Nevertheless
even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they
did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; for
they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.
At
first, you want to feel sympathetic with those who were not a ruler of the Jews
and were put out of the synagogue who confessed that they believed in Jesus when
you read Jn 12:42. We shouldn’t inject into this scene what others do today. If
they don’t like a church or get thrown out of one, they simply go on to the
next one, sometimes in the same community.
When
someone was put out of the synagogue back in NT times, they were shunned by
everyone but the “sinners.” If you owned a business, nobody would patronize
your place of enterprise. Your family, wife, and kids would be shunned socially.
You would essentially be treated like a leper. Your career was over, and you
could be stoned predicated on the reason for being put out of the synagogue.
With
more than 6,000 low-level Pharisees (in contrast to those Pharisees serving on
the council) running around all over Israel, they made sure that shunning was
happening to the defectors. It was difficult to move and start anew somewhere
else in Israel unless you hooked up with the Samaritans or Gentiles. It was
Jesus who made the first-century special, in what we refer to as the NT times.
Apart from Him, it was not so special nor romantic. As I alluded to early, the
Jewish culture was more of a police state in nature. Most are in hell, awaiting
the great white throne judgment (Jn 8:24). Simply believing and going on about
your rat killing is not going to cut it (cf. Jas 2:19). Where do you think the “believing”
demons are going to be spending eternity?
But
John 12:42 is referring to the colleagues of Nicodemus. It is strongly
suggested in Jn 3:11 that Nick was not as receptive as we would like to
believe, though he took a huge risk in meeting with Jesus during the night. We
know that he did not leave the Sanhedrin right away (cf. Jn 7:50-51; 19:39). John
7 and 19, however, are good signs that he was born from above.
Here
are two options for those members in the Sanhedrin who believed in Jesus. (1) If
he confessed Christ, he very well could have been stoned to death given their
position. At the least his livelihood, career, status in Israel would have been
over immediately. The social shunning to follow would be a given. (2) He could
keep quiet and not confess Christ and avoid the possible death thing, or loss
of reputation, career, livelihood, and experiencing shunning with his wife and
kids, and be one of those having-your-cake-and-eat-it-to believers!
So,
we can see why those rulers of the Jews (in the Sanhedrin, colleagues of
Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews along with him) chose not to confess their
faith. John, under the inspiration by the Holy Spirit, provided the real
reason for their reticence. Since God knows the heart of every man, woman, and
child, He, through John, tells us in Jn 12:43 that it wasn’t a dilemma,
for
they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.
They
loved the status quo; it reveals just how small-minded, petty, and wicked these
men actually were. They refused the truth of the miracles because the praise of
men was stroking their ego. It was a lifestyle they had grown accustomed to. For
argument’s sake, should they acknowledge to the people that Jesus was the long-awaited
Messiah and the Son of God, all of the praise would be diverted to Him. They
couldn’t give that up on a controversial Messiah claim, with or without
miracles. This Jesus of Nazareth wasn’t the first to lay claim to being the
Messiah.
We
can disagree on whether Nick got saved that night or later on. But we can agree
that there is a good possibility that Nick was born again and eventually was
put out of the synagogue for confessing Christ. Think of it; it is highly
possible that one of those Pharisees reported back to HQ that he had seen Nicodemus
carrying a mixture of myrrh and aloes (Jn 19:39) in preparing the body of Jesus for the tomb.
“How do you explain your actions, Mr. Nick, unless you are a sympathizer of
Jesus, that false Messiah?” Put yourself in the sandals of Nicodemus for a
moment; which of the two options would you choose? Unhesitatingly, Jesus,
right? “Hey, honey! We’re going to a rock concert for Jesus!”
Jesus answered (Gk., apokrinomai) did you notice that
Jesus didn’t answer Nicodemus’s question because he didn’t ask one; unless he
was looking for an affirmation from Jesus, like, “You are right, Nick; I did
come from God and God is with Me! The miracles bear this out!” But Jesus did not
give Nick an affirmation nor an “answer” as if a question was being asked.
