John 3:1Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

So even now he was well disposed toward Christ, but not as much as he should have been, and not with a proper understanding of Him. He was still subject to Jewish weaknesses.

For this reason he came by night, fearing to do this by day. Nevertheless, the God who loves mankind did not reject him even for this. He did not reproach him or deprive him of His teaching.

With great meekness He converses with him and reveals very lofty matters of faith to him. He does so somewhat enigmatically, but still He reveals them.

This man was much more worthy of condescension than those who acted from malice. The latter deserved no forgiveness. Nicodemus deserved rebuke, but not to such a degree.

Why, then, did the Evangelist say none of this about him? In another place he says, "Many even of the rulers believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they be put out of the synagogue" (Jn 12:42).

Here he expressed all this by the single observation that Nicodemus came by night. What, then, does Nicodemus say? "Rabbi, we know that You are a Teacher come from God. For no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him."

And what does he say about Nicodemus? "There was a ruler of the Jews named Nicodemus. He came to Him by night and said to Him, 'Rabbi! We know that You are a Teacher come from God'" (cf. Jn 3:1-2).

Therefore he too believed in His name. And why did he believe? The Evangelist continues: "No one can do these miracles that You do unless God is with him" (Jn 3:2).

If Nicodemus was among those many who believed in His name, then let us consider, by turning to this Nicodemus, why Jesus did not entrust Himself to them (Jn 2:24).

This same Nicodemus, two years later, when the chief priests and Pharisees sent men to seize Jesus, said to them: "Does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he is doing?" (Jn 7:51). He also joined Joseph of Arimathea for the burial of Jesus' body, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred litras (Jn 19:39).

He came to Jesus by night, partly from fear of his unbelieving companions, who had already taken an openly hostile position toward Christ. Perhaps he also wished not to make his visit public, so as not to increase the ever-growing fame of the Prophet from Nazareth.

Received by Jesus, Nicodemus says: "We know," that is, we Pharisees and scribes, "that no one can do such miracles as You do unless God is with him. Therefore we also acknowledge that You are a teacher come from God."

Thus Nicodemus expressed his own view of Jesus, and perhaps that of some other Pharisees as well. He regarded Him as a teacher, a rabbi, a man chosen by God, perhaps even a prophet, but not the Messiah.

Nicodemus knew that John the Baptist had pointed out Jesus to those sent from the Sanhedrin as the expected Messiah. John had supported his indication with the testimony that he saw the Holy Spirit descending upon Him. He had also heard the voice of God Himself, bearing witness that Jesus was His beloved Son. Nicodemus certainly saw how Jesus drove the merchants from the temple and publicly called that temple His Father's house. Consequently, He called Himself the Son of God. Nicodemus was undoubtedly present at the miracles in which Jesus manifested His divine authority and power.

And after all this, he, a learned Pharisee and member of the Sanhedrin, calls Jesus simply Teacher. He believes neither John's testimony, nor His own words, nor even the miracles He performed.

Christ knew the cause of the Pharisees' false opinion about Him. He knew that the Pharisees, and after them all the Jews guided by them, did not expect such a Messiah. In the Messiah they awaited a mighty earthly king, who would subdue the whole world. He would make the Jews in general, and especially the Pharisees, lords over all nations. He knew that, according to the Pharisees' teaching, every Jew would enter the Kingdom of the Messiah as an indispensable member of it, simply because he was a Jew, a descendant of Abraham. This was even more true, they thought, of every Pharisee.

Knowing all this, and wishing to turn Nicodemus from the false path on which he stood to the true one, Christ begins His conversation with him with words proving something essential. To enter the Kingdom of the Messiah, it is not enough to be a Jew and a descendant of Abraham. Something else is necessary. Regeneration is necessary. "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born from above, he cannot see the Kingdom of God."

To understand better the meaning of the Lord's conversation with Nicodemus, we must make a brief digression.

In creating the world, God did not limit Himself to creating soulless nature alone, for He is the God of the living and not of the dead (Mt 22:32; Mk 12:27; Lk 20:38). Of course, He would not have ceased to be God if there were no living beings at all. But in order that the world He created might comprehend His greatness and the wisdom of His creative work, there had to be living rational beings in the world. A rational bond had to be established between the Creator and His creation. Such a being on earth was created in man.

God inspired the first people as to how they should live, so as to be worthy sons of their Creator. He revealed to them His will, which is the eternal and unchanging law, inscribed, so to speak, in human hearts: Love God. Love your neighbor. When He entrusted them not only to keep Paradise but also to cultivate it (Gen 2:15), He made labor their obligation. This law of labor was not given as punishment for sin, since they had not yet sinned. It was given as a necessary condition of happiness. So then: Love God. Love your neighbor. And labor. This is the will of God, which the people He created were to observe.

