The Righteous Nicodemus

Nicodemus, John 3:1-15, was a Pharisee, a member of the governing body of the Jews. Not all Pharisees were hypocrites, permitting their prejudices to rule their judgments. As a class, however, they rejected Jesus' claim to be the Messiah. Once having convinced themselves that Jesus was an imposter they used every strategy they knew to discredit Him. His popularity menaced their position. They feared His movement might grow into riots and revolution and lead the Romans to withdraw the freedoms the Jews still enjoyed. Most Pharisees were wealthy and as a class looked down on the common people among whom Jesus found His largest following.

 

Those who face Jesus in order to judge Him always discover, as did Nicodemus, that they are judged. Nicodemus was courteous and sincere in his greeting. He was expecting to discuss with Jesus questions as to His doctrine and purpose. Certainly, he wanted to discuss the prophecies as to the nature and mission of the Messiah. Instead of intellectual debate, he found himself subjected to a spiritual inquiry that probed into his own soul.

 

A Pharisee, proud of the purity of his life and of his faithfulness to the prescriptions of the law, Nicodemus was not a citizen of God's Kingdom. He needed to be reborn. His physical birth as a Jew was not enough. God's spirit must cleanse his heart of sin. He must humble himself and lay aside all intellectual pride, believing and trusting Jesus for a place in His Kingdom.

 

It is to the credit of Nicodemus' sincerity that he was so deeply impressed with Jesus. John 7:45-51 pictures Nicodemus as a disciple who dared to speak out for Jesus in the Sanhedrin. He also shared with Joseph of Arimathea in the burial of Jesus. He came to the right place with his doubts. He never would have solved them by himself. Arguing about Christian truth rarely does more than deepen a man's prejudices. The hope of a living faith is to face Jesus Christ, humbly confessing our sins and praying, "Lord, I believe; help Thou mine unbelief!" (Mark 9:24)