3/16/25 - Nicodemus: An Intelligent Man Comes to Christ

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We often read John 3:16 and forget where it came from
This comes from a conversation between Jesus
and a man named Nicodemus
Scripture’s account of Nicodemus shows us what it looks like to be changed by the love of Jesus Christ.
The call of the gospel is to simply believe, receive, and become.
Jesus met Nicodemus where he was
and called him into deeper relationship with Himself.
Jesus invites us to go beyond head knowledge and tradition
so that we may come to Him and be truly transformed.
After hearing about Jesus
Nicodemus decided to come visit with Jesus
HE chose to come at night
probably so he wouldn’t be seen
As he was a Pharisee and to be associating with Jesus
wouldn’t have gone well
and probably would have led to many questions
Rather than questioning Jesus in the daylight
trying to prove him wrong
Nicodemus comes to him in the evening
so he can have a better one on one conversation without all the crowds

A Nocturnal Conversation—John 3:1-19

John 3:1–19 CSB
1 There was a man from the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to him at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one could perform these signs you do unless God were with him.” 3 Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 “How can anyone be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked him. “Can he enter his mother’s womb a second time and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh, and whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not be amazed that I told you that you must be born again. 8 The wind blows where it pleases, and you hear its sound, but you don’t know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” 9 “How can these things be?” asked Nicodemus. 10 “Are you a teacher of Israel and don’t know these things?” Jesus replied. 11 “Truly I tell you, we speak what we know and we testify to what we have seen, but you do not accept our testimony. 12 If I have told you about earthly things and you don’t believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven—the Son of Man. 14 “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. 16 For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Anyone who believes in him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God. 19 This is the judgment: The light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil.
There’s a couple of things Jesus says that Nicodemus would have picked up on
one of the biggest is when Jesus mentions Moses lifts up the serpent in the wilderness
Nicodemus would have understood that from Numbers 21:4-9
Numbers 21:4–9 CSB
4 Then they set out from Mount Hor by way of the Red Sea to bypass the land of Edom, but the people became impatient because of the journey. 5 The people spoke against God and Moses: “Why have you led us up from Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread or water, and we detest this wretched food!” 6 Then the Lord sent poisonous snakes among the people, and they bit them so that many Israelites died. 7 The people then came to Moses and said, “We have sinned by speaking against the Lord and against you. Intercede with the Lord so that he will take the snakes away from us.” And Moses interceded for the people. 8 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Make a snake image and mount it on a pole. When anyone who is bitten looks at it, he will recover.” 9 So Moses made a bronze snake and mounted it on a pole. Whenever someone was bitten, and he looked at the bronze snake, he recovered.
when Moses lifts up the serpent
and all the people looked at it
they were saved from the serpents bites
they weren’t saved from the serpents attacks
but the bites wouldn’t be fatal.
He would have understood the sacrifice necessary by the Son of God
This may not make sense to Nicodemus now
but this will stick in his mind when Jesus is put on the cross
I imagine this great teacher of the law
after having this conversation with Jesus
decided to go home and reread his Torah
The first five books of the Old Testament
maybe even the prophets
that foretold of the coming Messiah
He would go through the teachings of the coming Messiah
He would begin to lead through the requirements of the law
and Nicodemus would begin to have an understanding
of who this Jesus really was claiming to be

