Christ on Trial

A Lenten Service Series

Third Week of Lent, February 24, 2008  

"Witness: Nicodemus" (Pete Shutt)

Prosecutor: Nicodemus, we appreciate your appearance in this trial as a scholarly witness. Let me explain to the jury Nicodemus' importance as a witness. He appears, unlike our other witnesses, as an objective observer, an expert in the Law, and a man capable of using reason to separate fact from emotion or wishful thinking. Nicodemus, a Pharisee, was a member of the Sanhedrin, the Jews' highest governing body. The Sanhedrin was made up of seventy priests, scribes, Pharisees and distinguished laymen. Their president was the high priest. They decided matters of religious law and civil disputes that fell under religious law. He is now retired from that body. Do I have that all correct?

Nicodemus: Yes, we were the court of highest appeal, and I had always believed we were objective and fair. And yes, I guess you could say I've retired. I ... I felt I had to leave them after the ways things were handled at Jesus' trial.

Prosecutor: We are sure that before such an venerable body Jesus received a fair hearing. But, before we get to that, would you please tell us how you came to know about Jesus and whether you ever met Him personally?

Nicodemus: I had heard of Him, of course. There was talk of the miracles He'd performed. His teachings, mostly concerning God's love, were attracting attention. His strange charisma made people feel He could peer into human hearts. But the first time I ever saw Him in action was the day before Passover when He caused a stir in the temple.

Prosecutor: Oh, was that due to His radical preaching?

Nicodemus: No, this was different. This incident showed a side of Jesus most people had not seen. I had just come from a  court proceeding when I saw Him. He was looking at those who sold sacrificial animals and at the money changers. A look of untethered rage came over Him--like God himself was offended. I never approved of the temple court being used as a storefront myself. It was a tradition. Besides, it brought in money.

But Jesus didn't care about tradition or economics. He made a whip of some rope, and drove the merchants out. He was furious. But it was a fury that comes from a deep-seated zeal for God. There was an argument afterward between Him and some of the leaders over His authority in the temple. I guess, it was His response to their challenge, "Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up," that led me to do something I'd never dreamed of doing. You see, His words didn't make sense. But there was something in the way He said them that made me want to hear more.

Prosecutor: Ah, so you had the guards bring Him before the Sanhedrin?

Nicodemus: No. Actually, I found out where Jesus was staying ... and I went to see Him. He stirred something inside me--I didn't know what. I had to talk to Him. At the same time, I did have a position to maintain and felt it best not to be seen. So I snuck to see him under cover of darkness. We shared a strange discussion that left me with even greater inner struggles.

Prosecutor: Hmm, did He explain His actions at the temple or what He had said about the temple? Did He give some new interpretation of the law?

Nicodemus: No. It was something more personal. I'd hardly begun the usual amenities when He told me I must be born again. I couldn't believe my ears. This man was considered to be a wise rabbi and here He was asking me to do the impossible. Even the most ignorant shepherd knows that a person can't return to the womb and be reborn. It was senseless.

Prosecutor: Did you point that out to Him? Perhaps the defense will change Jesus' plea to "not guilty due to insanity."

Nicodemus: Yes! I questioned what He'd said. I explained that a man of my age could hardly go through the birth process. He explained that He wasn't talking about physical rebirth. He was talking about the spiritual rebirth that Christians would eventually come to call "baptism." He went on to say that since I couldn't understand His teachings when He related them to common earthly teaching, how could I understand the deeper truths He wished to share. There was an odd change at this point. He stopped speaking for Himself. He dropped the singular pronoun and used "we." He was speaking for Himself and God.

He gave as His authority that He had come from heaven. He spoke of being lifted on a pole--in the same way that Moses lifted the serpent in the wilderness so that our ancestors could be saved. He claimed that those who believe in Him would be saved also. He said that God had sent Him as an act of love to save people, not to condemn them. He said that people must leave the darkness of disbelief and evil, and come into the light of God's truth.

Oh, I wish I'd understood then what I do now. I wish I'd seen what in that brief moment Jesus was saying: That I hadn't just come out of the darkness of the night, but out of the darkness of sin into the light of truth. He was inviting me to the joy of eternal light! I might have defended him.

Prosecutor: You're not saying you were won over by all this talk of rebirth and love? You've already testified it was nonsensical. Surely, reason dictates that Jesus was just another raving fanatic, stirring up the people and endangering the peace of Jerusalem !

Nicodemus: It seemed unreasonable then. And it took me too long to see the light Jesus had invited me to step into that dark night. Perhaps, if I'd been less determined to be rational, more open to the faith the Spirit was planting in my heart, I could have reasoned with my colleagues on the Sanhedrin. I might have persuaded them to give Jesus a true hearing. But I came into the light too late. He was condemned and crucified--God was crucified. In the end, all I could do was see that He got a decent burial.

Prosecutor: Nicodemus, I'm truly shocked! I was certain that a man of your learning and intelligence could not have been taken in by this Jesus. You are dismissed. No wonder you had to retire from the Sanhedrin.

STAND UP TO LEAVE

Nicodemus: You know what finally convinced me, made me a believer? When I looked at Jesus hanging on the cross and realized everything He'd told me that dark night had indeed come true--that He was going to die to save us ... save me. His words came back to me then, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." That kind of love and sacrifice doesn't make sense. But that love is what my heart, everyone's heart, truly cries out for.

LEAVE

Prosecutor: Poor deluded man. He's let something get in the way of thinking rationally. He actually believes in this Jesus.

By Elsa L. Clark with additional material by Peter Mead, Arden Mead and Mark Zimmermann. Art by Sally Beck. © 2007 by Creative Communications for the Parish, 1564 Fencorp Dr. , Fenton , MO 63026 . 1-800-325-9414. All rights reserved. Printed in the USA . www.creativecommunications.com.