14 As the snake was lifted up by Moses in the waste land, even so it is necessary for the Son of man to be lifted up:
Then the people came to Moses and said, We have done wrong in crying out against the Lord and against you: make prayer to the Lord to take away the snakes from us. So Moses made prayer for the people. And the Lord said to Moses, Make an image of a snake and put it on a rod, and anyone who has been wounded by the snakes, looking on it will be made well. So Moses made a snake of brass and put it on a rod; and anyone who had a snakebite, after looking on the snake of brass, was made well.
So Jesus said, When the Son of man has been lifted up by you, then it will be clear to you who I am, and that I do nothing of myself, but say as the Father gave me teaching.
And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will make all men come to me. (This he said, pointing to the sort of death he would have.) Then the people in answer said to him, The law says that the Christ will have life without end: how say you then that it is necessary for the Son of man to be lifted up? Who is this Son of man?
He had the high places taken away, and the stone pillars broken to bits, and the Asherah cut down; and the brass snake which Moses had made was crushed to powder at his order, because in those days the children of Israel had offerings burned before it, and he gave it the name Nehushtan.
And he took with him the twelve and said to them, Now we are going up to Jerusalem, and all the things which were said by the prophets will be done to the Son of man. For he will be given up to the Gentiles, and will be made sport of and put to shame: And he will be given cruel blows and put to death, and on the third day he will come back to life.
And how the chief priests and our rulers gave him up to be put to death on the cross.
And he said to them, These are the words which I said to you when I was still with you, how it was necessary for all the things which are in the writings of Moses and the prophets and in the Psalms about me, to be put into effect. Then he made the holy Writings clear to their minds. And he said to them, So it is in the Writings that the Christ would undergo death, and come back to life again on the third day;
Him, when he was given up, by the decision and knowledge of God, you put to death on the cross, by the hands of evil men:
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on John 3
Commentary on John 3 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 3
In this chapter we have,
Jhn 3:1-21
We found, in the close of the foregoing chapter, that few were brought to Christ at Jerusalem; yet here was one, a considerable one. It is worth while to go a great way for the salvation though but of one soul. Observe,
This great truth of the necessity of regeneration being thus solemnly laid down,
Jhn 3:22-36
In these verses we have,
From the certainty of Christ's doctrine, John takes occasion,