By conforming all their actions to this law, they were to form the Kingdom of God on earth. That is, they were to become a society of blessed people governed by God Himself. In this lay the purpose of their creation. In this lay their vocation. If they had truly fulfilled this law of the supreme King, then a kingdom of peace, love, and goodness would have been established on earth. This would have been the true Kingdom of God, an earthly Paradise.

But the first people disobeyed God and lost the right to be members of His Kingdom. Yet they were taught that this Kingdom, this earthly Paradise, was not lost to them forever. They could regain it if they fulfilled the will of God in everything. It seemed that living according to God was not difficult, since God required of men nothing impossible and nothing beyond their strength. Love God. Love your neighbor. And labor. He required nothing more. Yet even this small thing the first people could not fulfill.

Soon enmity arose between them, and the earth was reddened with the blood of a murdered man. After the first murder came other crimes, and sinful people began to fall morally lower and lower. No calamities could bring them to their senses. They began to forget not only the will of God, but God Himself. It was necessary to remind them of this will, and it was proclaimed through Moses on Mount Sinai in the Ten Commandments.

The brilliant Moses had dreamed for forty years of freeing the Jews from Egyptian slavery and forming from them the Kingdom of God, governed by God Himself. Yet he was forced to acknowledge that morally corrupt people were not able to fulfill exactly the will of God proclaimed in the Ten Commandments. Aware of this, he made many concessions and many departures from the Sinai commandments. Of course, he could have abolished all laws and customs that contradicted the Ten Commandments, and issued new ones in harmony with them. Yet even to him this seemed impossible. He could issue new laws, and by fear of harsh punishments he could force obedience to them. But he could not transform the human heart, corrupted over centuries. He could not re-educate or regenerate man, nor compel him to love. Therefore he could not restore the Kingdom of free people who love God and one another. He could not return the lost Paradise to mankind.

For this, another Man had to appear. He would not only explain to people the will of God and man's true vocation. He would also regenerate them to a new life, and by the example of His own life prove the possibility, and even the ease, of exact fulfillment of God's will. Moses understood this. Therefore, in his farewell to the people before his death, he foretold the coming of such a Man and said: "The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from among you, from your brethren. Him you shall hear" (Deut 18:15).

After the death of Moses, the Jews sometimes repented and turned to God, and at other times grossly turned away from Him. But the moments of repentance did not last long, and for this reason many calamities overtook them. In vain did inspired prophets call them to God. In vain did they wish to unite them under the headship of the supreme King. The moral fall of mankind was so terrible that only God Himself could save it. The prophets understood this. Inspired, they foretold the near coming of the Deliverer and Reconciler: "The Redeemer will come to Zion" (Is 59:20). The Desired One will come (Hag 2:4-7). "Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion. Your King comes to you" (Zech 9:9).

Yes, they all understood that people first had to be re-educated and regenerated. Only then would the renewal of the Kingdom of God be possible, and the return to mankind of the lost Paradise. They understood that such a rebirth of men could not be accomplished without God's help. For this, God's Messenger had to come.

The desired Christ came and began with the re-education of corrupted people. In His Sermon on the Mount, in the so-called Beatitudes, He taught people how they must re-educate themselves. He taught how they must be regenerated, so as to be worthy sons of the heavenly Father and to form the Kingdom of God on earth. This was that lost Paradise whose return the best men of the ancient world dreamed of. Yet even in His Sermon on the Mount, after giving detailed rules for regeneration and self-correction, the Lord said that by human strength alone, without God's help, regeneration is impossible. Therefore pray to God for help. Ask, and it will be given to you.

It was precisely about this self-correction and regeneration that Christ now spoke with Nicodemus. His conversation, taken separately and without connection to the Sermon on the Mount, may seem unclear to someone. But if we take into account that what was said in the Sermon on the Mount was probably also said during the Lord's first journey to Jerusalem, then the matter becomes fully intelligible. Nicodemus could have heard this before his nighttime conversation. Then the Lord's word about the necessity of regeneration for entering the Kingdom of God becomes entirely clear.

Moreover, he was a rich man, and therefore in many respects able to influence those around him. Being respected for his age and high position, he could undoubtedly have rendered important service to Christ's earthly aims among the influential classes.

He could have promoted agreement between the priests and Pharisees and Christ, if Christ, like them, had been guided in His activity by national and religious-political aims.

In Jerusalem there was inevitably strong prejudice against a movement that had begun in Galilee and was supported by Galileans. Therefore Nicodemus could have had considerable influence in changing the authorities' attitude toward this movement.

But with all his influence, Nicodemus was by nature a timid man. He did not have enough courage to disregard public disapproval and ridicule, which would have followed his open association with the Galilean Teacher.

