From: John 3:7b-15
The Visit of Nicodemus (Continuation)
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Commentary:
3-8. Nicodemus’ first question shows that he still has doubts about Jesus (is He
a prophet, is He the Messiah?); and our Lord replies to him in a completely unex-
pected way: Nicodemus presumed He would say something about His mission
and, instead, He reveals to him an astonishing truth: one must be born again, in
a spiritual birth, by water and the Spirit; a whole new world opens up before Nico-
demus.
Our Lord’s words also paint a limitless horizon for the spiritual advancement of
any Christian who willingly lets himself or herself be led by divine grace and the
gifts of the Holy Spirit, which are infused at Baptism and enhanced by the Sac-
raments. As well as opening his soul to God, the Christian also needs to keep
at bay his selfish appetites and the inclinations of pride, if he is to understand
what God is teaching him in his soul: “Therefore must the soul be stripped of all
things created, and of its own actions and abilities — namely, of its understanding,
perception and feelings — so that, when all that is unlike God and unconformed
to Him is cast out, the soul may receive the likeness of God; and nothing will
then remain in it that is not the will of God and it will thus be transformed in God.
Wherefore, although it is true that, as we have said, God is ever in the soul, gi-
ving it, and through His presence conserving within it, its natural being, yet He
does not always communicate supernatural being to it. For this is communica-
ted only by love and grace, which not all souls possess; and all those that pos-
ses it have it not in the same degree; for some have attained more degrees of
love and others fewer. Wherefore God communicates Himself most to that soul
that has progressed farthest in love; namely, that has its will in closest confor-
mity with the will of God. And the soul that has attained complete conformity
and likeness of will is totally united and transformed in God supernaturally” (St.
John of the Cross, “Ascent of Mount Carmel”, book II, chap. 5).
Jesus speaks very forcefully about man’s new condition: it is no longer a ques-
tion of being born of the flesh, of the line of Abraham (cf. Jn 1:13), but of being
reborn through the action of the Holy Spirit, by means of water. This is our Lord’s
first reference to Christian Baptism, confirming John the Baptist’s prophecy (cf.
Mt 3:11; Jn 1:33) that He had come to institute a baptism with the Holy Spirit.
“Nicodemus had not yet savored this Spirit and this life. [...]. He knew but one
birth, which is from Adam and Eve; that which is from God and the Church, he
did not know; he knew only the paternity which engenders to death; he did not
yet know the paternity which engenders to life. [...]. Whereas there are two
births, he knew only of one. One is of earth, the other is of Heaven; one is of
the flesh, the other of the Spirit; one of mortality, the other of eternity; one of
male and female, the other of God and the Church. But the two are each unique;
neither one nor the other can be repeated” (St. Augustine, “In Ioann. Evang.”,
11, 6).
Our Lord speaks of the wonderful effects the Holy Spirit produces in the soul of
the baptized. Just as with the wind — when it blows we realize its presence, we
hear it whistling, but we do not know where it came from, or where it will end up
— so with the Holy Spirit, the Divine “Breath” (”pneuma”) given us in Baptism:
we do not know how He comes to penetrate our heart but He makes His pre-
sence felt by the change in the conduct of whoever receives Him.
10-12. Even though Nicodemus finds them puzzling, Jesus confirms that His
words still stand, and He explains that He speaks about the things of Heaven
because that is where He comes from, and to make Himself understood He
uses earthly comparisons and images. Even so, this language will fail to con-
vince those who adopt an attitude of disbelief.
St. John Chrysostom comments: “It was with reason that He said not: ‘You do
not understand,’ but: ‘You do not believe.’ When a person baulks and does not
readily accept things which it is possible for the mind to receive, he may with
reason be accused of stupidity; when he does not accept things which it is not
possible to grasp by reason but only by faith, the charge is no longer that of stu-
pidity, but of incredulity” (”Hom. on St. John”, 27, 1).
13. This is a formal declaration of the divinity of Jesus. No one has gone up into
Heaven and, therefore, no one can have perfect knowledge of God’s secrets, ex-
cept God Himself who became man and came down from Heaven — Jesus, the
second Person of the Blessed Trinity, the Son of Man foretold in the Old Testa-
ment (cf. Dan 7:13), to whom has been given eternal Lordship over all peoples.
The Word does not stop being God on becoming man: even when He is on earth
as man, He is in Heaven as God. It is only after the Resurrection and the Ascen-
sion that Christ is in Heaven as man also.
14-15. The bronze serpent which Moses set up on a pole was established by
God to cure those who had been bitten by the poisonous serpents in the desert
(cf. Numbers 21:8-9). Jesus compares this with His crucifixion, to show the va-
lue of His being raised up on the cross: those who look on Him with faith can
obtain salvation. We could say that the good thief was the first to experience
the saving power of Christ on the cross: he saw the crucified Jesus, the King
of Israel, the Messiah, and was immediately promised that he would be in Pa-
radise that very day (cf. Luke 23:39-43).
The Son of God took on our human nature to make known the hidden mystery
of God’s own life (cf. Mark 4:11; John 1:18; 3:1-13; Ephesians 3:9) and to free
from sin and death those who look at Him with faith and love and who accept
the cross of every day.
The faith of which our Lord speaks is not just intellectual acceptance of the
truths He has taught: it involves recognizing Him as Son of God (cf. 1 John 5:1),
sharing His very life (cf. John 1:12) and surrendering ourselves out of love and
therefore becoming like Him (cf. John 10:27; 1 John 3:2). But this faith is a gift
of God (cf. John 3:3, 5-8), and we should ask Him to strengthen it and increase
it as the Apostles did: Lord “increase our faith!” (Luke 17:5). While faith is a su-
pernatural, free gift, it is also a virtue, a good habit, which a person can practise
and thereby develop: so the Christian, who already has the divine gift of faith,
needs with the help of grace to make explicit acts of faith in order to make this
virtue grow.
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.
Liturgical Colour: White.
| First reading | Acts 4:32-37 © |
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| The whole group of believers was united, heart and soul |
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| Responsorial Psalm |
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| Psalm 92(93):1-2,5 © |
| Gospel Acclamation | cf.Rv1:5 |
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| Or: | Jn3:15 |
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| Gospel | John 3:7-15 © |
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| No-one has gone up to heaven except the Son of Man who has come down from heaven |
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