Day 24: Nicodemus (John 3: 1-21)
“I am so confused,” Nicodemus thought. “Being a man, a GOOD JEWISH man, I have been raised and well-schooled in all the laws of God. I know very well what God demands of me, and I have obeyed Him and His laws. But this Man Jesus……He is a puzzle to me. He has come to us proclaiming a new and better way. I know that He has performed many impressive signs and miracles that only a man of God could do. But He also overturned the tables of the moneychangers in the temple at the last Passover, declaring that they were making the temple a place of business. Isn’t that the way it has always been? What am I, a ruler of the Jews, to do with such a man? How can He and the God of my fathers both be right?”
When Nicodemus’ questions refused to leave his mind, he decided to seek out Jesus late one night, not wanting to be seen by his fellow Pharisees.
From the moment Jesus started to speak to him, Nicodemus’ heart began to stir. Jesus spoke to him of being born again. “But how?” he questioned. As Jesus began to explain just how a man could be spiritually born again , the fog in Nicodemus’ mind began to clear for the very first time. It was all about the Spirit, not the Law! And then there was the issue of eternal life, the gift to all who would believe that Jesus was God’s Son AND live their lives by the Spirit according to His commands. This was the salvation and hope that Nicodemus had longed for his whole life!
He had choices to make. Would he continue to live in his dark world of sin and the laws he couldn’t possibly keep on his own? Would he continue to hide his desire for Jesus from his friends? Or would he confess Jesus as his Lord, coming boldly into the Light that would expose his sin? Would he live his life by the Spirit as one who practiced the truth he claimed to believe, as a witness to his friends?
These questions also beg questions of us. Will we receive Jesus in a way that changes our lives dramatically? Will we be witnesses of the One we call Lord? Will we be ashamed to openly worship Him? Or will we stay safe?
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