So today essentially a teaching of comfort and assurance to us in this tangled world.
Nicodemus was a religious man, no doubt reasonably well off and part of the Jewish leadership. But he was troubled by inconsistencies between Jewish teaching and the things that Jesus said and did. He was searching for truth in the middle of religious and political confusion. So he comes to Jesus in the middle of the night – hidden away behind the darkness from his fellow Jews, looking for answers. The famous John 3:16 was first spoken by Jesus to Nicodemus. What marvelous words of comfort to this Jewish man as he wrestled with his faith and life as a member of the Sanhedrin. Later on in John’s Gospel he speaks up about a legal procedure, reminding his Jewish colleagues in the Sanhedrin that a person should be heard before being judged – something that could be seen to offer some protection to Jesus in the matter of the way he was being judged by the Jewish leadership. His final appearance is there at the cross, offering his tomb and assisting in Jesus’ burial.
We can only speculate that he came to know and believe in Jesus as the Messiah.
