Meditation 236
John 3: 1-17
Nicodemus came to Jesus at night to talk about what Jesus was doing. Nicodemus knows that Jesus was sent by God, but somehow, he needs some 1:1 time to make sense of Jesus ministry. Being a part of the crowd, and witnessing the message that Jesus both enacted and shared in speech, was not enough for Nicodemus, so he came to Jesus by night. Commentators are hard on Nicodemus for coming to Jesus by night when he would not be seen by others, but I think we don’t need to be so hard on poor Nicodemus. Some of us need to process new things that way, to ponder what has been heard, and then to come back to the source, and raise some questions. Some need to be able to ask the presenter what he or she meant, and maybe take the idea a step further. This sort of thing does not happen in a crowd, and it may have been that Nicodemus needed to look Jesus in the face and have a heart-to-heart communication about Jesus’ teachings.
What Nicodemus hears that night that he comes to talk to Jesus was the beginning of something new. Later in the gospel of John Nicodemus will speak up to ask that Jesus get a fair trial, (John 7: 50-51) and when Jesus is crucified Nicodemus provides the embalming spices and also helps with the preparation of Jesus’ body. (John 19:39-42) Nicodemus is not a believer like Peter who is bold to speak out, rather it seems that Nicodemus is one who kept the words of Jesus in his heart. and who lived a quiet life of faithfulness.
On that night that Nicodemus came to Jesus with his questions he is told that he must be born from above. Our friend Nicodemus takes this quite literally, and asks how he can be born a second time. Jesus, being a good teacher take this question and builds upon it. He shows Nicodemus that he is speaking metaphorically, that one who is born from above can be said to be born of the Spirit. Nicodemus may not be quick to move from the literal to the symbolic meaning of words, but when Jesus begins to lead Nicodemus in this way, he is able to keep up. Jesus speaks of being born of water and the Spirit, and he plays with differing meanings of pneuma which has been translated as “spirit” in John 3: 5, and which may also be translated as “breath” and “wind.” The Spirit is the breath of God that gives life, which is what we are told in the story of creation in Genesis 2, and the spirit is like the wind that blows where it will. Jesus tells Nicodemus that those born of the Spirit share the Spirit’s mysterious freedom. (Judith Jones. Working Preacher)
Nicodemus it seems is enabled to live in way that shows the Spirit’s mysterious freedom. He remained a Pharisee, and within that role he spoke up close to the end of Jesus’ life to try to ensure a fair trial. It may well have been the Spirit that gave Nicodemus the freedom to speak against his colleagues to try to prevent injustice. Nicodemus was still a “leader of the Jews” (verse 1), and in this role his spirit was free to speak and live the truth of being born of the Spirit .