Nicodemus

The Journey to the cross through the eyes of Nicodemus

Good Friday is the celebration and remembrance of the cross.

The crucifixion of Jesus. A dark day. A holy day. A glorious day.

We celebrate and remember what Jesus did for us. He took our sin so we could accept his righteousness.

He died so we can live.

The crucifixion of Jesus should be life-altering. But how we all arrive there is different.

-The Holy Spirit draws us in different ways to the foot of the cross.

Tonight, I want to tell you the story of a man named Nicodemus and his journey to the cross.

Nicodemus’ story comes in four parts.

Part 1- the respected Jewish leader

John 3:1 “Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council.”

Reads — Big deal.

Pharisee —- a group within Judaism that was basically the main show at the time. The group that was respected the most, listened to by the people, controlled much of Jewish practice inside and outside the temple.

Jewish Ruling Council — The highest court of the Jews during Jesus’ time. Consisted of 71 members from the priests, scribes, and elders of the people, and was presided over by the high priest.

He would have been well-known, rich, respected, and had authority.

For many Jews — this is “Goals”

-He’s a celebrity of the best kind in the Jewish world.

-He’s arrived. He’s a big deal. He’s accomplished goals, arrived at the top.

This is a life that when looked at from the outside is “Has it all”

-A guy that doesn’t need anything.

Who’s this in your life? When you look at someone and say - I wish I had that life. Or maybe you have your own goals and dreams in mind. You have your own desires and goals.

Is it to be rich, powerful, respected, well-known, have authority? Is that where contentment is found.

Nicodemus has it all.

Yet he hears at one point a teaching of Jesus and he’s taken back by it. So much so that we move to the second part of Nicodemus’ story.

Part 2 - Comes to Jesus in the night

John 3:2–16 NIV

He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.” Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!” Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked. “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.” For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

What’s the teaching that arrests his heart? This idea of being born again. Born of the Spirit. The idea of having a life that comes directly from God.

-Spirit giving life —- NEW LIFE.

This is one of the main tenets of the christian faith. In our own denomination it’s one of the SIX things that are CORE.

“We affirm the necessity of the new birth. The Apostle Paul wrote, ‘If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come’ (2 Corinthians 5:17). New birth in Christ means committing ourselves to him and receiving forgiveness, acceptance, and eternal life. It means being alive in Christ, and this life has the qualities of love and righteousness, joy, and peace. New birth is only the beginning. Growing in maturity in Christ is a lifelong process for both individuals and communities of believers. God forms and transforms us - and it is through people transformed by Christ that God transforms the world.”

This guy that seemingly has it all - is arrest by a NEW LIFE.

Why? Because having it all on earth doesn’t bring contentment. He’s still searching the scriptures as you can see in this passage and searching the scriptures and teachings of Yahweh to find this NEW LIFE. Jesus teaches on it once and this highly respected man needs to sneak out to him at night to learn from him. Teach me about this “NEW LIFE!”

Yet, we don’t see any conversion here. We don’t see Nicodemus going, I want to be your follower and I want to be your disciple.

-Sometimes we get to this point and we need time to process what Jesus said and how he’s drawing us.

-Some of us even begin going to church at this point (Nicodemus was already going to church) — and some of us never leave this point. We keep chasing our own goals and desires but with a side of Jesus.

Doesn’t work and we chase peace and contentment.

I would say the majority of Christians that wander away from the gospel. Or church kids that grow up and leave the faith. It’s because they are stuck in this part of the story.

-They’ve heard the message of new life but haven’t embraced it.

-They keep chasing their own desires and goals. Keep thinking that something has to make them content that’s not Jesus. Surrender for new life… being reborn means I have to let my own self DIE. I’ll pass. I want happiness in other ways.

Sin is enticing because it gives you instant gratification. If we can stack up enough of that, can’t we be happy without this whole surrender to Jesus thing?

My hope and prayer is to keep people marinating at this point. That the Holy Spirit will arrest their heart with this message of NEW LIFE.

The message of Jesus was clearly marinating in his soul. For the next part we see Nicodemus again as part of the ruling council.