Although there was not yet open hostility among the Pharisees toward Christ, it was clear that the appearance of such feelings in this class was only a matter of time.

Nicodemus was an honest and sincere man, but still he could not make the sacrifice which open confession of Christ would have required.

Therefore, so as not to expose himself to any reproach from other members of the supreme council, he decided to visit Jesus Christ by night, in order to speak with Him secretly and alone.

As a rabbi, Nicodemus was of course skilled in the subtle interpretations of the Law for which the Pharisees were famous. He was thoroughly acquainted with Holy Scripture.

Yet all these interpretations rested on artificial exegetical subtleties, which did not penetrate the deeper meaning of Scripture. Like others, he supposed that the Messiah must restore the theocracy.

This theocracy, he thought, would be distinguished by zealous fulfillment of the Law. Every Israelite, as such, would necessarily become a member of this theocracy.

This means that he belonged to the number of teachers of the Law, or lawyers, or scribes. Many of them were members of the Sanhedrin.

What such men were like in their religious concepts, moral character, and life is evident from the fact that they proved to be the fiercest opponents and persecutors of Christ the Savior.

It is true that at the very beginning of Christ's ministry they had not yet appeared as such. Yet their malice against Christ, with which they persecuted Him everywhere even to His death, was already a fruit.

Therefore its seed was already in their souls from the very beginning of Christ's manifestation. But Nicodemus, as is evident, was not such a man, perhaps alone from his whole sect (Jn 7:48).

At least we see no further examples in the Gospel. He comes to Jesus and desires to hear His teaching. Although he understands Him with difficulty and contradicts Him, especially at the beginning of the conversation, this contradiction is not a malicious or crafty rejection of Jesus' words.

It is simply perplexity. Its inward foundation is the desire to know the truth, with love for it and without prejudice against the person speaking the truth.

The Lord's meek rebukes and explanations fully prove this. He did not speak in this way with those Pharisees and scribes in whose hearts He saw no good soil for sowing the heavenly word of life (Mt 23:2-36).

Finally, during the later life of Jesus Christ, this Pharisee appears as a rather firm follower of Him. He openly raises his voice in defense of the Galilean Teacher condemned by the chief priests and scribes (Jn 7:51).

He also openly comes to His burial (Jn 19:39). Clearly, the conversation had a strong effect on him, because the seed of the word of God found fairly good soil in his heart.

On the other hand, the false concepts expressed by Nicodemus, his strange questions, his lack of understanding, and his contradiction clearly show that he was deeply afflicted by the contemporary Jewish maladies concerning the teaching about the Messiah and His Kingdom.

Yet how many at that time were free from these maladies? In any case, it must be said that Nicodemus was one of the best representatives of his sect.

He had a relatively good moral character and love for the truth. This was enough for him to become a follower of Christ the Savior, to receive and cultivate within himself the seed of divine teaching, and to hope for His condescension toward weaknesses.

And in His conversation with Nicodemus, Christ opens to him the deep mysteries of the Kingdom of God.

They loved to rule and not share authority with others. Puffed up by their showy piety, they were ready to persecute anyone who did not speak according to their thoughts.

At the beginning of His ministry, the Savior Himself withdrew from their sight (Jn 4:1). They expected the Messiah, but a Messiah who was an earthly king.

More than others, they boasted of their descent from Abraham and considered themselves the first heirs of the Kingdom of God. In no case did they think the Gentiles could be heirs. Such were these men.

Yet tax collectors were considered the most sinful of men, and from their number came Matthew the Apostle and Zacchaeus. We may think that Nicodemus was not free from Pharisaic prejudices.

But to what degree he had appropriated the bad qualities of the Pharisees, the Knower of hearts knew. His conversation will partly show this.

He was a ruler of the Jews, "one of the rulers of the Jews," that is, a member of the supreme Jewish court, the Sanhedrin (Jn 7:26, 48; Lk 24:20; Acts 3:17).

Later we shall see his reasoning among the members of the Sanhedrin (Jn 7:50). And here, knowing that the Sanhedrin brought the Savior to the Cross, human thought is ready to say, "What can be expected from this ruler?"

Yet the Evangelist did not say in vain that Jesus "knew what was in man," which men do not know. "He came to Jesus by night."

It would be unjust to suspect the ruler of coming at night with a Pharisee's intention to discover Jesus' secret thoughts in private conversation and then report them to the Sanhedrin.

Later, in the Sanhedrin, he spoke on behalf of Jesus (Jn 7:50-51). Why, then, did he come at night? Certainly out of fear for himself, from fear of bringing upon himself the hatred of powerful men who were not disposed toward Jesus.

This was not the act of a strong character. Yet the Savior did not break a bruised reed (Mt 12:20). He is the good Physician and heals the weak, if only they are willing to be healed.