Monday, September 6, 2010

September 6, 2010

"Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. 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." John 3:1-2
Okay, I kept my word for three days but this morning I couldn't sleep and neither could the dog. So I was up early and Barbara slept in and I had some extra time. I can only read so many articles about the VT-BSU game tonight and I feel my mind slipping into preparation mode so I'll go with it.
Jesus was given little credit by the religious elite of His day. He didn't honor their rules and He was drawing huge crowds to listen to His teachings that were not kosher. They had a good thing going and now this upstart Galilean was threatening to expose them and explode their religious stranglehold on the Jewish people.
But in every corrupt organization there are a few honest, albeit, misguided souls. John mentions one such fellow by the name of Nicodemus.
Nicodemas watched and listened to his guys while he was watching and listening to this Jesus person and he was noticing a big difference in what He said, how He said and what happened after He said it. He knew what his guys had going but he couldn't figure out what was in it for this young teacher. The more he watched this Teacher the harder it was to discredit him. The more lives that changed and the more miraculous healings and demonic deliveries he heard about the more difficult it was to discount this Radical Rabbi.
This Jesus seemed to teach with an unusual authority and lived with such an obvious integrity that Nicodemus knew he needed to get a closer look. So, under the cover of night he arranged a face to face with this Teacher. He had to know if this Guy was for real. I imagine there was a part of him that hoped He was and a part that wanted Him to be like every other preacher.
Well, as this passage reveals, Nicodemus went to Jesus, interviewed Him and found Him to be the real deal. He would never be the same!
If you are a member of the FredWes family or a regular visitor to the website and this blog, you know that we have designated this coming Sunday as "Back to Church" Sunday with the goal of getting someof our un-churched non-believing friends to come and check us out. We are doing this because we believe there are a whole bunch of Nicodemus-types around out Fredericksburg - Spotsylvania area. You are supposed to be inviting them for "Back to Church". They are honest people weighed down with life tired of the phoniness of religion and looking for some real answers. Like Nicodemus, if they could only find Jesus they would be transformed.
So, we know there are plenty of Nicodemus' out there. The question is, "How many 'Jesus-types' are there?" Do your non-believing friends see a positive difference in you? Does the love and grace of Jesus radiate from your life? Have they seen enough of Him in you that they will be curious to come and check us out?
Invite them and find out!