NICODEMUS

Text:  John 3:1-17

Theme:  "Nicodemus"

2nd Sunday in Lent

March 16, 2014

FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

Denton, Texas

Rev. Paul R. Dunklau

+In the Name of Jesus+

Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. ² He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”

³ Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.^[a]”

⁴ “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”

⁵ Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. ⁶ Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit^[b] gives birth to spirit. ⁷ You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You^[c] must be born again.’ ⁸ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”^[d]

⁹ “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.

¹⁰ “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? ¹¹ Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. ¹² I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? ¹³ No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man.^[e] 14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,^[f] 15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”^[g]

¹⁶ For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

It has been awhile back now and my memory isn't quite as sharp as it once was, but I do remember those heady days leading up to ordination in the Presbyterian Church. It takes me back to 2010.  Grace Presbytery's Committee on Ministry had examined me, and so did the presbytery itself when it took up consideration of my call.  One question both the committee and the presbytery asked had to do with women in the Bible.  I was asked to name three and then explain why they were influential to me.  I mentioned Rahab, the prostitute.  You may recall that God used her to help the Israelite spies as they moved in on the promised land.  The second woman was Ruth.  What loyalty she demonstrated to Naomi!  She had such an earnestness of faith.  Finally, I mentioned Lydia who we encounter in the New Testament book of Acts.  She became a follower of Christ, and she extended hospitality -- room, board, and then some -- to the apostles.  She was a business woman -- a dealer in purple goods.  She didn't stay home and bake cookies -- although I'm sure they would have been tasty cookies. 

No one ever asked me about men in the Bible.  But if they asked now, I would put one gentleman at the top of the list.  His name is Nicodemus.  "He was a Pharisee,", we are told, "who was a member of the Jewish ruling council."  So it's pretty safe to say that he was not an atheist or an agnostic, as we know of them today.  He was a religious man, and his religious beliefs informed his calling.  Sounds good, doesn't it? Being both a Pharisee and a member of the Jewish ruling council, he was also an educated man. 

At this point it's important to point out that the group of folks he hung out with, the Pharisees, were not exactly "buddy/buddy" with Jesus.  Jesus wasn't their "BFF" or "bestie" -- to use two of the more popular terms.  As Reza Aslan has pointed out in his recent book Zealot:  The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus wasn't the only rabbi -- or would-be Messiah -- running around that had a group of followers.  There were quite a few that go unmentioned in the Bible. 

Two things made Jesus of Nazareth stand out, however.  First, He called His followers.  His followers didn't first ask Him if they could be His followers.  That made Him different.   Second, Jesus performed signs or miracles.  This second item may have motivated Nicodemus to seek out Jesus for a chat.   The circumstantial evidence suggests as much -- and even the text:  "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God.  For no one could perform the signs You are doing if God were not with him."  But, by and large, for the people that Nicodemus ran around with, Jesus was an agitator, a fraud, a liar.  C.S. Lewis put it nicely when he remarked that Jesus is  "a liar, a lunatic, or the Lord."  The religious establishment of Jesus day didn't see Him as the Lord, so that left liar and/or lunatic.  And fine religious people can't have liars or lunatics running around the countryside upsetting their cherished traditions and moral applecarts, can they?  So Jesus has to go.  They hadn't even arrested Him, but they already convicted and executed him in their minds.

Apparently, Nicodemus did not jump to those conclusions.  He would draw his own.  He was not, as they say today, "closed-minded".  At this point, I don't believe He had gone all-in for Jesus, but neither do I think He was ready to reject Him out of hand as liar or lunatic.  He may have been confused, but he had an open mind. 

Not only that, he had an inquiring mind.  Thus, if you're confused about a few things and if you have an opportunity, why not go to the source?  Don't bother with hearsay or second-hand information.  Seek the person out and have a one-on-one chat with him. 

But wait.  What if that gets you in hot water?  What if you're spotted by your closed-minded friends?  Why, they might accuse you of guilt by association.  "You're associating with Jesus?  Has He flipped you or something?"  They could run you out and run you up on a Roman cross -- like they did with Jesus. 

I love it!  The intrigue is starting to mount!  Nicodemus, in planning on a visit with Jesus, was thinking about some seriously risky business.  It took some guts.  As Vice-President Francis Underwood says in the Netflix series House of Cards, "It's hunt, or be hunted." 

You know, if you venture out at night, you're not as easily spotted -- and that for the obvious reason that it's dark outside.   Do wear dark clothing too.  Go out the back door and slip through the fence.   People don't see as clearly; there are shadows.  Nicodemus would have to had picked a night when the Sanhedrin was not in session.  He has a little free time.  I wonder if he came up with a pre-arranged alibi?

How did he know where to find Jesus?  I have no idea.  But He did. 

Jesus didn't think Him a liar or a lunatic.  He didn't say "Get out of here; you're a piece of work;  you make me sick."  He welcomed the man; he engaged the man in a brief conversation that is one of the greatest in recorded history.

It was to this man, Nicodemus, who had come to our Lord at night, who first heard the words:  "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.  For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him."

I wonder what impact those words had on Nicodemus.  Perhaps someday we'll know. 

The next time we hear of Nicodemus, we discover that his colleagues, the Pharisees, are trying to arrest and condemn Jesus essentially without cause.  Nicodemus, then, speaks up:  “Does our law condemn a man without first hearing him to find out what he has been doing?”  He knew the answer.  His own closed-minded colleagues were subverting the very law they were pledged to uphold.  That may have been the last straw for Nicodemus.

The final time we hear of him, he is together with another man by the name of Joseph from Arimathea.  Nicodemus goes to Jesus again, but this time it didn't matter if it was dark outside.  Everyone can see him now.  Everyone can see Jesus too, for Jesus is dead.  Together with Joseph of Arimathea, Nicodemus removes the lifeless body of Jesus from the Roman cross.   It was the last labor of love for the Man who said:  "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.  For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him."

The name Nicodemus means "victory for the people."  Amen.