“Nicodemus”

This message was offered as a monologue at an area wide Lenten Worship Service, held at the Tioga Center United Methodist Church.


John 19:38-39

I am one of those men, you know. That was such a horrible day - but now, everything has changed, and life has taken on a whole new meaning for me.

Oh, I should probably introduce myself – my name is Nicodemus, and I, too, am a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. I’m also a Pharisee, believe it or not, or at least I was a Pharisee. I expect that they will have some very interesting words for me this week, and I know that they won’t be very kind.

You may be wondering how a man who held such a well-respected and admired position could wind up in a situation like this? So since you asked, if you have a few minutes, I would like to share my testimony of how Jesus changed my life.

It all started one morning, about 2 ½ years ago, when several other Pharisees and I were deep in study and contemplation over the prophecies regarding Messiah. (Isaiah 9:1-7; Daniel 9:24-27; Micah 2:12-13; Malachi 4; etal) During our conversation, someone brought up the issues surrounding the man Jesus – it seems that he had been teaching some pretty far out things – things that ran counter to our law, and people had begun to flock to him. So we decided to start following him to hear this teaching for ourselves and maybe find a way to stop him.

The last we had heard, he was up in the Galilee region, and since I had some relatives living in Tiberius, I knew that we could stay with my cousin Ezra. It took us the better part of two weeks to get there, but as soon as we arrived in Capernaum, we immediately heard that he was still at it. As a matter of fact, we found him at a house near the synagogue, and there was quite a commotion. Apparently, some men couldn’t even get near this Jesus to have him heal a paralyzed friend of theirs, so they lowered him down through the roof! Can you imagine?
Anyway, as we arrived, we heard Jesus tell this man that his sins were forgiven! Of all things! We were speechless! We were incensed! I started to think “What blasphemy! Only the One with the Unspeakable Name can forgive sins.” We all began to spit on the ground – why, even thinking those words was a sin! But somehow, even though none of had spoken a single word, this Jesus came over to us and accused us of having no faith – US, the keepers of the law, had no faith? Who did he think he was?
Then he said “Come with me, and I will show you.” He went to the crippled man and told him to stand up, take his mat, and go home. I thought “Oh, this is going to be good! How is he going to pull this one off?”

But to all of our amazement, he actually did! The man was a bit unsteady at first, but with every step he took, his legs became stronger, a wonderful smile began to stretch across his face, and he even began to dance through the streets!

Well, I have to admit that I was astounded – I had never seen anything like this – NEVER! Who was this man? (Mark 2:1-12)

My companions began grumbling, and headed down to the lake to talk this over, but I was so taken by the experience, I began walking back to Ezra’s house to think. Could this actually be a holy man – one who had been blessed with these abilities?
You can imagine that I didn’t sleep very well that night, or most of the next day – I had to learn more about him. So I decided to go back to Capernaum to see more, but I knew I had to be careful. If my friends saw me, it could mean trouble. So I decided to sneak back at night.

It took me several hours to make the journey, and by the time I got there, it was already very dark. I had an idea as to where he was staying, but wasn’t completely sure, when suddenly, a man appeared right in front of me, scaring me half to death! After I caught my breath, I realized that it was Jesus. I was nearly flabbergasted, but somehow, I managed to blurt out “You’re an incredible teacher Rabbi, and the things that you do must be from a power that none of us can even imagine. Is the Holy One from on High with you?”

Strangely, he never actually answered my question – all he said was “Nicodemus, you have been born of a woman, but you also need to be born of the Spirit. The flesh brings us knowledge, but the Spirit brings Life. You’re highly educated, so you must already know that even you, a Pharisee, must be born again.”

Well, that didn’t make any sense to me, so I asked him “How can anyone be born more than once? It’s impossible to reenter my mother’s womb! Isn’t it?”

We talked for a few more minutes, but the only thing I remember now were the words “The Holy One loves you so much that the Son of the Most High has come to give you life eternal, simply by the faith you show to him.” Then he put his hand on my shoulder, looked me in the eye, nodded his head and smiled the most reassuring smile I had ever seen, and just as suddenly as he had appeared, he vanished and I was alone with my thoughts once again.

