274: James Styles - Exhortation: Nicodemus, Out of Shadow into Light

Automatically transcribed. Accuracy is good but not perfect, and words are sometimes wrong. Trust the audio over the text.

1. 0:13

   Welcome to Good Chris Selfie and talks. I’m Levi. And I’m Chris, and I’m Brian. Thank you for joining us this week. On this podcast, we select one talk a week to help us get the Bible in our Daily News feed. We post a new episode at the start of each week with the short intro beforehand to kind of set the stage for the talk you’re about to listen to, and now let’s talk more about. This week’s Talk

2. 0:49

   This week’s talk is an excitation that was given by brother James Stiles at the San Diego Ecclesia this past summer. James is a member of the Thousand Oaks Ecclesia, which is kind of the north side of LA, and presented it in San Diego, which is the far South side of California. James is a close friend of mine and I’m very thankful that this talk was suggested. I think sometimes I’m biased against people I know when I get suggestions, but this was a really excellent excitation. I had never thought of a lot of the points that James brings out about Nicodemus’s life.

3. 1:24

   We have the three, you know, times where he’s actually in the record, but James makes an interesting point in the times that he may have been hearing what Jesus was saying. And the big change that comes from when he is sneaking in the shadows in John Chapter 3 to the point that he’s actually carrying 100 lbs. Of embalming materials to you know to retrieve the body of Jesus which you would have had to you can’t carry as a as a human.

4. 1:53

   So he would have had some sort of cart or something like the most public demonstration of his dedication to our Lord. So I really appreciated this this exhortation and I’m really excited to share it Again, this was a suggestion which we absolutely live off of. I I really like where the podcast as a whole is going where you know there’s we we we’ve kind of got a whole production community.

5. 2:17

   We’re going to be adding more kind of hosts or guest hosts and just just so thankful for all the contributions we get which makes this show really work. So please, please send in any talks you hear from your own Ecclesia or anything you find online or whatever, because we really, we really benefit from this. So here is James Styles on Nicodemus. Well, good morning, brothers and sisters, Sister Kristen and I of course bring with us the love of your brothers and sisters in the Simi area and more particularly our Ecclesia in the Thousand Oaks City.

6. 2:57

   So just recently we finished up our readings in the Gospel of John and we had the opportunity to meet a man, Nicodemus. And we see that Nicodemus is referenced by name three times in John’s Gospel, in John Chapter 3, John 7:00 and also John 19. And in each of these references were given a description of Nicodemus as a man who came to Jesus by night. And So what we’ll see.

7. 3:25

   And thank you for reading through John chapter 19 this morning for us and a couple of really very sad chapters as we see our Lord hanging on the cross. But in the sad story we find a man who transitions from coming out of the shadows to embracing our Lord off of the cross.

8. 3:42

   And so as we look at this man’s transition, Nicodemus transitioning from the shadows into the light, my hope is that we too will be able to take a look at where we are. We’re at and our journeys to fully transition from the shadows to being in the light, to embrace our Messiah. So together this morning we’re going to be looking at a couple of questions and and walking through his life, we’re going to look at when and why did he approach our Lord Jesus.

9. 4:07

   Who was Nicodemus? What was his life all about? What was his identity? How did Jesus work with him individually, although he’s only mentioned three times by name, in John’s Gospel, we can see our Lord focusing on Nicodemus and how he spoke to the multitudes. And then where does Scripture end the story of Nicodemus? And as we do this, I think we’ll prepare our minds for the breaking of bread.

10. 4:31

    As we look at the life of Nicodemus, we’re going to see a man who struggled with many of the same things that we struggle with today. Our pride, our status, our positions in this life and giving up all of those things. To embrace our Lord Jesus Christ and to embrace bringing Him glory, bringing in our Father glory and the way that we live our lives. Let’s turn over to John Chapter 2, and we’ll start setting the context for where Nicodemus comes up in scripture. And as we’re turning the page to John Chapter 2, we’ll find our Lord Jesus in Jerusalem.

