Going Public - Nicodemus - Easter
Notes
Transcript
Good evening ladies and gentlemen of the the internet!
My name is Charlie Kae and I’m the lead pastor at Grace Empire in Wesley Chapel, Florida and I would like to welcome everyone to Grace Empire online.
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Alright with all that out the way…lets get to Jesus shall we?
Pray
We are in the final week of our Easter series titled Going Public where we look through the gospels and unpack people that were living in obscurity, forgotten or outcasted by society, hiding from fear, or hidden from view. We will learn their stories, see how they were “hiding” and how encountering Jesus would change their status from hiding to hollering to hoping.
In week one we spoke about Blind Bartimaeus and how he had cast aside a life with no hope to a life filled with hope.
In week two, Pastor Jean Luc spoke about the woman with the flow of blood and how desperation can be used like a tool, like a catalyst to bring about hope. It is the desperate that are willing to try anything. Desperation is more than a state of being, it can be a spiritual discipline in our lives.
In week three, we covered the story of the Sinful Woman with the Alabaster Jar, and how understanding who Jesus is, that he is more than a teacher, a prophet, or a rabbi, will change the way you honor him. Jesus is the son of God and knowing this helps you honor him and hearts that honor Jesus are filled with hope.
Last week we spoke about Jesus’ most impulsive disciple, Peter. We read about Peter’s seemingly unshakeable belief that Jesus was the son of God but thhen we watched as that belief shattered after watching his master die. But three days later, Jesus resurrected from the grave and the overwhelming evidence of Jesus’ divinity became clear. Jesus never expected us to believe in belief but to believe in the evidence of His work.
And today we continue looking into the lives of Jesus’ contemporaries and how they went from hiding, to hollering, to hoping. But before we dive into the stories of our heroes today, we need a little bit of an Easter warm up. Cause their is a lot to talk about today.
If you are new to Christianity or new to faith in general, you may wonder what all the hype is that surrounds Easter. You may have heard that Easter is like the superbowl for churches and we say that for a good reason because in a way it is. Easter is the most important holiday when it comes to churches and Christians in general; I would even go out on a limb and say that Easter is more important to a Christian than Christmas because of the implication that comes out of it. In reality Easter is important to us because all of Christianity hinges on an event that happened 2000 years ago. Yes, Christianity comes down to Jesus and our belief that he is the savior of the world, but that wouldn’t be true without this event that happened today all those years ago. It is this event, the resurrection of Jesus, that gave life, that validated Jesus’ claim that he was the son of God. His resurrection demonstrated his power and authority over death and substantiated his claim that he was the Christ, the Anointed One, the Chosen One, the messiah. Without this event, Christianity would not exist today and would have died with Jesus at Golgotha. But thats not what happened. Over 500 people witnessed a resurrected Jesus and the miracle of Jesus’ resurrection gave birth what we believe and why we have gathered today.
I also wanted to preface this sermon by letting you know that at the end of this message we will be giving every person an opportunity to make a decision and become a follower of Jesus and become a Christian. I say this because we generally don’t do your typical salvation alter call type stuff here. But on Easter, we give everyone an opportunity to declare and make a decsion to be a Christian so that you can look back on Easter and easily remember, “ah that was the day, that I became a follower of Jesus.” So maybe you have been wrestling with faith for some time or you have been wanting to make the jump into a new spiritual life but just haven’t found the right moment for that, maybe today will be the day for you. And at the end, I will even give you an opportunity to lift your hand and officially go public with your faith - now you don’t have too - but after hearing today’s sermon, you just might want too. The series isn’t called Going Public for nothing, you know.
So let’s get into this.
So today our hidden heroes go by the names of Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea. Nick and Joe. And in order for you to know how Nick and Joe will play apart to the story of Easter, I have to give you some background information on our two heroes so that the primary story makes sense. Our primary narrative which is the death and resurrection of Jesus. But the backstory of Nick and Joe will play a crucial role in the CONFIRMATION of the primary narrative of Easter. Without Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea, there would have been inconsistencies in the account of Jesus’ resurrection and in order for Christianity to thrive, there would have to be definitive evidence of Jesus’ death, so that there would be no dubiousness to Jesus’ resurrection.
Without Nick and Joe, this is what would have happened. Jesus would have resurrected from the dead in a mass grave and landfill in a ravine on the south side of Jerusalem. Matter of fact, this place has a name, it was called Gehenna. This was where we get the greek word for Hell because this awful place was a catch all dumpster for garbage, sewage, dead bodies, and the filth of Jerusalem. In the Old Testament, this was the center of idolatrous worship in which children were burned by fire as an offering to the heathen god Molech. During Jesus time, this place always had a continuous fire going to burn away all the stuff I just mentioned above. It smelled. It was infested with rats. It was truly a disgusting place. And if you were executed by Rome, you were not allowed a proper funeral. You were killed, and carted off and dumped in the valley of Gehenna and families were refused the right to bury their dead. Couldn’t do it.
