The Great Commentary of Cornelius a Lapide: S. John
Chapter 3
There was a man , &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 the 3d 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 art 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. Verity), when the other Evangelists have only one. Why was this? I answer (1.) because he had above the rest the most lofty revelations, 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 is, 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 (iii. 14), “ Thus saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness.” (Greek, ὁ Ἀμήν, 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 is, 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 Christ’s 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, ἄνωθεν, which has a twofold meaning, 1. From above, from heaven, meaning, Except any one be born again by a heavenly and Divine regeneration, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 2. ἄνωθεν signifies again, a second time . And it is plain that it is so to be understood here from the answer of Nicodemus, ver. 4. So S. Chrysostom and others. The Syriac translates from the beginning. And the meaning is, 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.
Ver. 4. — Nicodemus saith , &c. “ He knew,” says S. Augustine, “but of one birth, that from Adam and Eve.”
Ver. 5 .—Jesus answered, &c. Calvin, in order to detract from the effect of justification by baptism, and therefore from the necessity of baptism (for he maintains that the children of believers are justified in the womb simply because they are the children of believers), denies that baptism is here spoken of. He says that by water, not water is to be understood, but the Holy Ghost, who, through faith, cleanses like water those who believe in Christ. He explains as follows, “ unless any one be born again of water, and (that is, of) the Holy Ghost.” Thus he says it is similarly spoken (S. Matt. iii. 11), He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire, i.e., with the Holy Spirit, who, like fire, shall inflame you with the love of God.
But all this is absurd and perverse, and condemned by the Church as heretical.
For, in the first place, why does Christ here make mention of water, if not men, but only fishes, are born again of water? Why did He not say briefly and simply to Nicodemus, who was ignorant of Christian doctrines (whom He here catechises and instructs like a child), except any one be born again of the Holy Ghost?
2. Because in a similar way S. Paul, alluding to this conversation, (Titus iii. 5), calls baptism the laver of regeneration . There in this spiritual birth we are born again of water, and are made sons of God, who before were children of the devil and wrath (Eph. ii. 3).
3. If it be lawful with Calvin to wrest this passage, then we may do the same with every other passage, and so pervert the whole of Scripture. No commandment will survive, not even the institution of baptism itself.
4. Calvin and his followers cannot possibly prove against the Anabaptists that infants, who are devoid of the exercise of reason and faith, ought to be baptized, from any other passage of Holy Scripture but this. Therefore, since they do not allow of tradition, they must needs prove infant baptism from this passage, unless they are willing to confess themselves vanquished by the Anabaptists.
5. All the Fathers and orthodox interpreters explain the passage in the same way as the Council of Trent (Sess. 7, Can. 2). Nor are the words in S. Matthew, “ He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire,” any contradiction. For there real fire is to be understood, as here true water. For there the day of Pentecost was referred to, when the Holy Ghost came down upon the apostles in the likeness of tongues of fire.