John 7:50-53 Nicodemus (he who came to Him before, being one of them) said to them, “Our Law does not judge a man unless it first hears from him and knows what he is doing, does it?” They answered him, “You are not also from Galilee, are you? Search, and see that no prophet arises out of Galilee.” Everyone went to his home.
This was pretty bold of Nicodemus, wasn’t it? Perhaps John wanted to show that, yes, there was a ruler or Pharisee who believed in Jesus. Remember John’s account of Nicodemus’ encounter with Jesus, recorded in John 3? There was no indication that Nicodemus became a believer then, but here he kinda stood up for Jesus. It wasn’t a declaration of faith from Nicodemus, but it was an appeal to give Jesus a hearing. They responded in ignorance. They wrongly thought Jesus was born in Galilee. The point was that they had not even cared enough to do research on where Jesus was really from. It would have been easy to discover. In fact, Nicodemus’ suggestion was simply to ask Him.
The point I want to zero in on is Nick’s apparent courage to buck the peer pressure. He could tell they were determined to have a mock trial and a quick murder. Maybe he was merely testing them to see if there was any sober thinking. There was none but he. Sometimes, that will be the case with us. There will be none who will side with us or want to hear from us. We need the courage of Nicodemus to speak up in defense of Jesus. Nick did the loving thing. He spoke for their highest good. He entreated them to settle down, think more clearly, and not rush headlong into injustice and evil.
I encourage us today to be ready to resist the temptation to remain silent when the loving thing to do is to speak up and be the one who speaks with wisdom, reason, peace, and love. May we have courage under fire like Nicodemus to buck the pressure to go along with the crazed, self-glorifying, greedy mainstream. Let’s pray that we will be filled with the Holy Spirit so we can testify unashamedly about Jesus and love unconditionally for the glory of God. Father, through your son Jesus Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit, give us courage today to be bold and to reveal Jesus Christ and His love. Amen.
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