John 3.1-4.
Because Cardinal Stephen Langton divided the gospel of John into chapters in the late 1100s, people tend to read
And the message Nicodemus brings him? “Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God.”
So the Judean senate knew Jesus is a teacher who came from God.
And… so what?
Did it mean they respected him as someone sent from God? Listened to him? Carefully considered whatever he taught, and once they determined it jibes with the scriptures and God’s character, followed him? Invited him to speak before the senate, and kept records of his wisdom? Invited him to lunch, at least?
Nope. They ignored him. Except for one senator, who went to visit Jesus at night so he’d be less likely to be seen publicly talking with our Lord in temple or synagogue or the streets.
Like John said, Jesus didn’t trust ’em with himself, because he’s fully aware of what’s in people.
But they weren’t gonna make any such changes. Because they didn’t fear God—same as the unjust judge in
Anyway. Nicodemus came with what he thought was good news for Jesus: Hey, in case you were wondering (’cause none of us ever said anything about it), we actually think you’re legitimately from God! You unofficially have our thumbs-up. Great news, huh?
But no, that’s not gonna cut it with Jesus. It’s not enough for them to recognize Jesus comes from God. You wanna see God’s kingdom—the one Messiah’s gonna personally inaugurate into the world—you have to be born again.
John 3.1-4 KWL - 1 There’s a person from the Pharisees, Nicodemus by name,
- a leader of the Judeans.
- 2 At night, this Nicodemus comes to Jesus
- and tells him, “Rabbi, we knew you, a teacher, came from God:
- No one can do these milestones which you do
- unless God is with them.”
- 3 In reply Jesus tells him, “Amen amen! I promise you:
- Unless one is born all over again,
- one cannot see God’s kingdom.”
- 4 Nicodemus tells Jesus, “How can a person, being old, be born?
- One can’t enter one’s mother’s womb a second time and be born.”
Being born again is a big concept, and I’ll get to it in another article. Today I’m just gonna focus on Nicodemus: Who this guy is, why it’s a big deal for him to come to Jesus, why what Jesus taught him blindsided him, but why it was a big deal for both him and us Christians. After all, part of Jesus’s lesson to Nicodemus has John 3.16 in it y’know.
Who’s this Nicodemus person?
This Nicodemus fellow is only ever mentioned in John. After the New Testament was put together, plenty of Christian fanfiction and myths were invented about him. Mostly guesswork or rubbish. There’s a Naqdimón ben Gorión in the Talmud, but it’s not the same guy. No, Nicodemus wasn’t a famous rabbi or scholar or anything.
He has Greek name.
Nicodemus was a Pharisee. I’ve already discussed how,
Jesus regularly tangled with Pharisees because when he taught in temple and synagogue, these were the people who would be in temple and synagogue. They knew their bible like Jesus did, though Jesus clearly knew it way better. They followed the Law too, though they had the bad habit of adopting
Nicodemus was a senator. Not a legislator; the senate didn’t make laws, because they already had the Law. The senate was more of a supreme court; they’d rule on whether the Law was properly being followed. So if you sat on the senate, you had to know the Law. And since Jesus himself called Nicodemus “Israel’s teacher,”
People think Nicodemus was old, ’cause verse 4 has him ask Jesus how an old person could be born again. Presumably he meant himself. But
People also think Nicodemus was a coward, ’cause he came to visit Jesus at night. We can argue, and some have, that Nicodemus was a busy guy. (As was Jesus!) So the only time he could spare was at night. But remember
And in fact Nicodemus’s fellow Pharisees later tell him, “None of the senators nor Pharisees believe in [Jesus]”
In Matthew, Jesus declares this:
Matthew 10.32-33 KJV - 32 Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. 33 But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.
Jesus publicly stands up for people who publicly stand up for him. But Jesus warns us he won’t publicly stand up for people who reject him. He wants open followers, not people who hide their allegiances. Not people who “keep their faith private”—which isn’t really a thing. Whenever someone keeps their religion private, either they believe nothing and have no religion, and would rather you not know
Nicodemus kept his faith private. His fellow senators didn’t know what he believed. And sad to say, I see no real evidence in John that he changed his attitude or behavior. Even burying Jesus
I hope Nicodemus repented and became a devout Christ-follower. But I dunno. Only Jesus does.
In any event, this was the attitude he brought with him to that nighttime meeting with Jesus. And Jesus, willing to meet anybody where they are, figuring his words didn’t fall on deaf ears, taught him he needed to be born again.
Still, I’m gonna remind you Jesus doesn’t count shadow Christians as legit followers. If your religion is a secret between you and God, and you’re hiding your light under a bushel
Nicodemus the moron?
Lastly, a lot of Christians presume Nicodemus was a dummy. Because when Jesus told him people need to be born again, he responded,
Y’know, when I share Jesus with people (and other evangelists can back me up on this), skeptical people regularly take a stab at humor: “Born again? You mean literally born again? Like climb back into my mother? That’d kill her.”
“You know,” I point out, “you think you’re the first one to come up with that one. But in the bible, the very first time Jesus taught about being born again, that’s the exact same response he got. ‘You mean climb back into my mother?’ That’s a 2,000-year-old joke.”
Skeptics always mean it as a joke. So why is it Christians never manage to realize Nicodemus also meant it as a joke? What, jokes didn’t exist 20 centuries ago?
Instead these humorless Christians point out, correctly, that the bible is full of metaphors, that Jesus is obviously speaking in metaphor here too, yet his fairly simple metaphor seems to have made Nicodemus go, “Born again wha? Der…” and sat there with his mouth hanging open, like a kid who huffed too much spraypaint. No; Nicodemus was trying to be funny. Not succeeding, but still.
Now, it’s also possible Nicodemus was reverting to an old Socratic teaching method. (Yes, Pharisees knew all about Plato and Socrates of Athens.) Whenever students give an answer which uses too many metaphors and similes, pretend you don’t understand them, take them literally, and force them to explain just what they mean in more concrete words. After all, if they can’t explain themselves without metaphor, maybe they don’t understand what they’re talking about either.
But what’s also likely is Nicodemus was a little weirded out by Jesus’s teaching. When he first greeted Jesus, he paid him a compliment. But Jesus’s response wasn’t to compliment him back. Instead he dove right into instruction: “You need to be born again.” Jesus wanted Nicodemus saved. And all Nicodemus intended to do was to have ’em mutually admire one another.
We need to remember this whenever we tell people they gotta be born again. Often they don’t think they need any such thing. They think they’re doing just fine. They’re good. Telling them, “But you lack this one thing,” is poking them in a sensitive spot. They don’t wanna hear that. It feels like judgment. It’s not, but that’s how they feel.
So lemme clarify: I have to be born again. Not just that person I’m talking to; not just you. Everyone. Good people, bad people, anybody, everybody.
If people make fun, it’s likely ’cause they feel convicted. Which isn’t our job (despite what certain dark evangelists will insist); conviction is entirely the Holy Spirit’s job. And maybe he’s convicting him at that time. But emphasize the fact we’re trying to share some good news. Because getting born again is something God does all the work of. All we need to do is trust him.
Some will rejoice to hear this. Others will reject it. Be patient. Listen to them. Pay attention to their mood. Explain yourself as best you can—as Jesus does in the next verses. And regardless of their response, show ’em love.
