Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?
Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master, х su (G4771) ei (G1487) ho (G3588) didaskalos (G1320)] - rather, 'Art thou the teacher.' Perhaps this means only, 'Dost, thou occupy the important post of the teacher,' or doctor of the law; not, as some good critics understand it, 'Art thou the well-known,' or 'distinguished teacher,' "of Israel, and knowest not these things?" The question clearly implies that the doctrine of regeneration was so far disclosed in the Old Testament as to render Nicodemus' ignorance of it culpable. Nor is it merely as something that should be experienced under the Gospel that the Old Testament holds it forth-as many distinguished critics allege, denying that there was any such thing as regeneration before Christ. For our Lord's proposition is universal, that no fallen man is or can be spiritual without a regenerating operation of the Holy Spirit; and surely the necessity of a spiritual obedience, under whatever name in opposition to mere mechanical services, which is proclaimed throughout all the Old Testament, amounts to a proclamation of the necessity of regeneration.