“Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “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.” –John 3:1-2

            I find this story of Nicodemus very interesting. Nicodemus was a guy who was well educated in the Old Testament, was called a teacher of Israel, and was pretty well off when it came to money and power at that time. This is a man who knew the prophesies of the Old Testament and was waiting along with everyone else for them to be fulfilled. So when Jesus showed up on the scene he was very interested to see if this man really was the fulfillment of what he had been reading and teaching about for many years. The thing that gets me is that he is afraid to talk to Jesus during the day time. Now I know that Jesus and His disciples weren’t always the most well-liked by the other leaders of the church because they were proclaiming a message of grace when everyone had grown up with the message of the law. But why would a leader of the church go at night to see Jesus?

            Here’s my thought and I think that others would agree with me. I think Nicodemus was afraid to express his faith in Jesus, and maybe wasn’t confident in what he actually believed yet. I think he was afraid of going and asking Jesus questions during the day because he didn’t want his fellow church leaders to see his questions and get suspicious about whether or not he was going behind their backs or against their teachings. And I am sure that this situation isn’t only applicable for Nicodemus but for many people today here in the US and around the world. They have questions about their faith but are too afraid to ask them because they don’t want family members in their lives getting angry at their questions or they aren’t sure enough in their faith to let others see that they think what Jesus has to offer can really make a difference in their lives. Whatever the case may be, let’s do our best to encourage and support those who are “night time” Christians so that they can become the “light time” message of Christ for others.

QOTD: Does your faith look like that of Nicodemus? What or who are you hiding it from? How can you help support someone today who does have a beginning faith like Nicodemus in this account?

“It is a common experience that a problem difficult at night is resolved in the morning after the committee of sleep has worked on it.” –John Steinbeck