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Opportunely has the Lord procured for us that this passage should occur in its order to day: for I suppose you have observed, beloved, that we have undertaken to consider and explain the Gospel according to John in due course. Opportunely then it occurs, that today you should hear from the Gospel, that, Unless a man be born again of water and of the Spirit, he shall not see the kingdom of God. For it is time that we exhort you, who are still catechumens, who have believed in Christ in such wise, that you are still bearing your sins. And none shall see the kingdom of heaven while burdened with sins; for none shall reign with Christ, but he to whom they have been forgiven: but forgiven they cannot be, but to him who is born again of water and of the Holy Spirit. But let us observe all the words what they imply, that here the sluggish may find with what earnestness they must haste to put off their burden. For were they bearing some heavy load, either of stone, or of wood, or even of some gain; if they were carrying grain, or wine, or money, they would run to put off their loads: they are carrying a burden of sins, and yet are sluggish to run. You must run to put off this burden; it weighs you down, it drowns you.
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Behold, you have heard that when our Lord Jesus Christ was in Jerusalem at the Passover, on the feast day, many believed in His name, seeing the signs which He did. Many believed in His name; and what follows? But Jesus did not trust Himself to them. Now what does this mean, They believed, or trusted, in His name; and yet Jesus did not trust Himself to them;? Was it, perhaps, that they had not believed on Him, but were feigning to have believed, and that therefore Jesus did not trust Himself to them? But the evangelist would not have said, Many believed in His name, if he were not giving a true testimony to them. A great thing, then, it is, and a wonderful thing: men believe in Christ, and Christ trusts not Himself to men. Especially is it wonderful, since, being the Son of God, He of course suffered willingly. If He were not willing, He would never have suffered, since, had He not willed it, He had not been born; and if He had willed this only, merely to be born and not to die, He might have done even whatever He willed, because He is the almighty Son of the almighty Father. Let us prove it by facts. For when they wished to hold Him, He departed from them. The Gospel says, And when they would have cast Him headlong from the top of the mountain, He departed from them unhurt. And when they came to lay hold of Him, after He was sold by Judas the traitor, who imagined that he had it in his power to deliver up his Master and Lord, there also the Lord showed that He suffered of His own will, not of necessity. For when the Jews desired to lay hold of Him, He said to them, Whom do you seek? But they said, Jesus of Nazareth. And said He, I am He. On hearing this saying, they went backward, and fell to the ground. In this, that in answering them He threw them to the ground, He showed His power; that in His being taken by them He might show His will. It was of compassion, then, that He suffered. For He was delivered up for our sins, and rose again for our justification. Hear His own words: I have power to lay down my life, and I have power to take it again: no man takes it from me, but I lay it down of myself, that I may take it again. Since, therefore, He had such power, since He declared it by words, showed it by deeds, what then does it mean that Jesus did not trust Himself to them, as if they would do Him some harm against His will, or would do something to Him against His will, especially seeing that they had already believed in His name? Moreover, of the same persons the evangelist says, They believed in His name, of whom he says, But Jesus did not trust Himself to them. Why? Because He knew all men, and needed not that any should bear witness of man: for Himself knew what was in man. The artificer knew what was in His own work better than the work knew what was in itself. The Creator of man knew what was in man, which the created man himself knew not. Do we not prove this of Peter, that he knew not what was in himself, when he said, With You, even to death? Hear that the Lord knew what was in man: Thou with me even to death? Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before the cock crow, you shall deny me thrice. The man, then, knew not what was in himself; but the Creator of the man knew what was in the man. Nevertheless, many believed in His name, and yet Jesus did not trust Himself to them. What can we say, brethren? Perhaps the circumstances that follow will indicate to us what the mystery of these words is. That men had believed in Him is manifest, is true; none doubts it, the Gospel says it, the truth-speaking evangelist testifies to it. Again, that Jesus trusted not Himself to them is also manifest, and no Christian doubts it; for the Gospel says this also, and the same truth-speaking evangelist testifies to it. Why, then, is it that they believed in His name, and yet Jesus did not trust Himself to them? Let us see what follows.
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And there was a man of the Pharisees, Nicodemus by name, a ruler of the Jews: the same came to Him by night, and said to Him, Rabbi (you already know that Master is called Rabbi), we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no man can do these signs which You do, except God be with him. This Nicodemus, then, was of those who had believed in His name, as they saw the signs and prodigies which He did. For this is what he said above: Now, when He was in Jerusalem at the passover on the feast-day, many believed in His name. Why did they believe? He goes on to say, Seeing His signs which He did. And what says he of Nicodemus? There was a ruler of the Jews, Nicodemus by name the same came to Him by night, and says to Him, Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God. Therefore this man also had believed in His name. And why had he believed? He goes on, For no man can do these signs which You do, unless God be with him. If, therefore, Nicodemus was of those who had believed in His name, let us now consider, in the case of this Nicodemus, why Jesus did not trust Himself to them. Jesus answered and said to him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Unless a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Therefore to them who have been born again does Jesus trust Himself. Behold, those men had believed on Him, and yet Jesus trusted not Himself to them. Such are all catechumens: already they believe in the name of Christ, but Jesus does not trust Himself to them. Give good heed, my beloved, and understand. If we say to a catechumen, Do you believe in Christ, he answers, I believe, and signs himself; already he bears the cross of Christ on his forehead, and is not ashamed of the cross of his Lord. Behold, he has believed in His name. Let us ask him, Do you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink the blood of the Son of man? He knows not what we say, because Jesus has not trusted Himself to him.
