Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible
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John
Book: John
Chapter: 3
Overview:
Christ's discourse with
Nicodemus.
(1-21) The
Baptism of
John
of
Christ John's
Testimony.
(22-36)
1-8 Nicodemus was afraid, or ashamed to be seen with
Christ,
therefore came in the night. When religion is out of fashion,
there are many Nicodemites. But though he came
By night,
Jesus
bid him welcome, and hereby taught us to encourage good
beginnings, although weak. And though now he came
By night, yet
afterward he owned
Christ publicly. He did not talk with
Christ
about state affairs, though he was a ruler, but about the
concerns of his own soul and its
Salvation, and went at once to
them. Our
Saviour spoke of the necessity and nature of
Regeneration or the new
Birth, and at once directed
Nicodemus to
the source of
Holiness of the
Heart.
Birth is the beginning of
Life; to be born again, is to begin to live anew, as those who
have lived much amiss, or to little purpose. We must have a new
nature, new principles, new affections, new aims.
By our first
Birth we were corrupt, shapen in
Sin; therefore we must be made
new creatures.
No stronger expression could have been
Chosen to
signify a great and most remarkable change of state and
character. We must be entirely different from what we were
before, as that which begins to be at any time, is not, and
cannot be the same with that which was before. This new
Birth is
from
Heaven, ch. 1:13, and its tendency is to
Heaven. It is a
great change made in the
Heart of a sinner,
By the power of the
Holy
Spirit. It means that something is done in us, and for us,
which we cannot do for ourselves. Something is wrong, whereby
such a
Life begins as shall last for ever. We cannot otherwise
expect any benefit
By Christ; it is necessary to our happiness
here and hereafter. What
Christ spoke,
Nicodemus misunderstood,
as if there had been
No other way of regenerating and
new-moulding an immortal soul, than
By new-framing the body. But
he acknowledged his ignorance, which shows a desire to be better
informed. It is then further explained
By the
Lord Jesus. He
shows the Author of this blessed change. It is not wrought
By
any
Wisdom or power of our own, but
By the power of the blessed
Spirit. We are shapen in iniquity, which makes it necessary that
our nature be changed. We are not to marvel at this; for, when
we consider the
Holiness of
God, the depravity of our nature,
and the happiness set before us, we shall not think it strange
that
So much stress is laid upon this. The regenerating work of
the Holy
Spirit is compared to water. It is also probable that
Christ had reference to the ordinance of
Baptism. Not that all
those, and those only, that are baptized, are saved; but without
that new
Birth which is wrought
By the
Spirit, and signified
By
Baptism, none shall be subjects of the kingdom of
Heaven. The
same
Word signifies both the wind and the
Spirit. The wind
bloweth where it listeth for us;
God directs it. The
Spirit
sends his influences where, and when,
On whom, and in what
Measure and degree, he pleases. Though the causes are hidden,
the effects are
Plain, when the soul is brought to
Mourn for
Sin, and to breathe after
Christ.
Christ's stating of the
doctrine and the necessity of
Regeneration, it should seem, made
it not clearer to
Nicodemus. Thus the things of the
Spirit of
God are foolishness to the natural
Man. Many think that cannot
be proved, which they cannot believe.
Christ's discourse of
Gospel truths, ver. 11-13, shows the folly of those who make
these things strange unto them; and it recommends us to search
them out.
Jesus Christ is every way able to reveal the will of
God to us; for he came down from
Heaven, and yet is in
Heaven.
We have here a notice of
Christ's two distinct natures in one
person,
So that while he is the
Son of Man, yet he is in
Heaven.
God is the "HE THAT IS," and
Heaven is the dwelling-place of his
Holiness. The knowledge of this must be from above, and can be
received
By Faith alone.
Jesus Christ came to save us
By healing
us, as the children of
Israel, stung with fiery serpents, were
cured and lived
By looking up to the brazen
Serpent, Nu
21:6-9. In this observe the deadly and destructive nature of
Sin. Ask awakened consciences, ask damned sinners, they will
tell you, that how charming soever the allurements of
Sin may
be, at the last it bites like a
Serpent. See the powerful remedy
against this fatal malady.
