In October, World Vision (WV) announced the results of its international survey on the world’s most popular Bible verse. Using digital information gathered from internet searches, WV found that John 3:16 was the unmistakable winner, with over two million global searches of this verse each month. In fact, John 3:16 beat out all Bible verses by more than a million searches.
Well, there’s no real surprise there! Everyone I know can readily quote John 3:16, even small children. Even people who have never stepped foot inside a church and never intend to do so. Even those crazy guys at televised sporting events with colorful wigs, sparkly costumes, and gigantic John 3:16 posters.
Yep, we all know it by heart: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
But I wonder how many people can identify the person with whom Jesus was speaking when He said these beloved, well-known words? Be honest! Don’t rush to look it up online. Who was it?
For those who cannot identify the other person in this story, welcome to the club. Most people forget that Jesus was conversing with a prestigious man named Nicodemus, a Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin. Basically, this entire chapter revolves around a conversation in which Jesus explained to this respected and powerful man the way to be born again.
It’s kind of funny when you think about it. Here was a man with only an average education at best, the son of a carpenter, and a woman who was scandalously known to be pregnant before she was married. Yet, the most respected and learned of men sought Jesus out to learn how to be reborn. No wonder Nicodemus made sure their meeting took place secretly in the dead of night so that no one else of importance would see them talking about such a strange topic.
But John never really said for sure if Nicodemus was born again, and to be honest, that’s kind of frustrating. Did Nicodemus confess his sin and believe in God’s only begotten Son, or not? We never know for sure.
Until … John 7:51, when we get the first clue that Nicodemus was a believer. In this chapter, we discover that the Sanhedrin hoped to have Jesus arrested for claiming to be the “living water.” But Nicodemus timidly took up for Jesus against the rest of the council, asking, “Does our law condemn a man without first hearing him to find out what he has been doing?”
The Sanhedrin had a sarcastic reply, but after this shrewd question, their evil discourse was finished for the night. Even here, Nicodemus never directly declared his belief in Jesus, but verse 50 parenthetically stated that he was “one of them.”
It took the Lord’s crucifixion for Nicodemus to openly show his love for Jesus. We read in Chapter 19 of John that two men showed up to claim His bloody, beaten body to prepare it for burial – Joseph of Arimathea, a rich man, and Nicodemus, a powerful man. What an interesting pair for such a sorrowful task.
Think about the courage and love it took to go and ask Pilate for the body of Jesus. It was a bold political move and an even bolder spiritual move. Neither man had anything to gain at this point from an open alliance with a dead Jesus.
In fact, Joseph and Nicodemus had both been secret believers before this point, afraid to let an association with Jesus even be known during such a turbulent political time. Now, when all hope seemed lost, these men would have been better served to put their affiliation with Jesus behind them and move on. Yet, Joseph chose to provide a tomb for Jesus, and Nicodemus brought pounds of costly oils to prepare His body for burial. This strange pair worked together and made a huge investment in a dead man.
These two men risked it all to lovingly prepare the body of a man who had selflessly loved them and offered them new life. I can imagine their tears, their regrets, and their confusion as they prepared the body of Jesus for what they assumed was His final resting place.
In that dark moment, they had no idea that John 3:16 was playing out right in front of them; it had not even been written yet. They had no clue that because of their brave love for the Savior that they were smack dab in the middle of the greatest plan God ever conceived, the plan of salvation.
Picture it! Nicodemus was literally washing the body of Jesus while Jesus Christ the Lord and Savior was breaking down the gates of the enemy and taking back the keys to death, hell, and the grave. And never forget this amazing truth – Nicodemus and Joseph were the last people on earth to ever prepare a body for burial without hope of a resurrection. That thought should make us all shout, “Hallelujah!”
So, the next time someone mentions John 3:16 – even if it is a crazy guy in a blue wig waving a sign at a football game – think of Nicodemus. Think about what it really means to be born again. And think about the very last hopeless grave that ever existed. Think about Jesus!
