The Saviour who meets you where you are

Nicodemus carried weight — Pharisee, member of the Sanhedrin, a top-tier, almost ivy-league teacher — yet he came to Jesus at night, hungry for truth.

“Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council.”— John 3:1 (NIV)

Jesus invited him to nothing less than a new birth — to be born again by the Spirit.

“Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” — John 3:3 (NIV)

What if Nicodemus had stepped into the water that very night? Had he rushed to baptism, it would have been in vain, because Christian baptism’s meaning rests on Christ’s death and resurrection — union with Him in both.

“Don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” — Romans 6:3–4 (NIV)

Christ had not died yet; the full sign and gift of the new covenant awaited His glorification.

“By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.” — John 7:39 (NIV)

Yet Jesus still called him to a Spirit-wrought new birth, pointing ahead to the cross — and He knew Nicodemus would need time. He even left a trail to follow: as Moses lifted the bronze snake and the bitten looked and lived, so the Son of Man would be lifted up and the believer would have eternal life.

“Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.” — John 3:14–15 (NIV)

Christ was not limited by time; He read Nicodemus perfectly and patiently sowed the seed.

“He did not need any testimony about mankind, for he knew what was in each person.” — John 2:25 (NIV)

That patience surfaced in courage: first a measured defence in the council; then a daring act — publicly honouring Jesus, rejected by many of His own and executed by the Romans, with an extravagant burial.

“Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier and who was one of their own number, asked, ‘Does our law condemn a man without first hearing him to find out what he has been doing?'” — John 7:50–51 (NIV)

“He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds.” — John 19:39 (NIV)

We don’t conclusively know if Nicodemus became a Christian, but this costly love strongly suggests the truth clicked — perhaps those meetings in the shadows ripened into bold allegiance in the light.

“But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.” — John 3:21 (NIV)