So this was the fate that awaited Jesus. He would have been crucified on a cross, left for days to rot as a symbol to everyone that this is what happens if you mess with Rome, then he would have been pried off and thrown into a cart with other dead bodies and eventually dumped into a mass grave along side other criminals and undesirables. Definitely would not have been pretty. But because of Nick and Joe, that is not what happened and I’m going to tell you why that is important by the end of this message.
But what is also important before we get into our Scripture reading for today, although I call Nicodemus and Joseph our heroes of the story today, they didn’t really emanate bravery or courage or deep faith like you would expect from a hero. Matter of fact, they were pretty ordinary when it comes to bravery and courage, very much like us. And just like I explained last week, they were a part of the same crowd of people that believed Jesus was dead and by “same crowd” I mean everyone. Nobody, not his disciples, not the religious leaders, not even his own mother, expected Jesus to come back to life. When Jesus died, their hope in him died with them. Nick and Joe were no different.
So let me tell you a little bit about Nick and Joe. Nick and Joe were part of a group called the Pharisees. The Pharisees were an important part of the religious system during the time of the NT. They were considered the best of the best in society. They were the smartest, most capable, most revered, and were highly respected in their culture…sort of. That last one is a bit suspect because the full time job of a pharisee was to be good. If someone asked a Pharisee, “so what do you do for a living?” A Pharisee would answer, “I do good.” As the religious leaders of their day, their job was to be behave and make sure everyone else behaved as well. So although they were respected, nobody really LIKES the behavior police, feel me?
And these Pharisees did not like Jesus. They didn’t like Jesus because Jesus messed with their position and authority. When Jesus taught, people listened. They were drawn to Jesus. When Jesus taught thousands of people gathered and were taught something more powerful than just how to get by on the daily. In Jesus’ words were life and he taught them something deeper than just, behave, behave, behave. And the Pharisee’s did not like that. They were jealous. They were angry. And they were scared that Jesus would change the status quo…cause the status quo was working for the Pharisee.
But among the Pharisees there was a very small sect of Pharisees that was able to look beyond themselves and their own hubris. There was a small sect of Pharisees that heard the words and witnessed the miracles, and reasoned out that only someone from God could do the things Jesus was doing. The blind were seeing, the lame were walking, the poor were being feed. The deaf were hearing, demons were being cast out, the outcasts were being ministered too. Where Jesus went, hope followed, and these select Pharisee’s were smart enough to not ignore the evidence. And among them were Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea.
Now lets not get confused here. They weren’t convinced that Jesus was the messiah yet. They thought maybe he COULD be the messiah but they weren’t sure. And certainly they weren’t ready to go public with their convictions yet. oh no no. They definitely weren't ready to do that. They kept their thoughts and conversations far away from the eyes and ears of their coworkers. Cause what they were talking about would get them ostricized from the larger group and they were not ready for that. Nobody wants to get blacklisted. It’s high school all over again.
But they did have questions. As they watched Jesus from afar, they definitely wondered. Maybe he was the messiah. Maybe he was the Christ we were waiting for. So they got together and maybe the played rock, paper, scissors, but they decided Nicodemus would be the one to represent them and go ask the questions. So I imagine Nick put on his best 007 outfit and went incognito in the night to ask Jesus THE question. It was THE question that burned inside him and his friends. It is the question that needed to be answered the most, and it is a question that ALL of us want answered at some point in our lives so I guess we should all pay attention to Nicks question, right?
1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, 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.”
A couple of things here:
It says that Nicodemus was a part of the Jewish ruling council - This means that Nicodemus was like a senator, someone of note. Only the elite pharisees were selected for the Jewish ruling council, also called the Sanhedrin.
I think the key word here is “we,” which meant that Nick wasn’t here on his own. He represented a group of them. There was a group of Pharisee’s that were starting to believe but they had so many questions that needed to be answered.
And just as Nick was getting warmed up to ask his question, Jesus did that thing that Jesus often does. It’s like he read Nicodemus mind and answered the question before he even asked it.
3 In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”
“Oh there it is…they told me this might happen. I should have spit it out sooner.” Look, if someone can answer your question before you even ask it, you better pay attention to that person. You can chalk it up to coincidence or intuition but either way, pay attention. So just as Nicodemus is getting ready to ask THE question, that I’m sure he and his posse worked hard to phrase the question just right, Jesus goes ahead and answered it. So if the answer is, “no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” what is the question? The question is this:
How can I know if I have a right standing with God?
