A Revisit to Nicodemus

Friday, February 24th, 2006

A Study on the Pharisees Dress

Greetings, Just thought I'd cast in my thoughts concerning Nicodemus.

You wrote, "There likely was a rustle in the trees that night. The wind was blowing where it wished, and Nicodemus was piqued and puzzled. He had heard the words and seen the miracles of Jesus of Nazareth, and now he had come to meet the Man. The fact that the ornate robe of this Pharisee fluttered in the wind held more than a little symbolism; Nicodemus was about to discover his beliefs as fragile as the clothing that touted them."

Question: How is it that "There likely was a rustle in the trees that night" when the scripture is silent about it? Further, scripture says nothing about Nicodemus' dress.

If you’re interested, here is an article from my personal web page: http://www.pipeline.com/~selfsoft/

Jesus Talks With Nicodemus, Part 1

Greetings and welcome back to our study of the gospels. Today, we begin a study of John chapter three. Please read through it a time or two to become familiar with it. In the middle of the chapter you will find what is probably the most often quoted verse of the Bible, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." (John 3:16) Let us study this chapter--the context of the verse--in order that we may understand and better appreciate what this verse and others here teach.

The chapter opens with an introduction to a certain character, Nicodemus. In all of the three times he is mentioned in the New Testament, and he is only mentioned by John, he is referred to as the one who "came to Jesus by night." He is described by John as "a man of the Pharisees." As a group, the Pharisees were the strictest of the Jewish sects. (Acts 26:5) John the Baptist and Jesus both referred to them as a "Brood of vipers." (Matthew 3:7; 23:33) They were harsh critics and quick to condemn any who violated their "traditions." (Matthew 12:1-8; 15:1-14) Jesus often rebuked them for their inconsistencies and hypocrisy. (Matthew 23:1-39) They trusted in themselves; they justified themselves. (Luke 7:36-50; 16:14, 15; 18:9-14) More could be said of them, but it suffices here to say that the New Testament does not paint a favorable picture of them. Nicodemus was one of these. He, however, at least came to Jesus. On a later occasion he defended Jesus with the words, "Does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he is doing?" Then, still later, he brought spices for the body of Jesus to prepare it for burial. (John 7:50; 19:39) John also states that Nicodemus was a "ruler of the Jews." He may have been one of the seventy members of the Sanhedrin, the "Supreme Court" of the Jews, as he was with the "chief priests and Pharisees" in John 7:45-52 and isdescribed as "one of them." (cf. John 12:42; Luke 23:13; Acts 4:5, 8; 13:27) Jesus, in a rebuke to Nicodemus, referred to him as "the teacher of Israel." (3:10) Therefore, Nicodemus was an educated rabbi, influential, and of the strictest sect, a Pharisee.

In this chapter Jesus dealt much with what Nicodemus did not understand, but what did he understand? He admitted to Jesus at the least, "Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him." He did not say, "I know," but, "we know," which keeps him from making any personal commitment to Christ. Apparently there were others who admitted this. John laterstated, "...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..." (John 12:42) (Apparently, "faith only" does not save! James 2:19, 26) Still, many others would not even admit as much, in fact, they would ignore the miracles altogether and focus on what they thought were infractions on their traditions by Jesus. (See John 5:1-18; 9:1-41; Mark3:1-6) While Nicodemus had to admit that "God is with him," others said of Jesus, "he has a demon" and "He casts out demons by the ruler of the demons." (John 10:20; Matthew 9:34) Nicodemus had this much right, that Jesus was a prophet. But, of course, He was more than that, for He was the Son of God. Just as in the case of Moses, and, later, with Christ's apostles, the signs, miracles, and wonders showed that God was with Jesus. The apostle Peter pressed this point to his audience on Pentecost when he said, "Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know," and later to the household of Cornelius, "how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him." (Acts 2:22; 10:38)

There is one other thing said of Nicodemus. He was "a man." The blessings of the Messiah's kingdom were not his, however, because he was born a Jew. What stands between any man or woman and God is sin. (Romans 3:23) This sin must be taken away before fellowship can exist between a man and God. It is in the second birth, in which sins are forgiven, that a person is blessed to "see" or "enter the kingdom of God." We will continue this study next time. Have a great week.