Part 3 - The defending but not believing

John 7:25–52 “At that point some of the people of Jerusalem began to ask, “Isn’t this the man they are trying to kill? Here he is, speaking publicly, and they are not saying a word to him. Have the authorities really concluded that he is the Messiah? But we know where this man is from; when the Messiah comes, no one will know where he is from.” Then Jesus, still teaching in the temple courts, cried out, “Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from. I am not here on my own authority, but he who sent me is true. You do not know him, but I know him because I am from him and he sent me.” At this they tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come. Still, many in the crowd believed in him. They said, “When the Messiah comes, will he perform more signs than this man?” The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering such things about him. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees sent temple guards to arrest him. Jesus said, “I am with you for only a short time, and then I am going to the one who sent me. You will look for me, but you will not find me; and where I am, you cannot come.” The Jews said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we cannot find him? Will he go where our people live scattered among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks? What did he mean when he said, ‘You will look for me, but you will not find me,’ and ‘Where I am, you cannot come’?” On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified. On hearing his words, some of the people said, “Surely this man is the Prophet.” Others said, “He is the Messiah.” Still others asked, “How can the Messiah come from Galilee? Does not Scripture say that the Messiah will come from David’s descendants and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?” Thus the people were divided because of Jesus. Some wanted to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him. Finally the temple guards went back to the chief priests and the Pharisees, who asked them, “Why didn’t you bring him in?” “No one ever spoke the way this man does,” the guards replied. “You mean he has deceived you also?” the Pharisees retorted. “Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in him? No! But this mob that knows nothing of the law—there is a curse on them.” Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier and who was one of their own number, asked, “Does our law condemn a man without first hearing him to find out what he has been doing?” They replied, “Are you from Galilee, too? Look into it, and you will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee.””

Who is Jesus? Is he a prophet? Is he the Messiah? Is he a liar? A lunatic? A good teacher?

Nicodemus is caught up in the middle of this whole debate.

The Pharisees and the temple leaders of which Nicodemus is one of them - is trying to have Jesus arrested. The guard is like - I dunno - He spoke with authority, it was mesmerizing.

The Pharisees say a line that is probably convicting to Nicodemus - John 7:47–49 ““You mean he has deceived you also?” the Pharisees retorted. “Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in him? No! But this mob that knows nothing of the law—there is a curse on them.””

Nicodemus speaks up - Hey maybe we should hear him out.

And they mock him too… “Look into it! He can’t be the Messiah.”

The next step in the journey for those that come to the cross…

-First Jesus needs to grab your attention and ask you to die to yourself and be reborn —- surrender to Jesus.

-Second - to taste and see that the Lord is good. Or as the religious leaders say - LOOK INTO IT.

Nicodemus at this point isn’t convinced Jesus isn’t who he says he is… “maybe we should hear him out.”

And is challenged to look into it.

Which is what brings us to the cross… Tonight’s events that we celebrate.

The Pharisees say he can’t be the Messiah because he’s from Galilee but a quick look into Jesus would reveal he was born in Bethlehem… the place the Messiah will come out of.

They also thought that by killing him, they would prove he wasn’t the Messiah but it would fall right into the plan of salvation that was foretold in the scriptures. The ones they search and study.

Isaiah 53:1–6 “Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

Nicodemus must have begun to research these verses because you see him hanging around the cross in the end. The journey of exploring Jesus brought him to the cross. Like it did for all of you tonight and if you are a Christian at a pivotal point in your life.

Ushering you to the cross. To see the DEATH of Jesus. To see the KING on the cross.

For Part 4 shows that Nicodemus was there at the cross…

John 19:38–42 NIV

Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jewish leaders. With Pilate’s permission, he came and took the body away. He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs. At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.

Part 4 - the passionate generosity and overflow

Since we don’t know much about the customs of Jews in the first century. We might miss what’s happening here. Not only was Nicodemus hanging around the cross and even hearing the statement of centurion — Mark 15:39 “And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, saw how he died, he said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!””

He and his fellow rich friend, Joseph of Arimathea offered to take the body of Jesus and bury him. This is when it gets good. John records that Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. Spices and linen.

This is an insanely generous and impressive gesture.

The only other recorded instances of such an extravagant gesture is for KINGS being buried.

Nicodemus through his actions is declaring Jesus as the King.

He is burying a KING… and his heart has finally fully awaken to Jesus… It wasn’t his job, position, money, or prestige that filled his heart. It was the love of Jesus on the cross.

This IS TRUE for you whether you realize it or not. The love of Jesus on the cross is what you need.

The sacrifice for you.

Jesus took your sin so you can take his righteousness. The Great Exchange.

Let the story of Nicodemus be an example for you.

The story of New life. The response of allowing it to change how you view Jesus.

To the great sacrifice and surrender at the cross.

While the Bible never mentions again, the stories of the early church has Nicodemus as a follower of Jesus. And I think just this final part to the story reveals that to us.

Nicodemus sees Jesus as King. Do you?

Is he the King of your life? The king on the cross is why we come to celebrate Good Friday. May you stop living in a way that Jesus is a side dish and may he become the main thing. May you truly surrender to Jesus and walk fully with him.

Let’s pray.