Christ is plainly set forth to us in
the
Gospel. He whom we offended is our Peace, and the way of
applying for a cure is
By believing. If any
So far slight either
their disease
By Sin, or the method of cure
By Christ, as not to
receive
Christ upon his own terms, their ruin is upon their own
heads. He has said, Look and be saved, look and live; lift up
the eyes of your
Faith to
Christ crucified. And until we have
Grace to do this, we shall not be cured, but still are wounded
with the stings of
Satan, and in a dying state.
Jesus Christ
came to save us
By pardoning us, that we might not die
By the
sentence of the
Law. Here is
Gospel, good news indeed. Here is
God's
Love in giving his Son for the world.
God So loved the
world;
So really,
So richly. Behold and wonder, that the great
God should
Love such a worthless world! Here, also, is the great
Gospel duty, to believe in
Jesus Christ.
God having given him to
be our
Prophet,
Priest, and
King, we must give up ourselves to
be ruled, and taught, and saved
By him. And here is the great
Gospel benefit, that whoever believes in
Christ, shall not
perish, but shall have
Everlasting Life.
God was in
Christ
reconciling the world to himself, and
So saving it. It could not
be saved, but through him; there is
No Salvation in any other.
From all this is shown the happiness of true believers; he that
believeth in
Christ is not condemned. Though he has been a great
sinner, yet he is not dealt with according to what his sins
deserve. How great is the
Sin of unbelievers!
God sent One to
save us, that was dearest to himself; and shall he not be
dearest to us? How great is the misery of unbelievers! they are
condemned already; which speaks a certain condemnation; a
present condemnation. The wrath of
God now fastens upon them;
and their own hearts condemn them. There is also a condemnation
grounded
On their former guilt; they are open to the
Law for all
their sins; because they are not
By Faith interested in the
Gospel Pardon. Unbelief is a
Sin against the remedy. It springs
from the
Enmity of the
Heart of
Man to
God, from
Love of
Sin in
some form. Read also the doom of those that would not know
Christ. Sinful
Works are
Works of
Darkness. The wicked world
keep as far from this
Light as they can, lest their deeds should
be reproved.
Christ is hated, because
Sin is loved. If they had
not hated saving knowledge, they would not sit down contentedly
in condemning ignorance.
On the other
Hand, renewed hearts bid
this
Light welcome. A good
Man Acts truly and sincerely in all
he does. He desires to know what the will of
God is, and to do
it, though against his own worldly interest. A change in his
whole character and conduct has taken place. The
Love of
God is
shed abroad in his
Heart By the
Holy Ghost, and is become the
commanding principle of his actions.
So long as he continues
under a load of unforgiven guilt, there can be little else than
slavish fear of
God; but when his doubts are done away, when he
sees the righteous ground whereon this forgiveness is built, he
rests
On it as his own, and is united to
God By unfeigned
Love.
Our
Works are good when the will of
God is the rule of them, and
the
Glory of
God the
End of them; when they are done in his
strength, and for his sake; to him, and not to men.
Regeneration, or the new
Birth, is a subject to which the world
is very averse; it is, however, the grand concern, in comparison
with which every thing else is but trifling. What does it
signify though we have
Food to eat in plenty, and variety of
raiment to
Put On, if we are not born again? if after a few
mornings and evenings spent in unthinking mirth,
Carnal
pleasure, and riot, we die in our sins, and
Lie down in sorrow?
What does it signify though we are
Well able to act our parts in
Life, in every other respect, if at last we hear from the
Supreme
Judge, "Depart from me, I know you not, ye workers of
iniquity?"
22-36 John was fully satisfied with the place and work assigned
him; but
Jesus came
On a more important work. He also knew that
Jesus would increase in honour and influence, for of his
government and peace there would be
No End, while he himself
would be less followed.
John knew that
Jesus came from
Heaven as
the
Son of God, while he was a sinful, mortal
Man, who could
only speak about the more
Plain subjects of religion. The words
of
Jesus were the words of
God; he had the
Spirit, not
By
Measure, as the prophets, but in all
Fulness.
Everlasting Life
could only be had
By Faith in Him, and might be thus obtained;
whereas all those, who believe not in the
Son of God, cannot
partake of
Salvation, but the wrath of
God for ever rests upon
them.