Father, help us to understand what you want of us and give us the strength to do what counts.
This meeting between Jesus and Nicodemus contains a lot of important lessons for us. It shows that Jesus expected more from those who claimed much. It shows us that Nicodemus was interested in what Jesus had to say, but was not willing to take the plunge and state his faith outright in front of those who he worked with or his friends.
Last week we looked at friends. How they can support us or lead us astray. Here was someone who didn't want his 'friends' to influence, or even know, his decision. Friends can help us, but only if we have the right friends. Sometimes our friends want us to do things that we know aren't right, sometimes they influence our choices.
Nicodemus wanted to make his own choice, but we can't help thinking that he may have also have been thinking that he could always go back to friends and colleagues if he didn't like what he heard. He was willing to come and listen, but wasn't willing to take the chance that his position in the temple hierachy may be threatened.
So he came to Jesus by night. No one would see him come. No one would see him go. He understood that Jesus was special. He wanted to learn, but perhaps not as a student, more as an academic discussion. Perhaps that is why Jesus responded in ways in which he did not understand. To show him that he was still learning. We all still are!
Jesus did talk in parables. And in some ways this made it harder to understand. But Christianity is like that. It is not something that we can have as an item on a tick list; done that, finished, move on to the next thing. Being a Christian is something we need to work at. Parables may be difficult to understand, but they are easy to remember, and once we know the principles they help us to see the problem from all angles.
What should Nicodemus have done?
He started out right. He made the first step of wanting to see Jesus.
In that position, what should we do?
We know Jesus was/is the light of the world, and that we must come to him. Sometimes it is easier to do this 'at night' where our friends won't see us. But we have to be able to stand up 'and be counted' at some point. If we deny Jesus, what is to stop him denying us? Being a Christian is not always wearing the T-shirt, but in how we live and how we act.
Nicodemus may have been a 'secret' convert like Joseph of Aramethea. He is only mentioned twice more. He tried to defend Jesus actions before the council (John7:50) and he was one who brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes at Jesus burial (John 19:39). He may have started out with a timid attitude, but at least he tried to make some of his actions count as well.
We can learn from his actions.
What would the temple council have thought of Nicodemus had he approached Jesus openly?
Was Nicodemus willing to take that chance?
How can this lesson apply to us?