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Nicodemus’s Encounter with Jesus

I.  Introduction

The people of Jesus’ day thought that by studying and following the rules of the scriptures, they would possess eternal life.  But Jesus said “[t]hese are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.”  This week we want to examine the question: “What does it mean to come to Jesus to have life?”

We’re going to look at how Jesus personally answered this question for Nicodemus, and how Nicodemus moved toward faith.  This is Nicodemus’ bible story, Nicodemus’ encounter with Jesus, but we want to think about how Jesus meets us in our lives just like Jesus meets Nicodemus in this bible lesson. 

Think about how this message is true for you (not for someone else).  Our goal is to see that Jesus speaks redemptively into our lives, uniquely calling us to believe, to be born from above, and to receive life.

READ John 3:1-21.

II.  Background                           

I want to start with giving a little background information on who Nicodemus in the Bible was. Why is Nicodemus important?

• Nicodemus was a man, a Jew, a member of the Pharisees (a religious group that interpreted and followed Torah (1^st 5 books of our OT) in a specific way; they were rabbis and leaders of the people).
• Nicodemus was also in a very prestigious group of ruling rabbi as well.  Was Nicodemus a member of the Sanhedrin, a group composed of men respected in the community, well-known, and of the upper social strata? Yes. It was a group that Rome has given civil authority to carry out their own laws, based on Torah, in the midst of Roman occupation.
• As a Pharisee and member of the Sanhedrin, he would be expected to be a religious teacher and academic, an expert in the law.  He would be an intellectual, one who studied the Scriptures, lived by them, prayed by them, and believed that they gave life.  To follow the rules would give them life.  He was well-trained in his field, a specialist, per se.  This is who Nicodemus was.

III.  Confrontation: Nicodemus’ Encounter with Jesus

Next, let’s look at what Nicodemus’ encounter with Jesus (or “confrontation”) was like. Why was Nicodemus unique?

The context: we see in verse 2, that Nicodemus comes to Jesus at night.  Why did Nicodemus come to Jesus at night? He comes under the cover of darkness.  The book of John carries a theme throughout it of light versus darkness where Jesus is the true light that shines among and enlightens men.  He is the Light of the World.  In verses 19-21 of this section, Jesus says “Light has come into the world [referring to himself], but men loved darkness instead of light” and that they “will not come into the light for fear that [their] deeds will be exposed.”  It is important to note that Nicodemus came to Jesus at night, under the cover of darkness.  John is making it clear that Jesus meets Nicodemus at night and wants the reader to be aware of this fact.  Because Nicodemus was a religious scholar, he should have understood who Jesus was, what his mission was, and he should have recognized him as the promised messiah.

Two aspects of their conversation that I want to look at are:

1. The Misunderstanding, and
2. What Jesus Offered.

1. The Misunderstanding

First, the misunderstanding.  Nicodemus comes to Jesus in verse 2, speaking in the plural and probably on behalf of his peers, saying “we know you are a teacher who comes from God.  For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.”  Just prior to this story, John records at the end of Ch. 2, verse 23: “many people saw the miraculous signs he was doing and believed in his name.” Four verses later, Nicodemus is stating that he’s seen the signs, but it’s obvious that he hasn’t believed; he’s only there to investigate them further.

Jesus, instead of verifying the signs, cuts right to the heart of Nicodemus’ true need: “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again” (v. 3).

Nicodemus is confused though.  He asks, “What do you mean? How can a man be born when he is old? Is he to reenter his mother’s womb?”  He doesn’t understand what Jesus is saying.  A reason for the confusion and misunderstanding comes from the Greek word (anothen) that Jesus used to mean “again.”  This word has several meanings, “again” is one of them, but so is “from above.”  So when Jesus says the word, he means one thing: you must be born from above, but Nicodemus takes it to mean again: you must be born again.

