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Nicodemus: Doubted, Then Believed Text:
John 3:1-21; 7:45-52; 19:39 Today we begin our Lenten journey. These forty days are for spiritual renewal. Spiritual renewal comes about by the Spirit. The Holy Spirit works through the Word. In our handling and hearing of the Word of God this Lent we are interested in the interactions of a number of individuals who came into contact with Jesus of Nazareth, especially as he neared the climax of his earthly ministry on the Cross. Among these individuals we see a variety of responses ranging from initial interest to doubt, despair, frustration, surprise, relief and, finally, faith that confesses, “Truly, this is the Son of God.” The individuals we will consider are Nicodemus the Pharisee, Judas Iscariot the disciple, Pontius Pilate the Roman governor, Simon of Cyrene who helped carry Jesus' cross, the thief on the cross and, finally, the Roman centurion. The goal is that by comparing ourselves to these individuals we may understand our own struggle with what it means to be a follower of Christ and a people of faith. Tonight, as we begin the journey, we consider Nicodemus the Pharisee.
Nicodemus appears at the beginning and at the end of John's Gospel. Interestingly, at the end John reminds his readers that this was the man “who earlier had come to Jesus by night” [John 19:39 (ESV)]. In the beginning of John's Gospel he relates the incident, saying, “Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night” [John 3:1-2a (ESV)]. That he sought out Jesus at night indicates caution, a personal struggle between the prevailing opinion of the Jewish ruling council that Jesus was a law-breaking radical and troubler of Israel, and his own private speculation that Jesus just might be who he says he is, namely, the Messiah and Savior of God. I always find it interesting that his initial words to Jesus reveal the struggle between the facts on the one hand and the political expediency on the other that all the Pharisees must have been going through as he admits, “Rabbi, we know [meaning the Pharisees] that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him” [John 3:2 (ESV)]. If they “knew” that, then why all their opposition to him? The answer is because of their fundamental confusion between Law and Gospel. As a sort of Supreme Court over everyone who called themselves Jews, they were the acknowledged experts in the Law of God. If the Ten Commandments were the foundation or “constitution” of their relationship with God then the 613 rules they spun out on the basis of the Ten Commandments were the “bylaws.” Those who operate solely by the book, strictly following the rules are called “legalists.”
Now the Law of God is good and wise. But the Law of God is not an end to itself. For, as the Apostle Paul said it so clearly, “by works of the law no human being will be justified in [God's] sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin” [Romans 3:20 (ESV)]. The Law of God is, among other things, for the purpose of revealing sin and a person's need of a Savior from sin. The Savior from sin is revealed, however, not through the Law but through the Gospel. The Law is all about you and your works and actions and spiritual weakness. The Gospel is all about God and what He has done and is doing and will do to save you from your slavery to sin, death and the devil. That Nicodemus came to Jesus at night, not even knowing what to ask Jesus, indicates that, somehow, the Law of God was doing its proper work in him in drawing him to Jesus.
Recall how, before Nicodemus even asked a question, Jesus took over the conversation, leading him to the Gospel, saying, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God” [John 3:3 (ESV)]. Thereupon followed the short conversation revealing the need of faith conceived and born in the heart by the operation of the Holy Spirit through the Gospel-news that “God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” [John 3:16 (ESV)]. The tragedy of the story of Nicodemus is that while faith was being formed in his heart he remained, nevertheless, silent through all the conversations and decisions made by the Sanhedrin that led to Jesus' condemnation and death. Not that Nicodemus could have changed anything, nor would we have wanted him to. The tragedy was a personal one, that on the night they condemned Jesus to death, uncertainty or political pressure silenced the voice of a would-be witness that could have said, “Truly, this man is the Son of God” [Mark 15:39 (ESV)], the theme of our Lenten meditations and the confession of faith.
We can understand his silence. We are often silent when we're uncertain in our belief. But why are we uncertain? Like Nicodemus we want to believe, we want the gift of forgiveness and eternal life, and we have been led, somehow, to believe that Jesus just might be the answer and might be who he said he is.
Earlier I said that Nicodemus appears at the beginning and at the end of John's Gospel. Actually, he appears also in the middle of it. The Pharisees had sent a contingent of officers to arrest Jesus, but they came back empty-handed. When asked why they did not bring Jesus they said, “No one ever spoke like this man!” The Pharisees accused them of being deceived and asked, as proof, “Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him?” implying their unanimous opinion of unbelief. Nicodemus then spoke up briefly, asking, “Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?” But he was quickly put in his place and silenced with the sarcastic question, “Are you from Galilee too? Search and see that no prophet arises from Galilee” [John 7:45-52 (ESV)]. So today, people put their own spin on the Scriptures seemingly able to “prove” that Jesus is a phony and the Word of God is full of myths. The latest attack is coming to a theater near you called “The Da Vinci Code.” When you study the Bible, that is, in a way that the Bible interprets itself and instructs you, you quickly discover that the Pharisees were confusing the main territory of Jesus' ministry, Galilee, with his place of origin, namely, in Bethlehem of Judea as the Scriptures plainly taught. Search, Pharisees, and see that the Messiah arises from the house and lineage of David, in the city of David, Bethlehem, precisely where Jesus was born.
The Spirit calls through the Word to move the believer from a passive spectator to a participant acting on the truth that Jesus is the Son of God. The central proof of who he is is in the cross, in how he died. The death of Jesus did for Nicodemus what none of all his other signs or miracles did. Jesus' death was his greatest sign. In death Nicodemus saw, by God's grace, the Suffering Servant taking up the infirmities and sorrows and sin of the world. No sooner had Jesus died on the cross than Nicodemus was a different person. The lack of certainty and the spectator attitude were gone. The cowardice, the hesitation, the careful hiding in the night and the silence were gone. The power of the cross began to operate and turned Nick's doubt into certainty, the spectator into a participant. With Joseph of Arimathea, “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 19:39-42 (ESV)]. This “participation” in the Lord's death was a confession of faith that, “Truly, this is the Son of God.” Through faith in the Word, through Holy Baptism, and through the Holy Communion we participate in and proclaim the Lord's death and thus confess, “Truly, this is the Son of God.”
As Nicodemus was moved from doubt to be a fearless witness, so do we confess: [The Lord's] strength within my weakness Will make me bold to say How his redeeming power Transforms my stubborn clay; His touch of fire ignites me, With courage I am sent, My tongue-tied silence broken, With grace made eloquent. [LW 320:3]___________________
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