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We can know! by Norman Childs

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CHAPTER FOUR

NICODEMUS

Scene one Nicodemus is a Pharisee¹

The Pharisees were very religious people who obeyed the Old Testament law to an extreme. They made laws stricter than God’s law in order to insure that they would not even come close to breaking God’s law. For instance, God said that they must not work on the Sabbath and the Pharisees defined work to walking so many feet, lifting so much weight and doing so much activity. Jesus condemned them for straining at gnats and swallowing camels. He called them blind guides, snakes, vipers and hypocrites and pronounced woes on them. He angered them by driving the money changers out of the temple. He purposely broke their man made laws in their presence, on the Sabbath day, to illustrate that their worship was in vain. The Pharisees finally got so angry they put Jesus to death. Nicodemus was a Pharisee.

Nicodemus was a member of the Jewish ruling council. Jesus called him “the” teacher of Israel. Nicodemus had some faith in Jesus, he said, “We know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.” Yet Nicodemus’ faith in Jesus was not strong enough to motivate him to become a disciple of Jesus. Jesus condemned him for not accepting what he said. Nicodemus came to Jesus by night, evidently to keep the knowledge of his encounter from the other Pharisees.

Scene two Nicodemus is straddle the fence²

Here we find Nicodemus in his place with the governing counsel. In John’s Gospel the bulk of Jesus’ ministry is covered in the first four chapters. By the time we get to chapter seven we are three years into his ministry. There will only be six more months in Jesus life here on earth. As time passed, more and more Jews believed that Jesus was the Christ and followed him while the Pharisees burned more and more with jealousy. They finally took all they could and ordered his arrest. The guards evidently went to Jesus with every intention of arresting him but when they got close to him he was talking to the crowd. There was something about his message that was so profound, the guards felt they just had to hear more. As they stood there listening, they became more and more convinced that he was too great to be treated as a common criminal. Finally, almost in a daze from hearing this awesome message, they turned around and headed back to their employers. When the Pharisees saw that the guards had returned without Jesus they were irate. They said, “Why didn't you bring him in?!!” The guards could only reply, “No one ever spoke the way this man does.” The Pharisees then told the reasons they were convinced that Jesus was not the Messiah. First, they were the students of the Bible and therefore they should be the ones who would be first to recognize the Messiah, and they were unanimous in their conclusion that Jesus was an imposter. And second, Jesus was from Galilee and they were confident that no prophet had ever come from Galilee.

Up until this time, Nicodemus’ faith in Jesus was growing but not to the point where he felt comfortable making a public announcement that he was Jesus’ disciple. It appears that Nicodemus felt that he could serve the cause of Jesus better by working behind the scenes. No doubt he felt that due to his prominent position he could use his influence to promote Jesus’ work and still keep from making a public statement that he believed that Jesus was the Messiah. Now, the time had come to speak up for Jesus. Instead of saying I am convinced he is God’s son, he said, “Does our law condemn anyone without first hearing him to find out what he is doing?” This reminds me of a cartoon I once saw of a little boy hiding behind a large box. It was easy to see the top of his head above the box. His bottom extended past one edge of the box and his toes were showing beyond the other. The caption above said, “Hey mom, you can’t find me!” This is the way it was with Nicodemus. He felt that as long as he hid behind the law no one would ever notice that he was actually standing up for Jesus. The Pharisees, on the other hand, saw through his disguise immediately. They replied, “Are you from Galilee, too? Look into it and you will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee.” It should be noted here that they were wrong in their statements. Jonah was from Galilee and probably Nahum and Elijah. The greatest of all prophets, Jesus Christ, also came from there. With regard to their statement that none of the Jewish leaders believed in Jesus, Nicodemus did, Joseph of Arimathea did, and many others believed but would not confess because of fear, John 12:42, 43.

The second scene closes with evidence that Nicodemus had more faith than he did at first, but he still did not have enough faith to stand up and tell the world that he believed that Jesus was the Christ, the son of God.

Scene 3 Nicodemus finally stands up for Jesus³

We don’t have all the facts of the story recorded for us so we will have to turn again to our historical imagination to fill in the gaps. It seems that Nicodemus wanted to stand up for Jesus from the night he first met him. But he was afraid to do so because he would lose his position. He probably reasoned, “I can do more good for Jesus by working behind the scenes. If I stay in the woodwork, so to speak, I can help him more than if I let everyone know that I am his follower.” However, every time Nicodemus tried to help Jesus he was ridiculed.

Time quickly slipped by and now three and a half years have passed since that first mind boggling encounter with Jesus. Nicodemus looked up one day and there before the Sanhedrin stood Jesus with his hands tied. Nicodemus thought, “I need to do something but what can I do?”