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Therefore, since Nicodemus was of that number, he came to the Lord, but came by night; and this perhaps pertains to the matter. Came to the Lord, and came by night; came to the Light, and came in the darkness. But what do they that are born again of water and of the Spirit hear from the apostle? You were once darkness, but now light in the Lord; walk as children of light; and again, But we who are of the day, let us be sober. Therefore they who are born again were of the night, and are of the day; were darkness, and are light. Now Jesus trusts Himself to them, and they come to Jesus, not by night, like Nicodemus; not in darkness do they seek the day. For such now also profess: Jesus has come near to them, has made salvation in them; for He said, Except a man eat my flesh, and drink my blood, he shall not have life in him. And as the catechumens have the sign of the cross on their forehead, they are already of the great house; but from servants let them become sons. For they are something who already belong to the great house. But when did the people Israel eat the manna? After they had passed the Red Sea. And as to what the Red Sea signifies, hear the apostle: Moreover, brethren, I would not have you ignorant, that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea. To what purpose passed they through the sea? As if you were asking of him, he goes on to say, And all were baptized by Moses in the cloud and in the sea. Now, if the figure of the sea had such efficacy, how great will be the efficacy of the true form of baptism! If what was done in a figure brought the people, after they had crossed over, to the manna, what will Christ impart, in the verity of His baptism, to His own people, brought over through Himself? By His baptism He brings over them that believe; all their sins, the enemies as it were that pursue them, being slain, as all the Egyptians perished in that sea. Whither does He bring over, my brethren? Whither does Jesus bring over by baptism, of which Moses then showed the figure, when he brought them through the sea? Whither? To the manna. What is the manna? I am, says He, the living bread, which came down from heaven. The faithful receive the manna, having now been brought through the Red Sea? Why Red Sea? Besides sea, why also red? That Red Sea signified the baptism of Christ. How is the baptism of Christ red, but as consecrated by Christ’s blood? Whither, then, does He lead those that believe and are baptized? To the manna. Behold, manna, I say: what the Jews, that people Israel, received, is well known, well known what God had rained on them from heaven; and yet catechumens know not what Christians receive. Let them blush, then, for their ignorance; let them pass through the Red Sea, let them eat the manna, that as they have believed in the name of Jesus, so likewise Jesus may trust Himself to them.
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Therefore mark, my brethren, what answer this man who came to Jesus by night makes. Although he came to Jesus, yet because he came by night, he still speaks from the darkness of his own flesh. He understands not what he hears from the Lord, understands not what he hears from the Light, which lights every man that comes into this world. Already has the Lord said to him, Unless a man be born again, he shall not see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus says unto Him, How can a man be born again when he is old? The Spirit speaks to him, and he thinks of the flesh. He thinks of his own flesh, because as yet he thinks not of Christ’s flesh. For when the Lord Jesus had said, Except a man eat my flesh, and drink my blood, he shall not have life in him, some who followed Him were offended, and said among themselves, This is a hard saying; who can hear it? For they fancied that, in saying this, Jesus meant that they would be able to cook Him, after being cut up like a lamb, and eat Him: horrified at His words, they went back, and no more followed Him. Thus speaks the evangelist: And the Lord Himself remained with the twelve; and they said to Him, Lo, those have left You. And He said, Will ye also go away? — wishing to show them that He was necessary to them, not they necessary to Christ. Let no man fancy that he frightens Christ, when he tells Him that he is a Christian; as if Christ will be more blessed if you be a Christian. It is a good thing for you to be a Christian; but if you be not, it will not be ill for Christ. Hear the voice of the psalm, I said to the Lord, You are my God, since You have no need of my goods. For that reason, You are my God, since of my goods You have no need. If you be without God, you will be less; if you be with God, God will not be greater. Not from you will He be greater, but you without Him will be less. Grow, therefore, in Him; do not withdraw yourself, that He may, as it were, diminish. You will be renewed if you come to Him, will suffer loss if you depart from Him. He remains entire when you come to Him, remains entire even when you fall away. When, therefore, He had said to His disciples, Will ye also go away? Peter, that Rock, answered with the voice of all, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Pleasantly savored the Lord’s flesh in his mouth. The Lord, however, expounded to them, and said, It is the Spirit that quickens. After He had said, Except a man eat my flesh, and drink my blood, he shall not have life in him, lest they should understand it carnally, He said, It is the Spirit that quickens, but the flesh profits nothing: the words which I have spoken unto you are spirit and life.
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This Nicodemus, who had come to Jesus by night, did not savor of this spirit and this life. Says Jesus to him, Unless a man be born again, he shall not see the kingdom of God. And he, savoring of his own flesh, while as yet he savored not of the flesh of Christ in his mouth, says, How can a man be born a second time, when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? This man knew but one birth, that from Adam and Eve; that which is from God and the Church he knew not yet: he knew only those parents that bring forth to death, knew not yet the parents that bring forth to life; he knew but the parents that bring forth successors, knew not yet the ever-living parents that bring forth those that shall abide.