Nicodemus' Development of Faith

John 3:1-21(1-10, 21)

Yonsei University Church 2021.5.30.

1.

Hello brothers and sisters? How long have you been religious? I started attending church when I was in the third year of middle school, and it has been over 40 years already. It seems that he has been living in a relationship with Jesus for a very short period of time. But when I look back, I reflect on whether my faith as a child was more pure and beautiful than my faith now as an adult. According to many theologians, faith must grow and develop. In that sense, I am very ashamed of myself. How about you? Therefore, today, I want us to look back on our own level of faith development and make a new decision. In particular, I want us to think about Nicodemus in the Gospel of John today as a model for the development of faith.

2.

In the Gospel of John, there are three accounts of Nicodemus. One is the Gospel of John 3 that we read today, and the second is John 7:51, a scene where Nicodemus argues with the Pharisees against the background of the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles. And the third one appears in John 19:39, which shows Nicodemus retrieving the body of Jesus who had been crucified and burial. I wonder if the development of these three stories is a good indication of Nicodemus's development of faith, so let's look at it in more detail.

First of all, the first place where Nicodemus appears is today's scripture, John 3:1-21. Here, Nicodemus appears as a seeker who asks what the truth is and expresses curiosity. According to the scripture, Nicodemus is introduced as a Pharisee and a member of the Jewish council. One day, Nicodemus came to Jesus secretly at night when no one saw him. And say. “If you didn't come from God, you couldn't do a sign (probably the miracle of turning water into wine),” he says. Then Jesus says to him: “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” (John 3:3,5). After seeing the miracles Jesus performed, Nicodemus realized that Jesus was extraordinary, so he secretly came to Jesus and asked a religious question. You are clearly a person from God. Here we see the face of an honest seeker. The figure of the seeker shown in Nicodemus can be thought of in at least three ways.

The first is the longing for truth. Recognizing that Jesus was “from God” would be impossible without a truth-seeking spirit. Only those who seek the truth every day can know the truth. Isn't there a saying that pigs only see pigs, and saints see only saints? Anyone interested in investing in stocks or real estate will never be able to ask such a question. But now, in the eyes of Nicodemus, the man of God has caught his eye. Deep in his heart, he had a longing for the truth. Although we too are deeply immersed in the capitalist society, I think that we need a truth-seeking attitude in life that longs for the truth like Nicodemus.

Second, the seeker is literally someone who keeps asking questions until they get answers to them. Nicodemus was such a person. He was interested in the truth. So, he did not just bury the interest of the truth in the ground, but took the process of confirming the truth with courage to find out the question. So he came to Jesus, asked him questions, and continued to ask more in-depth questions about what he was curious about. Even asking a silly question, "Should I go back into your mother's womb?" He even listened to Jesus saying, “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things?” That's right. It doesn't matter how old you are or what your job is for the pursuit of truth. If you don't know, you're asking a question. It is something you have to go to and ask questions to find out. It means you have to let go of your pride. How are we? Do you have the courage to seek the truth like Nicodemus did? Moreover, I would like to ask if you really have the courage to give up your ego and ask questions about the ultimate truth, rather than asking for worldly success. As Gauguin asked through his paintings, where does life come from and where is it going? This is the attitude of the seeker.

Third, the seeker is one who lives the truth in his body in silence. He is a person who deeply reflects on what he has learned and puts it into practice. Today's scripture is silent about how Nicodemus reacted after learning from Jesus about being born again and about judgment, salvation, and eternal life. It just ends with the words of Jesus: “But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.” (verse 21). As I see the Gospel of John silence Nicodemus’ last response to this teaching of Jesus, the silence is merely that of the Gospel of John. I imagined that it was not just the silence, but the silence of Nicodemus. In other words, as a truth-seeker, I think that Nicodemus must have been silent, repeating the teachings of Jesus so many times like an ox chewing the cud, pondering the meaning deeply. And I imagined that he would have silently put those words into practice. Because, as implied in verse 21, isn’t “the one who follows the truth” the seeker? Isn't he just like Nicodemus? So Nicodemus clearly made up his mind to follow the truth, and went to the light. He became a light follower. while he was silent. he quietly followed the truth. This is what the seeker looks like. That's right. A seeker is a person who has a longing for the truth, so he is a person who courageously sets out in search of the truth, a person who asks a question, and a person who goes to the light while silently practicing what he has realized. Beloved, how about if we approach our faith again with the attitude of Nicodemus?

3.

Next, the Gospel of John provides a second account of Nicodemus. In other words, what happened to Nicodemus, who was a seeker of truth, after receiving the teachings of Jesus? He is changing into the form of a practitioner who practices enlightenment. John 7:51. “Does our law condemn a man without first hearing him to find out what he has been doing?” The background of these words was the Feast of Tabernacles, a Jewish festival. Many customarily go up to Jerusalem to celebrate the festival. But Jesus was not active in public, but in secret. Because he believed that his time had not come.