Jesus Talks with Nicodemus, Part 2

Welcome back to our study of John chapter three. In the last study, we dealt with the first two verses. We heard Nicodemus address Jesus as "Rabbi" and confess, "You are a teacher come from God..." Jesus turned the conversation from Himself to the need of Nicodemus and everyone. He said, "Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Two things grab our attention: a second birth and seeing the kingdom of God. The first is a condition necessary to obtaining the second. (Some translations have "born anew," and others may have "born from above," but Nicodemus understood Jesus' words as meaning "born again," for he asked, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?")

What did it mean to be "born again"? And what did Jesus mean by "see the kingdom of God"? To answer the second question, it is enough to look at verse five and hear Jesus then say, "enter the kingdom of God." To be in the kingdom of God is simply to comply with God's will, to be his volunteer subject, and enjoy the blessings of such citizenship. (See also Colossians 1:13; 4:11; Revelation 1:9; Ephesians 2:19; Philippians 3:20; Psalm 110:3) What was the condition placed upon seeing and entering the kingdom? Answer: be "born again." What did Jesus mean? Again, Nicodemus thought "born again" meant "a second time" and being born from the "mother's womb." Jesus did mean "a second time," but He was not referring to a birth again from the womb. In response to Nicodemus' question, Jesus again stated the condition of entrance to the kingdom, but He elaborated a bit on being "born again" by explaining it as being "born of water and of the Spirit." Let us now ask two more questions. What did it mean to be born of water? And, what did itmean to be born of the Spirit?

To answer the first question, let us again turn to Nicodemus for help. In the text, he did not say anything as to what he thought Jesus meant, but is it possible to know what he probably thought He meant? For some time John the Baptist and the disciples of Jesus had been baptizing. "Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to [John the Baptist] and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing theirsins." (Matthew 3:1-6) John said, "I indeed baptize you with water..." (Matthew 3:11) Could it be that the "water" of which Jesus spoke was that of baptism? When Jesus said "water" is it possible that he meant "water"? Later, in this same chapter we are studying, John wrote, "Jesus and His disciples came into the land of Judea...and baptized... John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there. Andthey came and were baptized... And [John's disciples] came to John and said to him, 'Rabbi, He who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified; behold, He is baptizing, and all are coming to Him!'" (John 3:22-26) In the next chapter we read, "Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John (though Jesus Himself did not baptize, but His disciples)" (John 4:1, 2) What was "water" referring to but the fluid inwhich the confessors were immersed? So from Matthew we read that "all the region around the Jordan went out to [John] and were baptized..." Yet, as popular as the response to John's preaching was, Jesus "made and baptized more disciples than John." John was baptizing many, but Jesus' disciples were baptizing more! Therefore, what would have come to Nicodemus' mind when Jesus said "water"? Only one thing, the water of baptism. To force "water" to mean something other than what Jesus said, is to force something unnecessarily. If Jesus had meant water, what would He have said?

Jesus Talks with Nicodemus, Part 3

Greetings and welcome back to our study of John 3. We have met Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews, a teacher, a Pharisee. He admitted Jesus was "a teacher come from God." Jesus responded not to what he said, but apparently to his thoughts and needs, with the words, "unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God... unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God." (Jesus often responded to what people were thinking. John 2:25; Luke 6:7, 8; 7:39, 40) we determined in the last study that the "water" of which Jesus spoke was the water of baptism. John's baptism was being preached and "Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins." (Matthew 3:5, 6) But not everybody submitted to John's baptism. We read in Luke 7:29, 30 "Andwhen all the people heard Him, even the tax collectors justified God, having been baptized with the baptism of John. But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the will of God... not having been baptized by him." Notice who submitted to baptism and who did not; that John's baptism was "the will of God." It was "from heaven." (Matthew 21:23-27) Even the sinless Jesus submitted to it saying, "it is fitting for us to fulfill allrighteousness." (Matthew 3:13-17) What if Jesus did not fulfill all righteousness? What if He had rejected John's baptism? Christ's baptism is also the will of God. What then when we today reject it for whatever reason? Would we be fulfilling all righteousness? Would we not be rejecting the will of God? Baptism is the will of God, for Christ commanded, "Make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them." (Matthew 28:19)

