Nicodemus, who was a Pharisee, a leader of the Jews, knowing that Jesus was a teacher who had come from God, questions Jesus when He said, “Very truly, I tell, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown old?
Sometimes, like it was for Nicodemus, we come to Jesus and do not find the answers we think we will find, but find instead more questions. We encounter scripture and discover it doesn’t necessarily say what we think it says, or what the world has told us it says. That can be unsettling for sure. The undoing of what we think we know may indeed be part of the spirit’s breath upon our hearts. It allows us to become open to hearing God’s call anew and participating anew in God’s activity in our lives and in the world around us. Like Nicodemus, despite our attempts to live faithfully, we do sometimes misunderstand what God is calling us to be and to do.
Nicodemus didn’t understand everything Jesus taught him the night he visited him, but the seeds of change, the seeds of faith, had been planted. He would ponder and come to fully believe the Messiah had come.
That night however, he kept silent about his visit and kept his ever growing faith in Jesus to himself. He didn’t let on for some time that he had talked to Jesus personally. On the outside he was silent, but on the inside his soul was crying out for more.
After Nicodemus had become a follower, his life was changed forever.
Jesus is the source of all truth, the meaning of life. When we are born again, as Nicodemus was, we should never forget that we have forgiveness of our sins and eternal life because of Christ’s sacrifice for us.
Nicodemus is a model of faith and courage for us to follow. When we allow Jesus into our lives, He becomes our priority, our satisfaction, and our peace. As committed followers, we realize He is worth infinitely more than anything of anyone else.
Jesus alone brings joy and peace into our earthly lives as we await our forever life with Him in heaven.
If we face rejection by others because of our faith, they are rejecting Him, not us. Don’t take it personally, be anxious about nothing!
