Nicodemus – Journey from Darkness to Light
John 3:1-21
Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews.2He came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.” 3Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” 4Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” 5Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. 6What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ 8The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” 9Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?”10Jesus answered him, “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things? 11“Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. 12If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 13No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 14And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. 16“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. 17“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. 20For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. 21But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.
Who is Nicodemus?
Nicodemus first appears in chapter 3 of John’s gospel. He is a Pharisee, a learned Jew. Pharisees were known for their strict observance of the law of Moses. They went to great lengths to keep themselves ritually pure, kept a kosher diet, and stayed away from anyone the law declared to be unclean such as Samaritans, the sick, lepers, and anyone who did not keep themselves ritually clean. They only ate with other Jews, believing that sharing table fellowship with anyone else considered unclean would contaminate them. Pharisees were considered experts in the law and are most often shown as Jesus’ opponents.
It’s easy for us to see Pharisees as the “bad guys,” but they were trying to live out their faithfulness in the best way they could, by living out the law that was given to Moses long before. Jesus, however, did not fit into their narrow vision of God’s mission in the world, and they refused to recognize that God was doing something new in Jesus, that Jesus was coming to bring God’s grace and hope to a dark and hurting world.
Jesus and his disciples were in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. Unlike the synoptic gospels where Jesus turns over the tables in the temple in his final week before the crucifixion, in John it occurs at the beginning of his ministry. Jesus has just come into the temple to find it has become a place of dishonest commerce filled with animal sellers and moneychangers whose goal was to swindle the people. John tells us that while he was in Jerusalem, any believed in him because of the signs Jesus was doing.
Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews.2He came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.” 3Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” 4Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” 5Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. 6What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ 8The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” 9Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?”10Jesus answered him, “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things? 11“Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. 12If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 13No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 14And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. 16“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. 17“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. 20For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. 21But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.
Who is Nicodemus?
Nicodemus first appears in chapter 3 of John’s gospel. He is a Pharisee, a learned Jew. Pharisees were known for their strict observance of the law of Moses. They went to great lengths to keep themselves ritually pure, kept a kosher diet, and stayed away from anyone the law declared to be unclean such as Samaritans, the sick, lepers, and anyone who did not keep themselves ritually clean. They only ate with other Jews, believing that sharing table fellowship with anyone else considered unclean would contaminate them. Pharisees were considered experts in the law and are most often shown as Jesus’ opponents.
It’s easy for us to see Pharisees as the “bad guys,” but they were trying to live out their faithfulness in the best way they could, by living out the law that was given to Moses long before. Jesus, however, did not fit into their narrow vision of God’s mission in the world, and they refused to recognize that God was doing something new in Jesus, that Jesus was coming to bring God’s grace and hope to a dark and hurting world.
Jesus and his disciples were in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. Unlike the synoptic gospels where Jesus turns over the tables in the temple in his final week before the crucifixion, in John it occurs at the beginning of his ministry. Jesus has just come into the temple to find it has become a place of dishonest commerce filled with animal sellers and moneychangers whose goal was to swindle the people. John tells us that while he was in Jerusalem, any believed in him because of the signs Jesus was doing.

Nicodemus first comes to Jesus in the middle of the night. Here we see John’s use of dualism, of opposites, played out. The darkness is a time of mystery, of secrecy, and of unbelief. John never tells us Nicodemus’s motive for seeking out Jesus, nor the reason he came at night. Was it to test him? Was it to discover who he was and what made him tick and report back to the other Jewish leaders and Pharisees? Did Nicodemus come at night because he was simply curious and didn’t want anyone else to see him in the presence of this Jesus who was raising the suspicions of the Jewish leaders? John gives us a subtle clue that Nicodemus did not see Jesus as the Son of God. Up to this point, Jesus has been addressed as “Lamb of God” (1:29, 36), “Son of God” (1:34, 49), “Messiah” (1:41), and “King of Israel” (1:49). Nicodemus addresses Jesus as “Rabbi,” a term of respect, but a description rather than a title meaning Teacher. It does not convey the reality of who Jesus is as God’s Son who has come into the world, hinting that Nicodemus not only comes to Jesus in darkness, but is living in the darkness of unbelief.
