April 9. 2017

 

Background Scripture: John 3:1-21 Devotional Reading: Romans 13:11-14

 

In the four Gospels of the New Testament, people other than Jesus and their Twelve are generally introduced by name and their significance to Jesus and his cause. I believe there are no people named in John’s Gospel who are not essential to the narrative.

 

This is especially true of Nicodemus, who first was a questioner of Jesus (John 3:1-2) and, second, a secret disciple (19:38-42). Nicodemus appears to have joined with Joseph of Arimathea in caring for and attending for the crucified body of Jesus.

 

Both Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea were members of the Sanhedrin, the chief Jewish legal council, or supreme court. Whether Nicodemus and/or Joseph of Arimathea became public disciples, we do not know. Their names do not appear in any other biblical sources.

 

The names of many of the people listed in John’s Gospel often are significant to the encounters he records. The name Nicodemus means “conqueror of the people” – indicative of his high station among the Jews. He became a secret follower of Jesus, taking the risk and responsibility for the care of the lifeless body of Jesus, a crucified “enemy of the people.”

 

Born again

Nicodemus was attracted by the signs and wonders Jesus performed: “Rabbi (“my great one” or “my great master”) we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God “(3:1,2).

 

As a Pharisee and teacher of Jewish law, it seems he should have known the “correct answers” to the questions he asked. But the answer of Jesus is a shocker: “Very truly, I tell you no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit” (3:5). In other words: You can only understand the answer to your question if you have been “born again.” At first, I thought Jesus was changing the subject. But no – he has simply moved it up to a higher level.

 

Nicodemus was asking how Jesus got the authority to do these works. Jesus was actually saying, If you want to know by what authority I do these things, you need to be reborn, baptized with water (the outward sign) and the Spirit (the inner reality). Nicodemus may be stalling for time when he asks: “How can these things be?” (3:9).

 

Jesus responds with a question of his own: “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand?” (3:10). So, what is it that Nicodemus – and perhaps us as well – did not understand? First of all, Nicodemus did not have the opportunity to read John’s Gospel 1:1-18, generally regarded as the Prologue to John and setting forth the major themes of the Fourth Gospel.

 

One of these themes is the understanding that there are two planes of existence:

the upper plane of light, and the lower realm of darkness. We have the opportunity to choose between these two planes and experience rebirth into the Kingdom of God.

 

Regeneration

In this period, Rabbinic Judaism appears not to have a doctrine of regeneration, or new birth. And that is why Nicodemus exclaimed: “How can anyone be born, after having grown old?” I think it is possible he suspected or knew the answer Jesus would give: “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit.” And the result: “Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man, that whoever believes in him may not perish, but have eternal life” (3:15). Finally, Jesus tells us the source of this eternal life: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but have eternal life.”

 

The key word here is “love” – God’s gift of love. We can never achieve or do enough to claim that love. But we can acknowledge that gift by loving others, all others, with the same love. In 1942, at the age of 53, Lloyd C. Douglas wrote his first, but not last, book, The Robe. On the New York Times bestseller list for almost a year, it was also made into a major motion picture in 1953. The main character, Marcellus (played by Richard Burton), was the Roman soldier in charge of the crucifixion of Jesus. It was an experience that shook and transformed his life.

 

Eventually, a changed man, he returned to the woman he loved, Diana (Jean Simmons) and shared the story that changed his life. “It’s a beautiful story, Marcellus,” said Diana. “Let it remain so. We don’t have to understand it, do we?”

 

Marcellus replies, “But it has affected my life, darling! I can’t go on as if it hadn’t happened.” Then Diana asks, “What had you thought of doing?”

 

Marcellus replies, “I don’t know – yet. But I know I have a duty to perform … I couldn’t go back to living as I did – not even if I tried. I couldn’t!”

 

Can you?

 

The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of Farm World. Readers with questions or comments for Rev. Althouse may write to him in care of

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