Nick
was merely spouting off on what we know in his intro (v2). If this was to be a personal
interview, he was advancing his theory of what he knew about this man Jesus and
perhaps the opinion of the council at this juncture. Nick was intellectually
right in what he said. This translation of apokrinomai (answered) gives the impression
Jesus was giving an answer to Nick’s question when there was no question. It
was more like,
“Rabbi, allow me to tell you what we know
about you thus far.”
The
Greek verb might be better translated “responded.” How did Jesus respond? He
literally ignored what Nicodemus just said! “Responded” gives a better nuance
on what is actually going on here in v3 rather than answered; though either one is grammatically
correct. This verb in the Greek is preceding the subject (Jesus); therefore, it is
being emphasized in the text. What is about to be said is of extreme importance,
and it was/is! Those who are not born again cannot enter the kingdom of heaven! That’s how crucial it
was then and still is now!
Why
did Jesus ignore Nick’s remarks about Jesus? Go back and read v2, and then
reread how Jesus responded. He goes right after what is fundamentally wrong
with Nick, spiritually speaking; he is spiritually dead even though he
is a Pharisee, a ruler of the Jews (v1)! Jesus knew Nick’s
heart; he knew why Nick was there under the cover of darkness. He knew that
those miracles were troubling Nick and got him to thinking. What he needed more
than anything in the whole wide world was to be born again!
Jesus
doesn’t need to hear what is coming out of Nick’s mouth or observe his lifestyle
before ascertaining the spirituality of his heart because He knows his heart (cf.
Jer 17:10). Unlike us, we have to spend time hearing what people are saying (Mt
12:34) and looking for fruit (Mt 7:20; Lk 6:43-44).
Most
assuredly, or
truly, truly
I
say to you
You is singular, I say to you (Nicodemus).
Jesus
responded by alerting Nick on how vitally important what He was about to say to
Him in two ways: (1) by the position of the verb (apokrinomai) ahead of
the subject in the Greek, and (2) by this expression,
Most assuredly or another way of
saying it is “Truly, truly I say to you.”
Unless
(or
except)
One (any person)
is born
In
order to appreciate what is going on here, attempt to get into Nick’s sandals, and pretend you are spiritually blind, without Christ, a lost man. We should
never forget what it is like to be spiritually blind (Eph 2:1-3, 5-7, 11-13).
What is in plain sight is not evident to him. Nick was no dummy; he didn’t
ascend the ranks by being stupid, a ruler of the Jews (v1), the (a renowned) teacher of Israel (v10),
but he was completely unaware that he was spiritually bankrupt.
In the physical
realm, he had it all together and had all of the answers to life. In the
spiritual sphere, it was altogether a different picture; he couldn’t see the
ramifications of his theology that contradicted the true doctrine of salvation
of Scripture as revealed in the Old Testament.
Remember
Jesus’ words from His sermon on the plateau, Can the blind lead the blind? Will they
not both fall into the ditch (Lk 6:39)? Here we have a master-teacher highly esteemed by
his peers and students, who touched lives, but in reality, he was as blind as
the nation that Nick represented! Both were ditch-prone; both were in the
ditch, spiritually blinded by their sin of unbelief (cf. 2 Cor 4:4). Even Jesus
revealed the lack of Nick’s spiritual perception when He asked him,
Are
you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things (Jn 3:10)?
This
was a rhetorical question, not a solicitation for information; Jesus knew what
was in Nick’s mind and heart. As a spiritual leader of Israel, Nicodemus should
have been familiar with spiritual regeneration in the Old Testament (cf. Deut
30:6 [cf. Deut 6:4-6, the prime directive was spiritual in nature]; Jer 31:31-34; Ezek
11:18-20). Jesus was giving him something already revealed. Spiritual
regeneration was from the heart, not a byproduct of being mechanical, external,
and hypocritical. <><
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| To Part 2 |
