Nicodemus

God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son › Jn 3, 16. Jesus’

The conversation with Nicodemus is one of the most critical dialogues in the New Testament. Nicodemus’ coming to Jesus secretly at night indicates the darkness of unbelief. His visit and this whole conversation are shrouded in obscurity. John’s penchant for solid contrasts, such as dark and light, can be seen in this highly symbolic story. Nicodemus is a fascinating character. He longed for Jesus’ teachings, but initially, he was considerate of others, so he came to him at night (cf. Jn 3:1-21).

Jesus did not condemn him. His prominent role and position in the Jewish High Council made him the guardian of a great tradition. Many considered him an expert on God! S He was a member of the Jewish Council and, at the same time, a member of the party of the Pharisees. He was more a member of the Sanhedrin than a Pharisee, as evidenced by Jesus’ remark in the course of the conversation, when, in response to Nicodemus’s ignorance of the fact that man is born not only through the flesh but also through the Spirit, the young prophet told him quite bluntly: “You are the teacher of Israel, and do you not know this?” (Jn 3:10). So we must be born again. But what do these words mean?

Jesus Christ did not hide his teaching. Since the baptism in Jordan, it has been associated with his public activities, which brought him many inconveniences, escalated, and increased in intensity, eventually leading to attempts to discredit him. A scandal for the religious and political zealots of the time was the teaching of Jesus, in which he pointed to God’s will to save man, while he was concerned not only with an individual but with the whole of God’s people. The people and the community that Jesus gathered around him were significantly different from the society of that time. It is to him that the words about the rebirth of man apply. The new man is to be the earth’s salt and the world’s light (cf. Mt 5, 13-14).

Jesus‘ teachings to Nicodemus go beyond theological information. He speaks of the need to experience God’s presence and offer oneself to God. The new birth from above, as Jesus describes it, is not a physical re-entry into the mother’s womb but a spiritual rebirth made possible by the Holy Spirit. This concept of rebirth carries a profound message of hope and transformation.

In the book Nicodemus Letters, consisting of twenty-five letters written by the learned Pharisee Nicodemus to his teacher Rabbi Justus, the writer Jan Dobraczyňski from Ola described the dialogue between Jesus and Nicodemus as follows: “I speak to you about earthly things – and you do not believe. How will you believe me when I tell you about heavenly things? Only the one who came down from heaven knows how to get there: the son of man, who came from the sky. As if he didn’t say it to me, he didn’t even look at me. His eyes were staring into space. The calm and sonorous voice grew stronger with every word. I looked at his face, stealthily and timidly. I still didn’t understand what he was talking about, and I don’t know if there would be a person who could understand it: his thoughts exceeded his words… He speaks like a sage or like a madman… To be born again? How? Does that mean there is anything to know? Understand? Discover? What is it talking about? I felt only one thing: how stupid my remark about the old man about to turn into a baby was. And he must have had in mind some sublime secret of the Spirit.”