John 3:1-2 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:
2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.
The background
This may have been the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. He enters Jerusalem at the feast of Passover and enters the temple and thrusts out those who bought and sold (Jn 2:13-16). The Pharisees ask for a sign for His actions and He responded about destroying His body and He will raise it up in three days. Upon His entry into Jerusalem a number made profession of belief in Him but Jesus would not make any commitment to them because they were only superficial. Among those who witnessed these events was probably Nicodemus.
Nicodemas
The first two verses of chapter three tells us a few things about him.
- He was a Pharisee. Today we have a bad view of them because of Jesus’ denouncing them and their ways. But they were the religious and respected class of people in that day. They were moral individuals. They dedicated their lives to reading, preserving and practicing the law of God.
- He was a ruler. He would be a member of the Sanhedrin, the ruling sect of the people. He was elite in an elite group.
- He was a scholar. All the Pharisees were devout students of Scripture. Nicodemus is a Greek name – upper class Jews often gave their children Jewish and Greek names, signifying the two worlds in which they traveled. Since he goes by Nicodemus he must have been an admirer of philosophy as well as perhaps a student of the same.
Why he came to Jesus
He may have seen the miracles spoken of in Jn 2:23 and even the cleansing of the temple. These may have intrigued him enough to approach Jesus.
- He was a little reserved about going to Jesus because he went at night to be unnoticed by others. He may have been impressed by Jesus but not enough to openly approach Him.
- He showed respect to Jesus calling Him “Rabbi” because Jesus taught with authority and He truly performed miracles that Nicodemas recognized were God oriented.
- He approaches Jesus from an authoritative respect – We know that Thou art a teacher.” He invokes the power and authority of the others in his address to Jesus. Since he acknowledged Jesus was a teacher from God, he may have been given acceptance to Jesus and maybe offering Him advice or sanction from his own person or group.
Jesus accepts Nicodemus
Jesus cut Nicodemus off in his statements to Him by introducing Nicodemus to true life (Jn 3:3). Nicodemus’ reply to Jesus showed that he was ignorant of Scriptural truth yet he seemingly did not reject it – he simply struggled to believe/understand it. Jesus began by teaching about the kingdom of God (Matt 4:23). Jesus expanded on this truth in Jn 3:5-8 and then after Nicodemus asked in true perplex ion, Jesus questioned him about his scholarliness Jn 3:10. Jesus was probably referring to Eze 36:25-27, Scripture Nicodemas would be familiar with. Jesus then explained how He must be lifted up in order for this to be reality for us.
Nicodemus’ belief
Nicodemus must have been a just man for he defended Jesus before the others on one occasion (Jn 7:50-51). Later it appears that Nicodemas had made his commitment to Jesus and at His death made it open (Jn 19:38-39).