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John 1:51
And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.

Matthew 5:18
For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

2 Corinthians 1:19,20
For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us,even by me and Silvanus and Timotheus, was not yea and nay, but in him was yea…

Except.

John 3:5,6
Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water andof the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God…

John 1:13
Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

Galatians 6:15
For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.

again.

James 1:17
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

James 3:17
But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle,and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.

he cannot.

John 3:5
Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water andof the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

John 1:5
And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

John 12:40
He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see withtheir eyes, nor understand withtheir heart, and be converted, and I should heal them.

Truly, truly, I tell you
The repetition of "truly" (Greek: "amen, amen") emphasizes the importance and certainty of Jesus' statement. This phrase is used to assert authority and truthfulness, underscoring that what follows is a foundational truth. It reflects Jesus' divine authority and His role as the ultimate teacher.

no one can see the kingdom of God
The "kingdom of God" refers to God's sovereign rule and reign, both in the present spiritual sense and the future physical manifestation. This concept is central to Jesus' teaching and is rooted in Old Testament prophecies about God's eternal kingdom (e.g.,Daniel 2:44). Seeing the kingdom implies understanding and experiencing God's rule, which is a spiritual insight granted to believers.

unless he is born again
The term "born again" (Greek: "anōthen") can also mean "born from above," indicating a spiritual rebirth. This concept is pivotal in Christian theology, signifying a transformation that occurs through the Holy Spirit. It connects to Old Testament themes of renewal and cleansing, such asEzekiel 36:25-27, where God promises to give a new heart and spirit. This rebirth is necessary for entering into a relationship with God and is a work of divine grace, not human effort.

Verily, verily, I say unto thee.--(Comp.John 1:51.) The words are in the decisive tone of authority and certainty. "This is God's teaching for thee, teacher as thou thyself art" (John 3:10).

Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.--Our translators have followed the ancient expositors in giving the alternative renderings "born again" and "born from above" (margin). Chrysostom notes the two currents of interpretation in his day; and in our own day the opinions of scholars, whether we count them or weigh them, may be equally claimed for either view. There can be no doubt that the Greek word (??????) is found with both meanings. It is equally certain that St. John elsewhere uses it in the local sense "from above" only (John 3:31;John 19:11;John 19:23); but these instances are not sufficient to establish anusus loquendi, and the sense here, and inJohn 3:7, must be taken in connection with the meaning of the verb. (Comp. the same word inLuke 1:3, "from the very first," andGalatians 4:9, "again.") What has not, perhaps, been sufficiently noted is, that the Greek word is not the true key to the difficulty, and that its double sense has led men to seek the meaning in a wrong direction. The dialogue was between One who was called and one who really was a Rabbi. The word actually used almost certainly conveyed but one sense, and it is this sense which the Syriac version, coming to us from the second century, and closely connected with the Palestinian dialect of the first century, has preserved. This version reads "from the beginning," "afresh," "anew." This is the sense which St. John wishes to express for his Greek readers, and the word used by him exactly does express it. That the Greek word has another meaning also, which expresses the same thought from another point of view, may have determined its choice. This other point of view was certainly not absent from the circle of the writer's thoughts (comp.John 1:13). . . .

5.The revelation of earthly andheavenly things to one who knew that God was with him.Verses 3-12. -

