Nicodemus: From Darkness to Light

Who Was Nicodemus?

John 3:1 “Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.”

Jewish Sects

Zealots: Religious freedom fighters.

Essenes: Jewish mystics who practiced communal living, celibacy, and abstained from animal sacrifices.

Sadducees: Hellenistic Jews whose religious life revolved around the temple. They did not believe in the resurrection. The majority of the priest and the High Priest were Sadducees.

Pharisees: Jews who exercised strict piety according to both Mosaic law and oral tradition.

7 Types of Pharisees

The Boastful: Wants every one to see his good deeds.

The Procrastinator: Drags his feet in order to put off doing good deeds.

The Bruised or Bleeder: Runs into walls in order to “flee” temptation, especially the temptation of looking at a woman.

The Hunchback: Walks hunched over in order to show his humility.

Do-gooder: Always looking for good deeds to do in order to cancel or out weigh sinful deeds.

The Fearful: Serves God out of fear of His judgment.

The God-loving: Serve God out of his love for the Lord.

Nicodemus’ Encounter with Jesus

John 3:2 “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.””

Of the seven types of Pharisees, Nicodemus was probably the one who served the Lord out of love.

Nicodemus came to Jesus at night not out of fear of being ridiculed for seeking Jesus, but rather because he was truly seeking truth.

John 3:3–12 (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.”

Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” 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?

Nicodemus has no depth of understanding in the Scriptures.

He was still partaking of milk instead of the meat of the Word.

He knew how to heed the Word of God but had no real relationship with its author.

His Christian equivalent would be a babe in Christ.

Stepping into the Light

John 7:50–52 (ESV)

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 19:39–40 (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.

Somewhere between the time he met Jesus at night and the crucifixion, Nicodemus became a follower of Christ.

Desiring to Know the Author

As a Christian, I don’t want to just know about the Lord, but rather I desire to intimately know Him.

I want to know Him as Peter, James and John knew Him.

My desire is to be a true friend of God.