“Who is this man?”, I thought. (John 3:1-21)

My thoughts were jumbled, my life was a mess. I started walking toward nowhere in particular, and before I knew it, I was back in Tiberius at Ezra’s house. I started packing – I just couldn’t stay here any longer – I had to get back to Jerusalem.

Everything that I had witnessed in the Galilee haunted me for over two years. His teachings, his healing, his forgiving, and those words that I had to be born a second time. Nothing seemed to make any sense, so I began searching the holy writings for help. Some of it seemed to fit him perfectly, but the beliefs that we had held for centuries … I don’t know.
Then there was the day when my brothers were arguing vehemently against Jesus, saying that only the poor and ignorant were believing in him, and that no one with any intelligence ever could. I tried to stand up to them, but with no success. They just accused me of being one of “his Galilean dogs”. (John 7:45-52)

It wouldn’t be long before we heard that Jesus had come back to the City, just in time for Passover. Talk began to center on catching him in the act and ending this travesty. But I had started to think that maybe it wasn’t false teaching after all! Maybe it was all true. Could it be?

Then a few days later, some men came rushing in to tell us that they had come up with the perfect plan – they had found two guys who would testify that Jesus had blasphemed in the temple, and they had even turned one of Jesus’ disciples – someone named Judas – to help them. It was all set, but I reminded them that this was Passover, and Elohim would not be pleased. It made no difference, though – all was arranged, and all would go forward.

They caught up with him at that olive grove on the other side of the Kidron Valley, and he was dragged before us at the Sanhedrin. We held the mock trial – the witnesses lied just as they had been told to, Jesus was mocked, he was hit several times – it was terrible - I was so ashamed. But there was little that we could to do to him, except to send him to the Roman governor, which we did. He wouldn’t do anything at first, and send him back to us. After this see-saw battle of wills, Pilate finally agreed to question him, and, of course, Jesus was convicted and sentenced to die as one who was an enemy of Caesar. But Jesus had never said a single word against Caesar!
As I stood there in the crowd, hearing the angry words and threats, I could hardly bear it. But as I endured this atrocity, his teachings all started to come back to me –
I remembered his teaching that we never put new wine into an old wineskins, because the seams will burst wide open,
I remembered those words about being born anew and that the Son of the Most High had been sent to us out of love, not out of condemnation,
I remembered his knowing smile and the gentle hand that touched me that night, and
I suddenly understood that he had been telling me to set my old life aside so I could begin a new life in him.

It all began to make sense! How could I have been so blind! But they were starting to lead him off to his execution, and I just couldn’t watch. What should I do now?
I remembered a wealthy man named Joseph who I suspected was also a believer in Jesus, so I went to look him up. When I found him, he had just come from a meeting with Pilate, who had agreed to let him have Jesus’ body to bury. I reminded him that Sabbath was almost upon us, but Joseph just smiled, very much like Jesus had smiled, and said, “Don’t worry – it will be OK”.
I told him that I would find some embalming oils, and would meet him back at Golgotha. I probably bought too much, but so what – after all, it was for Jesus!

Joseph was right – Jesus died within a few short hours, and we buried him without too much fanfare. But what was I going to do now? What good would this “new life” be without Jesus to lead me?

I didn’t get much sleep those next two nights, but this morning, unbelievable news came – some women had gone to the tomb to complete the anointing, and discovered that the tomb was empty, and one of them – I think her name was Mary - even met Jesus in the garden! Face to Face! Living! Talking! Breathing! It was so hard to believe, but there it was – he had said that he would rise from the dead on the third day, and he did!

So I decided this morning that I can no longer be a Pharisee, because I now know the Unspeakable Name that is above all names, that it is Jesus, and I have speak that name to everyone who will listen – I have to tell them about this new life that I now have in him, and that they, too, can have it, simply by believing in his name.

I don’t know what it all means yet, but I know that I will learn, if I only listen to the things he tells me. But I have to go now – I have to begin living this new life – I mean, really living.

Praise the Living Lord,
Praise Jesus the Christ,
Praise Jesus Messiah,
Praise Jesus Risen,
Praise Jesus alive forever,
Praise Jesus, you sinners and know his forgiveness,
Praise his holy name …