Nicodemus's Story

There are some in this room or watching online who do not have a story of meeting Jesus and the stories we look at, by God’s grace, will be the framework for their stories of coming to know Jesus as Savior and Lord.

Their stories are just beginning and I for one am excited to hear how God writes their stories.

There are others in this room or online who do have stories of meeting Jesus. And one of these stories, or aspects of these stories, are going to resonate with them.

You are going to say “that was me, that is how I met Jesus.”

And here’s the thing I want to challenge you with in these weeks: Think about your story. How you came to know Jesus and how He has transformed your life since that moment or season when you trusted in Him and became a Christian.

You have been given a story for a purpose other than just getting into heaven when you die.

God saved you in order to use you to lead others to Him.

Your story is powerful. More powerful than any philosophical argument or apologetical defense of the faith.

Your story puts flesh and bone on the truth of the Gospel.

My prayer is that each of us would know our story, be ready to share our story, and, in these weeks lead to Easter, have the opportunity to speak our story to someone far from God.

Blessed Assurance, Jesus is Mine

Fanny Crosby was born in 1820.

At only 6 weeks old she lost her sight and lived the rest of her days blind.

Her godly grandmother knew she would not be able to read the bible so she encouraged Fanny to memorize it, so by the age of 15 she could recite large sections of scripture.

Even though she had faithful witnesses to Jesus in her life, it wasn’t until she was 30 years old that she actually became a Christian.

She had spent 15 years teaching, lobbying for education for the blind, and helping serve people struck with cholera during an outbreak that killed 5000 people in New York City alone in the late 1840s.

She had done all these good things, knew the bible by heart, and yet at 30 years old she unsettled about the state of her own soul.

Then one night at a revival and she began singing these words from the Hymn “Alas! And Did My Savior Bleed” “Here Lord, I give my self away! Tis all that I can do.”

In that moment the Lord took hold of her heart and she was saved.

Fanny went on from there to write more than 8000 hymns and songs. One of her most popular of all time is “Blessed Assurance”.

She wrote it on a whim after her friend began playing the tune for her and the words came to her “Blessed Assurance, Jesus is mine.”

20 years after that season of uncertainty, she pens her story in that profound lyric.

The refrain is powerful:

“This is my STORY, this is my Song, Praising my Savior all the day long, This is my STORY, this is my Song, praising my Savior all the day long.”

Nicodemus’s Story

John 3:1–16 ESV

1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” 3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” 9 Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” 10 Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? 11 Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. 16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

We find out a lot about this man named Nicodemus in this first verse.

First, he was a pharisee, which was perhaps the most strict and religious group of all the Jewish faith.

The Pharisees were deeply committed to following the law of God, to the point that they even created additional laws in order to prevent them, and others, from breaking the original laws.

They were regarded as the most pious and disciplined people.

Second, he was “a ruler of the Jews,” which means Nicodemus was a part of the Sanhedrin, the equivalent of the Jewish Supreme Court who would have been very powerful and very well versed in Jewish doctrine.

He was a very important and highly regarded man in the Jewish community.

In the eyes of those around him, Nicodemus was not a needy or lost person.

He was close to God because he knew a lot and was a really good person.

But in verse 2 we get a glimpse at the beginning of Nicodemus’s story:

John 3:2 ESV

2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.”

He was SEARCHING for ASSURANCE.

Notice 2 things about verse 2.

Nicodemus came at night.

There different opinions on why John included the time of day in this description, but the most likely reason is because Nicodemus was lost and searching.

He likely didn’t think he was lost, he was one of the most prominent and pious religious men in the land.

But darkness is thematic in John, it points to lostness and ignorance of truth.

Here is this man, whom no one would have ever labeled lost or in need of anything, let alone salvation.

He comes to Jesus at night…searching.

He is intrigued by Jesus.

“We know you are a teacher come from God”

There is something about Jesus, something about His miracles, something about His teaching that Nicodemus can’t shake.