A Closed-Door Meeting—John 7:50-52

The feast of booths or shelters is taking place in Jerusalem
This is a high and holy festival for the Jews
It was mandated by God all the way back to the book of Numbers to Moses
as a festival that should be celebrated forever
The Jewish leaders were looking for Jesus
By the time the festival which lasted seven days
Jesus wasn’t there
He was, but He wasn’t publically present
About halfway through the festival
Jesus makes an appearance in the temple and begins to teach
The crowds were amazed at His teaching
On the last day of the festival
Jesus made some proclamations about who He was as the Messiah
At this the crowds were a little confused
John 7:40–44 CSB
40 When some from the crowd heard these words, they said, “This truly is the Prophet.” 41 Others said, “This is the Messiah.” But some said, “Surely the Messiah doesn’t come from Galilee, does he? 42 Doesn’t the Scripture say that the Messiah comes from David’s offspring and from the town of Bethlehem, where David lived?” 43 So the crowd was divided because of him. 44 Some of them wanted to seize him, but no one laid hands on him.
The servants of the chief priests were questioned as to why they didn’t grab Him
The servants said no one ever spoke like that before
The Pharisees claimed that Jesus was accursed
Then Nicodemus interrupts the leaders with a technicality
John 7:50–52 CSB
50 Nicodemus—the one who came to him previously and who was one of them—said to them, 51 “Our law doesn’t judge a man before it hears from him and knows what he’s doing, does it?” 52 “You aren’t from Galilee too, are you?” they replied. “Investigate and you will see that no prophet arises from Galilee.”
The Pharisees’ claim that the religious rulers had unanimously rejected Jesus was, in fact, not true
John 12:42 CSB
42 Nevertheless, many did believe in him even among the rulers, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, so that they would not be banned from the synagogue.
The prominent rabbi Nicodemus (the same one who came to Jesus earlier
perhaps the preeminent teacher in all of Israel
was the most notable exception.
He was probably not a disciple of Jesus at this point
though he would later become one which we’ll talk about in a moment
but his mind was open to the Lord’s claims.
Nicodemus did not openly defend Jesus,
but he did raise a procedural point in His favor,
reminding his colleagues, “Our Law does not judge a man unless it first hears from him and knows what he is doing, does it?”
Even the despised Romans did not condemn people without a hearing
Paul shares this in Acts
Acts 25:16 CSB
16 I answered them that it is not the Roman custom to give someone up before the accused faces the accusers and has an opportunity for a defense against the charges.
But his fellow members of the Sanhedrin,
their minds already closed against Jesus,
were in no mood to be fair.
Instead, they turned on Nicodemus savagely.
“You are not also from Galilee, are you?” they taunted him.
To identify Nicodemus with the despised, unsophisticated Galileans
was the most demeaning insult they could make.
Then they mockingly invited him to “search, and see that no prophet arises out of Galilee,”
Which is kind of interesting because
they conveniently overlooked the fact that Jonah
(who was from a city near Nazareth in the tribal region of Zebulun;
was from Galilee.
Some scholars believe that Nahum and Hosea,
and possibly other prophets, may also have been from Galilee.
They implied that he was ignorant of the most basic theological truths.
But the statement actually exposed their own lack of knowledge,
since some prophets had come from Galilee
and Jesus was not originally from Galilee
He was originally from Bethlehem.
Nonetheless, their minds were already made up regarding Him.
Thus they saw no need to seek the truth.
Despite their derision, Nicodemus continued to pursue the truth
and eventually found it in Christ.
Sadly, the same cannot be said of many of his colleagues,
members of the Sanhedrin who would ultimately kill their own Messiah.

