Commentaries:
Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown
earthly things—such as regeneration, the gate of entrance to the kingdom of God on earth, and which Nicodemus should have understood better, as a truth even of that more earthly economy to which he belonged.
heavenly things—the things of the new and more heavenly evangelical economy, only to be fully understood after the effusion of the Spirit from heaven through the exalted Saviour.
We speak that we know, and . . . have seen—that is, by absolute knowledge and immediate vision of God, which "the only-begotten Son in the bosom of the Father" claims as exclusively His own (John 1:18). The "we" and "our" are here used, though Himself only is intended, in emphatic contrast, probably, with the opening words of Nicodemus, "Rabbi, we know.", etc.
ye receive not, etc.—referring to the class to which Nicodemus belonged, but from which he was beginning to be separated in spirit.
Other Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown entries containing John 3:12:
John 3:14-16
2 Corinthians 12:4
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