Nicodemus first comes to Jesus in the middle of the night. Here we see John’s use of dualism, of opposites, played out. The darkness is a time of mystery, of secrecy, and of unbelief. John never tells us Nicodemus’s motive for seeking out Jesus, nor the reason he came at night. Was it to test him? Was it to discover who he was and what made him tick and report back to the other Jewish leaders and Pharisees? Did Nicodemus come at night because he was simply curious and didn’t want anyone else to see him in the presence of this Jesus who was raising the suspicions of the Jewish leaders? John gives us a subtle clue that Nicodemus did not see Jesus as the Son of God. Up to this point, Jesus has been addressed as “Lamb of God” (1:29, 36), “Son of God” (1:34, 49), “Messiah” (1:41), and “King of Israel” (1:49). Nicodemus addresses Jesus as “Rabbi,” a term of respect, but a description rather than a title meaning Teacher. It does not convey the reality of who Jesus is as God’s Son who has come into the world, hinting that Nicodemus not only comes to Jesus in darkness, but is living in the darkness of unbelief.
We also see John’s dualism reflected in the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus as they discuss being born of the flesh and being born of the Spirit. Nicodemus is stuck in the physical, earthly reality of birth. He can only think of the act of the flesh which would mean that to be reborn, one would have to crawl back into their mother’s womb – ouch! The Greek word for being born from above (v. 7) actually may be translated 2 ways: to be born from above, or to be born anew. Nicodemus’s dilemma is that he can’t see that Jesus is calling on him to see the world through God’s eyes of grace.

Here we have probably the most memorized, most well-known verse in all of Scripture. Most football and basketball fans recognize it from signs held up behind the goalposts or under the basket when the team scores and the crowd goes wild: John 3:16
Here we have probably the most memorized, most well-known verse in all of Scripture. Most football and basketball fans recognize it from signs held up behind the goalposts or under the basket when the team scores and the crowd goes wild: John 3:16
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
Luther referred to this verse as the “little gospel,” seeming to encompass entire story of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection in one verse.
Using the analogy of the 2-story house, Nicodemus has his feet firmly planted on the first floor. Jesus is inviting him to ascend the stairs to the second floor to a new understanding of God that moves beyond Pharisaic law which is limiting to see the love, the forgiveness, the grace of God. To Nicodemus’s credit, he seems to be struggling to understand what Jesus is saying, but can’t seem to get his head around it.
Interestingly, we don’t know exactly what happens to Nicodemus in this scene. He simply fades away into the background as Jesus continues on one of his long speeches. We don’t find out in these verses whether Nicodemus eventually gets it, or if he storms off angrily. John just stops writing about him, and the reader is left to assume that perhaps he skulked away in the dark of night, remaining in darkness rather than being immersed in the light and love of God’s Son. One of the ironies here is that Nicodemus was in the presence of the Light of the World! Yet he chose to remain in darkness. Or so we may think…
We are not finished with Nicodemus in chapter 3. But it’s not until chapter 19 when he makes his second and final appearance:
John 19:38-42
38After these things, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, though a secret one because of his fear of the Jews, asked Pilate to let him take away the body of Jesus. Pilate gave him permission; so he came and removed his body. 39Nicodemus, who had at first come to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds. 40They took the body of Jesus and wrapped it with the spices in linen cloths, according to the burial custom of the Jews. 41Now there was a garden in the place where he was crucified, and in the garden there was a new tomb in which no one had ever been laid. 42And so, because it was the Jewish day of Preparation, and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.
What happened to Nicodemus between chapter 3 and the crucifixion?
What happened? Where did Nicodemus come from all of a sudden? He just shows up! But unlike the last time he was with Jesus in the middle of the night, now he comes in the middle of the day, the time of light. No longer is Nicodemus a character of unbelieving darkness, he now steps out in the brightness of day, no longer hiding that he is indeed a follower of Jesus! Nick at Night is no longer!
What’s more, we see him making an enormous gift! Myrrh and aloes were embalming spices which were quite costly, and usually only required a small amount. To show just how much of a disciple Nick has become, he doesn’t bring a jar or 2. He brings with him a hundred pounds! (Cue the dump truck backing up to the tomb, beeping to warn all of its approach.) Nicodemus is no longer skulking around, lost in the night. He has now taken up Jesus’ mission, becoming a disciple.
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The cross, for John, changes everything. This is indeed Jesus’ glorification, what he came to do. He has spent his life duking it out with the powers of sickness, disbelief, marginalization, and hopelessness, and now in death he confronts death head on, which will become the gate to eternal life. When Jesus is lifted up on the cross, his arms open on the wood of the cross, he opens his arms to all, embracing us all with the promise of light and life. Nicodemus lives that reality now, as do we.
The cross, for John, changes everything. This is indeed Jesus’ glorification, what he came to do. He has spent his life duking it out with the powers of sickness, disbelief, marginalization, and hopelessness, and now in death he confronts death head on, which will become the gate to eternal life. When Jesus is lifted up on the cross, his arms open on the wood of the cross, he opens his arms to all, embracing us all with the promise of light and life. Nicodemus lives that reality now, as do we.