john 3:21 explained

Thus he is happy for anyone to see the light shining from him. Henceforth Jesus waits for him. Luke 15:1-2. "Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges". I. If no other fruit had come of that first visit to Jerusalem but the accession of this disciple, would it not, even by angel-eyes, have been regarded as enough? We hear nothing of the effect produced on Nicodemus by this interview. The opposite of ὁ φαῦλα πράσσων, John 3:20, and therefore ἀλήθεια is to be taken in the ethical sense: he who does what is morally true, so that his conduct is in harmony with the divine moral standard. 21.But he who doeth truth This appears to be an improper and absurd statement, unless you choose to admit that some are upright and true, before they have been renewed by the Spirit of God, which does not at all agree with the uniform doctrine of Scripture; for we know that faith is the root from which the fruits of good works spring. This is what the quite vague transitions by means of a simple and, καί, indicate. The saying of Jesus in John 7:17 has a striking analogy to this. https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/gsc/john-3.html. Copyright © 2020, Bible Study Tools. The statement of John 3:1, "A man of the Pharisees" is found to be the key of the whole passage. Bibliography"Commentary on John 3:21". He is a "FREE Spirit," but as Himself divine, is saying, "I will work, and who shall let it?" Reuss deems the silence of John respecting his departure surprising. Twice does Nicodemus reappear in Gospel history. God's call makes no sense, if men and women cannot respond to it (see notes on Revelation 22:17). BibliographyCalvin, John. They had been given to Him by the Father (John 6:37, John 17:6); they recognised His teaching as of God, because they desired to do God’s will (John 7:17). Sincere love of moral good predisposes to faith; for Jesus is the good personified. The impression given by the passage is that we do have here the words of Jesus. 2012. But our hearts (as our climate) have mere light than heat. Such was the purport of our Lord's discourse with Nicodemus, which we may easily believe affected him greatly. (1) The first thing in it is to be really in earnest. One might have expected that all with whom He came in contact would be divided simply into two classes-those who recognized and those who repudiated His claims; or, if another class should emerge, it would be of the undecided, or the waverers-either unable to make up their minds, or oscillating between the two opposing views of His claims. As before (John 3:19), these words are general, but we may not exclude from them a special meaning. ἔργα εἰργασμένα] as in John 6:28, John 9:4, Matthew 26:10, et al., and often in the classics. It certainly did not alienate him from Jesus, see ch. 21. Whether the author would add words to the words of Jesus in a way that could be so easily misleading is a matter of opinion. It is not their guilt before God. BibliographyWesley, John. "Commentary on John 3:21". vi., p. 395. 1905. John 7:50; John 19:39. He will hate the darkness, for he can have nothing to conceal in it. The works of this doer of truth have been wrought in God. What is afterwards related of Nicodemus shows, that, with regard to the choice here left to him, he decided to come to the light, and now for ever took leave of that evil principle, which cried to him. John 12:42. On this see Excursus D: The Discourses in St. John’s Gospel. So must it have been also with Nicodemus. W. McGarvey and Philip Y. Pendleton. To ‘do the truth’ is to do that which has true moral worth, the opposite of ‘practising worthless things.’ In 1 Corinthians 13:6 we have a similar antithesis: ‘rejoicing with the truth’ is opposed to ‘rejoicing in iniquity.’ see on John 1:9. αὐτοῦ τὰ ἔργα. However man is not good or neutral but bad. 1 will best explain to us,— ἐν ᾧ δόλος οὐκ ἔστιν, see also Luke 8:15, and Psalms 15. One by one his Pharisaic ideas of the kingdom, the Messiah, salvation and judgment, are challenged: from mere wonder at miracles and interest in the Worker of them he is made to look within and consider his own moral sympathies and spiritual convictions. For, as was said of the precious ointment which Mary purchased to anoint her Lord withal at the supper in Bethany, but in which the Lord Himself saw another and yet dearer purpose - "She is come aforehand to anoint My body to the burying" - so may we say of this Nicodemus, that he was gained, and kept in reserve all the time of Christ's public ministry even until His death, in order that, having purchased an hundred pound weight of myrrh and aloes wherewith to anoint the body, he and Joseph of Arimathea, another secret disciple, might be the honoured instruments of wrapping and laying it in the virgin-sepulchre. Read Introduction to John . E.g. The apologetical tone, or the reasoning tone-if it be the main characteristic of our preaching-will leave no divine impress, no stamp of heaven, upon it. There are in humanity, even before the appearance of Christ, men who, although like others affected by inborn evil, react against their evil inclinations, and pursue with a noble ardor the realization of the moral ideal which shines before them. Without it we cannot possibly be saved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God. Of the same kind is the phrase ποιειν ψευδος, to make a lie, used more than once by St. John, perhaps in a beautiful opposition to this before us; and if it were rendered practiseth a lie, that opposition would be more apparent. But they never did. "Commentary on John 3:21". I think that the question is rather of a need of progress. 1871-8. All rights reserved. The nearer he gets to the light, the more transparent he is. (3) Nothing is more remarkable in this scene than the varied lights in which the Lord Jesus is exhibited in it. Where such light as exists has been conscientiously used, more is sought, and welcomed when it comes. "This [ John 3:19-21] is one of the most important sections in the gospel of John for understanding the light/darkness polarization in Johannine theology and also for understanding John"s gospel itself." Introd., p. 99). Heinrich Meyer's Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament. Compare the kindred word πρᾶξις , deed or work, which occurs six times, and in four out of the six of evil doing (Matthew 16:27; Luke 23:51; Acts 19:18; Romans 8:13; Romans 12:14; Colossians 3:9). The more he acts in God, the more he desires to see clearly within himself, to the end of attaining a still more perfect obedience. To this class belonged a Nathanael, and the disciples generally, certainly also many who repented at the preaching of the Baptist, together with other O. T. saints, and perhaps Nicodemus himself.

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