Nicodemus (John 3:1-15)

One never knows the effect of a discussion with Jesus. Nicodemus could not have anticipated that the conversation he had arranged with Jesus would result in the introduction into language of the concept of being born again. Nor could he have imagined that the conversation with Jesus would lead to a life that would be very different for him and that he would find himself engaging in activities that would not have crossed his mind before. And he would not have anticipated that this meeting with Jesus would be a crossroads from where he took the road to heaven, which is where he is now.  

Nicodemus is known for coming to see Jesus by night and it is often suggested that he came by night because he was too frightened to come during the day. Maybe he was, but evening would be a normal time in Jerusalem for people to meet if they wanted to talk. In any case, it is not obvious that either Nicodemus or Jesus was alone because they both use the pronoun ‘we’, which suggests that others were with each of them. The disciples could have been with Jesus.

 

Nicodemus is only mentioned by the apostle John. John introduces him in a manner that indicates that Nicodemus had died by the time John wrote his Gospel. This would not be surprising since John wrote his account more than sixty years after the incident took place.

 

Who was Nicodemus in everyday life?

John says three things about Nicodemus. First, he belonged to the Pharisees. As we know, the Pharisees were very strict in a religious sense in contrast to the Sadducees. They wanted to serve the God of Israel and such was their zeal that they invented new laws that they imagined would please him, which they added to the commandments required by God. The outcome was that instead of becoming lovers of God they became legalists, and most of the ones we read about in the Gospels were proud of their religious attainments. Jesus had many confrontations with the Pharisees, but this meeting with Nicodemus is the first recorded in the New Testament timewise.

 

Second, Nicodemus was a ruler of the Jews. This means that he was a member of the Sanhedrin, the council that had some authority delegated to it by the Roman rulers to look after Jewish affairs. Being in this privileged position meant that Nicodemus would be respected by most of the Jews. It also suggests that Nicodemus had a political interest as well as a religious interest.

 

Third, Nicodemus was the teacher of Israel. This means that he had a position of authority in a religious sense as a theologian. He would have taught about the law and his opinions would have been highly valued. Perhaps he was similar to Gamaliel at whose feet Paul had sat and learned many things. Nicodemus would be used to others recognising his ability to speak about the Old Testament.

 

So we can see that Nicodemus was a cultured, educated, prominent, wise person in his community. Yet he wanted to meet with Jesus, which would point to him being dissatisfied in some ways.

Who was Nicodemus in his character?

His first word to Jesus tells us that Nicodemus was polite. Nicodemus would have been aware that Jesus had not gone to a rabbinical school, yet he still acknowledged that Jesus was a teacher. His use of the title ‘Rabbi’ also suggests that he was perceptive, that he had realised that the activities of Jesus that he had something which should be considered by those who saw or heard him. And we can see that he was persistent because he did not stop probing when Jesus spoke to him about the need for new birth.

 

Who was Nicodemus in his heart?

One thing that we can say about him is that he was different from others who approached Jesus at that time. The chapter divisions hide this detail from us unless we ignore them, which sometimes should be done. At the close of chapter 2, John refers to some people who had an interest in Jesus, but with whom Jesus wanted nothing to do with. ‘Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man’ (John 2:23-25). If Nicodemus had been like them, then Jesus would not have interacted with him.

 

In what way was Nicodemus different? John tells us that Nicodemus and some others recognised that Jesus must have come from God because of the miracles he was performing (v. 3). He may have wondered if Jesus was the Messiah because he regarded the miracles as signs. Perhaps he and the others that he includes under his use of ‘we’ were discussing this possibility. They could have been a delegation from the Sanhedrin, or he may have been speaking on behalf of a group of friends.

 

Nicodemus was not only different from others, he was also spiritually dead as far as having life from God is concerned. He had no life from God within his soul. Although he was religious, he was not in contact with God through the Holy Spirit. If he had possessed the life of God within him, Nicodemus would have understood the statement of Jesus in verse 3: ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.’ But he did not.

 

Because he was spiritually dead, Nicodemus was also in spiritual darkness. Although he was the teacher of Israel and familiar with the Old Testament, he had not been aware of his spiritual needs or of the divine remedy. He did not understand that his religion was of his flesh, merely the product of his own interests and desires. Despite his position in Israel, he was a blind guide of the spiritually blind.

 

What did Nicodemus need? 

The story is told that one day George Whitefield was asked by a person why he preached so often on the text, ‘You must be born again.’ He replied, ‘Because you must be born again.’ After all, if we make a mistake in regard to this matter, the consequences are terrible.

 

Jesus made clear to Nicodemus that he needed a rebirth – the ‘you’ in verse 3 is singular. There is disagreement as to how the phrase ‘born again’ should be translated – some say it should be ‘born again’ and others say it should be ‘born from above’ because it is possible to translate the Greek word in either way (although it is unlikely that the conversation was in Greek). It is clear that Nicodemus understood it as meaning born again because he assumed that any rebirth would involve his mother, and that obviously puzzled him.