Nicodemus might have been in the crowd when Jesus stood before Pilot. If so, he probably thought, “I never would have believed it would go this far!” Later Nicodemus might have been in the crowd when Jesus passed by, struggling under the cross. Nicodemus probably didn’t see the nails as they were pounded through Jesus’ hands and feet but he might have heard the thud, thud, thud of the hammer and envisioned the horrible act. Then suddenly, above the heads of the crowd, raised the ghastly spectacle. Nicodemus probably shook his head in disbelief. “I don’t understand it! I know this is the son of God—you can’t kill God!? Jesus will show them who he really is. He’ll show them.”

As the six hours slowly ticked by Nicodemus evidently stood there at the foot of the cross and his mind was likely a blur with questions, decisions, and wonder. In a way it seemed he stood there for a lifetime but in another way if felt as though it was just a few minutes. Suddenly Jesus cried out and died. I can almost hear Nicodemus also cry out, “Oh no! No it can’t be! This is not the way it was to end. Jesus was to be crowned king not killed! I wish I had stood up for him while he was still alive. --The Romans allow the bodies of the criminals to hang on the crosses as long as the rotting flesh will hold them. -- Will this happen to Jesus’ body? If I were a disciple of Jesus I’d take the body of Jesus off the cross! Where is John? If he loved Jesus so much, why doesn’t he come and take the body of Jesus off the cross? --Where is Peter? He’s the one that is always jumping in with both feet when there is a new job to be done. Why don’t the disciples take down the body?” Again, I imagine that Nicodemus’ mind was as blurry as his eyes were filled with tears.

Suddenly, Nicodemus was shocked back into reality. Someone was tapping on his shoulder! Was it one of the hated Romans or perhaps a member of his prestigious Sanhedrin group? With a lump in his throat and a heart that threatened to leap from his chest he slowly turned to meet his fate. It was a member of the Sanhedrin but his face showed only compassion. It was Joseph of Arimathea. Joseph gently spoke. “I have known for a long time that you were, like me, a secret disciple of Jesus. Nicodemus, we can’t live this way any more. This is the son of God. His disciples are not coming to take down his body. You and I must do it.”

Nicodemus took one last look at his career, his dreams, his so called friends, his life!, and with one full swoop he cast a lifetime of effort to the wind. Nicodemus stood up for Jesus. Nicodemus helped Joseph take the body of Jesus off the cross and carefully wrap Jesus’ body with 100 pounds of spices. One hundred pounds was enough spices to embalm 200 people or one very, very royal individual.⁴Joseph’s and Nicodemus’ action, in broad daylight, was a public way for them to shout to the world, “We are through with our past way of life! We tried to work for Jesus without letting anyone know that we were believers! It did not work! Now we are going to stand up for Jesus!”

Does the story end happily ever after or does the final curtain come down bleak and hopeless? Let’s notice how the story could have ended. If Nicodemus had stood up for Jesus when he first came to him, that night, he could have been one of Jesus’ disciples. He could have witnessed Jesus at work as he spread the good news. Nicodemus could have learned how to be an effective soul winner. Paul took the Gospel to Europe. Perhaps Nicodemus would have been chosen to take the Gospel to China or Africa. If Nicodemus had taken advantage of his opportunity perhaps some heathen nation would be filled with Christians today. Tradition says that Joseph of Arimathea was the one who introduced Christianity to England and England introduced Christ to America. We don’t know what happened to Nicodemus. Perhaps he dedicated the rest of his life in serving Jesus. Whatever the ending of the story, we must note that the ending could be titled, “Too little, too late.” It is much like taking flowers to the funeral when it’s too late for our friend to enjoy them. Dear reader, don’t wait. Stand up for Jesus now!

NICODEMUS’ TESTIMONY is this: “I believe that Jesus is the son of God so strongly I threw a whole lifetime of dreams and accomplishments to the wind. I have no doubt; I know that Jesus is who he claimed to be!”

STUDY GUIDE

CHAPTER FOUR

1. What was an outstanding feature of the Pharisees?

2. What did Jesus say about the Pharisees and camels?

3. What did Jesus do that financially upset the Pharisees?

4. What four ugly names did Jesus call the Pharisees?

5. Why did Jesus purposefully break the Pharisees’ laws regarding the Sabbath?

6. How did the Pharisees’ hatred of Jesus come to a climax?

7. Nicodemus was part of what religious group?

8. What noted position did Nicodemus have?

9. What shows that Nicodemus had some faith in Jesus?

10. Why did Jesus condemn Nicodemus?