11. 5:06

    We know it’s the greatest city in Israel, and it would have been at the greatest feast in the nation of Israel at the Passover. And he would have come, just come from Cana of Galilee. If you remember, this is where he turned the water into wine. And he enters the Temple as he goes into the city. And what does he find?

12. 5:21

    Well, he finds that the people have turned it into a place of business. And so he prophesized of the destruction of the Temple and how it would be raised up again in three days. And of course we know as Bible students that he was referring to himself, his his own death and his resurrection, which is pointed out for us in John chapter 2, verse 22. And it states for us here that many would have remembered the words of our Lord Jesus Christ in this prophecy and that as they would have seen those things happen, their faith would have been confirmed in the Lord Jesus Christ. And I think that would have been true with Nicodemus, as we’ll see at the end of his life.

13. 5:57

    So in John chapter 2, reading verses 22 through 23, we see now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover during the feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs, which he did. But Jesus did not commit himself to them, because he knew all men and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for he knew what was in man. And so this crowd that the Lord Jesus was working with was an extremely fickle crowd, and I kind of imagined them as a leaf blowing in the wind.

14. 6:36

    In one instance, they were fully convinced that this was the Messiah who stood in front in front of them. And then in the very next chapter, the very next verse, we find that they were ready to betray our Lord. Now among this crowd were the Pharisees, and one in particular that Scripture seems to highlight for us.

15. 6:53

    So turn the page to John, Chapter 3, verse one, we’re introduced to the man Nicodemus and John 31. We read there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher, come from God, for no one can do these things that you do unless God is with him. And so this man, as John points out for us, is really a play on the end of chapter 2.

16. 7:24

    This man was just like any other man in the crowd, except for we find him intentionally coming to our Lord Jesus Christ, but he approaches him in darkness. He wanted to inquire about who the Lord Jesus was. So who was Nicodemus? Well, the man Nicodemus. His name means victor of the people, and we find that in scripture.

17. 7:50

    His life was a success story, wasn’t it? But it wasn’t a victory over people. It was really a victory overcoming out of darkness, coming out from under the weights of the law and the Pharisees to a life where he openly embraced our Lord Jesus Christ in the broad light of day. Well, he was a Pharisee, a group if you remember that Paul belonged to in the early part of his discipleship.

18. 8:12

    These men were extremely strict, and for them it was all about following the Torah, the requirements of the Torah, and so much that they sought power. By doing these things, they extended the laws and the traditions of men to make it even harder for people to follow. But he wasn’t just any Pharisee. We’re told that he was a ruler or chief among the Jews. He would have been part of the Sanhedrin, which consists of 70 members, and his specific position was the teacher or Doctor Ruler Master in Israel.

19. 8:45

    We read about in John chapter 3, verse 10, And when you look at that, that’s the definite article in the Hebrew. He was the teacher of Israel. Now the Sanhedrin would have presided over all of the religious activities of the nation and within the group there was hierarchy of individuals and Nicodemus may have ranked within the top three of the 70 that ruled in this group.

20. 9:09

    As the teacher in Israel, he would have been an extremely well studied individual. You think about his reputation, his status. He would have been well off, well respected, and we could infer that he would have been an older brother at this point, as we see in his conversation with the Lord Jesus Christ in John chapter 3.

21. 9:26

    So he had a lot at stake, didn’t he, to come to the Lord by night. And that’s how we’re introduced to this man. He came to the Lord Jesus by night. Now an interesting aside note, maybe this is something to look at later, but there’s one other brother mentioned in the context of night.

22. 9:43

    So jot this down. You can look at this later. But John 13 verse 30, having received the SOP, Judas went out and it was night. And where did Judas go? Well, Judas would have went to the Sanhedrin and so it’s almost like these two men cross paths, 1 coming to the light and the other going into the darkness. Again, just an interesting thought to think about. So in John three, this shadow disciple, he comes on behalf of a group from within the Sanhedrin. Well, how do we know that?

