Nicodemus
Bob Yandian
“There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”
Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”
Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again’ (John 3:1-7).
Nicodemus’ Plan
Nicodemus was a Pharisee, a member of the most devout religious group in Israel. Most Pharisees were hypocritical, deceiving the people to get their money and loyalty. But this man was not only religious but also sincere.
He had heard of Jesus, His miracles, and teaching to the people. He probably wanted to offer him some help in dealing with the Pharisees. He could help Jesus keep from upsetting the religious and political establishment.
He met with Jesus at night because as a Pharisee he was busy throughout the day. He fasted twice a week and tithed his income down to the spices and herbs in his garden. He genuinely wanted to offer help to Jesus.
He came purposely to Jesus because he admired Him but also questioned His methods and credentials. Being a Pharisee, he probably thought he could help Jesus through the maze of the religious works and acts he was surrounded with each time he met the Pharisees. Nicodemus was a proud man but wanted to share his expertise with Jesus. Part of his pride was that he had something to share with the most popular man in Israel, Jesus. He wasn’t expecting to get the response Jesus gave him.
Jesus’ Response
Jesus swept away his foundation in one phrase, “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
Jesus dismissed his religious rules, fasting, tithing, praying, almsgiving, good works, circumcision, keeping the Sabbath, observance of the feasts, sacrifices and offerings, his Jewish pedigree, attainments, and status as a member of the Sanhedrin. None of it mattered to God. If the credentials Nicodemus had were the qualifications for getting into heaven, what was the average Jewish citizen to do? They did not have the education or degrees the Pharisees had. Jesus was going to show him they did have the qualification to get to heaven that Nicodemus had. It wasn’t religious works, but faith. Faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior is all that is required to be born again.
Nicodemus must be born again because he is dead in sins. He cannot redeem himself through works because a dead man cannot make himself alive again. You are born into this life without any effort on your part.
Nicodemus’ Response
He asked Jesus “how” and not “why”, thinking naturally not religiously. He had studied the Bible since childhood, even memorizing great portions. He never read any part that taught being born again.
God’s Plan of Salvation
“He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:11-13).
Jesus gave Nicodemus four answers to being born again by God’s Spirit. The first three are what man cannot do and the fourth is the one thing God can and will do.
1. Not of blood – Salvation does not come by natural descent, nationality, color, “saved” parents, or country of birth.
2. Not of the will of the flesh – The flesh only wants to work, earn, or deserve what is received.
3. Not by the will of man – Salvation is not of human design. Man designs religion. Man does all the work. God receives it, and man gets the credit and glory.
4. By the will of God – In true salvation, God does all the work, man receives it, and God gets the credit and glory.
Nicodemus Defends Jesus Later
“Then the officers came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why have you not brought Him?” The officers answered, “No man ever spoke like this Man!”
Then the Pharisees answered them, “Are you also deceived? Have any of the rulers or the Pharisees believed in Him? But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.”
Nicodemus (he who came to Jesus by night, being one of them) said to them, “Does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he is doing?” (John 7:45-51)
1. Nicodemus probably believed on Jesus but was not yet brave enough to defend his faith.
2. He probably was just beginning to grow in the Lord.
3. Nicodemus not only spoke in defense of what Jesus stood for but spoke in defense of the common people. He must have seen this in Jesus and was impressed and convicted that neither he nor the other Pharisees cared about the good of the world’s citizens God created.
Nicodemus Makes a Public Display of His Faith
“After this, Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly, for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus; and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took the body of Jesus. And Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds. Then they took the body of Jesus and bound it in strips of linen with the spices, as the custom of the Jews is to bury” (John 19:38-40).
By now, Nicodemus did not care what the crowd thought. He witnessed the injustice and atrocity of his Jewish friends’ leaders and recognized God’s true Messiah, Jesus. He would stand for Jesus, no matter what the cost. Nicodemus spent a personal fortune to buy myrrh and aloe to bury Jesus. He did not spend the money to appease a guilty conscience, but as a heart gift to the One who redeemed him. Now, for the first time, his good deeds were a result of salvation, not a means of it.
He also demonstrated, that without faith in Jesus, ritual was of no value. Ritual is fine and accepted by God when they are done to display the faith and eternal life already possessed by the person. Jesus showed this of Abraham, when he was going to be obedient to God’s request and sacrifice his own son, Isaac. He did not do it to be accepted by God but because he had already accepted Him. Rahab did the same when she put her own life on the line and hid the two Jewish spies on the roof of her house. She did it out of love to the God she had accepted and the good of the nation who was about to see a change in the inhabitants from Canaanites to Jewish, from pagan to righteous.
Does Nicodemus Speak to You?
You might be saying, “but I am already saved.” Christians can act just as much under the control of their flesh as sinners. The sinner is doing his righteous acts to be accepted by God and be saved. The believer is doing it out of remorse for personal sin in his life and will not confess and reject it. He would rather come back to God in his own strength. Carnal Christians imitate the sinner when it comes to producing good deeds to impress God. God’s grace is available to the sinner to receive eternal life and the believer to return to fellowship with the God he has sinned against. I guess Nicodemus speaks to both.