(1)The conditions of admission into the kingdom of God. New birth of the Spirit.Verse 3. - Many explanations have been offered of the link of connection between the suggestion of Nicodemus and the reply of Jesus. Many expansions or additions have been conjectured, such as the following, suggested by Christ's own language elsewhere: "You, by the finger of God, are casting out devils; then the kingdom of God has come nigh unto us. How may we enter upon its further proofs?" - a view which would demand a deeper knowledge of the mind of Christ than we have any reason to suppose diffused at this period. Others (Baumlein) have supposed Nicodemus to have said, "Does the baptism of John suffice for admission into the kingdom?" - a suggestion which would be most strange for a Pharisaic Sanhedrist to have extemporized. At the same time, it may be proved that the rabbis regarded proselytism as a "new birth," and one produced or brought about by circumcision and baptism (Wunsche,l.c. 506; Geikie, 1:505). Others, again, have put further words into the reply of Jesus, such as, "The kingdom of God is not in the miracles which I am working; it is in a state of things which can only be appreciated by a radical spiritual change" (Lucke). Similarly Luthardt. Nicodemus was thinking of the kingdom of God evinced by miraculous signs; and Jesus points him to the inner reality rather than to the outer manifestation. Godet sees the Pharisaic position in the question of Nicodemus, "Art thou the Messiah? is the kingdom of God near, as thy miracles seem to indicate?" He was assuming that, as a Pharisee, he had nothing to do but walk in the light, the dawn of which was revealed to him in the signs of a divinely sent Teacher. All these views embrace a large amount of possible conjectural truth; but they ignore the play upon the words of Nicodemus, which the answer of Jesus involves, showing that a sharp, clean retort followed the speech of the former. "We know that NO MAN IS ABLEto do these signs which thou art working EXCEPT GOD, BE WITH HIM.Verily, verily, I say unto thee, EXCEPT ONEbe born anew, HE IS NOT ABLEto see the kingdom of God." The form of both protasis and apodosis in each sentence closely corresponds, and this correspondence suggests the fact of an immediate repartee. adopting even the form of the question or assertion of the ruler of the Jews. To the "we know" of Nicodemus, comes the "I say unto thee" of Jesus. To the general sentiment of Nicodemus Christ gives a personal application. In place of speculation concerning his own relation to God and to the kingdom, Christ searches in the heart of his questioner for spiritual susceptibility. Over against the general proposition about God being with the Worker of these signs Christ sets the practical truth and Divine possibility of any man seeing the kingdom of God. To the suspicion of Jesus being the Messenger and Minister of God, he opposes the supposition of being born from heaven, or anew. From ancient times commentators have been divided as to the meaning of the wordἄνωθεν - whether it should be rendered "from above" or "anew," "again." The first was favoured by Origen and many others down to Bengel, Lucke, Meyer, Baur, Wordsworth, Lange, based on the local meaning of the word in numerous places;e.g. "from the top" (Matthew 27:51), "from heaven above" (James 3:15, 17;John 3:31;John 19:11). Moreover, John uses the idea of birthfrom God, or byhis will supervening on the life of man, and the consequent conference upon it of a new beginning (John 1:13;1 John 3:9;1 John 4:7;1 John 5:1, 4, 18). The great point on which our Lord insists is the Divine spiritual origin of the life of which he has so much to say. Several of the English versions, Coverdale's - and second edition of the Bishops' Bible - have adopted this rendering, with the Armenian and Gothic Versions. The Revised Version has placed it in the margin. Against it is to be brought the use of the verbἀναγεννᾶσθαι (1 Peter 1:3, 23, and in Justin, 'Apol.,' 1:6l) - a word which corresponds with this clause,ἄνωθεν γεννηθῆναι, and yet could scarcely be translated "to be born from above," but, "to be born again." The second rendering, giving a temporal value toἄνωθεν, was adopted by Augustine, Chrysostom (who uses both views), the Vulgate, Luther, Calvin, Tholuck, Godet, Westcott, Moulton, Weiss, and Luthardt, and is sustained by the fact that Nicodemus was led by it to an inquiry about (δεύτερον γεννηθῆναι) a second birth. If the expression had had no ambiguity about it, and merely conveyed the idea of a heavenly birth, his mistake would have been greater than it was. There are, moreover, numerous passages confirming the temporal sense ofἄνωθεν (Wettstein and Grimm both quote from Josephus, 'Ant.,' 1:18. 3; and Artemidorus, 'Oneiroc.,' 1:13); and theπαλιγγενεσία ofTitus 3:5 points in the same direction. The Jewish rabbi ought to have been familiar with the idea of the "new heart" and "right spirit," and the marvellous and mighty change wrought in men by the Holy Spirit; but the spiritual idea had been overlaid by rabbinic ritualism, and all the hopeless entanglements of ceremonial purity which had been reacts to do duty for spiritual conformity with the Divine will. Archdeacon Watkins reminds us that the Syriac Version here gives the rendering "from the beginning," or "anew," and lays great stress on this solution of the ambiguity in the Greek word. The statement of Christ is very remarkable. A man must be born anew, must undergo a radical change, even tosee the kingdom of God (cf.Matthew 18:3). The true kingdom is not a Divine government of outward, visible magnificence, sustained by miraculous aid - a physical sovereignty which shall rival and eclipse the majesty of Caesar. When the kingdom shall come in its genuine power, the carnal eye will not discover its presence. The man born anew will alone be able to appreciate it. The Jews boasted that they were born of God (John 8:41), but could not understand that they needed vital, fundamental, moral renewal - a second birth, a new beginning. Let the opening of Christ's Galilaean ministry be compared with this bold utterance. There in public discourse he called upon all men everywhere to "repent," to undergo a radical change of mind, and that because the kingdom of heaven was at hand.Μετάνοια portrays the same change asπαλιγγενεσία; but one term denotes thai; change as a human experience and effort, the other as a Divine operation. Neither repentance nor regeneration commended itself to the rabbinic mind as a necessity for one who was exalted by privilege and ennobled by obedience. The phrase, "kingdom of God," is not a mode of representing truth to which this Gospel calls frequent attention. Still our Lord to Pilate (John 18:36) admits that he is himself the Head of kingdom which is "not from hence" - not resting on this world as its foundation or source. In Matthew the whole of the mission of Christ among men is repeatedly portrayed as "the kingdom of heaven." And from the time when the Lord ascended until now, various efforts have been made to realize, to discover, to embody, to emblazon, to crush, to ignore, that kingdom and its King. This great utterance is a key to much of the history of the Church, and an explanation of its numberless mistakes. Moreover, it supplies an invaluable hint of the true nature of the kingdom of God. Thoma insists on the other rendering ofἄνωθεν, and compares it with the Philonic doctrine, "that the substance of theνοῦς is not attributed to that which is created, but is breathed into the flesh from above (ἄνωθεν) by God.... Aim, O soul, at the bodiless essence of the spirit world as thy inheritance." These ideas, he thinks, John has placed into the lips of Jesus. The two classes of ideas are fundamentally distinct. Philo contrasts the sensuous and the intellectual; Christ is contrasting nature and grace.

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