Many were impressed by the signs the Lord Jesus did in Jerusalem but, impervious to His words, they believed on His name in an outward way only (Jn. 2:23–25). Nicodemus was different. This “teacher of Israel” (3:10) was one of the Pharisees, the strictest sect in Judaism, but he came to the “teacher from God” by night to learn more.

Like others, Nicodemus looked forward to the glorious messianic kingdom prophesied in the Old Testament. But the Lord Jesus tells him that unless they are born anew they will not see “the kingdom of God” (3:3). Supposing this kingdom is only for the Jews, Nicodemus is baffled to think they will have to be reborn, but the Lord patiently guides him into the truth of new birth (vv. 4–5) though he should have known it. This not only gives us eyes to see but legs to enter the kingdom in its moral reality.

Evidently our Lord’s words had a deep effect on Nicodemus. When the Pharisees derided the officers they had sent to arrest Jesus because they returned empty-handed, saying, “Never man spoke thus, as this Man speaks” (7:46), Nicodemus said, “Does our law judge a man before it have first heard from himself, and know what he does?” This was brave, as we see from the ignorant way they dismissed his words.

But it was braver still to help Joseph of Arimathaea prepare the Lord’s body for burial: “Nicodemus also, who at first came to Jesus by night, came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds weight” (19:39). By honoring the despised Man from Nazareth in the hour of His death, Nicodemus confessed Him as his Lord. Praise God, the darkness of that night would soon be dispersed by resurrection glory.