 

Jesus therefore explained to him what the rebirth involved – he would need to be born of water and the Spirit. This statement has been interpreted in different ways. Some suggest that Jesus means a combination of baptism and the Spirit, but that suggestion would not be true because an external rite does not give life. A second suggestion is that by water Jesus means the word of God. In this suggestion, the Spirit uses the Word when giving new life. This view could be supported by what Peter says in 1 Peter 1:23: ‘since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God.’

 

Calvin argued a third suggestion when saying that biblical authors would use two words when describing the same thing. He mentions as an example the statement that Jesus will baptise with the Spirit and with fire, with fire explaining what the Spirit does in purifying sinners. Similarly, when Jesus combines water and the Spirit, he means by water what the Spirit does – he cleanses and purifies and invigorates dead and dry sinners. 

 

Jesus also says that no-one knows when the Spirit of God is at work. His activity in the heart of a sinner is a secret work. No man knows who God is working in at the moment and no man knows who is going to be converted next. It is always a sovereign work and he can use any instrument he wishes.

 

Moreover it is an unexplainable work, like the way of the wind. And like the wind, the Spirit does not blow at the same strength each time. He was blowing like a gentle wind when he opened the heart of Lydia and he was blowing gale force when he dealt with the Philippian jailor. 

 

What should we make of that? In the words of Spurgeon, ‘the Spirit of God, as a Sovereign, will always choose His own way of operation. And if it is but the wind of the Holy Spirit, remember it is as saving in its gentleness as in its terror and is as efficient to make us new creatures when it comes with the zephyr's breath as when it comes with the hurricane’s force.’

 

So how does a person know that he has been born again? The answer is that he can see the kingdom of God. He becomes aware that there is another world and in this other world he sees that it is possible for people like him to enter into it. Nicodemus, despite his religion and his occupation as the teacher of Israel, had not yet seen or entered into the kingdom of God.

 

This statement by Jesus about who would enter the kingdom would have astonished Nicodemus because he would have assumed that most Jews would enter the kingdom merely by being Jews. Here Jesus removes from Nicodemus the notion on which he had been building his hope for the future. No doubt, it would have caused him to think about what Jesus had said.

 

What happened to Nicodemus?

The meeting with Jesus came to a close. We don’t even know exactly where the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus ceased, but most think it closes at verse 15. If that is the case, Jesus used the Old Testament incident of the brazen serpent to illustrate saving faith. The illustration tells us that we don’t need to do anything but look at Jesus in simple faith.

 

Nicodemus is mentioned twice more in the Gospel of John and each of the incidents speaks to an important feature in his life. The first is recorded in John 7:50-51. This incident took place about a couple of years later. The authorities had tried to arrest Jesus, but the officers failed to do so. Nicodemus was present and asked if it was right to judge a man without giving him a hearing and learning what he was doing. This incident does not say that Nicodemus was now a believer, but it does reveal that he wanted to be fair in judging Jesus.

 

The second incident occurs after Jesus had died (John 19:38-42), again at night. Imagine asking Nicodemus what he did on Good Friday. He would reply, ‘On that day I helped Joseph of Arimathea in taking care of the dead body of our Saviour.’ At Calvary, he nailed his colours to the mast and identified himself with Jesus. Maybe the meaning of the words that Jesus spoke in John 3:15 about him lifted up became clear to Nicodemus. This action by him spoke loudly about what he valued most. Touching a dead body made him unclean in a ritualistic way. Taking care of an executed criminal was not expected of a member of the Sanhedrin. Yet Nicodemus identified himself with Jesus because he realised that the cross made all the difference. In the place of shame, he was unashamed to say that he was a disciple.

 

Conclusion

As we reflect on the life of Nicodemus, what applications can we make to ourselves? First, his conversion was likely a process that took several years. In the wisdom of God, the place where it happened was probably around the time when Jesus died, about three years after that first evening. Conversions can be a process. The speed of a conversion is in the mystery of the Spirit’s operations and it is not our task to interfere with it.

 

Second, his conversion had to become public. It did not take Nicodemus long to do so, and he did it when the cause of Jesus seemed at its lowest. If he had judged things by how the disciples were doing, he would never have done what he did. But he did not focus on them. We live in a time when people are always wanting to do what everyone else is doing. What would Nicodemus have done if he had imitated the disciples? Nothing. Instead he asked a simple question, ‘What should I do at this moment?’ He had the time, he had the resources to buy the spices for anointing the body of Jesus, and he had arms strong enough to carry the Saviour. After all, since the Saviour had carried the sins of Nicodemus, it was not much for Nicodemus to carry the body of Jesus a short distance to Joseph’s tomb.

 

Third, his conversion revealed his passion for Jesus. Conversion turns sinners into lovers of Jesus. Why did he go to the cross and take care of the body of Jesus? Because he loved Jesus. There is no other explanation. Calvin defined as ‘the warm embrace of love’. Even although Jesus had died, love for him had not died in the hearts of his people. Nicodemus would not have understood what was happening on that first Good Friday, except he would have been able to say that his heart was now warm towards Jesus.

 

Horatius Bonar commented on the first incident involving Nicodemus: ‘Yet one thing in Nicodemus is praiseworthy. He came directly to Jesus and dealt with Him face to face. So we say to every one, Go and do thou likewise.’