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Since beginning my journey as an author a little over three years ago, i have had the opportunity to engage with a growing number of readers from around the world regarding the Good News of Jesus. In so doing, i have encountered an ever-increasing number who not only tell me they do not believe in Him; they also deny that Jesus is who He said He is. As a matter of fact, those opinions are often shared with me with a surprising amount of vitriol directed toward Him, toward what He taught, and toward those who follow Him.
It has caused me to have a greater understanding of the hatred that was unleashed against Jesus in the first century. Jesus was seen as a threat to many within the religious elite of the day. His teachings threatened not only their religious beliefs but also their power structure. Rather than choosing to honestly seek Jesus and receive His truth, many in the first century opted to harden their hearts and vilify Him.
But there is one man who stands out to me from their midst. He wasn’t the only one … but his story in particular has made a great impression on me. In a day when most religious leaders were known for their efforts to discredit the ministry of Jesus, there came one who earnestly sought Him. In a day when most religious leaders mocked Jesus as He hung on a cross, there came one who meekly chose to help bury His body. And in a day when most religious leaders felt threatened by Jesus, there came one who courageously chose to take a stand for Him.
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) In many ways they had marginalized God outside of their thinking and replaced Him with their own beliefs and rules.
Since the Pharisees and the Sanhedrin were charged with interpreting what the “right things” were, it placed them in a position of great authority, and there was no one to question them. There was no higher position of political power for a Jew in the time of Christ.
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? And to make matters worse, He was gaining notoriety because of the many miracles He was performing among the people. The Sanhedrin understood the axiom of leadership that says, “you are truly only leading if others are following”. The people were beginning to follow this One from Nazareth.
Nicodemus came to Jesus at night.(4) There are three possible explanations for the time of his visit. Perhaps he was an anxious inquirer 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 would greatly affect his reputation and position on the council. Or perhaps, he came in his capacity as a member of the Sanhedrin, though perhaps self-appointed, to investigate Jesus further and he did not want to lend credence to Jesus by making his visit public knowledge. Or maybe, as is my conviction, it was a combination of both.
When Nicodemus arrived, he believed, or at least he declared, Jesus to be inspired like the prophets of old – on a divine mission, but not having a divine nature. This would explain the source of His power but 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)
Jesus told Nicodemus that not only had he come to Jesus under the cover of darkness, but he was blinded from seeing the truth about Jesus because of the cover of darkness of his sin. “You are a teacher,” Jesus said, “and yet you do not understand.” And to paraphrase, “You do not understand, because you do not see”; and “You do not see, because you are blinded.” But God sent the Light of heaven in the form of His Son into the world to expel the darkness. And yet many denied the Light because they loved the darkness, and they hated the Light because it exposed their darkness.
The religious hierarchy existed and thrived because of that darkness. Their power and their authority came from the people’s fear of that darkness. Eradicating that darkness was tantamount to unmasking the fallacy of their teachings and eroding their basis of power. Those that resist the Light are therefore not condemned by Jesus; they are condemned by their own action. They alone are responsible for their own unbelief. And those who come to the Light gladly are doing what God wants – experiencing their redemption and receiving their salvation.
John records in his Gospel account that Nicodemus continued His interaction with Jesus after that first night. He went from anxious inquiry to sincere belief – when he defended Jesus among the Sanhedrin;(6) and then to a place of bold profession when he and Joseph of Arimathea claimed the body of Jesus for burial.(7)
Tradition tells us that Nicodemus was later baptized by Simon Peter. Having boldly declared himself to be a follower of Jesus, he was removed from his office in the Sanhedrin and expelled from Jerusalem. Josephus wrote that Nicodemus was stripped of his wealth and became so poor as a result of the persecution he received for having embraced Christ, that “his daughter was seen gathering barley corn for food from under the horses’ feet.”
Nicodemus is a picture of one who stepped from the darkness into the Light. He moved from anxious inquiry to bold profession. Yes, in doing so, he stepped from being one of the wealthiest men in Jerusalem, a man of worldly prestige and authority, and became a man without any worldly possession or position. But in so doing, he knew that he was “giving up that which he could not keep, to gain that which he could not lose”.
Nicodemus counted the cost to follow Jesus. He heeded His teaching that the darkness will perish, but the Light will abide forever. If we would walk with the Master, we too must first step from the darkness into the Light. May God grant each one of us the faith and courage to seek Him honestly and set aside our pre-conceived ideas. And may we each follow Him boldly out of the darkness into His Glorious Light.(8)
By the way, if you would like to read more about Nicodemus, i invite you to get a copy of my newest book in the series, The Called. The book releases this week on Amazon and is entitled A Teacher Called Nicodemus. It’s a story about the life of this honest seeker – the portion you may already know, and the rest of the story that could have been. Click HERE for more information about the book.
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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 or for your e-reader. Click HERE for more information on how you can obtain your copy of the book.
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(2) Matthew 12:1-8
(3) John 2:13-22
(4) John 3:1-2, 10, 16-21 (NLT)
After dark one evening, a Jewish religious leader named Nicodemus, a Pharisee, came to speak with Jesus. "Teacher," he said, "we all know that God has sent You to teach us. Your miraculous signs are proof enough that God is with You." …Jesus replied, "You are a respected Jewish teacher, and yet you don't understand these things? …For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. God did not send His Son into the world to condemn it, but to save it. There is no judgment awaiting those who trust Him. But those who do not trust Him have already been judged for not believing in the only Son of God. Their judgment is based on this fact: The light from heaven came into the world, but they loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. They hate the light because they want to sin in the darkness. They stay away from the light for fear their sins will be exposed and they will be punished. But those who do what is right come to the light gladly, so everyone can see that they are doing what God wants."
(5) John 3:17
(6) John 7:50-53
(7) John 19:39-40
(8) 1 Peter 2:9
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