properly does Christ, in order to
reprove Nicodemus for his ignorance, employ a form of expression which
is common in Scripture; for Nicodemus ought at length to have
acknowledged, that what Christ had said was taken from the ordinary
doctrine of the Prophets.
By water, therefore, is meant nothing more than the inward purification
and invigoration which is produced by the Holy Spirit. Besides, it is
not unusual to employ the word and instead of that is, when the latter
clause is intended to explain the former. And the view which I have
taken is supported by what follows; for when Christ immediately
proceeds to assign the reason why we must be born again, without
mentioning the water, he shows that the newness of life which he
requires is produced by the Spirit alone; whence it follows, that water
must not be separated from the Spirit
6. That which is born of the flesh. By reasoning from contraries, he
argues that the kingdom of God is shut against us, unless an entrance
be opened to us by a new birth, (palingenesia ) For he takes for
granted, that we cannot enter into the kingdom of God unless we are
spiritual. But we bring nothing from the womb but a carnal nature.
Therefore it follows, that we are naturally banished from the kingdom
of God, and, having been deprived of the heavenly life, remain under
the yoke of death. Besides, when Christ argues here, that men must be
born again, because they are only flesh, he undoubtedly comprehends all
mankind under the term flesh. By the flesh, therefore, is meant in this
place not the body, but the soul also, and consequently every part of
it. When the Popish divines restrict the word to that part which they
call sensual, they do so in utter ignorance of its meaning; [59] for
Christ must in that case have used an inconclusive argument, that we
need a second birth, because part of us is corrupt. But if the flesh is
contrasted with the Spirit, as a corrupt thing is contrasted with what
is uncorrupted, a crooked thing with what is straight, a polluted thing
with what is holy, a contaminated thing with what is pure, we may
readily conclude that the whole nature of man is condemned by a single
word. Christ therefore declares that our understanding and reason is
corrupted, because it is carnal, and that all the affections of the
heart are wicked and reprobate, because they too are carnal.
But here it may be objected, that since the soul is not begotten by
human generation, we are not born of the flesh, as to the chief part of
our nature. This led many persons to imagine that not only our bodies,
but our souls also, descend to us from our parents; for they thought it
absurd that original sin, which has its peculiar habitation in the
soul, should be conveyed from one man to all his posterity, unless all
our souls proceeded from his soul as their source. And certainly, at
first sight, the words of Christ appear to convey the idea, that we are
flesh, because we are born of flesh. I answer, so far as relates to the
words of Christ, they mean nothing else than that we are all carnal
when we are born; and that as we come into this world mortal men, our
nature relishes nothing but what is flesh. He simply distinguishes here
between nature and the supernatural gift; for the corruption of all
mankind in the person of Adam alone did not proceed from generation,
but from the appointment of God, who in one man had adorned us all, and
who has in him also deprived us of his gifts. Instead of saying,
therefore, that each of us draws vice and corruption from his parents,
it would be more correct to say that we are all alike corrupted in Adam
alone, because immediately after his revolt God took away from human
nature what He had bestowed upon it.
Here another question arises; for it is certain that in this degenerate
and corrupted nature some remnant of the gifts of God still lingers;
and hence it follows that we are not in every respect corrupted. The
reply is easy. The gifts which God hath left to us since the fall, if
they are judged by themselves, are indeed worthy of praise; but as the
contagion of wickedness is spread through every part, there will be
found in us nothing that is pure and free from every defilement. That
we naturally possess some knowledge of God, that some distinction
between good and evil is engraven on our conscience, that our faculties
are sufficient for the maintenance of the present life, that -- in
short -- we are in so many ways superior to the brute beasts, that is
excellent in itself, so far as it proceeds from God; but in us all
these things are completely polluted, in the same manner as the wine
which has been wholly infected and corrupted by the offensive taste of
the vessel loses the pleasantness of its good flavor, and acquires a
bitter and pernicious taste. For such knowledge of God as now remains
in men is nothing else than a frightful source of idolatry and of all
superstitions; the judgment exercised in choosing and distinguishing
things is partly blind and foolish, partly imperfect and confused; all
the industry that we possess flows into vanity and trifles; and the
will itself, with furious impetuosity, rushes headlong to what is evil.
Thus in the whole of our nature there remains not a drop of
uprightness. Hence it is evident that we must be formed by the second
birth, that we may be fitted for the kingdom of God; and the meaning of
Christ's words is, that as a man is born only carnal from the womb of
his mother; he must be formed anew by the Spirit, that he may begin to
be spiritual.
The word Spirit is used here in two senses, namely, for grace, and the
effect of grace. For in the first place, Christ informs us that the
Spirit of God is the only Author of a pure and upright nature, and
afterwards he states, that we are spiritual, because we have been
renewed by his power.
__________________________________________________________________
Footnotes
[54] Our Author's views of the etymology of the term are fully stated
and examined, Harmony, [7]volume 1 page 281; but it cannot be supposed
that this Commentary on the Gospel by John, which appeared in the year
1553, makes reference to the Harmony, which did not appear till 1555.
The priority of the date (1548) of the Commentary on the Epistle to the
Philippians more naturally sends us to consult that [8]passage, in
which Paul says that he was a Pharisee, (3:5.) -- Ed.
[55] "De sa grandeur et reputation."
[56] "Qui signific Maistre."
[57] "L'oyant seulement comme en pensant ailleurs, et sans en tenir
grand conte:" -- "merely listening to it as if he were thinking of
something else, and without caring much about it."
[58] "Qui imaginoit que los ames apres la mort de leurs corps cntroyent
dedans des autres corps."
[59] "Monstrent bien qu'ils n'en entendent rien."
|