Johannes 3:27 Kommentar

In this chapter we have, I. Christ's discourse with Nicodemus, a Pharisee, concerning the great mysteries of the gospel, in which he here privately instructs him (v. 1-21). II. John Baptist's discourse with his disciples concerning Christ, upon occasion of his coming into the neighbourhood where John was (Joh 3:22-36), in which he fairly and faithfully resigns all his honour and interest to him.

For John was not yet cast into prison. As he afterwards was by Herod, for the sake of Herodias, because he reproved Herod for taking her to be his wife, when she was wife to his brother Philip; see Mat 14:3; and this circumstance shows, that these things were done before that journey of Christ into Galilee, mentioned in Mat 4:12. . John 3:25 joh 3:25 joh 3:25 joh 3:25Then there arose a question,.... A dispute, or controversy, occasioned by the baptism, of John and Christ: between some of John's disciples, and the Jews. The Syriac and Persic versions read, "between one of John's disciples, and a certain Jew"; and Nonnus renders it, "with an Hebrew man"; and so the Alexandrian manuscript; many others read, "with a Jew": the contention between them was about purifying; either about the ceremonial purifications, and ablutions commanded in the law of Moses; or concerning the various washings of persons, and vessels, according to the traditions of the elders, which the Jews in common were very tenacious of; and which they thought were brought into neglect, and contempt, by the baptism of John: and this seems to have been occasioned by the baptism of Christ; which the Jew might improve against the disciple of John, and urge, that since another, besides his master, had set up baptizing, who could tell which was most right and safest to follow? and therefore it would have been much better, if no such rite at all had been used by any, but that the purifications required by the law of Moses, and by their elders, had been strictly and solely attended to.

Ye yourselves bear me witness,.... In what they now said, and referred to, in describing Christ, as he to whom John bore witness; and he appeals to them for what he said in their presence, and before all the people in that testimony: that I said I am not the Christ; see Joh 1:19; wherefore, if he, who is the Christ, is now come, and teaches, and baptizes, and has the greatest number of followers, it is not to be wondered at; and much less to be envied; but rather to be rejoiced at. For John, by repeating what he had before said, that he was not the Christ, suggests, that Jesus was; and therefore was superior to him in office, honour, and usefulness, who was only his harbinger and forerunner, as follows: but I am sent before him; to prepare his way, to make straight his paths, to proclaim his coming, and kingdom, being at hand; and that the expectations of men may be raised, and they may be ready to receive him when come: and hereby the end of John's office, and ministry, had its accomplishment. The Ethiopic version adds, "to preach him".

That we must boast in nothing, since nothing is our own. In the Gospel according to John: "No one can receive anything, except it were given him from heaven."387 Also in the first Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians: "For what hast thou that thou hast not received? But if thou hast received it, why boastest thou, as if thou hadst not received it? "388 Also in the first of Kings: "Boast not, neither speak lofty things, and let not great speeches proceed out of your mouth, for the Lord is a God of knowledge."389 Also in the same place: "The bow of the mighty men has been made weak, and the weak are girt about with strength."390 Of this same thing in the Maccabees: "It is just to be subjected to God, and that a mortal should not think things equal to God."391 Also in the same place: "And fear not the words of a man that is a sinner, because his glory shall be filth and worms. Today he shall be lifted up, and to-morrow he shall not be found; because he is turned into his earth, and his thought has perished."392

Julianus of Telepte said: It is written, "No man can receive anything unless it have been given him from heaven." If heresy is from heaven, it can also give baptism.

"A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from above." Marvel not, if he speak of Christ in a lowly strain; it was impossible to teach all at once, and from the very beginning, men so pre-occupied by passion. But he desires to strike them for a while with awe and terror, and to show them that they warred against none other than God Himself, when they warred against Christ. And here he secretly establishes that truth, which Gamaliel asserted, "Ye cannot overthrow it, lest haply ye be found even to fight against God." For to say, "None can receive anything, except it be given him from heaven," was nothing else than declaring that they were attempting impossibilities, and so would be found to fight against God. "Well, but did not Theudas and his followers 'receive' from themselves?" They did, but they straightway were scattered and destroyed, not so what belonged to Christ.

