Nicodemus was a Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin. Pharisees were zealous in their keeping of the Laws of Moses. They were all about “doing” the right things – in so far as they defined those “right things” to be. They were well known to strain the letter over the spirit of the Law.(1) For example, the Pharisees developed such detailed rules for the observance of the Sabbath that they missed the whole purpose for why God created it to begin with.(2)

Since the Pharisees and the Sanhedrin were charged with interpreting what the “right things” were, it placed them in a position of great authority. There was no higher position of political power for a Jew in the time of Christ. Nicodemus was also considered to be one of the wealthiest men in Jerusalem of his day. So, he had it all – position, power, and money. And he was checking off the boxes – he was doing all the “right things.”

Jesus had overturned the money changers’ tables and scattered the merchants in the Temple just a few days prior to the night Nicodemus came to meet with Him.  As you can imagine, Jesus’s actions had created quite a stir among the Sanhedrin.(3) Who was this upstart Galilean that dared to question their authority and their practice? But they were reluctant to take any action against Him because of the notoriety He was gaining among the people of Jerusalem. The Sanhedrin had determined that before they openly opposed Jesus, perhaps it would be in their best interest to investigate Him a little further.

Nicodemus came to Jesus at night – under the cloak of darkness.(4) There are three possible explanations for him doing so. Perhaps he was a sincere seeker drawn to Jesus by the miracles that He performed, and he did not want others in the Sanhedrin to know of his visit. Word of his visit could greatly affect his reputation and position on the council. Or secondly, perhaps he came in his capacity as a member of the Sanhedrin, possibly self-appointed, to investigate Jesus further, and he did not want to lend undue credence to Jesus by making his visit public knowledge. Or thirdly, which is my conviction, it was a combination of both.

When Nicodemus arrived, he believed, or at least so he declared, Jesus to be inspired like the prophets of old – on a divine mission. But he did not believe He had a divine nature. This would explain for Nicodemus the source of Jesus’s power, but enable him to deny the authority of His Person. But Jesus immediately declared to him that His mission and His nature could not be separated. He declared that He was not only sent by God, He was also the Son of God, sent not to condemn the world, but so that the world through Him might be saved.(5)

In their conversation, Jesus redefined for Nicodemus what it meant to have a relationship with God. It wasn’t about following a list of “right things”; it was about following a Person – Jesus! The path to everlasting, abundant life wasn’t though a list of do’s and don’ts, but through Jesus. That was hard for a Pharisee to understand!

The reason that conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus came to my mind for this week’s post is because today is my “re-birth-day”. You see, thirty years ago i was doing a pretty good job of “doing the right things” – but in the midst of it all, i had missed the most important “thing”.

i had prayed “a prayer” when i was six years old at a Bible Club meeting in the basement of my grandparents’ home. i had “walked the aisle” at a citywide evangelistic crusade when i was ten. Soon after, my pastor “baptized” me at the church where my family was attending. To the best of my knowledge, i had “done” everything that i was supposed to “do” to know that i was “saved”. i wasn’t as wealthy or powerful as Nicodemus, but i was just as wrong!

i had missed the whole truth of the gospel! You see, i thought the gospel was all about checking the right boxes. I thought it was all about me doing the right things! i viewed it as being all about me – my sins being forgiven, and my eternal destiny being assured. 

Now don’t misunderstand me, both of those statements are truly by-products of salvation – but they are not God’s primary purpose. God’s ultimate purpose is not about us – it’s about Him! He desires for us to walk in a love relationship with Him – expressing our worship of Him and bringing glory to Him. Think of the picture that John describes in the Book of Revelation – as he writes about the multitude from every tribe, tongue and nation gathered around the throne of God worshipping Him.(6) Look in the book of Genesis – before sin entered the picture. The Lord God walked about the garden with Adam and Eve in the cool of the evening.(7)It was a picture of a loving relationship between the Creator and His creation. A relationship that was destroyed by sin. A relationship that Jesus came to restore – and to restore not solely for the hereafter – but also for the here and now.

Jesus made the way – not so i would just pray a prayer and check the box – He made the way for me to walk in the fullness of the relationship for which God created me – to love Him, to honor Him, to worship Him, to glorify Him – with my whole heart, soul, and mind. And yet somehow i had cheapened it, as if it represented some type of eternal life insurance policy that i “bought” by checking the boxes, to be “redeemed at my death”. 

On the days leading up to May 26, 1991, the Lord opened my eyes to the truth that i had settled for so much less than the gift He was extending to me. i had settled for a consumer’s imitation of the truth – “check the boxes and move on”.  

But the truth was what Jesus told Nicodemus that night: “For God so [greatly] loved and dearly prized the world, that He [even] gave His [One and] only begotten Son, so that whoever believes and trusts in Him [as Savior] shall not perish, but have eternal life.”(8)

So, on this day thirty years ago, i believed and trusted Him – without reservation -- signing over the title to my life to Him. Not to check a box, but to surrender my all to Him. And at that moment, just as Jesus described it to Nicodemus, i became reborn.

That’s a conversation Nicodemus needed to have with Jesus – and one that each of us needs to have as well. I’m trusting you’ve had it. If not, there isn’t a better time than right now! 

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This post is adapted from Walking With The Master, chapter 9, entitled “From Darkness Into Light”. This fourth book in the Lessons Learned In The Wilderness series is available through Amazon in print and for your e-reader. Click HERE for more information on how you can obtain your copy.

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(1)  2 Corinthians 3:6

(2)  Matthew 12:1-8

(3)  John 2:13-22

(4)  John 3:1-21

(5)  John 3:17

(6)  Revelation 7:9

(7)  Genesis 3:8

(8)  John 3:16 (Amplified Bible)

Copyright © 2021 Kenneth A. Winter All rights reserved.

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