Homilies on the Gospel of John

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, Unless a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.”

That is, “Unless you are born again and receive the right doctrines, you are wandering somewhere outside, and are far from the Kingdom of heaven.” But He does not speak so plainly as this. In order to make the saying less hard to bear, He does not plainly direct it at him, but speaks indefinitely, “Unless a man be born again”: all but saying, “both you and any other, who may have such opinions concerning Me, are somewhere outside the Kingdom.” Had He not spoken from a desire to establish this, His answer would have been suitable to what had been said. Now the Jews, if these words had been addressed to them, would have derided Him and departed; but Nicodemus shows here also his desire of instruction. And this is why in many places Christ speaks obscurely, because He wishes to rouse His hearers to ask questions, and to render them more attentive. For that which is said plainly often escapes the hearer, but what is obscure renders him more active and zealous. Now what He says, is something like this: “If you are not born again, if you partake not of the Spirit which is by the washing of Regeneration, you can not have a right opinion of Me, for the opinion which you have is not spiritual, but carnal.” But He did not speak thus, as refusing to confound one who had brought such as he had, and who had spoken to the best of his ability; and He leads him unsuspectedly up to greater knowledge, saying, “Unless a man be born again.” The word “again,” in this place, some understand to mean “from heaven,” others, “from the beginning.” “It is impossible,” says Christ, “for one not so born to see the Kingdom of God”; in this pointing to Himself, and declaring that there is another beside the natural sight, and that we have need of other eyes to behold Christ. Having heard this...