23. 10:12

    Well, in John 3 verse two he says we know. So there would have been a group that existed within the Sanhedrin that would have looked at Jesus differently, that had questions that were unanswered, perhaps, maybe started to begin to question their own understanding of who the Messiah was and and what he would look like as they came to him.

24. 10:30

    You know in Luke chapter 2, you’ll recall that Jesus was at the feast of Passover earlier on in his life, by the same feast that that’s talked about in the context here in John and in Luke chapter 2, verses 46 and 47, Jesus is found in the Temple in the middle of the teachers, which is the same word used to describe Nicodemus here in John chapter 3.

25. 10:53

    Luke 2 verse 46 says now. So it was after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard were astonished at his understanding and his answers. And so perhaps this same group of individuals, or some of the same group of individuals I’ve remembered almost 20 years prior, the man who taught them in the temple. And here he was again, astonishing those same leaders of Israel.

26. 11:27

    But many would be too proud to change their hearts and to change their ways. So let’s turn back to John Chapter 3, because Jesus and Nicodemus have a conversation again in the darkness. And if we were to have read through this, we would find that Jesus describes for Nicodemus the idea of rebirth or baptism. And initially we see Nicodemus give the answer of what would appear to be a Pharisaical answer, right? And he says, how can one be born again when he’s old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born? And so the implication here among these men was that they were of the seat of Abraham, and this was their argument in John chapter 8, verse 33.

27. 12:10

    They didn’t need to be born again. Now perhaps there’s another way of looking at that, that Nicodemus question, how these things were even possible. How can these things be That one would be born again. But regardless, we see our Lord Jesus have patience with him. He explains that he must forsake himself, his position, his status, his wealth, his pride, or else, Nicodemus, you’re never going to see the Kingdom of heaven.

28. 12:38

    And so the lesson that Jesus was teaching Nicodemus was that a transformation of heart was needed. The same message that John the Baptist talk wasn’t about the fair cycle method of checking off all the boxes, but a change of mind, a change of heart, a change of a way of life.

29. 13:03

    He continues the conversation in John chapter 3 and verses 14 through 15. And Jesus points Nicodemus back to an event that happened in The Wilderness and Numbers, Chapter 21. You remember, the children of Israel were on the edge of entering the Promised Land, and the event of the serpent on the pole happens.

30. 13:22

    And really what we find is that this whole event in Numbers Chapter 21, was a great parable that foreshadowed the event of what the Lord Jesus would accomplish on the cross. But what we see in this event was that everything that happened in that instance was outside the law. When we think about what the sin offering was in Leviticus chapter four, well, it wasn’t a serpent on a pole, was it?

31. 13:45

    The law could not provide a sacrifice that would remedy the problem of sin. And So what Moses does by raising this pole serpent on a pole would have been completely foreign to what the people would have recognized as being something they would have done under the law. But would Nicodemus have put those things together had our Lord not pointed him back to Numbers Chapter 11 to explain these things? Perhaps not.

32. 14:09

    The Jews would have interpreted this event as being something very literal. This serpent bit me. Moses raised the serpent on the pole, and I’m looking up to heaven and being healed from this serpent bite. And so Nicodemus would have left this conversation probably a little defeated, confused that our Lord was telling him you might not quite understand what you think you know.

33. 14:34

    It would have been difficult. Look at these words in John, chapter 3, verses 18 through 21. These words would have struck at the heart of Nicodemus. John eights are three. Starting at verse 18. He who believes in him is not condemned. But he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light. And Nicodemus was here in the darkness, wasn’t he? Because their deeds were evil.

34. 15:08

    For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God. And Nicodemus would have remembered these words as we see in John chapter, or reading in John chapter 19 this morning.

