Scripture Reference: John 3:1-18

“Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ “ A man living in a luxurious penthouse in some major city can be as lost from God as much as any man living in the slums of that same city. Yet you will most likely not find a rescue mission on that block of penthouse apartments. We are so attached and enamored with material things that we sometimes forget that a person’s economic or social status does not count with God, for as His Word expressly states, He shows no partiality to the status of His creation. In Nicodemus we have a case of one who is up when it comes to status, yet out when it comes to God’s Kingdom.

Nicodemus, The Man (John 3:1-2)

“Nicodemus” means “a conqueror of the people.” Whether he conquered anyone else, Nicodemus won a victory within himself, but only after a deep inner struggle.

Nicodemus was a Pharisee, which means that he was a conservative in his theology. He accepted the Old Testament as the Word of God. He believed in angels, miracles, and the resurrection from the dead. He was the opposite of the Sadducees who accepted only the five books of Moses as Scripture and denied all the rest of the things mentioned above. We assume that as a good Pharisee, Nicodemus also lived by the meticulous and multitude of rules devised by the rabbis for governing the conduct of one’s life. Someone once called Nicodemus “the fairest flower of Judaism.”

Also, Nicodemus was a man of prominence. He was “a ruler of the Jews.” He was a member of the Sanhedrin, the supreme court of the Jews. Among all the Jews in Palestine, he was one of seventy men, plus the high priest, who comprised this lofty body. Under the Romans, this body had the final say in civic and religious matters. The Romans reserved to themselves the right of capital punishment. Jesus also called him a “teacher.” To the Jews this was the supreme title (John 3:10). Nicodemus is the only member of the Sanhedrin who dared speak a word of defense for Jesus during His public ministry, an act which required great courage in the face of such burning opposition (John 7:50-52). And judging by the amount of myrrh and aloes he supplied for Jesus’ burial, he must have been a man of some wealth (John 19:39).

Yet, in spite of all these things, when Nicodemus went to Jesus in secret, he was outside the kingdom of God. He was a lost man. He had risen in this life. However, he was an outsider insofar as eternal life was concerned.

Nicodemus “came to Jesus by night.” Why “by night”? Was it because he did not want it known that he visited Jesus? Or that he knew where to find Him at that time? More likely, he came at night in order to have an uninterrupted and somewhat secret visit with Jesus. At the Passover season, Jerusalem and its vicinity was crowded with pilgrims. So it can be assumed that such a visit would be nearly impossible during the day.

To Be Continued

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
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