Nicodemus would have always been searching, listening, and engaged in discussion about theological theories and trends.

It would not have been out of character for him to come to a teacher like Jesus to find out more about him.

Maybe there was something new, something he hadn’t heard, something that would help him follow God more closely, find more since of purpose, even assurance that he had it right.

That is likely why he came to Jesus.

He and perhaps another guy on the council were talking, considering what Jesus had said and done.

He had to dive a bit deeper, just in case.

You know the feeling, when you think your know something really well, but you just aren’t perfectly sure.

You think you have done it all well, everything seems to measure up, but what if?

This is where we all are when we are searching for assurance in our knowledge or our goodness.

Have I done enough?

Have I given enough?

Have I learned enough?

Have I served enough?

What am I lacking? What can I learn? What am I missing?

Do you find yourself there?

His FOUNDATIONS were SHAKEN.

Jesus’s response isn’t expected.

Nicodemus would have know about the Kingdom of God.

When God takes over and established His Kingdom on earth and the people of God rule with Him.

He would have read about that all his life, even memorized the passages that taught it.

He wasn’t asking about getting into the Kingdom, he was in it by virtue of his birth and his diligent obedience to the law of God.

But Jesus says “If you want to be a part of God’s Kingdom you have to be born again.”

Jesus is telling this super religious, well-established, powerful and wealthy man, that his life is not suitable for entering the Kingdom of God.

We can translate that in our modern understanding to be heaven, Nicodemus was not good enough to make it to heaven.

He doesn’t get what Jesus is saying, thinking only about physical birth and trying to figure out how that is even possible.

Nicodemus is a spiritual man, but he thinks of his spiritual life much like we often think of ours, in analytical/logical terms.

“I have done these good things that have gained me favor with God. These outweigh the bad things I have done so I am on good terms with Him.”

God, in this way, is a divine judge we are trying to perform to in order to please Him.

If you have grown up in church, you would never admit this is how you relate to God, but if you really examine your attitudes and motivations they are, at their core, legalistic and seeking to convince God you really are worthy of the salvation you say you trusted Him for.

Maybe you would admit you are saved by grace, but now you have to keep it and keep Him happy.

Listen to Jesus’s response.

John 3:5–7 ESV

5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’

This passage is another one where there are lots of theories on what it means.

The water is baptism and the Spirit is the indwelling of the Spirit (doesn’t make since in the context).

The water is physical birth and the Spirit is new birth (odd way of explaining “water birth”)

Rather, Jesus seems to be looking back at Ezekiel 36:25-27

Ezekiel 36:25–27 ESV

25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

This is a Messianic prophesy from Ezekiel, meaning a prophesy about the Messiah.

God is telling the people, while they are in captivity in Babylon, that He will one day come to rescue them.

Prophesies often have a contemporary purpose and a long-term focus.

God is going to bring His people out of Babylon, but even more so, He is going to set His people free from sin and death.

Water in Ezekiel is an instrument for washing the people clean from all their sin and their idol worship.

The Spirit is the promise God is making to give the people a new heart and a new Spirit.

This new Spirit will remove the heart of stone in us and give us a heart of flesh.

This new Spirit would CAUSE the people to walk in God’s ways, not struggle and fumble to obey.

The “wind” Jesus mentions is the Spirit of God.

Jesus is saying to Nicodemus that his salvation and his relationship with God is not determined by his birthright, his power, his popularity, his piousness, his careful study, or his prominent position in Jewish society.

The Spirit who causes you to be born again is the deciding factor, and you have NO control.

Nicodemus is still confused, and Jesus seems irritated.

Jesus is often irritated with the religious leaders of the day.

It is because they should have known better.

They were the ones judging everyone else, and they don’t even get it themselves.

John 3:10 ESV

10 Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things?

He should have know Ezekiel 36, he probably had is memorized.

