Go to church Sunday and you’ll probably hear the story of Nicodemus visiting Jesus. Nicodemus was a leading member of the Pharisees, a group that let everyone know they were the guardians of orthodoxy, and many people were taken in by that. Jesus wasn’t.
Here’s a challenging quotation from Stephen W. Smith: “Jesus knew that no smell was more distasteful than the smell of religious people. He saved His harshest criticism for the smelly right-wing adherents of the faith. The smell of adultery, theft, swindling, jealousy, doubt, and rejection of faith did not compare in Jesus’ heart to the smell of self-righteousness. But true to His way of dealing with smelly people, even those who thought they were spiritually superior to others were welcomed to be in His presence. In the third chapter of John’s gospel, we find the story of the Pharisee named Nicodemus.” (“The Lazarus Life,” 109).
True enough, Jesus welcomed the Pharisee. Nicodemus “came to Jesus by night” (verse 2) and complimented Jesus for His miracles. Jesus then invited Nicodemus to unseen things, to spiritual rebirth. There’s birth by flesh, seen, but also spiritual birth, unseen. Nicodemus asked, “How can this be?” (verse 9) Like hearing the sound of the wind, Jesus says, rebirth by the Spirit is heard. The eternal Son of God, Jesus, speaks what He sees and knows. Rebirth comes through hearing and believing His witness to things unseen.
That Nicodemus came to Jesus by night symbolizes the darkness of self-righteous religious people. By the end of the Gospel, Nicodemus appears in the light (John 19:39). He had come into the light of Christ. “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). There’s hope for Pharisees!
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