GSC MODULE 35 - NICODEMUS [PART TWO] PATH TO DISCIPLESHIP

GOOD SHEPHERD CHURCH SEMINARY

MODULE 35

NICODEMUS [PART TWO] - 

PATH TO DISCIPLESHIP

Objectives: By the end of this Module you should;

• Know about Nicodemus
• Understand how Nicodemus came to belief in Jesus
• Have knowledge about scriptural texts regarding Nicodemus
• Have insight into the conflict between Jesus and the Pharisees
• Be able to preach a sermon about Nicodemus

Contents;

1. Path to discipleship

2. Troubled times

3. Challenging Temple authority

4. Temple tax

5. Nicodemus defends Jesus

1. Path to discipleship

The life of Nicodemus the Pharisee is an extraordinary one of a man hesitantly visiting a preacher by night to becoming a public follower when the man was dead.

  Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea were two influential men who had not yet dared to fully profess their discipleship.

  Nicodemus was a highly regarded representative of the educated class of Israel.

  He was a powerful Pharisee, a member of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish ruling council.

  Nicodemus was known to be an immensely wealthy man and extremely influential in Jewish society.

  This Pharisee was both respectable and deeply religious.

The Pharisees and those in religious and political circles were well aware of the tremendous phenomenon that was Jesus' ministry in Israel and beyond.

  Jesus had shrewdly built a core band of disciples and also attracted the attention of followers such as Mary Magdalene.

  The Rabbi preached in the synagogues and manifested great signs and wonders in confirmation of His authority as Son of God.

Nicodemus realized that Jesus, an excellent strategist, was making use of the long established network of synagogues to preach and lecture, and spread His radical new message.

  God had come to earth in the form of a man who had the muscles and sweat of a carpenter, the mind of a genius theologian philosopher and the personality of a radical.

  Yet Nicodemus still considered he had grounds for doubt.

  Would God deign to incarnate in the form of a mere human?

  Would His Infinite Godhood not be insulted by the mere thought of such an incarnation?

  Would such incarnation not be grounds for absolute blasphemy?

  Was the Messiah not meant to be the long prophesied follower of God upon earth, not God Himself?

  Whatever his issues, Nicodemus appreciated how cannily Jesus had taken His preaching to villages on the shore of the Sea of Galilee after the inhabitants of Nazareth decisively rejected both Him and His Message.

News of miraculous healings reached the Sanhedrin not only by popular report and rumour, but also by attested reports from synagogue priests.

  By the time Jesus performed His first public miracle in Cana, His organization was growing from its infancy into a recognizable structure.

  He now carried out a campaign of tremendous miracles. 

  Unlike the Pharisees, Jesus led a simple lifestyle. His mother, expert in weaving, had woven Him a garment in one piece - no seams - which kept Him protected from the dust and sun as He tramped the long roads.

  A cloak served as blanket by night and covering by day.

  This simply dressed Man walked from town to town. 

  The band of male and female disciples who accompanied Him caused occasion for scandal and comment.

  It was unheard of for decent women to consort openly with unmarried men in a band of people.

  Yet this is just what Jesus' disciples did - at His express instigation.

  Men and women are equals, and as equals they are called and follow Him.

  

  Jesus had no horse, no litter to carry Him as the rich did. 

  He had no home to call His own, no family to be His earthly descendants, no wife or children to bring Him comfort.

  Nicodemus had heard of the words Jesus spoke about His life.

  'Foxes have holes and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His Head.' 

[Luke 9:58]

  Jesus brought a powerful message, enshrined in His simple lifestyle.

  True wealth is the truth of being a human son or daughter of the Most High God.

  Great beauty does not lie within evenness of form and face, but inner holiness of spirit.

  Jesus was showing society that we are all one human family.

  We can confidently call everyone brother, or sister.

  Our loyalty and love is not only meant for close blood and familial ties.

  They are also meant for everyone we meet.

Jesus had brought the message that the Kingdom of God is, indeed, among us.

Jesus proved troublesome.

  He was overturning the status quo, changing the course of events.

  Satan and his followers were by now in a state of emergency.

  Jesus was casting out demons from their unlawful habitation of humans by means of exorcism.

 Jesus was deliberately, and effectively, threatening satanic rule upon earth.

Whispers flew to all corners of Israel concerning Jesus.