Jesus invented Jeopardy.
But thats the question isn’t it? How do I know that I will go to heaven? How do I know that God isn’t punishing me right now? How do I know if God loves me or even likes me? What do I need to do to make sure all the good things in life will come my way and all the bad things will stay far over there? Is there anyway to know, to truly know, that God and I are on good terms?
Cause we all want that. That’s why many of us come to church. That’s why many of us feel the need to give offering. That is why you feel slightly uncomfortable keeping your window rolled up when you see that homeless person at an intersection. “I don’t have any cash right now. Do you take debit?” We want to be sure. Some of us call it karma. We want to me sure our karma with God is good. But can I tell you something in advance here…the answer isn’t that complicated.
The answer is, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.
and to that Nicodemus answers.
4 “How can a man be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born!”
5 Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’
I love Nicodemus question because it’s so logical. For us hindsight is 2020, right? We can mine what Jesus is saying here cause we have had 2000 years to come up with an answer but for Nicodemus, this idea is completely foreign to him. Be born again? You mean that we have to go into our mothers…you know what? Never mind.
So Jesus explains, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water - thats the first birth, and of Spirit…and Nick is like, its the second part I don’t understand. And Jesus continues. Flesh gives birth to flesh. Dog have dogs, cats have cats, humans make humans…okay Jesus so THAT I get. But the Spirit, because God is spirit, gives birth to spirit. If there is to be a birth into the kingdom of God, because God is Spirit, there has to be a new birth experience. You guys ready for this? There has to be a spiritual birth.
And although this may seem like a repeat of an idea you have heard before, this idea was revolutionary for Nicodemus because up until this point Nicodemus relationship with God has been purely transactional. And by transactional I mean, if I do this then I get this. If I act good then I am promised a good life. If I behave or misbehave, I get what I have earned. Does this sound familiar to some of you? It should. It is natural to see our relationship with God this way because this is the lens in which we view ALL our human relationships. Our human relationships are almost ALL transactional. You love me so I love you back. You disrespect me, then I disrespect you. I believe this is called giver’s gain. I give so that I can gain.
But Jesus says, this is not how you secure your place in the Kingdom of God. Even though you are a good man Nicodemus, you got it wrong. Just as a son or daughter is born of his parents and that child had nothing to do with them being born, just so it is with your heavenly father. You must be born again, but not externally, you must be born again internally. But once this happens, just as a child cannot alter his status, you also become God’s forever child.
And to that Nicodemus responds,
9 “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.
Nicodemus is wondering, how could I have gotten this wrong? My whole like I have been behaving my way into God’s good graces, but now you are telling me that there is a whole other way? I have to be born of the Spirit instead of just being good?
So just as Jesus divined Nicodemus initial question, Jesus may be sensing Nicodemus frustration so he throws Nicodemus an analogy that he would understand.
Jesus continues
13 No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. 14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.
So here Jesus references a story that Nick, being a Pharisee would know. It’s a strange story, a story of a nation complaining about God’s provision, God’s wrath doled out by venomous snakes, and his mercy given through erecting a bronze serpent on a pole. In Numbers 21, the nation of Israel is complaining about being freed from their slavery only to die in the wilderness. This invokes God’s judgement and I imagine, hundreds of thousands of snakes come out of the woodworks and begin to start biting everyone in the camp. People are dying and they come to Moses, fully aware that this was their fault and ask Moses to help them. Moses prays and gets word to erect a bronze serpent on a pole and the instruction is, if you look at it, they will live. So Moses does this, he sets up the pole, and tells the people what to do, and those with enough sense to do it, live.
Super weird story, but thats what he tells Nicodemus and adds, the Son of Man - which is Jesus himself - will also be lifted up in the same way. And whoever believes in Jesus will also have eternal life.
Believes? Believes Jesus? Don’t you mean behave? No Nicodemus…believes. If you believe in the Son of Man, you will enter in the kingdom of heaven. But Jesus, I have been told my whole life that I had to behave, behave, behave and Jesus says, no…you had it wrong.
And the conversation ends.
Time passes and Jesus continues his ministry and he continues to gain influence among the people and continues to discredit the Pharisees and the Pharisees are getting more and more angry. But Nicodemus and his posse continue to watch and listen in secret. They are still hiding. Hiding in fear of the judgement of their peers. But the time comes and the Pharisees have had enough, so they order the temple guard to go and capture Jesus so that they can threaten him and shut Jesus up. So the temple guard gear up to go and capture Jesus.
45 Finally the temple guards went back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, “Why didn’t you bring him in?”
