Educating Nicodemus

This week is on John 3:1-21:

Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. 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.”

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

“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!”

Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ 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.”

“How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.

“You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? 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. I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”

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. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.

I came across this story recently, and I thought it fit well with our study last week. Nicodemus met Jesus when he came to visit him at night. He had seen the power of God, and wanted to know more. His mind was still fairly constricted, religiously, but he couldn't deny his hunger for answers. What's funny is how many of Jesus' quotes start off with "Woe unto you, Pharisees" and yet the first sentence of this cool story starts with "Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus" You'd think Jesus would be all like "Die Pharisee!" but that's not what happened at all. It's a great picture into Jesus' actual attitude towards the Pharisees as individuals.

Nicodemus was a Pharisee. He'd been to seminary, had training in theology, liturgy, and all of that stuff. He was a religious professional. He served on a board of religious professionals. Jesus still encounters him as an individual, and not as a "Woe unto ye Pharisees" stereotype. Jesus gives him answers to his questions and explains the kingdom of God and his upcoming sacrifice in ways that are still used today. (Ever see "John 3:16" written someplace? You can thank our Pharisee pal Nicodemus for having the conversation with Jesus that led to it being written down for our benefit.)

A lot of people see someone who looks or acts religious, immediately label them as a Pharisee, and then either go about marginalizing them or trying to get them to change their outward appearance (ironically enough) so that they can be less "religious" and more like them. That attitude is not Jesus' attitude. Nicodemus didn't renounce his membership in the Pharisees' board when he left. He didn't start dressing differently and acting differently. His connection with Jesus was formed personally, and inside of him.

Jesus was willing to encounter Nicodemus as a Pharisee, and to love him as a Pharisee. He took time out of a very busy schedule to go into some very deep theological stuff, patiently answering all of the questions he was asked. He even teases him. ("Oh, look, Israel's Greatest Teachers don't know the answer to that one, eh?") Nicodemus comes across as slightly argumentative, but Jesus' responses are never more than firm.

This story is another case of Jesus starting an individual relationship with someone. Many of the other stories are cases where the person isn't someone people of the time would have expected God to be interested in, but this one is almost an illustration of someone people of our time would think God would be uninterested in. The fact of the matter is that, after this encounter, Nicodemus was involved with Jesus for the rest of his life. All it took was for Jesus to love him, recognize him as a human being, and to answer his somewhat brainy, argumentative, and churchy questions. Are you willing to be that patient?

We can't rule people out as being unsuitable for God's kingdom, or incapable of grasping his truths. It's that behavior, not the act of being identified as a Pharisee, that Jesus was speaking against in many of his "Woe unto the scribes and pharisees" tirades. The beautiful thing about Jesus in this story is that he demonstrates that you have no idea who he is going to connect with. This guy Nicodemus represents the very group people love to quote Jesus speaking out against, and yet Jesus forms a lifelong (eternal) friendship with him. You just can't predict what's going to happen. Jesus is available to us all.