However, as the teachings and miracles of Jesus became known everywhere, the Sadducees and Pharisees, the priests, sent the temple guards to arrest Jesus. Interestingly, however, the guards did not arrest Jesus teaching in the temple, but just returned to the chief priests and Pharisees. Then the Pharisees got angry with the police and said: “A “You mean he has deceived you also?” the Pharisees retorted. “Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in him? No! But this mob that knows nothing of the law—there is a curse on them.” (John 7:47-49). At that very moment, as for who appears, Nicodemus appears. Then, while facing the Pharisees who rebuke the police a bit, he defends the police, saying “Does our law condemn a man without first hearing him to find out what he has been doing?” (John 7:51) He is very courageous indeed.

Now, this statement has two meanings. One is that the Pharisees, who say they are well-versed in the law, are actually ignorant of the law. Another is that Jesus, whom he had met in the past, did not do anything so bad that he was arrested by the police, and he is defending Jesus proudly, even at the risk of taking the risk. In other words, Nicodemus now shows how to live the life of a seeker and how to live the life of a true believer. It shows that a life lived according to ‘righteousness’, not a life lived according to one’s own interests, is the right life. As Jesus said, we live with “no” to what is wrong and “yes” to what is right. This was the life of Nicodemus. Brothers and sisters, shouldn't the life of our believers be like this? Let’s say no to injustice and yes to righteousness! It's not an easy life, but I hope you and I can live that kind of life.

In that respect, Nicodemus was truly a great practitioner of conscience. He put his academic conscience on what he awns't and said no. We need this courage. I hope that we Christians, like Nicodemus, will develop into people who can say no to injustice. Faith is not simply an intellectual game of quiet metaphysical contemplation alone, as the inscription of the pursuit of truth. Faith is life, and it is a fierce struggle. So, I think Yonsei University has set the precept as “truth and freedom” in that sense. Truth cannot become truth when it does not lead to freedom. That's right. When the truth is lived out in life, the church and our society will come closer to the kingdom of God.

4.

Lastly, in what form did Nicodemus develop his faith? He is now transformed into a ‘loyal’ who empties and dedicates himself to Jesus. This is John 19:39. “He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds.” This is the third mention of Nicodemus in the Gospel of John. When Jesus dies, Nicodemus appears at the burial of Jesus along with Joseph of the Mathematics. Joseph goes to Pilate and asks for the body of Jesus, and after obtaining permission, he takes the body of Jesus off the cross. And he, along with Nicodemus, prepared a funeral for the body of Jesus that had been thus brought down. In particular, Nicodemus prepared a hundred pounds of myrrh and aloes (aloe), which are used for salting the body of the dead, or about 34 kg (75 pounds). So they took the body of Jesus and held the funeral of Jesus with great care.

All the disciples who followed Jesus ran away, but Nicodemus, who kept the cross of Jesus until the end, retrieved his body and buried his body!! Isn't it really heartbreaking? Here we see the world and reflect on ourselves. People in the world will always leave if they do not match their interests. Even the disciple left the teacher and betrayed him. But who are the true believers? He is the one who will stand on the side of truth and righteousness until the end, even if it will cost him. Beloved, think for a moment. Even when all the disciples ran away, Nicodemus did not leave the side of Jesus' cross until the end, sharing suffering with Jesus, and Nicodemus sharing death with Jesus and devoting himself. Isn't it really touching and beautiful? Through this Nicodemus, we discover one aspect of the development of faith that we should pursue.

Our church often has the ordinance of the Lord's Supper, the sharing of bread and wine. So, why do we have the ordinance of the Lord's Supper? The word ‘holy communion’ in English is ‘sacrament’. However, the word's etymology comes from the Latin word "sacramentum". What does that mean? That's right. It means swearing allegiance to the emperor of Rome. It is the Sacramentum that Roman soldiers inspect before the emperor‘s going to battle, swearing that they may die for the emperor on the battlefield. So, our participation in the sacrament of the Lord's Supper in the church means that we pledge our allegiance to the death of our Lord Jesus Christ. It's a scary story. Therefore, please do not take part in the Holy Communion so easily. The ordinance of the Lord's Supper is the ordinance of the Lord's Supper, which specifies that we will not betray Jesus under any circumstances until the moment of death, and that we will accept Jesus as our Lord and live according to his orders. That's right. Right now, Nicodemus is practicing Sacramentum by enshrining the body of the Lord's Eucharist. Until the very end, he does not betray Jesus, who is the truth, and is faithful to him. Therefore, in our age when loyalty has disappeared, I think these words pose a great challenge.

5.

Now let's conclude. As Nicodemus went through three major changes in his life through her encounter with Jesus, he unknowingly developed into a great believer. We just looked at it today. First, he started his encounter with Jesus as an investigator, seeking the truth. And he was not satisfied with his life as a seeker, and his life was changed to a life of living the truth in everyday life. So, he lived a life of a believer who expressed his opinions accurately and silently practiced them. Even in situations where he might lose, he has shown that he supports righteousness rather than favors injustice. And finally, Nicodemus does not betray the teacher who taught him eternal life, but stays with him even to the point of death, showing the image of a devoted devotee who is loyal to the truth. In other words, he showed the image of a sincere Christian who lived up to the end of Jesus' teaching that "But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God." (John 3:21). Dear friends, I sincerely hope that we too will come to love the Lord more as we deeply meditate on Nicodemus, who has changed from a seeker to a practitioner and from a practitioner to a loyalist. Amen.