Smoodock's Blog

Nicodemus talked with Jesus near the beginning of Jesus’ ministry at Jerusalem. He believed Jesus was sent by God, but he had great difficulty understanding what Jesus was saying. Why was that? We are presented with a paradox, here, in chapter three of John’s Gospel. John presents Nicodemus coming to Jesus by night. He was an important man in Jerusalem, and he came to Jesus saying they, that is, he and the other important people or rulers of the Jews at Jerusalem, realized that God had sent Jesus to them (John 3:2). In other words, Nicodemus believed at the very least that Jesus is a prophet from God. Just admitting this was controversial, because some Jewish writings of that day speak of the Jews no longer hearing from God through a prophet—the prophets of God had stopped coming around the time of Ezra. Yet, here is Jesus, whom Nicodemus claimed he believed was sent by God.

Then Jesus spoke to Nicodemus saying he, and presumably the other rulers, didn’t believe him (John 3:12). So, we are told that Nicodemus and the other rulers at Jerusalem believed Jesus was sent by God, but they couldn’t believe what Jesus was saying. What was the problem? It might be difficult for us, on this side of Pentecost, to understand the mindset of the people before Pentecost. Even many unbelievers today, who have heard so much talk from Christians, can tell us, basically, what it means to be born again. However, what do we find was the case back in Jesus’ day, according to John’s Gospel? Nicodemus didn’t understand the concept of a spiritual birth (John 3:4-9), and the Lord chided him about being a teacher of the Jews (John 3:10)! The other rulers didn’t understand the concept of man being the Temple of God’s presence (John 2:19-21), but Jesus didn’t contradict their misunderstanding. They should have known, for the prophet Isaiah spoke of this in Isaiah 8:14: “He shall be a sanctuary…” The ancient Jewish work, Targum Jonathan, paraphrases this as “The Word of the Lord… [shall be a sanctuary]” (cp. Isaiah 4:5-6; Psalm 27:5), so the concept was understood by some Jews. Therefore, these who were the rulers and teachers of the people, should have also understood Jesus’ statement. Jesus, however, did not and would not disturb their unbelief.

Proverbs 25:2 says that it is the glory of God to conceal a matter (about himself), and it is the honor of the king (a man) to uncover what is concealed. The rulers and teachers in Jesus’ day did not value the word of God enough to uncover what was revealed to them. Moses told them that what had been revealed is ours to know (Deuteronomy 29:29), and only what God keeps to himself cannot be understood.

Jesus told Nicodemus, and through Nicodemus Jesus tells us, that, if he speaks of earthly things, and we don’t believe (don’t understand), how can we expect to believe (or understand), if he speaks to us of spiritual matters (John 3:11-12). Earlier, John said that Jesus came and lived with his own people (John 1:11), but they didn’t know him. Why didn’t they know him? Is it not because they had preconceived notions of who the Messiah should be? The Magi came to Herod’s palace looking for the newborn King of the Jews. These men were probably Jews from the east, like Daniel. Their expectation of the Messiah was that he should be with royalty. They were correct, but this was only one Messianic tradition revealed to God’s people. The Prophets revealed others: he would be a rock of offense and a stone of stumbling; he would be born of a virgin, presumed stricken of God, suffer for our offenses and many more. Why weren’t these Messianic traditions investigated and understood? Even John the Baptist was astonished that the Messiah was Jesus. Although he was ready to die for the name of God, I don’t think John expected to die in prison. I think he expected to be rescued by Jesus, the Messiah. John shows he didn’t understand Jesus’ work when he sent his disciples to ask if Jesus really was the Messiah they awaited (Matthew 11:3). Jesus responded by telling John’s disciples to return and tell him what they saw; namely, that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up and the poor are given the good news (Matthew 11:4-5). These were physical signs (miracles) Jesus did, but they also had a spiritual significance that John, when he heard, would understand. When the Hellenist Jews came to Jesus just before his crucifixion (John 12:20-25), they rejected him as their Messiah, once they understood he claimed he had to die (John 12:34). They asked: what kind of Messiah is this?

The Jews studied and looked for only one strain, or at the most a few strains, of a plethora of Messianic traditions, hidden in the scriptures. Knowing only half-truths is often more deceiving and dangerous than outright lies. A falsehood can be easily picked out by someone who knows the truth, but when one believes the truth, yet understands only a little of that truth, that one can easily be misled and miss out on the reality by expecting something entirely different from what is revealed in the whole revelation that is found in scripture. When we presume we know, but know only in part, we open the door for deception and misunderstanding.