our Lord is speaking. He that lacks these marks, is yet dead in trespasses and sins. (John v. 1 ; iii. 9 ; ii. 29 ; iii. 14; V. 4 ; V. 18.)
And noAV let us solemnly ask ourselves, Whether we know anything of the mighty change of which we have been reading? Have we been born again? Can any marks of the new birth be seen in us ? Can the sound of the Spirit be heard in our daily conversation ? Is the image and superscription of the Spirit to be discerned in our lives ? — Happy is the man who can give satisfactory answers to these questions ! A day will come when those who are not born again will wish that they had never been born at all.
Notes. John III. 1 — 8.
1. — [There ivas a man, <S;c.] The close connection of the conversa- tion between Christ and Nicodemus with the end of the preceding chapter ought to be carefully noted. In fact the original Greek contains a connecting particle, which our translators have omitted to express in our version. The chapter should begin, " And there was a man," or " Now there was a man." — The convers^ation took place when our Lord " was in Jerusalem," at the time of the Passover. Nicodemus was one of those who '' saw the miracles which Jesus did," and was so much struck by what he saw, that he sought out our Lord in order to converse with Him.
[ Of the Pharisees.] The striking variety of character in those who were brought to believe on Christ while He was on earth, ought not to be overlooked. His disciples were not drawn exclu- sively from any one class. As a general rule, none were more bitterly opposed to Him and His doctrines than the Pharisees. Yet here we see that nothing is impossible with grace. Even a Pharisee became an inquirer, and ultimately a disciple ! Nicode- mus and St. Paul are standing proofs that no heart is too hnrd to be converted. The third chapter shows us Jesus teaching a proud, moral Pharisee. The fourth will show him teaching an ignor mt, immoral Samaritan woman. None are too bad to be taught by Christ.
[A ruler of the Jews.] The civil government of the Jews at this time, we must remember, was in the hands of the Eornans. "When Nicodemus is called " a ruler," it means that he was a chief person among the Jews, probably in high ecclesiartical