John 3:1-2
“Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night”
With just a few short strokes of his Pen, John sketches out a picture of this Pharisee named Nicodemus. Clearly, he is drawn to Jesus. Unlike other Pharisees who try to entrap Jesus at dinner, or reprimand him in the synagogue, Nicodemus comes to see Jesus away from the crowds and away from other eyes.
Q: How many reasons can you think of for a Pharisee to visit someone at night?
Maybe he had just got off duty from ruling in the council,..maybe it took him awhile to get to where Jesus was at,..maybe he was just chicken dung and didn’t want all his others council members knowing where he was going or who he was going to see,..the main thing is that he went to see Jesus and was council-ed by The Counselor -Jesus
Maybe he actually wanted to believe that Jesus was the Messiah, but didn’t want others to know
There could be many reasons. Certainly coming at night was one way to avoid the suspicion of his fellow Pharisees. I find it encouraging that he sought Jesus out. He sought Jesus and sought truth. Jesus honored that. May we seek Jesus and His righteousness today as the first priority.
I was not necessarily trying to stay anonymous with the entry. But I had to laugh because that is exactly what Nicodemus was doing by coming to Jesus at night.
Possible he did not want to be seen, possibly he did not want to be interrupted by others. Could have wanted some quality one on one time with this man who taught like no other.
We do know his faith increased as the result of his spending time alone with our Lord.
Oh this one was fun! I enjoyed looking up some interesting facts. Nicodemus is found three times in the gospel of John (John 3, 7, & 19). John 3 he comes to Jesus at night to talk, John & he stands up for Jesus, and John 19 he helps in the burial of Jesus. Today’s question is on John 3. Nicodemus was a ruling member of the Jewish council, so there could have been many reasons he came to speak to Jesus at night. The first most obvious one is that he didn’t want to cause trouble, perhaps for himself, or perhaps for Jesus. As a ruling member of the Jewish council it could have impugned his reputation to be seen talking with Jesus, and it could have thrown fuel on a fire that was rising against Jesus with the Jewish council. Another reason could have have been that Jesus was just very busy in His ministry, and that night was the only time Nicodemus could catch Him. Another reason (not widely supported) is that the Jewish leaders found it more spiritual to study the scriptures at night. I think it is interesting that Nicodemus came at night. In John 8:12 Jesus said “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” Even though Nicodemus came at night, he saw Light.
Chris,
You draw an important distinction between the “night” and the “Light.” Nicodemus was drawn to the Light. His physical / worldly circumstances were such that he came looking for the Light by night. Metaphorically, a single light is much easier to see in the darkness. That is one reason it is so important for us who follow Jesus to reflect His Light in this dark world.