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Jesus was still in Jerusalem and while in the preceding chapter it indicated that while He was there, many "believed in His name" but He did not commit Himself to them. Yet here in this passage of scripture we see an effort on the part of Jesus to explain His mission to one, a Ruler and a Pharisee by the name of Nicodemus, one who perhaps impressed Jesus by his sincere search for the "truth".
Who was Nicodemus? It might be well to review our understanding of the Jewish "hierarchy". There were three groups of men of great power and importance in the Jewish hierarchy at this time, the Pharisees, the Sadducees and the Essenes.
The Pharisees insisted on strict observance of the Law. They separated themselves from life as much as possible. They held to a theology similar to Martin Luther, that of "dualism" which believed in God's Providence but also in the unhampered ability of man to use his "free will". They also were "pacifists". They did not believe in the use of force accept as a last resort. They had great political power, more so than the other two. They were scholars and teachers of the Law. Though they were criticized by Jesus for their harsh and unyielding application of the legal aspects of religion, they were the ones that were largely responsible for preserving Judaism. After the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD, they established Synagogues and schools. They opposed the Sadducees, the high priesthood of the Temple. Paul boasted of being a Pharisee. The Pharisees determined who was to be admitted into the Temple. They were members of the Great Sanhedrin, the religious court of the Jews, who had the power to pronounce the death penalty for some violations of the Law.
The Sadducees, though few in number, had a certain degree of power particularly with the Romans at the time of Christ. They were well educated and wealthy and accepted as their scriptures, only the Books of Moses and not the Prophets. They were the conservatives of the day and denied any belief in life after death, angels or spirits. They, also, held seats on the Sanhedrin. While being popular with the Romans, they were unpopular with the people.
The Essenes were devote separatists. Little was known of these people prior to the discovery of the Red Sea Scrolls. They lived to themselves after becoming dishearten with Judaism approximately 100 years before Christ. They had returned to the nomadic existence of their ancestors and became absorbed in the "quality" observance of the Law. They looked "expectantly" for the coming of the Messiah, which they completely missed because of their isolation.
So Nicodemus was a Pharisee, a Ruler of the Jews and a member of the Sanhedrin. He makes, what could be called, a "timid" visit to Jesus by night. But before we condemn him to much, lets consider that he stood to loose all that he had worked for over the years, his position on the Sanhedrin, his position in the community, his home and all his wealth were at stake here, if the Jews found out.
His visit, however, and his inquiries, reflect his sincerity and concern to learn more about this man Jesus in spite of the hostility of his colleagues. It also displayed a "down deep" desire for discipleship which he displayed later as he tried, in a small way, to defend Jesus before the Pharisees and play a small roll in the entombment of the body of Jesus. Tradition records that he eventually was baptized by Peter and John and then was banished from Jerusalem during the Jewish uprising against Stephen.
How did Nicodemus greet Jesus? It would appear that he called Him "Rabbi". Other translations use "Good Teacher" or "Good Master". "Rabbi" was Greek for "my great one". The Hebrew equivalent was "Rabboni". In Judaism, a Rabbi was a graduate of a "Rabbinical School", an ordained scholar of the Torah and a preacher. Some historians indicated that more respect was implied in the title "Rabboni" than in the title "Rabbi". Here Nicodemus indicates what he means by calling Him Rabbi, for he says, "We know that you are a teacher from God because of the great miracles you have done."
Now, notice the four things that Jesus attempts to discuss with Nicodemus:
Notice in verse 9 that Nicodemus is still confused, "How can these things be?" Without the leading of the Holy Spirit, Nicodemus could not understand:
Jesus said to Nicodemus, "Are you a Teacher of Israel and yet you cannot understand this?" It is a sad commentary but never-the-less factual, that we who teach are often ignorant of the truth.
Christ, in verse 11, tells Nicodemus that "they", He and His Disciples, speak of what they know, and it is to this that we are urged to do. Speak as one who knows in whom he believes and with complete assurance that He is able save your soul. There should be no hesitancy to speak or question about your salvation. Jesus tells Nicodemus that He has spoke in "earthly terms". In other words, He spoke in words that they could understand, yet they still could not understand.
"If you cannot understand the rebirth of man how can you understand the incarnation of the Son of God?" Here Jesus is, for the first time, discussing at length and to some depth His divine nature, His incarnation, His mission, His ascension and many other difficult things and it was interesting to note that He has not attempted this with anyone before nor will He again until the Holy Spirit opens the minds and understanding of men.
Certainly this visit by Nicodemus and its record here in the Gospel of John, was the work of the Lord. We have here more than just a man who comes to Jesus seeking information about life eternal. We have an encounter between Jesus and the best that man had to offer in his own stead. If study, intellect and sincerity could have enlightened a man and made him knowledgeable about eternal life, it would have done so for Nicodemus. But Jesus makes it clear that this type of knowledge comes from the Spirit.
Notice that this conversation does not take place in front of a lot of people. Jesus was not interested in embarrassing Nicodemus, He only wanted to establish the fallibility of mans efforts to save himself. Jesus compared Himself to the serpent in the hand of Moses. You may remember that because of disobedience the people of Israel were set upon by serpents and only by looking up to the serpent that was in the hand of Moses could they be saved from perishing. Here Jesus says, "The Son of Man must be lifted in like manner and those who look up, believing, shall be saved from perishing." Notice the offer is made without exception, "Who-so-ever believes shall not perish." Two things must be noted here:
John 3:16 is probably the most memorized verse in the Bible. It summarizes God's plan of salvation in Christ Jesus. It tells us:
We, by sin, condemned ourselves but God, through Christ, saved us. Christ did not come as a judge but as a Savior. He has provided for us what we could not provide for ourselves, but when the Holy Spirit reveals this plan to us in all of its completeness, and we reject Him, we commit the only unpardonable sin. He came as a Savior the first time, the second time He will come as a Judge.
The lost condition of those who do not believe should be the concern of all Christians. John makes it clear that condemnation is the natural state of man. There is no escaping this accept by faith in Jesus Christ. There is salvation in none other. Jesus was saying to this religious, moral and good man, salvation is not attainable through works of the Law but through faith in Him. Nicodemus went away puzzled but most believe that he became a faithful disciple later.
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