  As Jesus' influence grew, so did Palace and Temple nervousness.

  Hannah, wife of Herod's steward, left the steward's side to follow Jesus and to help care for Him. [Luke 8:3]

  Rumours circulated as far as the Roman palace. Pilate's wife heard rumours about the holy Rabbi Who healed.

  The Sanhedrin followed Jesus' career closely.

One member of the Sanhedrin - the highest Jewish religious authority of Israel - had become deeply interested in Jesus, His teachings and works.

  Nicodemus the Pharisee had begun to believe that Jesus might, in fact, be the true Messiah.

  He sought after, and received, private audience with Jesus.

  Nicodemus returned from the interview a deeply thoughtful man.

  There was much he did not understand. He knew, too, that Jesus was treading on dangerous political ground.

  The carpenter from Nazareth had made powerful enemies among the Pharisees, as well as among Herod's court.

  A plot against the life of Jesus began to gain momentum.

  Nicodemus, skilled in political and religious circles, resolved to do what he could to safeguard the life of the Man he suspected to be the Messiah long awaited by Israel.

2. Troubled times

Jesus and His disciples were forging a troubled history with the Pharisees.

  Jesus constantly criticized many of the Pharisees, and in public at that.

  The Pharisees were, as a group, impeccably religious; and a number of their brethren ruled the religious and social life of Israel.

  On various occasions Jesus robustly condemned their lives and teaching as being misleading.

  Jesus was the master of direct insult, and stung many an ego and conscience.

  Nicodemus stroked his beard thoughtfully as he heard of some of the insults.

  

'Woe to you, teachers of the law, and Pharisees, you hypocrites!

  You give a tenth of your spices - mint, dill, and cumin.

  But you have neglected the more important matters of the law - justice, mercy and faithfulness.

  You should have practised the latter, without neglecting the former.

  Blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel!' [Matthew 23:23-24]

Jesus called the Pharisees full of greed and self-indulgence. [Matthew 23:25]

  He went so far as to call the Pharisees whitewashed tombs which look beautiful on the outside but inside are full of dead bones and everything unclean. [Matthew 23:27]

  This was fighting talk; and the Pharisees were not slow to respond.

  The Teacher scandalized scribes in His audience when He forgave the sins of a paralyzed man in Capernaum. 

  Jesus' assumption of the authority of God in the sphere of forgiveness of sins was perceived as blasphemy.

  Jesus thereafter healed the man, attesting to His authority to forgive sins. [Mark 2:1-12]

3. Challenging Temple authority

Jesus' public ministry had grown in intensity and His followers in numbers.

  His public profile increasingly affected the Sanhedrin meeting agenda for a variety of reasons.

  Jesus confronted Temple laws such as those pertaining to work on the Sabbath.

  

One instance was at the Pool of Bethesda, an ancient pool within the very shadow of the Temple itself.

  Jesus was in Jerusalem for a feast of the Jews, when He spent some time at the pool.

  

Bethesda was located near the Sheep Gate and was surrounded by five porticoes.

  The arched colonnade sheltered large numbers of invalids; blind, lame, paralyzed.

  One man had been lying there, praying for a cure, for thirty-eight years.

  Those lying there in such misery were excluded from Temple worship by reason of their condition.

  The pool waters were troubled from time to time when an angel visited the pool.

  It is believed that the angel in question was Archangel Raphael. [1]

  Whoever managed to get into the pool first after the angel troubled the waters, was immediately healed of their disease.

  The paralyzed man had waited at the pool for thirty eight years. As he had no-one to put him into the pool waters, someone else had always got into the water ahead of him, and so he never received healing.

  

  Jesus - touched by the sad story - healed the man.

The healing occurred on the Sabbath, and Jesus told the man to take up his bed and walk.

  The man did so. This action of Jesus caused offence because the healing and the carrying of the bed occurred on the Sabbath.

  These actions were deemed as work, and thus not allowed on the holy day.

  

  Yet Nicodemus pondered. If Jesus indeed was the Messiah, then Divine authority was in the process of changing the understood construct of religion.

  Temple change was in the air.

4. Temple tax

Over the years, Jesus had observed temple taxation.

  Not only were men of Israel subject to tax by the Romans, but there was also the temple tax to pay.

  Special officers were appointed over the temple treasury.