Jesus then repeats his statement and elaborates that to be born from above (or again) meant that “one must be born of water and the Spirit.”  Again, Nicodemus doesn’t understand what Jesus means, but Jesus says he shouldn’t be surprised, since he’s Israel’s teacher.  Jesus is referring to the ultimate renewal promised by the prophet Ezekiel in Ezekiel 36:25-27.   Jesus uses OT Scriptures (which Nicodemus would be an expert in) to teach what they really mean and what Nicodemus should have known.  The passage says:

“I will sprinkle clean water on you [here’s the water aspect], and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols.  I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you…I will put my Spirit in you.”  (Ezek 25:25-27)

This is what spiritual rebirth is about: being cleansed with God’s water and being given God’s spirit living inside us and our hearts.  It’s about regeneration (the theological term that means renewal, which happens first in our lives to bring us to Christ, and second at Christ’s return to bring final and complete renewal and restoration).  If Nicodemus were a true religious teacher and really knew God, then he should have understood these things.

Jesus speaks uniquely to Nicodemus about redemption and his own needs.  Nicodemus needs belief, rebirth, and the Spirit.  These words speak specifically to his heart issue and need.  Being “born again” is not about living a good moral life.  It’s not about being a good person.  It’s about relationship with God, having his Holy Spirit living inside of you.  In this manner, all true believers and followers of Christ are “born again,” because you are born from above of God’s Spirit.

Jesus challenged Nicodemus at his core.  His identity would have been in his commitment to Torah, to prayer, to sacrifice, to fasting, and other things involved in following the law.  Jesus challenges this identity and says that those things are not how one will see the long-awaited Kingdom of God, it’s not in outward religiosity, but only through this rebirth, being born from above, could one see the Kingdom.

2. What Jesus Offered

The second part of this interaction is what Jesus offered to Nicodemus: Eternal Life. We’ve looked at how Jesus offers redemption to Nicodemus through asking him to come into the light and follow him, and to be born from above, but now Jesus holds out eternal life to him as well (in verses 14-21).  This goes back to our initial question: “What does it mean to come to Jesus to have life?”  Jesus wants Nicodemus to understand eternal life, but he must be able to understand heavenly things and come into the light.

In verse 14, Jesus says “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.”  Jesus uses another OT story that Nicodemus should be familiar with to make his point.  In Numbers 21:9, the Israelites were grumbling about God and Moses, so God sent poisonous snakes against them, killing them as judgment.  Once they repented and Moses asked forgiveness for them, God told Moses to put a bronze snake on a pole and hold it up and anyone who looked on it would not die, but receive life.  God offered them redemption from their sin even here and held out life to them.  In the same way, Jesus uses this story to refer to his death, where he is lifted up on the cross for all to see and have life as a result of believing in him.

God sent his son to save out of love, so that we could have eternal life.  He’s telling Nicodemus about it here “that 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” (3:16).  He was sent, not to condemn (like the Pharisees did), but to save.  Jesus doesn’t want Nicodemus to end up disbelieving, so he shares with him even the heavenly things about the Son of God.

Jesus ends this section saying that whoever “lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God” (v. 21).  But Nicodemus will have to come out of the darkness and into the light to experience this truth and eternal life.

As Nicodemus leaves, we learn that he does not immediately receive Jesus’ testimony (3:11).  He holds back from believing and confessing Jesus as the Christ.  He was not born from above and did not accept eternal life.  In verse 19, Jesus infers that Nicodemus “loved the darkness rather than the light.”  Nicodemus’ theological understanding of God actually kept him from recognizing Jesus as God’s son rather than receiving him and believing in him.  His intellect and learning and training, his life, who he was, and his peers all actually held him back, because he couldn’t recognize and receive the person of Christ as the Son of God.   Jesus spoke redemptively into Nicodemus’ life, uniquely calling him to believe, to be born from above, and to receive life.  But Nicodemus did not receive it at this point.

• QUESTION: What does Jesus’ interaction with Nicodemus tell us about how he encounters us?  How does he speak uniquely to us through these same words to Nicodemus?

Jesus met with Nicodemus at night—the Light of the World met him where he was.  Jesus met him where he was.  Jesus comes into the darkness of our lives as well.  He wants us to relinquish it to him and allow his good and saving light to shine in that dark place.

