I am not one to roam around in the middle of the night. I have never liked the dark except to sleep, but many work all night. Others take care of crying babies or sick family members in the middle of the night because that is when the need occurs. Some do things in the middle of the night because darkness covers what they are about to do. For whatever reason, many things go on in the middle of the night.
In John chapter 3 we find a man named Nicodemus coming to Jesus in the middle of the night. He was a ruler of the Jews. He was a Pharisee and sat on the council of the Sanhedrin. The text doesn’t tell us why he came at night. Maybe as a high-ranking Jew, he didn’t want to be seen with Jesus. To the Jews, Jesus was a false teacher. It could also be that he was too busy during the day. While we don’t know the reason he came at night, we do know that it was important enough that he extended his day to include a conversation with Jesus.
John 3:1 “There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.”
Nicodemus proceeds to address Jesus as Rabbi. The word in Hebrew means master. He acknowledged his belief that Jesus was a teacher that was sent from God. His knowledge of the Old Testament convinced him that only someone sent from God could do the miracles Jesus did. This statement brings a response from Jesus that seems a bit out of place. Instead of confirming that He is from God, Jesus tells him that unless a man is born of God, he can’t see the kingdom of God. Jesus immediately takes the focus off his miracles and himself to the most important matter. He explains to this Jewish leader that he must be saved.
John 3:2-3 “The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
The idea of a grown man being born again did not make any sense to Nicodemus. He was measuring everything in the literal sense not the spiritual. We may have heard it all our lives and therefore the term is common to us. However, have you ever thought of how that sounds to someone who has never heard the gospel? This statement caused Nicodemus to question further. This opens the conversation for Jesus to explain more and challenge the heart of Nicodemus. Jesus makes a comparison of spiritual birth to the wind. You can’t see the wind, but you can see the effects and feel the effects. While the spiritual birth cannot be understood with man’s reasoning, those who have experienced it do not doubt its existence.
John 3:4-8 “Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind blows where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is everyone that is born of the Spirit.”
Nicodemus still does not understand and continues to question Jesus on how this can happen. Jesus questions him. How can you not understand since you are a teacher in Israel? Their conversation continues as Jesus reveals truths about eternal life. He uses the illustration of Moses lifting the serpent of brass in the wilderness and compares this with His own crucifixion. Just as the serpent was lifted Jesus would be lifted up on a cross. Just as those who obeyed God and looked on the brazen serpent would not die from the poisonous bite, the same is true for those who look in faith to Jesus for redemption from their sins. The serpent on the pole was an event all the Jewish nation would have been familiar with.
John 3:9-15 “Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.”
We do not have a record of the salvation of Nicodemus. However, these words of truth must have been enough for Nicodemus to accept Jesus as his personal Savior because Nicodemus was the one who defended Jesus to the Jews in John 7:50, and helped embalm Jesus’s body in John 19:39. Nicodemus sought out Jesus in the night, but this seeking brought Nicodemus to the Light. In John 8:12, Jesus proclaims,” I am the light of the world: he that followed me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life.”
What happens in the middle of your night? If you are troubled about something, do you seek Jesus or do you try to forget it by doing other things? Do you push aside your need for a closer walk with the Savior? Even those who have accepted Jesus as their personal Savior can become stale and distant from Jesus by ignoring the prompting of the Holy Spirit. The middle of the night is a great time to pull up close to Jesus and let Him teach you. It is usually quiet and probably will not have any interruptions. So, the next time you can’t sleep remember, the best things can happen in the middle of the night.