  It was their duty to collect the half-shekel, or tax levied upon the male heads of Israel for the upkeep of the temple, which the officer at Capernaum asked of Jesus. [Matthew 17:24]

  The Temple further had its own currency, so visitors were obliged to change the Roman coins in current usage into Temple currency - and were charged for the service. 

  This hit the poor very hard, and Jesus started pushing towards radical reform.

  Temple tax should become a burden belonging to the past.

  

  Income of the Chief Priests, Sanhedrin, temple priests, guards and servants were all influenced by temple taxation.

  The controversy around temple tax boiled over when Jesus drove out the money changers, and knocked over their tables and the chairs of those selling doves.

  Through this decisive action, Jesus directly challenged temple authority and signalled that Jews should no longer pay prescribed taxes.

  By doing so, Jesus sealed His own death penalty as temple leaders were not prepared to accept this challenge to their leadership.

5. Nicodemus defends Jesus

The secret nocturnal meeting between Jesus and Nicodemus was not without results.

  Nicodemus left Jesus' Presence resolved to do all within his power to protect the safety of Jesus.

In effect, a dangerous turn had occurred in the events of the life of Jesus.
  His claim as the prophesied Messiah had split the until then united society of Pharisees into two distinct groups; those who discreetly supported Jesus and those who were directly antagonistic to Jesus.
  Jesus' message was now directly affecting temple leadership; and the High priest and chief priests were not slow to perceive the threat.

  

When the latter group of Pharisees sent guards to arrest Jesus in the temple, Nicodemus used his influence and knowledge of Jewish law to protect Jesus.

  He challenged his fellow Pharisees, 'Does our law condemn anyone without first hearing him to find out what he is doing?'

  Stung, they retorted, 'Are you from Galilee, too?

Look into it, and you will find that a prophet does not come come out of Galilee.' [John 7:50-52]

Influential Pharisees partisan to the Rabbi - and possibly, Nicodemus among them - warned Jesus of the plot against His life.

  Pharisees 'came to Jesus and said to Him, "Leave this place and go somewhere else, Herod wants to kill you." ' [Luke 13:31]

  Jesus disregarded the warning, informing those concerned that He had to press on, for surely no prophet can die outside Jerusalem.

  Jesus thus knew with certainty that if He continued on His chosen path, He was going forward to death.

  Yet the loyalty and concern of these Pharisees must have warmed the heart of the Son of David.

  Nicodemus defended Jesus on another occasion, at the Feast of Tabernacles.

  Jesus boldly went up to the temple courts and taught as was His wont.

  During the course of His preaching, He challenged the crowd as to the reason they wanted Him killed.

  They responded by insulting Him.

' "You are demon-possessed," the crowd answered, "Who is trying to kill you?" ' [John 7:20]

  The Pharisees antagonistic to Jesus then sent the temple guard to arrest him - without success as it turned out.

On the third and greatest day of the Festival, Jesus stood and shouted in a loud voice, "Let anyone who is thirsty come to Me and drink.

Whoever believes in Me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them."

By this He meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were later to receive.

[John:37-39]

When the temple guards came back to the Chief priests and the Pharisees without having arrested Jesus, they were questioned as to the reason.

  ' "No-one ever spoke the way this Man does," the guards replied. 

"You mean He has deceived you also?" the Pharisees retorted.

"Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in Him? No!" ' [John 7:47-49]

  They then called a curse down upon the crowd.

Nicodemus defended Jesus by means of Jewish law - "Does our law condemn a man without first hearing him to find out what he has been doing?" [John 7:51]

The Chief priests and antagonistic Pharisees thereupon insulted Nicodemus.

  They were now alerted to the fact that Nicodemus was sympathetic to the cause of Jesus.

  It was clear that any attempt on the life of Jesus would encounter stout legal opposition from within their own ranks.

  

  They deliberated on the best way forward. The result was a special trial by night, and a swift sentence of execution before both became widely known among the followers of Jesus.

  

  As Jesus' life was winding towards an inexorable denouement, Nicodemus was maturing in his discipleship.

  Soon events would find Nicodemus fighting in court for the life of Jesus. . .

Rev Catherine

[1] Patrons of Healing Part Two; Archangel Raphael
http://lumierecharity.blogspot.ie/2016/04/good-shepherd-church-seminary-doctor-of_9.html