How could this Jewish zealot not know Ezekiel 36?!?

Here he is, standing in front of this guy that who he thinks is just a really great teacher and someone God has uniquely ordained to do some pretty radical, unexplainable stuff.

And now everything he has ever believed, the whole grounding of his religious practice, what he had built his entire life, AND ETERNITY, on has been shaken to the core.

What is he going to do?

Whether Jesus actually spoke John 3:16-21 to Nicodemus is debated, but I am sure in some form or fashion Jesus communicated to him the love God was showing him in bring Jesus to earth.

He likely shared with Nicodemus about his need to trust in Jesus, come to the light, and flee from the darkness.

And I believe Nicodemus did just that.

He was TRULY TRANSFORMED.

Nicodemus’s story doesn’t end in John 3

John 7:45–52 CSB

45 Then the servants came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, “Why didn’t you bring him?” 46 The servants answered, “No man ever spoke like this!” 47 Then the Pharisees responded to them, “Are you fooled too? 48 Have any of the rulers or Pharisees believed in him? 49 But this crowd, which doesn’t know the law, is accursed.” 50 Nicodemus—the one who came to him previously and who was one of them—said to them, 51 “Our law doesn’t judge a man before it hears from him and knows what he’s doing, does it?” 52 “You aren’t from Galilee too, are you?” they replied. “Investigate and you will see that no prophet arises from Galilee.”

There is an argument going on around Jesus.

Many have started to believe He really is the Messiah, while others are ready to arrest Him and kill Him.

Then, what seems like the council Nicodemus is on begins to discuss what to do.

And Nicodemus speaks up.

He doesn’t defend Jesus, doesn’t speak out that he believes Jesus is the Son of God, doesn’t call the other Pharisees to faith.

He just says “don’t you think this guys deserves to at least be heard before we start throwing stones at him?”

By no means is this a sign that Nicodemus has given his life to Jesus, but he is calling the others to do what he did, just listen to what He has to say.

John 19:38–42 ESV

38 After these things Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took away his body. 39 Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight. 40 So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. 41 Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. 42 So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there.

You remember the “we” from John 3:2, made Nicodemus was talking about Joseph of Arimathea, who was likely on the same council and of the same pedigree as Nicodemus.

These two men, with so much to lose, went to Pilate and asked for permission to take the dead body of Jesus down from the cross and prepare it for burial.

John records that Nicodemus brought “a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy pounds in weight.”

The amount is said to be enough to bury a king and was likely spices directly from Nicodemus’s own home.

It reminds me of Lazarus’s sister Mary breaking the jar of expensive perfume on Jesus’s feet and washing with her hair.

Nicodemus was making a statement.

Jesus was royalty in his book.

He was a King, he was THE King, He was HIS KING.

He had been born again, transformed, set free.

If Nicodemus could have wrote a song, it might have went something like this:

Blessed Assurance, Jesus is mine

O what a foretaste, of glory divine.

Heir of Salvation, purchased of God, Born of the Spirit, washed in His blood.

This is my story, this is my song

Praising my Savior, all the day long

This is my story, this is my song

Praising my Savior, all the day long.

Is this your story?

Maybe you came here today like Nicodemus, pretty sure, but just not fully sure.

Have you done enough, said enough, known enough…?

Is there something your missing?

But the real question you must ask yourself is “Have I been born again?”

There are Christians here today that are genuinely saved that are pondering that question this morning.

Do so, but go to Jesus, trust in His grace, not in your goodness.

My bigger concern though are those that are hearing this today and don’t think this message is for them.

Do you know Jesus?

Is He King of your life, or just a good teacher who offers you a ticket to heaven?

If He is Lord then He must be Lord of All.

If this is your story, then you need to share it.

Write it down.

rehearse it.

Look for ways you can speak it to those who so desperately need to hear it.

Those Nicodemuses all around us who are on the search for true assurance in a savior who is sufficient to save.

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