35. 15:32

    Now imagine for a moment that the Lord is speaking to you, that you are Nicodemus, and you have mustered up enough courage to approach our Lord, And you’ve done so in the the the guise of darkness, not fully convinced of who this man was, perhaps questioning your understanding, not fully committed as as John Two points out to us in this crowd.

36. 15:58

    And so you approach our Lord Jesus in darkness. You tell them there’s a group, including yourself, that acknowledge there’s something a little bit different about him. And the response you get from him is that you must be born again. You must change your heart, change your thought process, your ancestry, your family, doesn’t matter, your position, your status, your religious leadership. You need to rethink those things. Now remember, you’re not just any Jew. You’re not just any Pharisee.

37. 16:30

    You are a teacher, the leader in Israel. You’re well studied. You’re able to discern prophecy. You hold an elevated position among your brothers and sisters, an elite position, really, that would have come with status, with power, with respect. And the conversation ends with Jesus telling you that you’re in darkness because you have not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

38. 16:54

    You’re a disciple of darkness, practicing evil, unable to give up the luxuries of life, perhaps afraid what your peers might think. You walk away from the conversation with quite a lot to think about. What are you going to do from here? And perhaps I know I have, as I’ve approached the table of our master this morning, felt similarly.

39. 17:20

    Because unfortunately, we too can take on the mindset of a Pharisee doing what appears to be right. Attending, praying, reading God’s word, spending time in the temple or the Ecclesian. All these things are good things for us to do. But are we in fact shadow disciples? Have we fully come into the light, taking every opportunity to manifest the characteristics of our God to those around us, Perhaps at to a point where we jeopardize our status, our reputation, our wealth, our jobs, our pride? So where do we find Nicodemus next? Let’s start over to John Chapter 7, which would have been about 2 1/2 years later or six months prior to the crucifixion. So in John chapter seven through 10 we have the events of the Feast of Tabernacles.

40. 18:14

    And in John 7, verses 37 through 44, as Jesus would have preached to this crowd, there would have been a division that form. On one hand there would have been those who believed that Jesus was the Christ, and on the other hand there would have been those who wanted to lay their hands on him.

41. 18:29

    And so the the officers, chief priests and Pharisees have this close conversation to discuss what they’re going to do. And thankfully for us, it’s recorded for us to see this interaction. So in John Chapter 7, if we drop down to verses 45 through 52, we see this conversation. It says then the officers came to the chief priests and Pharisees who said to them, why have you not brought him?

42. 18:54

    The officers answered. No man ever spoke like this man, and the Pharisees answered them. Are you also deceived? Have any of the rulers or the Pharisees believed in him?

43. 19:10

    Sorry, but this crowd that does not know the laws accursed Nicodemus, he who came to Jesus by night, being one of them. A Pharisee said to them, Does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he is doing? Then they answered and said to him, Are you also from Galilee?

44. 19:30

    Search and look, for no prophet has arisen out of Galilee. And so Nicodemus here, perhaps still not fully convinced or ready to come into the light, addresses his peers. What’s the point of knowing the law if you’re not going to use it? He points them back to the law of Deuteronomy, chapter one. And I think it’s at this point that his peers would have seen a little bit through Nicodemus.

45. 19:53

    They would have seen where his sympathy lied. And so in verse 52 they tell the man who’s the teacher in Israel to go search and look in the scriptures. Can you imagine telling the teacher, the leader of the Sanhedrin, to go search and look? That was his job and he would have known, wouldn’t he?

46. 20:13

    Prophets that came from the region of Galilee, perhaps men like Jonah and Nahum. He would have known this. So why didn’t he speak up? Why didn’t he correct his peers? Well, the record doesn’t indicate that he says anything at this point, and and so the narrative moves on. So there was an opportunity here for Nicodemus, wasn’t there?