A Public Act of Faith—John 19:38-42

John 19:38–42 CSB
38 After this, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus—but secretly because of his fear of the Jews—asked Pilate that he might remove Jesus’s body. Pilate gave him permission; so he came and took his body away. 39 Nicodemus (who had previously come to him at night) also came, bringing a mixture of about seventy-five pounds of myrrh and aloes. 40 They took Jesus’s body and wrapped it in linen cloths with the fragrant spices, according to the burial custom of the Jews. 41 There was a garden in the place where he was crucified. A new tomb was in the garden; no one had yet been placed in it. 42 They placed Jesus there because of the Jewish day of preparation and since the tomb was nearby.
Having received the governor’s approval,
Joseph immediately came and took away Christ’s body
and hurriedly began preparing it for burial.
In this Joseph was assisted by Nicodemus, another member of the Sanhedrin
who, as John’s footnote indicates, had first come to Christ by night
Though they kept their allegiance to Him secret while Jesus was alive,
Joseph and Nicodemus courageously braved the wrath of the rest of the Sanhedrin to bury His body.
Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes,
about a hundred pounds weight (about sixty-five pounds by modern standards).
That amount of spices would have been used to anoint the body of a king,
or a wealthy, prominent person.
Myrrh was a fragrant, gummy resin,
which in powdered form was often mixed with aloes,
an aromatic powder made from sandalwood.
Joseph and Nicodemus took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen wrappings with the spices,
as is the burial custom of the Jews.
Unlike the Egyptians, the Jews did not embalm their dead;
they used fragrant spices to stifle the smell of putrefaction for as long as possible.
The spices were probably sprinkled along the entire length of the strips of cloth
hat were wrapped around the Lord’s body.
More spices were then packed around and under His body once it was placed in the tomb.
It should be noted that neither Joseph or Nicodemus or the women
were expecting Jesus to rise from the dead.
If they had believed His repeated predictions that He would do so (
they would not have bothered to prepare His body so thoroughly for burial.
Only John relates that in the place where He was crucified there was a garden,
and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid.
Matthew reveals that the tomb was Joseph’s own tomb
With the Sabbath—when all work would have to cease—nearly upon them,
the nearness of the tomb was providential.
Therefore because … the Jewish day of preparation (Friday) was almost over,
and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.
As was commonly done, Joseph’s tomb had been carved out of rock,
and was sealed by rolling a large stone in front of the entrance.
Joseph and Nicodemus were motivated by the need to finish their work before the Sabbath began.
But there was a more significant reason that the Lord needed to be buried before sundown.
In Matthew 12:40 Jesus had predicted,
Matthew 12:40 CSB
40 For as Jonah was in the belly of the huge fish three days and three nights, so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights.
The Jews counted any part of a day as constituting a day
Jesus needed to be buried while it was still Friday,
so He could be in the tomb for three days (part of Friday afternoon, Saturday, and part of Sunday morning).
In His burial, as well as His death,
Jesus orchestrated all the details to accomplish God’s already revealed purpose.
For Nicodemus to be seen with Joseph
Carrying as many spices as he had to bury with Jesus
willing to defile himself by touching a dead body
and thereby forfeiting his participation in the Passover
treating Jesus like a king
indicates that Nicodemus ultimately recognized Jesus as King
Think about this
What would it have taken to procure a new tomb?
How much money would it have cost to purchase 65 pounds of spices?
How much time would it have taken to secure these spices?
This was a planned event
Joseph would go to the governor to ask permission for the body’
while Nicodemus stood at the crucifixion site and guarded the body
Here’s the bottom line of all this
Nicodemus, in the real fear of losing his reputation
Losing his seat on the Sanhedrin
not being able to participate in the Passover
ruining his life essentially
chose to follow Jesus
He fought fear with faith
He chose to not let what others would say or do to him
effect his actions to be a follower of Jesus in the end
How many of us would do the same thing?
James Boice says it this way

We may suppose that in their early days Joseph and Nicodemus may have pursued the kind of life they did in order to be well thought of. Certainly many do it today. Some seek it through wealth, because the rich are generally courted by the less fortunate. Some seek it through prestigious titles and positions—by being a member of the Sanhedrin or city council or bar or civic organization. But these things fade in time, and perceptive people are eventually disillusioned by the emptiness of human honors. What then? Do they come to their senses and abandon vanity for things that are worthwhile? Sometimes, but not always or even usually. The reason most do not is that fear of what others may think or do deters them. Many who would not fail to confess Christ because of their desire for praise, nevertheless fail to confess him because they think that someone might despise them or laugh them to scorn.

Why is it that in a day when every vice of humanity is coming “out of the closet” and clamoring for recognition as a pure and natural expression of the essentially “good” human spirit, many believers (or alleged believers) fail to come out for Christ? It is fear, fear of what someone may say.

If you do not confess Christ openly and stand with him even in the face of ridicule, I do not see what right you have to consider yourself any different from Pontius Pilate, for it was fear that kept him back from righteousness. Do you respect Christ? So did Pilate. Do you honestly want to do the right thing? So did he. Do you say, “I find no fault in Jesus”? This was Pilate’s testimony. But his fear of Caesar triumphed over his more noble instincts. Be careful that you are not following in his train.

Conclusion
Nicodemus was:
• Converted by Christ
• Contending for Christ
• Confessing the Christ
Invitation Prompt
Have you believed the gospel fully?
2. Have you made your belief public?
3. Does your life currently look as though Jesus is your Lord and Savior?
4. If the gospel is for anyone, are you willing to tell everyone?
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