Jesus met Nicodemus at his point of need.  He spoke uniquely to him.  He needed to believe.  He needed rebirth.  He needed the Spirit.  We need to learn to recognize Jesus in our own lives, seeing how he meets us in the church body, in our small groups, in our lives and friends, and our Christian community.

Jesus challenged the way Nicodemus was interpreting scripture and living his life—his theological sophistication got in the way and kept him from encountering the living and true God.  Jesus wants us not to be so caught up in the minutiae of the law and theology that we forget his grace and love and personal call to our lives.

Jesus challenged the idea that faith is about a tradition that we follow.  Jesus longs to see your life transformed and changed and to have beauty because it is characterized by true spiritual renewal—by new life.

IV. What happens after his encounter with Jesus?

Let’s briefly follow the rest of Nicodemus’ story.  He appears three times in John’s gospel.  First in John 3, then John 7:48-52, and finally in John 19:38-40.

READ John 7:48-52.

After the Pharisees ask rhetorically, “Has any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in [Jesus]?”  Nicodemus speaks (it’s as if to say, “I do, I believe,” but he doesn’t, but he does defend him).  He asks the Pharisees “Does our law condemn anyone without first hearing him?” He wanted Jesus to be able to have a trial or a hearing before the leaders automatically condemned him.  Nicodemus is pointing out their hypocrisy in not even following the law in which they claim to be experts.  They replied “Are you from Galilee too?” (i.e. are you one of his disciples? why are you defending him? they want to know).

BUT, it seems as if where Nicodemus is right now, still isn’t enough.  He hasn’t publicly confessed Jesus, in fact, John writes later (in Ch. 12, verses 42-43) that “many even among the leaders believed in [Jesus].  But because of the Pharisees they would not confess their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; for they loved praise from men more than praise from God.”  (They wanted to fit in and be normal, doing what all other good, religious Jews did.)  Jesus says (going back to the light/dark contrast) “no one who believes in me should stay in darkness” (12:46).  Nicodemus is moving toward Jesus and defending him, but he hasn’t publicly confessed him, so he’s not there yet; he hasn’t come out into the light.

READ John 19:38-40.

The final time we encounter Nicodemus in John’s gospel is in 19:38-40.  We see Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimethea providing for Jesus’ burial.  They both were members of the Sanhedrin, but we learn now that both were also “disciple[s] of Jesus”, but secretly “for fear of the Jews.”  For the burial, Nicodemus “brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds,” as part of the traditional and customary burial for a Jewish person. He provides what is needed in order to bury Jesus properly and with great honor (we can tell by the amount of spices he brought!).  This duty was customarily carried out by a Jewish rabbi’s disciples.  By burying Jesus in this way as one of his disciples would, he defied the Sanhedrin who had just condemned him.

So, Nicodemus finally stepped out, took courage and acknowledged that Jesus mattered.  He finally identified himself with Jesus through public actions, joining the ranks of true disciples.  He was no longer afraid of the Jews, but he made the commitment of true faith.  He moved from darkness to faith and Jesus’ light.  Jesus spoke redemptively into Nicodemus’ life, uniquely calling him to believe, to be born from above, and to receive life.  And Nicodemus answered.

Some questions to ponder are: What about you?

Are you an intellectual, or do you get caught up on theological issues?

• Don’t make the mistake of getting your theology right but never learning to get your relationship with God right.  God is not distant and abstract, but we encounter him everywhere when we have spiritual eyes to see him at work in our lives.

Or are you on the opposite intellectual spectrum, requiring proofs and signs to believe?

• Recognize that Jesus is calling you too into his light so that he can show you what it means to have true life.

VI. Conclusion

In conclusion, not everyone will relate to where Nicodemus was.  But, it’s important to see that Jesus met him where he was—at the point of his need.  Jesus will meet you and me at our own unique points of need as well.

Jesus speaks redemptively into our lives, uniquely calling us to believe, to be born from above, and to receive life.

Questions for Discussion and Comments

1. How has Jesus “spoken” uniquely into your life lately?
2. What are some misconceptions about Jesus you struggle with?
3. How can you recognize Jesus’ voice better?

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