So after waiting and waiting for the temple guard to show up, but no Jesus. And the Pharisees are like, “dude…why didn’t you bring Jesus in?” and to that they respond...
46 “No one ever spoke the way this man does,” the guards declared.
“You mean to tell me that you stayed and listened to his sermon?”
“Well he was in the middle of teaching…we didn't want to be rude. But after hearing him talk for a while, i mean…he made a lot of sense.”
47 “You mean he has deceived you also?” the Pharisees retorted. 48 “Has any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in him? 49 No! But this mob that knows nothing of the law—there is a curse on them.”
The Pharisees are irritated. “You dunderheads. We are the ones that know the law. We are the best of the best. One of us are deceived. We are the ones that know better. We do not pay you to think.”
And it’s at this moment, that Nick’s posse cuts eyes toward Nicodemus. And a silent conversation is exchanged just with their eyes, and maybe one of them motions to Nick…dude you should say something. So Nick speaks up.
50 Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier and who was one of their own number, asked, 51 “Does our law condemn anyone without first hearing him to find out what he is doing?”
52 They replied, “Are you from Galilee, too? Look into it, and you will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee.”
Nick is like…”look, Im not saying I’m with Jesus or anything, but don’t you think we should hear the guy out before we condemn this guy to death?”
And they look over at Nicodemus and say something so condescending.
“What are you a Galilean too?”
What they mean by that is that Jesus grew up in a region called Galilee and the Pharisee’s know, because they KNOW the law, that the messiah was supposed to come out of the town of Bethlehem. This was their elite, snobbish way of saying…
“how ignorant you are? Stay in school Nicodemus.”
But what the Pharisee’s didn’t know was that Jesus WAS born in Bethlehem, he just happened to grow up in Galilee.
Nicodemus is beginning to emerge from his place of hiding, but still not fully there yet.
Finally, after Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead, the people of Israel are convinced that Jesus is their future king, and the bible says that they were ready to make him king by force if they had too. The Pharisees know it’s time to act. If they do not kill Jesus soon, Rome will see this as a rebellion, and Israel, which includes the Pharisees, will get squashed right along with them too.
So they bring in the temple guard one more time to retrieve Jesus while he is praying in a garden. They capture him and bring him in. And they judge him. The Pharisees hold an impromptu trial - which was completely illegal - with hired witnesses to lie against Jesus so that they could condemn him to death. And the while Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea just watch and let this all happen.
Eventually Jesus will be beaten within an inch of his life and will be sentenced to death on a cross. And as Jesus is raised up on the cross, Nicodemus and his posse remembers Jesus’ words. The son of man must be lifted up and whoever believes in him will have eternal life, and it finally clicks in him. Oh…that’s what he meant.
And it must have been in this moment, that these educated men of Scriptures realized that they could no longer live in secret anymore. They have just witnessed the son of God die on the cross and they were implicit in his death. So after Jesus dies on a cross, they do the unthinkable and they go to the Roman official who is in charge, and ask for the body of Jesus.
38 Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jews. With Pilate’s permission, he came and took the body away. 39 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. 40 Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs. 41 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. 42 Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.
As I said earlier, those who died on a cross where usually just sent to Gehenna and were not allowed a proper burial, but sometimes money was exchanged and you look one way and ill go another and bodies could be taken away without anyone the wiser and that is what happens here. Jesus instead of ending up in a landfill, Jesus instead of ending up in a mass grave, was properly inspected and imbaumbed. There was 100% certainty in Jesus death. No one could say, well maybe Jesus wasn’t really dead when he went to Gehenna…by being given a proper burial, Jesus death was indisputable. But there in lies the problem. Jesus was dead.
And STILL Nicodemus and Joseph decide to publically announce their love for Jesus, their allegiance to Jesus, EVEN if nothing would come of it, because they could not hide anymore. Their belief in the evidence of his life and his testimony changed their position from hiding to hollering, from hiding to action.
But as I stated early on in the sermon, this isn’t a story about someones death. The primary narrative of Easter is a story of miracle, of resurrection. Jesus goes into the tomb, embaumbed, 100% dead, to three days later, emerging victorious from the grave, appearing to his disciples and over 500 witnesses fully alive and fully healed. Jesus isn’t just man, he is God in the flesh and he is someone worth going public for, not just because of the way he lived, but because of how he lives now.
Nicodemus and Joseph were brave enough to go public with their faith even BEFORE they new Jesus would come back, but their bravery helped a generation of people know without a shadow of doubt that Jesus was fully man, a man that died with indisputable certainty, but also fully God, someone whom not even death could hold down.
And if you are ready to take your faith public just as Nicodemus and Joseph did, pray with me.