”And Nicodemus came also…” (Joh. 19:39) Udskriv
Skrevet af Alan Navaratnam   
Fredag, 14. januar 2022 11:20

I used to call myself a “Nicodemus Christian” for like him it took some time for me to come out in the open with my commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ.  I wanted to, but I was too shy or maybe rather too self conscious (proud).  I´m sure Nicodemus after his crucial encounter with Jesus that night also in his heart wanted to confess Jesus publicly, but something kept him back.

But now it´s different.  The words of the cross “It is finished!”  (Joh. 19:39) may have been the last straw, and it made him now commit himself.  He certainly got public attention as he was dragging a hundred pound mixture of myrrh and aloes thus standing  up for Jesus.  Indeed, “Nicodemus came also!”  He did what couldn´t be concealed in the long run (1 Tim. 5:25).  No beating about the bush any longer!

My relationship to Jesus was “concealed” about 1½ years.  Today I regret it took that long.  So I´ve had a lot of lost ground to make up for.  But like Nicodemus I finally “came”, and it pleased the Lord eventually to let me lead others to him. “The work of an evangelist”   (1 Tim. 4:5) is my charter despite all my many shortcomings.

When as a boy I read on one of the walls in my grandfather´s meeting hall in Copenhagen the words, “He brought him to Jesus”  (Joh. 1:42) I didn´t fancy even in my  wildest dreams that I would one day be involved in that “business” myself. I thought, “This seems to be what it´s all about at this place!”  And so it was.

I´m old now, but I wonder if I too shall say up yonder, “Behold, I and the children whom God has given me!”  (Hebr. 2:13).  And maybe the life of Nicodemus took a similar course as a soul winner.  Soul winners are characters in a good sense.

One´s anonymity can´t be concealed forever.  The love of Calvary will make you side in the open with Jesus.  Nicodemus did it in a very original way.  Such commitments are always original and “special”.  They are not “lookalike” people.  That brings me some comfort myself.  It may encourage you too to side with Jesus in your own way following Him, but not as a religious parrot.  The “object lesson” of Nicodemus has been a blessing to me, and hopefully to you too.

Jan. 8, 2021 - jn