Nick at Night
This passage is one of the most familiar in scripture. You see John 3:16 advertised on road signs and sporting events. Luther called John 3:16, “the gospel in microcosm” It is one of the first passages that we memorize, usually in a Sunday School class.
Now don’t get me wrong, I love Sunday School and what it does for us, but from time to time the kids in Sunday School come up with some stuff that seems just a touch off the mark.
A teacher, before dismissing the class, was reminding the kids to behave during the service. She asked why it was important for them to be quiet during church. The answer, “Because some people are sleeping.” I guess that is why we have “hushers.”
A class of four year olds was taught a prayer to use when saying grace before meals. The next week one of the mothers commented, “That was a lovely prayer that you taught Emily, but I must admit that my husband is growing tired of her saying grace every time he opens the door of the refrigerator to get a beer.”
A Sunday School teacher was teaching the importance of love in the home. She illustrated her point by referring to the commandment, "Honor thy father and thy mother." She then asked if there was a commandment which taught how to treat sisters and brothers.
One little boy from a large family raised his hand quickly. Innocently he asked, "Thou shalt not kill?"
A Sunday School teacher challenged the children to take some time on Sunday afternoon to write a letter to God. They were to bring their letter back the following Sunday. One little boy wrote, "Dear God, We had a good time at church today. Wish you could have been there."
A wise Sunday school teacher had the habit of sending home a note each year that said, “If you promise not to believe everything that your child says happened in Sunday School, I promise not to believe everything that your child says happens at home.”
We all need to grow in maturity and deepen our understanding of the great passages of scripture. This is one of the greatest.
First we have to understand who this Nicodemus was.
He was a Pharisee. These were the great lawyers of Judaism. They knew and followed all of the rules to the letter. The name “Pharisee” literally means “separated one.” They were so concerned about their possible contamination by associating with those who did not follow the law strictly that they isolated themselves from those in need in the world around them. They used their religion, not as a source for caring and ministry, but as an excuse for not getting involved in the problems of others.
When we say that there are certain people with who we can not associate people who we can not love or serve, because they are too sinful and we are too pure, we fall into the same trap. When we fail to show compassion, we too are far from the heart of God.
He was a member of the Sanhedrin – the Jewish Supreme Court. These were the judges of religious orthodoxy. These were the ones who governed the Temple. One can imagine Nicodemus putting faith in his position.
Don’t we do the same? Don’t we automatically give credence to people who happen to hold positions of influence in our society. Think about how we treat the opinions of sports heroes, music stars, and movie entertainer. While they may have no more experience or understanding than any average Joe, the very fact that they are famous makes their views worthy of attention. Given a humble carpenter and a religious judge, whose views do we assume will have more insight?
He was a Teacher. Many translation of the passage use the words, “a teacher of Israel” but that misses the meaning. The translation I read has Jesus saying “You are Israel’s teacher” which is much closer. A word for word translation would say, “the teacher of Israel.” The notion conveyed in the Greek is that Nicodemus is the preeminent, the most knowledgeable and respected teacher in all of Israel. If there was anybody who should have understood, who should have gotten the message, it was Nicodemus. It is ironic that it was his own religious misconceptions that prevented him from understanding who Jesus was.
His situation is a warning to us. Often, it is exactly those times when we are certain that we have everything figured out that we are furthest from God’s truth. It is often when we are most confused and broken, that we gain an appreciation for God’s unfailing love. We have to realize that God is so far above our understanding that our most cherished doctrines are only shallow caricatures of God’s truth. Like children, our understanding of the facts can be a bit distorted. But just as children are protected from their immature understandings by their overriding surety in their relationships with those who love them, we must put our faith, not in our understanding of doctrine, but in our relationship with Christ.
Why did Nicodemus come?
It is hard to know exactly what motivated Nicodemus to come to speak with Jesus. From the passage, it is clear that Nicodemus had heard about Jesus performing miracles. It is natural that such a thing might make him curious, but Nicodemus didn’t come to see a show and he isn’t looking for a miracle. He starts by referring to Jesus as Rabbi. The greatest teacher in Israel begins by using a title for Jesus that conveys respect for Jesus as a teacher. It is Jesus’ message that Nicodemus wants to hear. Nicodemus must have become a respected teacher because of his willingness to pursue truth. He comes to Jesus because Nicodemus senses that Jesus might have insights that would broaden his understanding of that truth. Nicodemus deserves our respect for that honesty.
Nicodemus came at night.
The surface reading is just that Nicodemus wanted to avoid the crowd and come in secret. It is possible that he was afraid of what would happen if others discovered that he sought to learn from Jesus. Would he still be respected as a teacher? What would the other Pharisees say? Would he be ostracized? Would he be endangering his position on the Sanhedrin?
It is easy for us to read this sort of motive into this situation, because we have felt it so often ourselves. How often do we keep our faith secret because we are afraid of how others might react. We say that we don’t want to offend anyone or to impose our beliefs on others, but those are often just rationalizations. If we say grace before meals at home, should we not pause to give thanks when we are eating at work or at school or at a restaurant? How could our private act possibly be offensive. When our friends are talking about what they did this weekend, do we choose not to mention some church activity in which we participated?
