John 3:1-3,
NIV.
Nicodemus was a Pharisee and
a member of the Jewish ruling council.
Most of these men opposed the ministry of Jesus, and it was ultimately
these men that had Jesus crucified. But
Nicodemus was different. While he was
still not “saved”, the teachings of Jesus had definitely caught his attention,
and he was searching for truth. Let’s
look specifically at verse 2.
He came to
Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from
God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were
not with him.
This passage states that
Nicodemus came to Jesus at night. I
believe this is literal, and he really did come at night. However, coming from John, I believe that
this statement also had a deeper spiritual significance.
The greek word
used for “night” literally means night. Figuratively, however, it can mean: the
time when work ceases, the time of death, the time for deeds of sin and shame,
the time of moral stupidity and darkness, the time when the weary and also the
drunken give themselves up to slumber.
Let’s look at Nicodemus’s
statement again. He said, “we know…[you
have] come from God.” Nicodemus had head
knowledge of the truth, but he had not yet made it a part of his life. He knew the right things to say, even the
right things to preach, but he was not living by his teaching. (Remember when Jesus called the Pharisees
hypocrites and white-washed tombs?) Nicodemus
was well educated in the scriptures and in the ways of God, but he was still in
darkness. He had never been exposed to
the light and truth of Jesus. He was a
spiritual leader, but he was still living under the shadow of the Old
Covenant.
Jesus knew this, because the
remainder of their conversation centered on one thing: the truth and light that Jesus came into this
world to bring. This was Jesus’ first
reply, “I tell
you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born
again.” Jesus did not even wait for
Nicodemus to ask his question. He went
right in for kill and began speaking truth.
That truth was that he needed light, and Jesus began showing him how to
move from the darkness and into the light.
“This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved
darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil
hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will
be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may
be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.””
John 3:19-21, NIV.
Take a moment and examine your life. Do you find yourself in darkness? Do you know
the truth but have yet to give yourself fully to the light of God? Why?
Are you afraid of being exposed?
Are you too proud and would rather stay in the darkness because you are
comfortable there?
The will of God is that no one would be in darkness:
I have come into the world as a light, so that
no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.
John 12:46, NIV
But you are a chosen people, a royal
priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the
praises of him who called you out of darkness
into his wonderful light.
1 Peter 2:9, NIV
Darkness is a terrible place to be for several reasons:
1. Darkness blinds.
“The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that
they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the
image of God. For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and
ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine
out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of
the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” 2 Corinthians 4:4-6,
NIV.
Notice the relationship between blindness and unbelieving. Jesus was saying that the unbelieving mind is
blind. Unbelief and faithlessness leaves
us in darkness. Jesus used this same
relation in John 3:
“Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands
condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only
Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light
because their deeds were evil.”
John 3:18, 19, NIV.
“Then Jesus told them, “You are going to have the light just a
little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes
you. The man who walks in the dark does not know where he is going. Put your
trust in the light while you have it, so that you may become sons of light.”
When he had finished speaking, Jesus left and hid himself from them. Even after
Jesus had done all these miraculous signs in their presence, they still would
not believe in him. This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet: “Lord,
who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been
revealed?” For this reason they could not believe, because, as Isaiah says
elsewhere: “He has blinded their eyes and deadened their hearts, so they can
neither see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts, nor turn--and I
would heal them.” Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about
him.”
John 12:35-41, NIV.
As long as the sinner remains in unbelief and darkness, he will
never be able to see the light of Jesus’ face.
He has been blinded to the truth.
2. Darkness hides.
We’ve all played
hide and seek. When I was a kid and it
was my turn to hide, I would pick the darkest place I could find and sit
perfectly still. I even remember playing
hide and seek with my oldest son. I knew
that if I picked the darkest spot, I would win because he would be too scared
to look for me.
We hide in the
dark because we can’t be seen. We hide
in the dark so that we won’t be exposed.
However, w were never meant to hide from anything or anyone, but with
the introduction of sin came the need to hide (Genesis 3:8). Look at what scripture says about those who
try to hide in the darkness.
“His eyes are on the ways of men; he sees their every step. There
is no dark place, no deep shadow, where evildoers can hide.” Job 34:21, 22,
NIV.
The Lord says: “These people come near to me with their mouth and
honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of
me is made up only of rules taught by men. Therefore once more I will astound
these people with wonder upon wonder; the wisdom of the wise will perish, the
intelligence of the intelligent will vanish.” Woe to those who go to great depths to hide their plans from the LORD,
who do their work in darkness and think, “Who sees us? Who will know?”
Isaiah 29:13-15, NIV.
Notice here that
the Lord is comparing those who hide with those who give God false
worship. We cannot truly honor and
worship the Lord when we have things that we are trying to hide. But the saddest part of all is the fact that
we never are really hiding. The Lord
sees and knows it all.
3. Darkness immobilizes.
Maybe
it is the light color of my eyes, or maybe it’s just the fact that I am getting
older, but I do not see well in the dark.
On second thought, let me rephrase that.
I can’t see at all in the
dark. When darkness surrounds me it
leaves me completely unable to move.
One
bright, summer day my wife called me at my office and said that she was taking
the kids to a movie if I would like to join them. I quickly packed up my things and headed over
to the theater. As I walked in to the
theater, the movie had already started.
It was dark, and I couldn’t move.
I couldn’t see a thing. You would
think that immediately, my wife or one of the kids would come and get me, but
instead they just sat and laughed at me for a couple of minutes.
My
point here is that once the darkness engulfed me, I was useless. I couldn’t take another step because I didn’t
know what was in front of me. I couldn’t
see if there were any empty chairs, and I couldn’t see where my family was
sitting. I could only stand until
someone came to help me.
When
we live in darkness we are 100% useless.
God can’t use us and people can’t depend on us. We are of no use to God and His kingdom.
“Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand towards the
sky so that darkness will spread over Egypt--darkness that can be felt.” So
Moses stretched out his hand towards the sky, and total darkness covered all
Egypt for three days. No one could see
anyone else or leave his place for three days. Yet all the Israelites had
light in the places where they lived.”
Exodus 10:21-23, NIV.
“Some sat in darkness
and the deepest gloom, prisoners suffering in iron chains,” Psalms 107:10, NIV.
As
long as we remain in darkness, we are bound.
Chains are wrapped around our hands and a noose is around our
necks. There is nowhere we can go, and
nothing we can do. All we can do is sit. The only way of escape is to move toward the
light.
Friends, there is
freedom in the light. There is no fear
in light, because there is no darkness in light. There is no blindness in light, and we can
continue to move forward in the light. Come
out of the darkness and into the light.
Come out of your sinful ways and expose yourself to the truth and light
of Jesus Christ. Come out of your hiding
and experience the joy and freedom of walking in the light.
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