From Conquered to Conquerors
Today’s Verse:
There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. ~John 3:1-2
One of the most significant men of the New Testament is Nicodemus. He is a man who did not allow his education, monetary wealth, prestige, and influence inhibit him from coming to Jesus for the truth. He knew what the Old Testament scriptures taught of the coming Messiah, but he also knew what the traditions of his elders taught. This morning, let us be challenged by a man who overcame his fears in order to find the truth about Jesus.
We see Nicodemus and his conscience.
He was a man of the Pharisees. He was of the highest order of the Pharisees. He had to keep the traditions of the elders to the strictest degree. He fasted, gave alms to the poor, and was fastidious about the Sabbath. He was pressured to conform to the practices passed down to him. He rubbed shoulders with men who were not interested in helping the people, but rather getting what they could out of them. However, he was a man with a heavy conscience about the truth and what he was taught. He was heavy in his conscience about who this Jesus of Nazareth was. May God help us to always have a good conscience towards God as this man did.
We see Nicodemus and his conversion.
In John 3:3-18, Jesus presents to Nicodemus the plan of salvation. It is here that Nicodemus hears about the New Birth. He is stirred in his heart about the fact that except a man be born again, he cannot enter into the kingdom of Heaven. He has never heard anything like this before. He hears about the love of God for his sinful soul, and how believing in the name of Jesus could guarantee him eternal life. For the first time, he realizes it is not religion that saves, but regeneration that saves. He learns that a true conversion is one that is a spiritual birth from above. He realizes his faith in the law and the traditions he was supposed to observe could not save his soul. Nicodemus is standing face-to-face with the God-man, Christ Jesus! Nicodemus realizes he is standing with the man who would die for his sins, and could give him eternal life. I believe that Nicodemus believed in Jesus as his Savior and was converted at this confrontation.
We see Nicodemus and his conflict.
“Nicodemus saith unto them, (he that came to Jesus by night, being one of them,) Doth our law judge any man, before it hear him, and know what he doeth?” John 7:51-52. After the Feast of the Tabernacles, Jesus is even more greatly doubted and despised. The Pharisees seek to kill him. Nicodemus is privy to everything these wicked men wanted to do to Jesus. Nicodemus experienced great conflict in his heart. He loved Jesus and it hurt him to hear his peers conspire to discredit and discuss Jesus destruction. He comes to them and challenges the Pharisees to give Jesus a fair hearing before judging him. They respond to Him with cynical accusation that perhaps he was a disciple of Jesus as well. “Are thou also of Galilee?” In his first major opportunity in which he tried to take a stand for the Lord, he was shut down. Perhaps you have had this same experience where you tried to take stand, but you were shut down as well. As a follower of our Lord, be bold in your testimony and stand!
We see Nicodemus and his commitment.
“And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight,” John 19:39. After Jesus suffered a horrendous death on the cross, His body needed to be claimed and taken down. It was at that critical moment that Nicodemus took his stand with Joseph of Arimathea to claim, prepare, and lay the body of Jesus in the grave. This one act brought him into disfavor and most likely censure. However, it didn’t matter: he decided he would show true commitment of his faith.
Nicodemus means “conqueror.” His faith in Christ enabled him to conquer his fears and to be counted among those who would be called Christians. You, too, are a conqueror in Jesus! In fact, we are more than conquerors through Him that loves us.
Have a conquering God Morning!
Bible Reading Schedule: Mark 6-7