João 3
Ephrem the Syrian · Comentário Patrístico (catena)
João 3:10
Indeed, he [Nicodemus] should have known what came from the Law and the Prophets: the cleansing with hyssop, the waters for ceremonial sprinkling, the baptisms for cleansing, and all the rest. If these had not been signified as types before the coming of the Son, our Lord would have been accusing Nicodemus falsely because of them. But if they were hidden from him in his Scriptures, and he did not clearly identify them, he [our Lord] rightly put to flight his sleep, healed his infirmity by his gentle voice, and reminded him of the baptism of atonement that existed in Israel.… But this was done gently, because he [our Lord] saw that he [Nicodemus] was sick but close to healing. And since he did not understand what was previously written down in the Law, our Lord showed him the baptism of complete atonement for both body and soul. Truly, Nicodemus, did you not perceive that Jacob was born into the right of the firstborn without [the aid of] belly or womb, or that Naaman was renewed apart from a womb when Elisha spoke to him? … And likewise for Miriam. Come now, was it not known that this was a sign of baptism given to the nations, for hyssop makes what was stained white? — COMMENTARY ON TATIAN'S DIATESSARON 14.13
João 3:14
It was shown by the brazen [serpent], which by its nature cannot suffer, that he would suffer on the cross, who by his nature cannot die. — COMMENTARY ON TATIAN'S DIATESSARON 14.15
João 3:16
Abraham had many servants. Why did he [God] not tell him to offer up one of them as a sacrifice? It was only because his love would not be shown in a servant. His son was thus needed, so that through him Abraham's love would be revealed. God had servants like this, but he did not show his love through any of them for his creatures, but rather through his Son, so that through him his love toward us might be proclaimed.…From [the time of] Abraham, the symbols of the wood and of the lamb began to take shape. Isaac was a symbol of the lamb [caught] in the tree, and Jacob showed the wood that was life-giving for water. Thus wood was esteemed as worthy for him to hang upon it, because not a bone in him was broken. As for the earth, its fruits are stimulated by wood, and for the sea, its treasures are taken by means of wood. This is also the case for the body and the soul. Thus it [the wood of the cross] was carved by the fury of the savage crowd. It was like a mute person in its silence, but in its use it bore fruit exalting the status of human beings. — COMMENTARY ON TATIAN'S DIATESSARON 21.7, 9