By this also he gently consoles them, showing them that it was not a man, but God, who surpassed them in honor; and that therefore they must not wonder if what belonged to Him was glorious, and if "all men came unto Him": for that this was the nature of divine things, and that it was God who brought them to pass, because no man ever yet had power to do such deeds. All human things are easily seen through, and rotten, and quickly melt away and perish; these were not such, therefore not human. Observe too how when they said, "to whom thou barest witness," he turned against themselves that which they thought they had put forward to lower Christ, and silences them after showing that Jesus' glory came not from his testimony; "A man cannot," he saith, "receive anything of himself, except it be given him from heaven." "If ye hold at all to my testimony, and believe it to be true, know that by that testimony ye ought to prefer not me to Him, but Him to me. For what was it that I testified? I call you yourselves to witness."

(Tr. xiii. c. 9) Or perhaps John is speaking here of himself: I am a mere man, and have received all from heaven, and therefore think not that, because it has been given me to be somewhat, I am so foolish as to speak against the truth.

John confessed Him: as you have heard that when Jesus was making many disciples, and they reported to John as if to excite him to jealousy,-for they told the matter as if moved by envy, "Lo, he is making more disciples than thou,"-John confessed what he was, and thereby merited to belong to Him, because he dared not affirm himself to be that which Jesus is. Now this is what John said: "A man cannot receive anything, except it be given him from heaven." Therefore Christ gives, man receives.

"He answered and said, A man cannot receive anything, except it be given him from heaven." Of whom, think you, had John said this? Of himself. "As a man, I received," saith he, "from heaven." Note, my beloved: "A man cannot receive anything, except it be given him from heaven. Ye yourselves bear me witness that I said, I am not the Christ." As much as to say, "Why do ye deceive yourselves? See how you have put this question before me. What have you said to me? 'Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou barest witness.' Then you know what sort of witness I bare to Him. Am I now to say that He is not the same whom I declared Him to be? And because I received somewhat from heaven, in order to be something, do you wish me to be empty of it, so as to speak against the truth? 'A man cannot receive anything, except it be given him from heaven. Ye yourselves bear me witness that I said I am not the Christ.'" Thou art not the Christ; but what if thou art greater than He since thou didst baptize Him? "I am sent:" I am the herald, He is the Judge.

A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven. He says that there is nothing good in man, but must needs be wholly the gift of God, For it befits the creation to hear, What hast thou that thou didst not receive? I think then that we ought to be content with the measures allotted to us, and to rejoice in the honours apportioned to us from heaven, but by no means to stretch out beyond, nor in desire ever of what is greater unthankfully to despise the decree from above, and fight against the judgment of the Lord, in shame that one should appear to receive what is less than the more perfect: but with whatsoever God shall please to honour us, to value that highly. Let not my disciple therefore, saith he, be ashamed, if I do not overleap the measure given me, if I do not contemplate the greater, and am contracted to the glory befitting a man.

John, wishing to frighten them and show that by hindering Christ and pushing Him away from glory they are warring against God, says: "A man can receive nothing of himself"; and further: "If," he says, "it had not been given from heaven, then He Whom you envy would not have increased. Therefore you sin twice at once: once in that you oppose the decree of God, and again in that you undertake the impossible." Along with this he also somewhat reassures them by the fact that the one overcoming them is not a man, but God. "And we too," he says, "what we had, we had not from ourselves, but from heaven. If the works of Christ are more glorious, then one should not be surprised, for such is the will of God."

