Conversation in the Night

Who is Nicodemus?

John 3:1 ESV

Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.

A. He is a Pharisee (John 3:1)

Possibly the most influential of the Pharisees (john 3: 10)

B. A ruler of the Jews - He was a member of the Sanhedrin

b. The Jewish Supreme Court

This is a guy who shapes the laws that govern Judaism

C. Possibly a secret follower of Jesus

John 7:45–52 ESV

The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why did you not bring him?” The officers answered, “No one ever spoke like this man!” The Pharisees answered them, “Have you also been deceived? Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him? But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.” Nicodemus, who had gone to him before, and who was one of them, said to them, “Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?” They replied, “Are you from Galilee too? Search and see that no prophet arises from Galilee.”

John 19:39–42 ESV

Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight. So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. Now 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. So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there.

John 3:2 ESV

This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “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.”

Nicodemus was a man who was qualified for heaven. He was a Jew, so he had the right heritage, he was a Pharisee so he was a devout follower of the law and he was a part of the Sanhedrin which means that he was a leader of the people...

When he referred to Jesus as Rabbi he was giving honor to Jesus, those who are “in the know” know that you are a teacher and leader”

Born Again

John 3:3–8 ESV

Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

It is a spiritual thing that happens. this is a thing that Nicodemus could not understand…he asked Jesus, “What are you talking about” and then Jesus got down to business

John 3:10–15 ESV

Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

It is not about the work you do, it is not about who you are, it is not about you at all…it wasn’t about Moses or Abraham or anything else, it is about “Me” and what I can do in your life.

John 3:16–21 ESV

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

Jesus came to save and not condemn and all that is required is belief. This would have been offensive to Nicodemus, but at the same time intriguing. Nicodemus was one of the people who was in charge of the current religious legalistic system...

Jesus is speaking to a Pharisee, a man who LIVED the Law. This is a man who was honored above most in Jerusalem and was well respected and Jesus is saying to him, the works that you have spent your whole life doing, are not good enough. In fact they are hurtful. That’s what the word Jesus used there means hurtful. They hurt your ability to get to heaven because you trust in them.

The word for evil is poneros and it means: calamitous, diseased, culpable, derelict

The word for wicked is phaulos and it means flawed

We usually say that Jesus is talking about sin here…and that is a valid idea, but Jesus is talking to man who would say that he has no sin…that he is a child of Abraham and chosen of God. So, in this context, while the concept of sin applies, we have to understand Jesus to be saying to this man that the system that the Pharisees have created is flawed and those works will not save Him

Now, its important to understand, Jesus was not telling Nicodemus not to do good…He was telling Him not to trust in the good that he did to save him. Trust in Jesus for salvation. The people who work for salvation will be exposed. There will come a time when they will stand before Jesus and say, “I did this and this and this, I fed the poor, I gave this much tithes” and they will be able to go on and on about how much “good” they did and Jesus will say, “The good works you did have condemned you to Hell because you were trusting in them instead of me” and to others He will say, “you trusted Me and because you did, I empowered you and you did this and this and this, and you have eternal life”