There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:
All Commentaries on John 3:1 Go To John 3
Cornelius a Lapide
AD 1637
There was a Prayer of Manasseh , &c. Nicodemus means in Greek the conqueror of the people. Such was this man; who, overcoming the fear of the people, the Pharisees, and the priests, believed in Christ. Wherefore Lucian thus writes concerning him in "The Invention of the Body of S. Stephen," from the mouth of Gamaliel: "The Jews, knowing that Nicodemus was a Christian, removed him from his office and cursed him, and drove him out of the city. Then I Gamaliel, inasmuch as he had suffered persecution for Christ"s sake, took him to my estate, and fed and clothed him to the end of his life; and when he died I buried him honourably beside the loved Stephen."
Wherefore Nicodemus is enrolled among the saints in the Roman Martyrology on the3d of August; where we read as follows, "Invention of the body of S. Stephen, Protomartyr; also of the bodies of SS. Gamaliel, Nicodemus, Abibo, &c, in the reign of Honorius.
The same came, &c, by night, for he was ashamed to approach the lowly Jesus by day, in the presence of others, and to become His disciple. For he was a master in Israel: and such a thing seemed beneath his authority and dignity. Another reason was that he might not incur the hatred of the Pharisees, who despised Christ. However, he found the light which he sought by night, as Ruperti says, and drank of the great sacraments of salvation. He seems to have come alone, without servant or companion, by night, to Christ, to have spoken with Him face to face, and to have imbibed His spirit and doctrine.
Thou are come a Teacher: Syriac, that Thou mayest be a Teacher, i.e, of the Jews. He does not say, Thou hast come that Thou mayest be the Messias, because about this he as yet felt no certainty. For Christ did not wish to enunciate this at the beginning of His preaching, but made it known by degrees.
These signs (Vulg.), these wonderful works which we have seen and heard that Thou hast done at the recent Passover, in the Temple; as, for instance, that Thou alone didst drive out of it all that bought and sold in it.
Except God be with him: except he be supported by the authority and omnipotence of God. For miracles are the works of God. They are not wrought by the power of men, or angels, but by God alone working supernaturally.
Jesus answered, &c, Amen, Amen. John on many occasions doubles the Amen (Eng. Ver. Verily), when the other Evangelists have only one. Why was this? I answer (1.) because he had above the rest the most lofty Revelation , and knew the deepest mysteries of the Deity. This was especially the case in his exile at Patmos, where he wrote the Apocalypse, which has, says S. Jerome, as many mysteries as it has words. And after this he wrote his Gospel when he was very old, and the sole survivor of the Apostolic College. Wherefore he was thenceforth the mouthpiece and oracle of the Church, the foundation and pillar of the faith, the patriarch of patriarchs. He saith therefore, as it were with plenary authority, as it were the Elder of elders, Amen, Amen. It is as though he said, "I announce to you, with the utmost weight and confidence, things most lofty and sublime, which surpass all human understanding and belief, but which Christ has revealed to me, which are therefore most certain, and most salutary for you. For Christ really used this twofold Amen, to indicate the sublimity and certainty of what He said. But the other Evangelists, studying conciseness, included two under one: but I, John , because I, beyond the others, have weighed and penetrated both the words of Christ and their meaning, say, Amen, Amen, as Christ Himself spoke."
2. Because Amen is the same as Verily. S. John was delighted with the name of Truth. And this he calls Christ, because He was The Word, that Isaiah , the Truth of the Father.
3. Because Amen is either a word signifying true, or else an adverb meaning truly. Wherefore we may explain thus- He who is the Amen, i.e, Christ, whose name is True, and the Truth, saith Amen, i.e, in truth, or most truly. Thus it is said in the Apocalypse ( Revelation 3:14), "Thus saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness," (Greek, ό ̉Αμὴν), i.e, He who is the Amen; He who is steadfast, true, constant, faithful; who is steadfastness itself, Truth itself, Faithfulness itself.
4. Amen, Amen, denotes the perfect truth and certainty of the matter and the things which are recorded by S. John The things which I say are most true and certain, more true than all other truths, more certain than all other certainty.
5. By Amen, Amen, he intimates a twofold manner of certainty, viz, that S. John knew the things which he wrote by means of a twofold knowledge, natural and Divine; that Isaiah , by experience and revelation. For with his eyes he saw these things, and with his ears he heard them, and by Christ"s Revelation , when he lay upon His breast, he understood them. Wherefore in his first Epistle he thus writes, "What we have seen and heard, and our hands have handled . . . we make known unto you."
Except one be born again. Observe that John leaves us to gather from this answer that Nicodemus, either tacitly or expressly, asked Christ to teach him the way to the kingdom of heaven which He preached. For Christ answers by saying that baptism was the way to heaven.
Again: Greek, άνωθεν, which has a twofold meaning1. From above, from heaven, meaning, Except any one be born again by a heavenly and Divine regeneration, he cannot enter the kingdom of God2. άνωθεν signifies again, a second time. And it is plain that it is so to be understood here from the answer of Nocodemus, John 3:4. So S. Chrysostom and others. The Syriac translates from the beginning. And the meaning Isaiah , man has two births, one which is natural and carnal, in which he is brought forth under the bond of original sin. Wherefore this birth does not give a man a title to heaven, but to hell. In order therefore that a man may be freed from this sin contracted through his natural birth, a second and spiritual birth must be experienced, by which he must in baptism be born again of water and of the Spirit, and so be cleansed and sanctified from sin.
Cannot see, i.e, possess, enjoy.