Here we have John's answer to the question presented to him by his disciples. Their question contained two points: a complaint about the office Christ took on, and so they said, he is here baptizing; and about Christ's increasing fame and reputation among the people, and so they said, all the people are flocking to him. Accordingly, John directs his answer to these two complaints. First he answers the complaint about the office Christ took on. Secondly, the complaint about Christ's increasing reputation (v 30). As to the first he does two things. First, he shows the source of Christ's office and of his own. Secondly, their difference (v 28). Thirdly, how Christ and he are related to these offices. As to the first, note that although John's disciples broach their question maliciously, and so deserve to be rebuked, John nevertheless does not sharply reprove them; and this because of their imperfection. For he feared that they might be provoked by a rebuke, leave him, and, joining forces with the Pharisees, publicly harass Christ. In acting this way he was putting into practice what is said of the Lord: "The bruised reed he will not break" (Is 42:3). Again, we should also note that he begins his answer not by telling them what is great and wonderful about Christ, but what is common and obvious; and he did this on account of their envy. For since the excellence of a person provokes others to envy, if John had stressed Christ's excellence at once, he would have fed the fire of their envy. Thus he states something unpretentious, and says, No one can lay hold of anything unless it is given to him from heaven; and he said this to them in order to inspire them with reverence. As if to say: If all men are going to him, it is God's doing, because no one can lay hold of anything, in the order of perfection and goodness, unless it is given to him from heaven. Therefore, if you oppose him, you oppose God. "If this plan or work is from men, it will fail," as is said in Acts (5:38). This is the way Chrysostom explains it, applying these words to Christ. Augustine, on the other hand, does much better when he refers them to John. No one can lay hold of anything unless it is given to him from heaven: as if to say: You are zealous on my behalf and you want me to be greater than Christ; but that has not been given to me, and I do not wish to usurp it: "No one takes this honor on himself" (Heb 5:4). This is the origin of their offices.

The conversation between Nicodemus and our Lord, about the new birth and faith in his testimony, Joh 3:1-15. The love of God, the source of human salvation, Joh 3:16. Who are condemned, and who are approved, Joh 3:17-21. Jesus and his disciples come to Judea, and baptize, Joh 3:22. John baptizes in Aenon, Joh 3:23, Joh 3:24. The disciples of John and the Pharisees dispute about purifying, Joh 3:25. The discourse between John and his disciples about Christ, in which the excellence, perfection, and privileges, of the Christian dispensation are pointed out, Joh 3:26-36.

A man can receive nothing, etc. - Or, A man can receive nothing from heaven, unless it be given him. I have received, not only my commission, but the power also by which I have executed it, from above. As I took it up at God's command, so I am ready to lay it down when he pleases. I have told you from the beginning that I was only the forerunner of the Messiah, and was sent, not to form a separate party, but to point out to men that Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world: Joh 3:28.

NIGHT INTERVIEW OF NICODEMUS WITH JESUS. (John 3:1-21) Nicodemus--In this member of the Sanhedrim sincerity and timidity are seen struggling together.

A man, &c.--"I do my heaven-prescribed work, and that is enough for me. Would you have me mount into my Master's place? Said I not unto you, I am not the Christ? The Bride is not mine, why should the people stay with me?? Mine it is to point the burdened to the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world, to tell them there is Balm in Gilead, and a Physician there. And shall I grudge to see them, in obedience to the call, flying as a cloud, and as doves to their windows? Whose is the Bride but the Bridegroom's? Enough for me to be the Bridegroom's friend, sent by Him to negotiate the match, privileged to bring together the Saviour and those He is come to seek and to save, and rejoicing with joy unspeakable if I may but 'stand and hear the Bridegroom's voice,' witnessing the blessed espousals. Say ye, then, they go from me to Him? Ye bring me glad tidings of great joy. He must increase, but I must decrease; this, my joy, therefore is fulfilled." A man can receive, &c.--assume nothing, that is, lawfully and with any success; that is, Every man has his work and sphere appointed him from above, Even Christ Himself came under this law (Heb 5:4).