47. 20:35

    To make a point, perhaps both with confidence in his trust and faith in the Lord Jesus, but also with sensitivity, knowing where his brothers lay, knowing that his his brothers perhaps had a barrier of pride in their way. So I began to question myself, What does confession of Jesus look like in my life? Do I shy away from answering somebody, perhaps because of the perception of what that might do, because I might be belittled for what I believe?

48. 21:07

    Or perhaps because of something, something somebody might say or do to me, because of my profession of our Lord Jesus, that we prepared ourselves to sympathetically and confidently point people in the right direction, to give them an opportunity to hear what we have to believe. When we think about the initial conversation of Nicodemus and our Lord Jesus, that’s exactly how he worked, with Nicodemus patiently working over years to convert this man from a disciple of darkness to coming out into the light.

49. 21:41

    And we’ll see an example of that in John chapter 8, where we don’t see the name of Nicodemus come up, but you can clearly see our Lord speaking to Nicodemus. So let’s turn over to John Chapter 8, and we’re obviously not going to read the chapter, but we’ll just kind of highlight a couple of things as we see Nicodemus coming out of the pages to us.

50. 22:01

    So on the next day in John Chapter 8, the religious elite are in the temple listening to the Lord Jesus Christ. And if you can imagine, I know this has happened for me. I’m sitting in the audience a brother speaking, and it almost feels like that brother speaking directly to me. Well, I think Nicodemus would have definitely been that.

51. 22:20

    You can almost imagine a spotlight on Nicodemus as our Lord would have said these words. Look at what he says in in John chapter 8, verse 23 and recall the conversation of John three and he said to them, you are from beneath. I am from above. You are of this world. I’m not of this world.

52. 22:40

    That’s John 33, isn’t it? Unless a man be born again about the next verse in John 8, verse 24. Therefore I said to you, you will die in your sins. For if you do not believe that I am he, you will die in your sins. What’s John 316? Isn’t it? For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life?

53. 23:05

    A couple verses down, John 828. Then Jesus said to them, When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself. But as my father taught me, I speak these things. Again, that’s John 314. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, Even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.

54. 23:30

    Nicodemus could not escape the message of our Lord Jesus Christ. The voice continued to speak to him, but how would he respond to the voice of our Lord Jesus Christ? And how do we respond to the voice of our Lord Jesus Christ? A few chapters later, in John chapter 12, six months passed by and we’re in the last week of our Lord’s life. If you recall John chapter 12, we see the triumphant entry of our Lord Jesus into Jerusalem.

55. 24:02

    In verses 31 through 36, Jesus again explains how he would be lifted up. In verse 42. We’re told that the people feared because the Pharisees would disfellowship anyone who who confessed in the Lord Jesus. And so you can see this barrier that the Pharisees would have set up for any sort of conversion to the Lord Jesus.

56. 24:22

    We’re told that they loved the praise more than the ways of God. In verses 44 through 46 I believe that Nicodemus would have heard these words. So in John chapter 12, verses 44 through 46 says Jesus cried out and said He who believes in me believes not in him in me, but in him who sent me. And he who sees me sees him who sent me. I have come as a light into the world that whoever believes in me should not abide in darkness.

57. 24:55

    And you can imagine the gaze of our Lord looking at Nicodemus as he would have said these things. Here was the disciple who dwelt in the shadows, and again he was getting exposed by the Lord Jesus Christ. Not long before that we have the famous chapter of the woes of the scribes, Pharisees and hypocrites in Matthew chapter 23.

58. 25:18

    And again, you think about Nicodemus as he would have heard these things, things like woe to those who love to be called Rabbi Teacher. Nicodemus, the teacher of Israel. They shut up the Kingdom of heaven against men. And they did that by casting them out of the synagogue. And so Nicodemus, I believe, would have followed the Lord Jesus to his trial.

59. 25:42

    He would have witnessed the events of the unlawful deeds against our Lord. But here was the dilemma for Nicodemus and for us. Let’s start over to Matthew chapter 10. Matthew chapter 10 and we’ll read verses 34 through 39. Jesus has these words for us.

