Nicodemus
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Nicodemus held a high position of
trust in the Jewish nation. He was
highly educated, and possessed
talents of no ordinary character, and
he was an honored member of the
national council. With others, he had
been stirred by the teaching of
Jesus. Though rich, learned, and
honored, he had been strangely
attracted by the humble Nazarene. The
lessons that had fallen from the
Savior’s lips had greatly
impressed him, and he desired to
learn more of these wonderful truths.
Christ’s exercise of authority
in the cleansing of the temple had
roused the determined hatred of the
priests and rulers. They feared the
power of this stranger. Such boldness
on the part of an obscure Galilean
was not to be tolerated. They were
bent on putting an end to His work.
But all were not agreed in this
purpose. There were some that feared
to oppose One who was so evidently
moved upon by the Spirit of God. They
remembered how prophets had been
slain for rebuking reproofs from God.
They feared that in plotting against
Jesus the priests and rulers were
following in the steps of their
fathers, and would bring fresh
calamities upon the nation. Nicodemus
shared these feelings. In a council
of the Sanhedrin, when the course to
be pursued toward Jesus was
considered, Nicodemus advised caution
and moderation. He urged that if
Jesus were really invested with
authority from God, it would be
perilous to reject His warnings. The
priests dared not disregard this
counsel, and for the time they took
no open measures against the Savior.
Since hearing Jesus, Nicodemus had
anxiously studied the prophecies
relating to the Messiah; and the more
he searched, the stronger was his
conviction that this was the One who
was to come. With many others in
Israel he had been greatly distressed
by the profanation of the temple. He
was a witness of the scene when Jesus
drove out the buyers and sellers; he
beheld the wonderful manifestation of
divine power; he saw the Savior
receiving the poor and healing the
sick; he saw their looks of joy, and
heard the words of praise; and he
could not doubt that Jesus of
Nazareth was Sent of God.
He greatly desired an interview with
Jesus, but shrank from seeking Him
openly. It would be too humiliating
for a ruler of the Jews to
acknowledge himself in sympathy with
a teacher as yet so little known. And
should his visit come to the
knowledge of the Sanhedrin, it would
draw upon him their scorn and
denunciation. He resolved upon a
secret interview, excusing his on the
ground that if he were go openly,
others might follow his example.
Learning of special inquiry the
Savior’s place of retirement in
the Mount of Olives, he waited until
the city was hushed in slumber, and
then sought Him.
In the presence of Christ, Nicodemus
felt a strange timidity, which he
endeavored to conceal under an air of
composure and dignity.
“Rabbi,” he said, “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.” By speaking of
Christ’s rare gifts as a
teacher, and also of His wonderful
power to perform miracles, he hoped
to pave the way for his interview.
His words were designed to express
and to invite confidence; but they
really expressed unbelief. He did not
acknowledge Jesus to be the Messiah,
but only a teacher sent from God.
Instead of recognizing this
salutation, Jesus bent His eyes upon
the speaker, as if reading his very
soul. In His infinite wisdom He saw
before Him a seeker after truth. He
knew the object of this visit, and
with a desire to deepen the
conviction already resting upon His
listener’s mind, He came
directly to the point, saying
solemnly, yet kindly, “Verily
verily, I say unto thee, Except a man
be born from above, he cannot see the
kingdom of God.” John 3:3,
margin.
Nicodemus had come to the Lord
thinking to enter into a discussion
with Him, but Jesus laid bare the
foundation principles of truth. He
said to Nicodemus, It is not
theoretical knowledge you need so
much as spiritual regeneration. You
need not to have your curiosity
satisfied, but to have a new heart.
You must receive a new life from
above before you can appreciate
heavenly things. Until this change
takes place, making all things new,
it will result in no saving good for
you to discuss with Me My authority
or My mission.
Nicodemus
had heard the preaching of John the
Baptist concerning repentance and
baptism, and pointing the people to
One who should baptize with the Holy
Spirit. He himself had felt that
there was a lack of spirituality
among the Jews, that, to a great
degree, they were controlled by
bigotry and worldly ambition. He had
hoped for a better state of things at
the Messiah’s coming. Yet the
heart-searching message of the
Baptist had failed to work in him
conviction of sin. He was a strict
Pharisee, and prided himself on his
good works. He was widely esteemed
for his benevolence and his
liberality in sustaining the temple
service, and he felt secure of the
favor of God. He was startled at the
thought of a kingdom too pure for him
to see in his present state.
The
figure of the new birth, which Jesus
had used, was not wholly unfamiliar
to Nicodemus. Converts from
heathenism to the faith of Israel
were often compared to children just
born. Therefore he must have
perceived that the words of Christ
were not to be taken in a literal
sense. But by virtue of his birth as
an Israelite he regarded himself as
sure of a place in the kingdom of
God. He felt that he needed no
change. Hence his surprise at the
Savior’s words. He was irritated
by their close application to
himself. The pride of the Pharisee
was struggling against the honest
desire of the seeker after truth. He
wondered that Christ should speak to
him, as He did, not respecting his
position as ruler in Israel.
