“I made you promises a million times. Tried to hear from heaven, but I talked the whole time. I think I made You too small. I never feared You at all. If You touched my face would I know You? Looked into my eyes, could I behold You?” – What Do I Know of Holy?, Addison Road
After sitting through church this morning and hearing the guest pastor speak on this, I suppose I'm something like a Nicodemus in John 3.
In case you aren't familiar, let me give you a quick run down.As I tell you of Nicodemus conversing with Jesus, imagine how this story parallels with your life.
Nicodemus was a pretty smart guy- a Pharisee, a ruler of the Jews. Right off the bat, scripture tells us that he came to see Jesus at night. He compliments Jesus by telling Him that surely He is a teacher, sent by God. He goes on to say that no one teaches and performs signs like that unless God is with them. Nicodemus and Jesus talk back and forth for a moment about entering the Kingdom and being born again. Nicodemus gets lost and does not understand, Jesus explains further, and the story ends. Now, we hear about Nicodemus a few chapters later in John but for now, his visit with Jesus on this particular night is over.
When I look at this poor soul, I cannot help but be incredibly grateful that I have the Word of God and examples like this to live by. Because unfortunately for me, had I lived in Jesus’ day, I would probably be an example that everyone else is reading about and learning from today. Y’see, Jesus isn’t complimented by Nicodemus’ statement about being sent from God. Jesus is God. And He isn’t impressed by Nicodemus’ effort to see Him at night either. If there is one thing I have learned on this Christian ride, it’s that Christ is not interested in our list of do’s and do-not. He cares neither about our list of good deeds nor our list of ‘bad’ things we avoided. One thing matters to Jesus – surrender. Because He already trumped all that other bull crap on the cross. So Nicodemus’ mere knowledge of Jesus and witness to His miracles left no impression with this King.
Besides that? Nicodemus went to see Jesus at night. And at what cost? He went at no expense of his status, at no expense of his prestige, or reputation or anything else. He went in the dark … to acknowledge the King of kings as a “good teacher”… and as far as we know, he walked away (that night) without eternal life. How much of that reminds you of yourself? We say we’re following Jesus but at what cost? We go to Him in the night, telling Him how cool He is – what a great teacher and role model He is. But that’s not what He wants from us.
If we are going to follow Jesus, we may not lead.
We cannot lead someone we’re following. That just doesn’t work, physically or logistically. Jesus says in verse 20, “All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants.” It’s time for us to step out of the darkness that the enemy so loves to keep us in and walk in the light and the truth that says God so loves us that he sent his only Son. If God is for us, who can be against us?
Is there a person in the Bible you can relate to or learn from? Perhaps you’ve looked at someone’s encounter with Jesus and thought, “I’m so glad I have this example of what not to do.” I want to know about it. 🙂
