Empathy for Nicodemus
Empathy for Nicodemus
by Stephen Schuette

In the exchange Nicodemus identifies Jesus as “a” teacher (vs. 2) while later Jesus acknowledges that Nicodemus is “the” teacher in Israel (vs. 10). The definitive article is present in the Greek in vs. 10 although it is not indicated in translation.

This shatters an assumption I had always brought to the text. Since Nicodemus came at night, under cover, I assumed that Nicodemus is already acknowledging his inadequacies and recognizing Jesus as a superior teacher. But is it reasonable that such a transformation should take place in Nicodemus simply through a second-hand report? Do settled power structures and the people enmeshed in them shift that easily? If there is a transformation wouldn’t it be through a direct encounter with Jesus?

The ability of Nicodemus to see Jesus for who he is (The Teacher) hinges on his ability to identify himself correctly in relationship with Jesus (no longer even “a” teacher, but a student). So in the ministry of Jesus the reordered Realm of God requires a letting go of structures and positions so that something new might be born.

I have a new empathy for Nicodemus. His being born anew will only come about when he lets go of everything that has defined him, his whole identity. Jesus is asking a lot of him, and of us ­ to see through the total reorganization of our lives and to recognize the surpassing worth of such a transformation. (See Phil. 3:8)

But as one in our study group this morning suggested, this is not about just a little polishing up of who we already are. It is more like the journey of an addict through a 12-step program with the same acknowledgement of our inability to heal ourselves.

As with so many stories we don’t immediately know how it ends. We know that Jesus is in the role of Teacher. His words, his lecture, move forward to the close of the chapter. Nicodemus reappears chapters later as a follower (7:50, 19:39). But here, at the close of Chapter 3, the question may not be so much about Nicodemus as it is about us, and who we are, and who Jesus is to us.

(from www.goodpreacher.com/blog/)