Refreshing Stories from the Bible - Nicodemus

John 3:1–2 KJV 1900

1 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: 2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.

Who was Nicodemus?

Solely based on the biblical account, we can surmise several things about who Nicodemus was.

First off, he was a Pharisee.

Second, his name literally means victorious among his people.

You will notice the “nic” at the beginning of his name which comes from the greek word nike or victory.

This is fitting because Nicodemus appears to be a wealthy man.

You will remember that after Jesus’ death, Joseph lent Him a tomb, but it was Nicodemus that provided the expensive spices and oils for his burial.

Third, the Bible tells us that he was a ruler of the Jews.

This could not mean that he was a local magistrate, because the local civil government had all been assumed by the Romans.

What this indicates is that Nicodemus was a member of the Sanhedrin.

This is further supported by Jesus’ words in verse 10 where He refers to Nicodemus as a “master of Israel.”

Now, that is what we know from the biblical account.

There is, however a well-known historical figure who may be the same person as the Bible’s Nicodemus.

How many of you are familiar with the Jewish historian named Josephus?

How many you knew that Josephus ben Gorion had a brother.

Josephus’ brother was a man in history named Nicodemon ben Gorion.

Some of the evidence that points to this possibly being the same is as follows.

He was a contemporary of Josephus and Jesus.

He was a very rich man.

Jewish tradition says that he was one of the 3 rich men of Jerusalem.

It was said that he had enough money to support a city for 10 years.

The historical Nicodemon was also portrayed as an important Jewish counselor.

Another name for the historical Nicodemon is Boni.

Boni is listed in other texts as a disciple of Jesus Christ.

The biblical Nicodemus was secretly a follower of Jesus.

That is, until he outed himself by assisting in the burial of Jesus.

Historically, the family of Nicodemon had a terrible fall from riches.

His daughter is recorded as gathering barley from under the horses hooves.

Which means she rifled through their dung to find something to eat.

Is it possible that the Nicodemon of history and the Nicodemus of the Bible are the same man?

There is a reason why Nicodemus came to Jesus by night.

Did Nicodemus maintain his position as long as he kept his devotion to Jesus a secret?

Did he lose all of his wealth because of his association with Jesus?

It cannot be said for certain, but it is, at least, probable.

What did Nicodemus want?

Most basically, he wants to know the same thing that John’s readers want to know

Who is Jesus Christ?

Remember, John is writing to people who have lost their identity.

The Temple is destroyed, and with it, a great source of pride for the Jews.

John is trying to prove to them that Jesus fulfills the pictures of their Jewish faith.

Nicodemus is also a man searching for answers.

Unlike the Jews, though, Nicodemus has everything going for him.

Nicodemus has everything the world says you need.

Wealth Position Influence Recognition

Yet there is something about Jesus that makes him desire more.

Nicodemus reveals an interesting admission from the Sanhedrin.

Notice he says “we” when he speaks to Jesus.

Who is this “We” that he is referring to?

I would think that it either refers to the Pharisees or to the Sanhedrin (which was made up of Pharisees).

You see, no one, not even His enemies could deny that Jesus was sent from God.

This tell me that there are conversations going on behind closed doors, where people are struggling to deny the fact that Jesus was indeed empowered by God.

You know what else this tells me?

It tells me that later on, when the Pharisees try to accuse Jesus of performing miracles through the power of Satan, they knew they were lying.

They knew they were lying.

Sometimes I wonder about the people that oppose our Christian faith.

Are they really ignorant of the truth, or do they know the truth and they just can’t admit it.

Jesus’ actions were beyond debate when it came to the source of their power.

Another thing I’d like to point out to you is Nicodemus’ use of the word Rabbi.

This was not a word that was thrown around lightly.

You had to earn the right to be called by this name.

Jesus is only 30 years old, it would have been nearly unheard of for a man of His age to be called Rabbi.

This shows us how much Nicodemus respected Jesus.

Now, I’ve heard some people speak poorly of Nicodemus as if he was a coward that had to sneak out at night to see Jesus.

Compared to his buddies in the local fraternity of Pharisees, though, I think Nicodemus was acting pretty boldly in coming to Jesus.

They were all talking about Him, they all knew that He was from God, but only Nicodemus had the guts to approach Jesus.

It is these same guts that John hopes to illicit from his readers.

John knows that people who are bold enough to step away from the crowd and come to Jesus will be shown things that others don’t get to see.

John got to see Jesus transfigured.

John got to see the feeding of the 5,000

John was there at the Last Supper.

John was there as Jesus died.

John never gave up his stand for Christ.

At the end of his life, Jesus showed him how everything will end.

When choose to follow the Lord, you will be shown things that others don’t get to see.

How was Nicodemus rewarded for his desire to know more about Jesus?

Well, I mean, he was only the recipient of some of the most beautiful words in the Bible.

v.3 Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

v.14 as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:

v.16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

v.17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

Some of the most memorized verses in the Bible were first spoken to Nicodemus, the Pharisee because he was bold enough to come to Jesus.

John wanted his readers to realize that Jesus is a rewarder of all men that seek Him.

Whether your in exile without a country, like John’s readers, or one of the 3 wealthiest men in the city, like Nicodemus, Jesus wants you to come to Him.

If you will, He will show you things that you never thought you’d see.

Jesus is still rewarding those that seek HIm.

Seeking Jesus has always been a costly endeavor.

For Nicodemus, he sought to meet Jesus personally.

To talk to Him face to face.

For us, we meet with Jesus through His word.

We talk to Him through prayer.

Nicodemus had to risk everything to communicate with Jesus.

Fortunately for us, the cost basically boils down to time.

We don’t have to hide our Bibles.

We aren’t under threat for simply owning a Bible.

All that it costs us as American Christians is a little bit of time.

When we invest a little bit of time into the Bible, it doesn’t take long before we begin to understand and appreciate it.

People who say that the Bible doesn’t make sense or is dry, are revealing more about themselves than they are the Bible.

The Bible is a letter from God to us.

It is filled with the lessons and counsel that we need to live the life that God wants us to live.

The people who risk the time needed to read and study the Bible will always find that there are riches they did not expect.

It could be the person who has no knowledge of the Bible.

They’ve never given it a chance.

They don’t know the stories or even where to start.

To them, the Bible is an unattainable book that they have given up on ever reading.

It could be the person who grew up on the Bible.

They’ve seen the flannel-graphs.

They know the names and major events.

To them it has become more of a childish story than a life-guiding letter from God.

No matter what your past relationship with the word of God, if you will follow Nicodemus’ example you will be rewarded.

If you will risk another shot at investing your time into knowing God’s word...

If you will come to Jesus with a desire to know Him more...

Then I believe you will find Him ready to teach you.

God wants us to know HIm.

Jesus wants to teach us and guide us through this life.

We were created for a relationship with Him.

If we will just give Him a chance to speak, He will show us who He is.