60. 26:09

    Matthew 10, starting at verse 34. Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. Do not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I’ve come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a man’s enemies will be those of his own household. He who loves father or mother more than me, it’s not worthy of me.

61. 26:31

    And he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for my sake will find it. So what would Nicodemus decide to do? And what do we decide to do?

62. 26:54

    Let’s turn over to our final reference in John Chapter 19. We read this chapter this morning so we’ll just read a few more verses again. And in John 19 verse 33 we see our Lord hanging on the cross and it says But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, it did not break his legs. Drop down to verse 38.

63. 27:20

    After this Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took the body of Jesus. And Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus by night, also came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about £100.

64. 27:45

    Then they took the body of Jesus and bound it in strips of linen spices as the custom of the Jews is to bury. Now on the place where he was crucified there was a garden and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had been laid. So there they laid Jesus. Because of the Jews, preparation day for the tomb was nearby. In Luke 23 verse 44 we learn that Jesus took his last breath just after the 9th hour.

65. 28:12

    I know that darkness fell on the face of the earth from the 6th hour to the 9th hour. The 9th hour was 3:00 PM according to the Jewish time. And so as the darkness turned into the light, our Lord hung there dead on the cross. And out of that darkness comes Nicodemus. As Nicodemus would have saw our Lord lifted up, as he would have heard at least three times from our Our Lord.

66. 28:39

    He believes no longer worried about what this life had to offer. He realized what He needed to do, where his deeds needed to be manifested in the light. And so here he was confessing that this was the Messiah, who is now a confident disciple of Light, forsaking all and becoming a founding member of the 1st century collision.

67. 29:04

    And what does Nicodemus bring with him? Well, he brings Myr and Aloes weighing about £100. There was no way that this would be something that would be hidden. You think about all of the coordination and efforts that it would have taken to bring this amount of Myr and Aloes. Now you might think that he brought this for his burial, or custom is that these types of things would not be used for the burial of someone who had died.

68. 29:28

    And so Nicodemus was fully convinced that just like Jesus prophesied he’d be risen from the dead. He would go through a rebirth, A resurrection, putting away the old things of this life, and instead resurrect being resurrected into a new man to life eternal now sitting at the right hand of his father. And so as Nicodemus would have lifted our Lord down from the cross, think about the implication that that would have meant for him touching a dead body right on the eve ease of the Passover.

69. 30:01

    He would have been unclean under the law. He would have missed out on the opportunity to partake in the Passover feast with his fellow brothers and sisters. Think about how important that would have been for a Pharisee. But he now had a greater understanding, realizing that salvation was outside of the law. And here lay the true Passover lamb.

70. 30:22

    At last he comes out of the darkness into the broad light of day. And so we asked the question then, where are we at in our journey to forsake all that this life has to offer and come into the broad light of day? But we’re here this morning to remember our Lord Jesus Christ and to think about what He’s done for us, the opportunity of salvation that’s been offered to us and how he continues to speak to each of us as we read from the Scripture.

71. 30:54

    As we develop our relationship through prayer, are we listening to those things in our lives? Are we making changes? Are we making difficult decisions to forsake ourselves and to instead embrace our Lord? Do we come here and look at our Lord Jesus through bread and wine, with a true appreciation for the salvation, for the grace for this gift that’s been given to us? And do we stand in the broad daylight professing our full conviction of this hope?

72. 31:24

    Because Nicodemus did, didn’t he? And so must each of us as we wait for our Lord to return. Thank you for listening to the good ’cause Adelphian Talks Podcast. We hope this talk helped you in your walk and brightened your day. If you would like to hear more, please subscribe for new episodes. We are on all major podcast platforms and also on YouTube. If you enjoyed this particular talk, please share it with someone else who you think might enjoy it too. For show notes on the talk you just listened to, visit [email protected] or check out the Show Notes section of your podcast player.

73. 32:12

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74. 32:28

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