Jesus said, "unless one is born of WATER and the SPIRIT, he cannot enter the kingdom of God." This second birth is mentioned elsewhere. Paul said, "He saved us, through the WASHING OF REGENERATION and renewing of the HOLY SPIRIT." (Titus 3:5) This washing is just what the water is in John 3:5 -- BAPTISM. Do you see here the Spirit and the WATER tied together as having a role in salvation just as Jesus said to Nicodemus? Peter said, "Blessed be the God .... Who.... has BEGOTTEN US AGAIN.... you have purified your souls in obeying the TRUTH through the SPIRIT.... havingbeen BORN AGAIN.... through the WORD of God.... this is the WORD which by the gospel was preached to you." (1 Peter 1:3, 22-25) Here the Spirit and word are tied to the second birth. Paul also said, "that He might sanctify and cleanse [the church] with the washing of WATER by the WORD," and to the Christians in Thessalonica, "salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the TRUTH, to which He called you by our gospel." (Ephesians 5:26; 2 Thessalonians 2:13, 14) James said, "He brought us forth by the WORD of TRUTH ..." (James 1:18) It was the Spirit's role to bring the WORD to the apostle's to preach. Jesus said to His Twelve, "When He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth." (John 16:13) This He did and you can read of it in Acts 2:1-4 where "the Spirit gave them utterance." In this same chapter, 3,000 people were "born again." The apostles preached the word given them by the Spirit. Notice theresponse: "those who gladly received his WORD were BAPTIZED .... And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being SAVED." (Acts 2:42, 47)

(Now me talking):
This is interesting… I really liked the study… a friend had sent this to me, and I really enjoyed it. With me being sick, I hadn’t the time or energy to really finish reading it all until this morning. Now, in regards to the question the key word from that quote was “likely.” It was total speculation… and not really my own thoughts, but I thought I would share the complete article that I had read, which was from intouch.org. But the question did cause me to dig a little deeper, which I really appreciate. Something I found rather interesting was this:

(From philologos.org) Readers of the New Testament will remember that the very dress of the Pharisees differed from that of others. Simple as the garb of Orientals is, it must not be thought that, in those days, wealth, rank, and luxury were not recognizable quite as much, if not more, than among ourselves. No doubt the polished Grecian, the courtly Herodian, the wealthy Sadducee, as well as many of the lady patronesses of the Pharisees (Josephus, Ant. xvii, 32-45), would have been easily recognized. At any rate, Jewish writings give us such descriptions of their toilette, that we can almost transport ourselves among the fashionable society of Tiberias, Caesarea, Jerusalem, or that of "the dispersed," who were residents of Alexandria or of the wealthy towns of Babylonia.

Altogether, it seems, eighteen garments were supposed to complete an elegant toilette. The material, the color, and the cut distinguished the wearer. While the poor used the upper garment for a covering at night, the fashionable wore the finest white, embroidered, or even purple garments, with curiously-wrought silk girdles. It was around this upper garment that "the borders" were worn which the Pharisees "enlarged" (Matt 23:5). Of these we shall speak presently. Meantime we continue our description. The inner garment went down to the heels. The head-dress consisted of a pointed cap, or kind of turban, of more or less exquisite material, and curiously wound, the ends often hanging gracefully behind. Gloves were generally used only for protection. (From philologos.org)

And to me, it would make sense that the Pharisees would dress up in flashy cloths. They want to be noticed and they were all about customs…

Matthew 15:1-2
1 Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, 2 "Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don't wash their hands before they eat!"

Mark 7:1-8
1 The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus and 2 saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were "unclean," that is, unwashed. 3 (The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders. 4 When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles.)

5 So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, "Why don't your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with 'unclean' hands?"

6 He replied, "Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: "'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 7 They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.' 8 You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men."

As for if the wind was blowing, I don’t know… it could’ve been, it may not have been… I don’t know… but it makes for good writing. It makes the story just all that more interesting… I will agree that the bible is silent on that. Anyway, thanks for the feedback… it’s always more than welcome. Johnny Out.