I am speaking about this from experience, not ignorance. I’ll be at my office next week just like many of you, and I’ll be participating in the conversation around the coffee pot.
Here are some guidelines that come from my experience.
Be as open and honest as possible. Certainly don’t mislead people to think that your faith is less important to your life than it actually is. But the opposite is true as well. Speak with humility, not as a way to puff yourself up.
Don’t be confrontational and don’t try to force your faith into every conversation. People will avoid you like the plague. Instead, when the subject arises naturally, don’t shy away. It is perfectly fine to talk about the great speaker who you heard at a men’s breakfast or about your enthusiasm for an upcoming concert as long as those comments seem natural.
Be fair with your employer. You are paid to do a job. Much of your witness depends on doing your work well. Don’t steal time from your work to do something for the church. Don’t use the copier at work for your Sunday School class. Make sure that you are valued and respected, because you are Christ’s witness in that place.
I have found that people are generally respectful of your faith when you handle things with honesty and maturity. Even when they are not respectful, it is your obligation to conduct yourself in an honorable way. We should never be ashamed of who we are or of the God whom we serve.
I think that there may be a more positive reason for Nicodemus coming at night. I suspect that he was genuinely unsure who Jesus was and what he was teaching. Nicodemus may have wanted to avoid giving the impression that he was endorsing Jesus message. He didn’t want to lead others astray.
I also think that Nicodemus wanted to have a private conversation, not listen to a sermon. Coming at night may have been the best way for him to do that.
In John, night carries more ominous overtones. Symbolically, night and darkness represent ignorance, and even evil. Back in Chapter 1 John is talking about Christ when he says, “In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.”
I don’t know if it makes any theological sense to talk about what existed before creation, but in Genesis it is described as darkness and God’s first act of creation is light. And at the other end of history, Revelation describes a time when there will be no night. Revelation 22:5 says “There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.”
John is using Nicodemus as a metaphor for anyone who places the practice and teaching of any religion above a relationship with God that comes from being born again. And the only way to be born again, is to be born by the action of God’s Spirit.
Some will tell you that this story is a polemic against Judaism – that Nicodemus represents the best that the Jewish faith has to offer, but the best is not enough. It is a religion of darkness and ignorance that must give way to the light of Christianity.
I think that these folks are misreading the passage, often with ulterior motives. The problem is not that the Jewish faith was a stumbling block, the problem is that any time that religious ritual and teaching become central, the Spirit is lost and the faith becomes hollow. Nicodemus is Jewish, but the principal applies universally, not just in the relationship between Christianity and Judaism. In fact, we are as likely to see legalism and religiosity in Christianity as anywhere else. Where there is tension between practicing the Christian religion and having a relationship with Christ as our savior, choose the relationship with Christ. Doing the church thing is not enough. That is just our feeble attempt to reach God and it is doomed to fail. The answer is being reborn as a child of God. That is an acceptance of God’s gift of grace and God can not fail. There is a world of difference between religious practice that is a response to God’s love and religious practice that is an attempt to earn God’s love.
What we are talking about here should be simple, but we seem to make it so complex. I want you to think about a loving relationship in your life. That might be a relationship with your spouse or your parents or someone else who is very close.
If you really love that person, I suspect that you go out of your way to find ways to demonstrate that love. You probably give them gifts on occasion. You probably spend time with them. You probably do things for them.
Now I want you to imagine for a moment that you don’t love that person. You could still force yourself to do those same things. You could act out of a sense of obligation or fear.
From the outside could someone tell the difference? That depends to some extent on how good an actor you are, though I suspect that your true feelings would eventually show through.
You might have come this morning because you are genuinely seeking to worship a God whom you love. You might have come out of habit or obligation. From the outside, it may be difficult to detect the difference, but you know. You are not fooling yourself and you are not fooling God.
Jesus is not content simply to clarify the problem, but provides an answer. Change is possible.
There is an old joke: How many psychologists does it take to change a light bulb? First the light bulb has to want to change.
Any one of us can be reborn. Any one of us can move from religiosity to relationship. The Spirit of God makes that possible.
Psychologists say that there are three steps to change. First, realize the need to change – what they call dissonance. Second, have a desire to change. Third, commit to changing. Simply put, it is I should change, I want to Change, and I have Changed.
Christianity has talked about those same three steps for generations. The religious words are Conviction, Repentance, and Rebirth. We recognize that these are not steps that we can take by ourselves. We can change because who we were has been put to death with Christ on the Cross. We have changed when we accept a new life as a new creation reborn with Christ in His resurrection.
The story of Nicodemus does not end here. In John 7 we hear from Nicodemus again. The Sanhedrin was discussing what to do about Jesus. Those who were in charge of the Temple wanted him arrested. Nicodemus spoke up and said that it would be illegal to arrest Jesus without first hearing what he had to say.
There is one final mention. After the crucifixion the Disciples, who had served Jesus in public where now in hiding. At this critical moment, Nicodemus steps forward to help arrange for Jesus’ burial. The one who was taught in secret, served openly.
Nicodemus set an example for us in the end. He moved beyond his religious structures and made a public commitment to Christ.
