03/01/2026

Critical Thinking and Faith

Bible Passage: John 3:1–17

Main Point: Main Point: Critical thinking is perfectly fine in getting to know Jesus.

Scripture: “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.”

Prayer

Opening Line: Are you someone who questions everything? A critical thinker?

Opening:

The beginning of my witnessing to Jesus came here at BCC.

I am. I question everything, try to look at a challenge from all angles.

Early on in my faith journey, I thought this was going to be a barrier I would not be able to overcome.

Critical thinking and faith cannot possibly coincide!?!? Can they?

Enter Paul Shailer...I am not sure he was aware of the challenge going on in my head but he gave me a DVD of a course from UNC by a professor named Bart Ehrman.

Bart focuses on critical thinking, asking the hard questions, and interpreting the Bible.

I listened through the course and used the workbook to go deeper.

By the end of the course, I was all in. Talked to Sarah, and applied to go to seminary.

This AM we are going to be focused on someone who may have been in that very same boat...by the name of Nicodemus.

Power in the Text:

Who is Nicodemus?

Pharisee religious leader

Wealthy

Powerful and influential

Part of the Sanhedrin

Supreme Jewish legislative, judicial, and administrative council in ancient Israel made up of 71 leaders to which Nicodemus was one.

Served as the highest authority on Jewish law, handling capital crimes, national matters, and appeals from lower courts.

This is the group where one would go at the time to get answers.

Nicodemus mentioned 3 times in the Bible and only in the Book of John.

Comes to visit Jesus by night

Nicodemus comes at night as he was cautious, timid...

Possibly even scared.

He was approaching someone who was breaking the very structure that was the foundation of his beliefs, how he lived, and his livelihood!

To emphasize this point, Nicodemus was part of a group, so angered by Jesus’ ministry they were plotting to have Him killed.

To say this would have been very uncomfortable is putting it lightly.

“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.”

That statement alone is significant. A religious leader acknowledging divine authority in Jesus even at night alone was bold.

He was saying, I have seen what you have done...it must be from God...and I want to know more.

His first act of witness with Jesus was seeking truth.

While what Jesus was doing had run counter to everything he believed, he did not approach Jesus with defensiveness but he came with curiosity.

Nicodemus as part of the Sanhedrin

Later, when the religious leaders in the Sanhedrin want to arrest Jesus, Nicodemus speaks up: Does our law condemn a man without hearing him?

He doesn’t preach a sermon...

He does not declare Jesus the Christ, the Messiah

He challenges injustice...and in this environment was risky!

They council berated the guards asking have you been deceived as well?

The called out the crowds following Jesus as cursed!

They even tried to discredit Nicodemus...not by responding to his question but by insinuating that he was from Galilee too!

At the time there was Jewish contempt for those from Galilee as being religiously impure with their cultural differences.

His first act of witness with Jesus was one of seeking truth....

His second act of witness comes in the form of moral courage going from private curiosity to public defense.

Nicodemus honors Jesus after the crucifixion

While the disciples scattered, Nicodemus arrived.

He brought about 100 lbs of myrrh and aloes which were balms used in burial, enough to prepare a burial for a king.

Along with Joseph of Arimathea, they brought the body of Jesus to the garden and prepared it to be placed in the tomb.

He is out in the open. No longer under the safety of night.

In a shame based culture the act was profound.

As a Jewish religious leader that represented laws warning of the consequences of touching a dead body, We do not read of any hesitation.

He goes to the cross with clear intention with clear disregard for how others might view him or even consequences that might come from his actions.

His witness has become devotion.

His witness has matured from:

Seeking truth in the dark to...

Public defense in front of his peers to...

Devotion and Costly allegiance: experienced a dramatic loss of status and wealth later in life—even being expelled from the Sanhedrin.

Main Point: If you are sitting here struggling...

With questions without answers...

That are seemingly become barriers to your faith journey...

That is ok....and perfectly normal.

We can learn a lot from Nicodemus

It is ok to think critically...It is perfectly ok to start with questions.

Growth, faith, belief can all be gradual.

We are at different points in our faith journey...Nicodemus showed us his witness to Jesus:

His position was not a popular one...one that came with risk and ultimately a cost.

He started off with curiosity and ended in a place of ultimate devotion.

Why is it Important?

Nicodemus’ story is especially comforting for thoughtful, analytical people — those who don’t leap emotionally but wrestle intellectually.

Closing

Witnessing to Jesus doesn’t have to be dramatic!

It does not have to be instantly profound!

It can start like someone coming in the cover of night...

Then refusing to abandon Him when it becomes inconvenient...

And possibly, with spiritual transformation, ending in devotion at the base of the cross.