"There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus by night" John 3:1-2 NKJV
Why did Nicodemus come to Jesus by night? There are probably two explanations. (1) The Pharisees encouraged studies to be be carried out at night so that it didn't interfere with their daily tasks. (2) He may not have wanted his fellow colleagues from the Sanhedrin to know that he had an admiration for the teachings of Jesus. They would most definitely have cast a dim view on him for such behaviour. Therefore, he probably came to Jesus in the cover of darkness to avoid this. Now this flags up a common behaviour in a lot of people's faith. Quite a few people do not want to be known as 'religious' by their workmates and friends. So they play it down, hide their bibles away if someone visits and avoid talking about Jesus. Some workers have to do this because of threat to their jobs by way of persecution. Many people have been told by their management not to wear a cross whilst at work. Therefore, some fall to the ranks of being secret disciples.
Nicodemus had a flaw in his theology. To him, Jesus was a teacher come from God to teach, not God come to teach. He didn't yet understand that Jesus was God Himself in a body, rather than just a representative of God. However, He did later on, as recorded in John 19:39, 'And Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus at night, also came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds.' Nicodemus was obviously a wealthy man as these would have cost quite a lot of money. Just the fact that Nicodemus did this and was involved in the preparations for Jesus' body, shows that he had become more bolder in his belief.
In certain countries, it is forbidden to be known as a Christian. Some people can be executed or thrown in prison because of their faith. Therefore, they have to become, 'secret disciples' to avoid punishment. However, when we live in a country with religious freedom, we should never be ashamed to stand up for Jesus. He stood up for us - at a great cost. We should do the same. The apostle Paul wrote in Romans 1:16, 'For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes.'
Let us never be tempted to be a secret disciple of Jesus. Let us live up to our calling as Children of the Living God, wherever possible.
Copyright 2021 Grahame Howard.
Member of the National Association of Christian Ministers
Why not order my Daily Commentary from Amazon - Paperback or Kindle
No comments:
Post a Comment
Leave a message