The Teacher of Israel

He came in the darkness. "The teacher of Israel" according to Jesus. Most believe that he came at night because he was afraid of what the other Jewish leaders would think. Perhaps. But he came. Seeking, And he had no doubts. "Rabbi, no man can do the things you do unless God is with him." And he didn't just come seeking answers for himself. He did say, did he not, "We know." "We."
Jesus didn't even give him time to start asking questions. He just, in what? ten or f...ifteen minutes, gave him a complete course in theology. "You must be born again of the Spirit." "Like the serpent in the wilderness, the Son of Man must be lifted up that all who believe in Him might have eternal life." "For God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son." "I am God's only begotten Son." "I didn't come to condemn the world. The men in it--lovers of darkness, of evil--already stand condemned. I've come to be their Savior. To lead them out of the darkness and into the light of obedience to Him."
And Nicodemus left with a question on his heart: "How can these things be?"
We meet him later, gathered with the other Pharisees. The temple guards who had been sent to arrest Jesus came back empty-handed. "No man speaks like this man." I can see the "yes!" on Nicodemus' face. "No man speaks like this man." And then the Pharisees chastised the guards: "You don't see any of us believing in Him, do you?" And Nicodemus spoke up--a turning point, I believe in his thought process--"How can you pass judgment on a man if you've never talked to Him, never met Him face-to-face to find out what His purpose is--why He does the things He does.?" From "none" to "one" I believe.
And so, we meet him again at the foot of the cross--he and his friend Joseph--fearlessly taking down Jesus body and gently preparing it for burial. They had nothing to gain and everything to lose. But they came--in the daylight. In front of everyone. And I know exactly what was going through Nicodemus mind as he reached up to lower the body of Jesus. "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up that those who believe in Him might have eternal life."
We don't hear of Nicodemus or Joseph again in Scripture. I expect to talk to them one day--to share our faith journey. But this I know. If in the first century you had run into Nicodemus on the streets of Jerusalem, this is what he would have told you: "You must be born again by the Spirit of God. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. He--no one ever spoke like this Man--was the only begotten Son of God--the Savior. Escape your love for the darkness. Come into His Kingdom of Light. He was lifted up for you. He lives today for you. Look on Him and believe. You must be born again."