David Bahn – Reflections

John 3:1-15

Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. ² This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” ³ Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” ⁴ Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” ⁵ Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. ⁶ That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. ⁷ Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ ⁸ The windblows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

⁹ Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” ¹⁰ Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? ¹¹ Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. ¹² If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? ¹³ No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. ¹⁴ And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵ that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

If I could choose a person in the Bible whom I would most want to emulate, it would probably not be Nicodemus. I would more likely choose someone like Abraham, Joshua, David, John (the Gospel writer), Paul or Barnabas. These are people who I readily look up to. They are the kinds of people I would imitate.

Nicodemus, on the other hand is not a particularly heroic person. Although he certainly is not a bad person, he wouldn’t make my list of the top 10 heroes of the Bible. But he is a worthy example in several ways. He appears here, at night – possibly because he wishes to keep his interests in Jesus quiet. But he does come to Jesus and seeks understanding about Jesus and his mission.

That’s where we have a less than stellar picture of this character. Not only does Nicodemus come to Jesus at night, he also appears to be somewhat slow to understand what should be readily understood: Jesus asks him, “Are you a teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things?” He has to gain a whole new perspective on who Jesus is and what God’s kingdom is all about: “You must be born again,” says Jesus.

But Nicodemus shows up again as one of the members of the Jewish ruling council who did not approve of Jesus’ death. He and Joseph of Arimathea took Jesus’ body after his death, provided the initial preparation and laid it in Joseph’s tomb. I would be less than honest if I didn’t recognize that I am that man. I don’t always get it. I constantly need to be born again. I am sometimes too stealthy in my faith walk. But I do want to learn from Jesus. And in the end, I’ll be glad to be known as one who believes in Jesus. I am, perhaps more than I realize, that man. How about you?