Surprised
out of his self-possession, he
answered Christ in words full of
irony, “How can a man be born
when he is old?” Like many
others when cutting truth is brought
home to the conscience, he revealed
the fact that the natural man
receiveth not the things of the
Spirit of God. There is in him
nothing that responds to spiritual
things, for spiritual things are
spiritually discerned.
But
the Savior did not meet argument with
argument. Raising His hand with
solemn, quiet dignity, He pressed the
truth home with greater assurance,
“Verily, verily, I say unto
thee, Except a man be born of water
and of the Spirit, he cannot enter
into the kingdom of God.”
Nicodemus knew that Christ referred
to water baptism and the renewing of
the heart by the Spirit of God. He
was convinced that he was in the
presence of the One whom John the
Baptist had foretold.
Jesus
continued: “That which is born
of the flesh is flesh; and that which
is born of the Spirit is
spirit.” By nature the heart is
evil, and “who can bring a clean
thing out of un unclean? Not
one.” Job 14:4. No human
invention can find a remedy for the
sinning soul. “The carnal mind
is enmity against God: for it is not
subject to the law of God, neither
indeed can be.” “Out of the
heart proceed evil thoughts, murders,
adulteries, fornication, thefts,
false witness, blasphemies.”
Roman 8:7; Matthew 15:19. The
fountain of the heart must be
purified before the streams can
become pure. He who is trying to
reach heaven by his own works in
keeping the law is attempting an
impossibility. There is no safety for
one who has merely a legal religion,
a form of godliness. The
Christian’s life is not a
modification or improvement of an
old, but a transformation of nature.
There is a death to self and sin, and
a new life altogether. This change
can be brought about only by the
effectual working of the Holy Spirit.
Nicodemus
was still perplexed, and Jesus used
the wind to illustrate His meaning:
“The wind bloweth where it
listeth, and thou hearest the sound
thereof, but canst not tell whence it
cometh, and whiter it goeth; so is
everyone that is born of the
Spirit.”
The
wind is heard among the branches of
the trees, rustling the leaves and
flowers; yet is invisible, and no man
knows whence it comes or whiter it
goes. So with the work of the Holy
Spirit upon the heart. It can no more
be explained that can the movements
of the wind. A person many not be
able to tell the exact time or place,
or to trace all the circumstances in
the process of conversion; but this
does not prove him to be unconverted.
By an agency as unseen as the wind,
Christ is constantly working upon the
heart. Little by little, perhaps
unconsciously to the receiver,
impressions are made that end to draw
the soul to Christ. These may be
received through meditating upon Him,
through reading the Scriptures, or
through hearing the word from the
living preacher. Suddenly, as the
Spirit comes with more direct appeal,
the soul gladly surrenders itself to
Jesus. By many this is called sudden
conversion; but it is the result of
long wooing by the Spirit of God, a
patient protracted process.
While
the wind is itself invisible, it
produces effects that are seen and
felt. So the work of the Spirit upon
the soul will reveal itself in every
act of Him who had felt its saving
power. When the Spirit of God takes
possession of the heart, it
transforms the life. Sinful thoughts
are put away, evil deeds are
renounced; love, humility, and peace
take the place of anger, envy, and
strife. Joy takes the place of
sadness, and the countenance reflects
the light of heaven. No one see the
hand that lifts the burden, or
beholds the light descend from the
courts above. The blessing comes when
by faith the soul surrenders itself
to God. Then that power which no
human eye can see creates a new being
in the image of God.
It
is impossible for finite minds to
comprehend the work of redemption.
Its mystery exceeds human knowledge;
yet he who passes from death to life
realizes that it is a divine reality.
The beginning of redemption we may
know here through a personal
experience. Its results reach through
the eternal ages.
While
Jesus was speaking, some gleams of
truth penetrated the ruler’s
mind. The softening, subduing
influence of the Holy Spirit
impressed his heart. Yet he did not
fully understand the Savior’s
words. He was not so much impressed
by the necessity of the new birth as
by the manner of its accomplishment.
He said wonderingly, “How can
these things be?”
“Art
thou a master of Israel, and knowest
not these things?” Jesus asked.
Surely one entrusted with the
religious instruction of the people
should not be ignorant of truths so
important. His words conveyed the
lesson that instead of feeling
irritated over the plain words of
truth, Nicodemus should have had a
very humble opinion of himself,
because of his spiritual ignorance.
Yet Christ spoke with such solemn
dignity, and both look and tone
expressed such earnest love, that
Nicodemus was not offended as he
realized his humiliating condition.
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