Character and Narrative Function of Nicodemus - Book Report/Review Example

The Nature and Analysis of John 3:1-16 Dialogue Character and Narrative Function of Nicodemus This dialogue starts with “Word of God”. This is “Grace and Truth” as well. In this dramatic encounter, Jesus is knowledge and Necodemus is the one running away from REAL virtue, truth and wisdom. Knowledge does not change for it is the ultimate reality. It is this fulsome Word of God that launches man or, as it were, Nicodemus into this world which is replete with miracles occurring every moment of existence. The mundane quagmire from birth to death is like an Ariadnae’s Thread. The more you try coming out of its web, the more you find yourself entangled into its net!1 Nicodemus is a leader fastened into darkness until “Word” is entrusted to him. Law of the land and prayers in a Temple do not show the path of salvation. “Word of God” reveals Light and darkness goes away. Raymond Brown also writes, "The prologue is a hymn, a poetic summary of the whole theology and narrative of the Gospel, as well as an introduction".2 The result, for Brown, is that "we have a union of wisdom and God's word, a divine person uncreated and existing with the Father." Throughout, from verse 1 to 16, dialogues are centring on this theme of realising knowledge, virtue, truth, Father, Mother, Son, God and Word. The nature of these dialogues is such that they constitute the real essence of knowledge, truth and the Bible. Author’s Last Name It is this “Word of God” which appears initially to be mystical and mysterious! While, in reality and scientifically, this Word of God is the practical way to delve deep into one’s inner self for becoming one with Truth. Knowledge or Truth is there for all of us to see from within. Books and modern science of information and technology cannot help obtain it. One has to see it with eyelids downwards and vision upwards. That is why these dialogues are the essence of Bible. When Jesus says, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God”, it is yet another scientific hint to Nicodemus about seeing and realising God.3 It is after hearing the musical sound of Word of God and imbibing the Spirit that one not only experiences but also starts conversing with God. This is how every human being descends upon this spaceship earth from a Mother’s womb to go finally for the second birth from the Word of God. Then such a twice born becomes Son of God!4 Necodemus is a leader who has read scriptures and laws for so many years. His behaviour has also been considered righteous. He asks Jesus quite a few questions. He does not grasp what Christ says at that instant. For Jesus, one is wrong until one is born again. This difficult for Necodemus to believe for he finds it hard to see that he has been in the wrong. Despite this apparent disbelief, Jesus bestows Word of God unto Necodemus. After receiving the Word of God, he does not ask much. He now listens to Christ and also Author’s Last Name to others who were countering Jesus. He looks on under the spell of his re-birth! Even after crucifixion of Jesus, Necodemus buries Christ in the grave. What Necodemus has learnt from Christ? We are all supposed to learn only that from Jesus. Howsoever we may interpret all teachings of Christ in Chapter 3 of the Gospel of John; certain view-points emerge very clearly. Despite several different versions of Bible and Gospel, His fundamental teachings are beyond reasonable dispute.5 Jesus Christ is bestowing upon us through Necodemus several pathways to light and Christian way of life. This is made available in John 3: 1-16, especially through the character of Necodemus. His initial scientific inquisitiveness, later tranquillity; his earlier hypocrisy in learning laws and going to temples and later equanimity of keeping quiet even when Jesus was being crucified. Major lessons that emerge from the concerned chapters of Gospel of John are mainly five, namely, 1. Science of God Realisation, 2. To be Born Twice, 3. A Life Away from Hypocrisy, 4. Internalisation of Laws, 5. Trumpeting God from the roof-tops of Temples is not advisable. God Realisation: This is a science. No one can decry it and label it as un-scientific just because majority of the global population does not really know how to practice it. Science is always based on experience and experiment. The laboratory for experiments is the entire world and an individual’s body. When an invalid starts walking like a normal healthy being, it is branded as a miracle. Is human body not the highest form of Godly miracle with which we all live all the while without ever realising it! Is there anything unscientific in human body? Is this Author’s Last Name not an ample proof of God’s presence with and within us? That is what Jesus is trying to prove through Nicodemus and his initial doubt about ‘Word’. Nicodemus, indeed, goes on the path of the Word once he starts perceiving this science of spiritualism. This is a science that has to be performed to understand it fully step by step. Without participating in this endeavour, God cannot be realised. To be Born Twice: Our Mothers are responsible for our physical birth into this world. So is Nicodemus’s Mother. This is, however, a birth to finally pass away when the time of death arrives. This happens to those who are born only once. The twice born is the one like Nicodemus who receives Word of God from someone like Christ. He is then given the key to the performance of science of spirit. This is the beginning of the moment where Nicodemus enters the realms where ‘breathlessness is deathlessness’ as he interacts with Jesus. Away from Hypocrisy: Once Nicodemus enters this realm and moves on to the Kingdom of Salvation, he is not to act like other ‘Pharisees’. He has to listen more. He has to be a man of action from without and from within. Not so much his words of mouth but his performance must speak. The erstwhile difference between his words and deeds has to be completely curbed. Self praise is also not permissible for Necodemus. Internalisation of Laws: Nicodemus is asked to observe laws not so much belonging to State and Community but those which are emanating from his baptism. Christ is not giving here a commentary on the legal provisions of running a regime. Instead he is asking for internalisation of human thinking. Author’s Last Name Laws of God are to be preserved and realised. These Laws unfold unto those, quite mathematically, who follow the path shown by Christ. This is the path of the science of god realisation. It has step by step progress if performed regularly and daily. This is not religious ritualism but the road to ultimate knowledge. Christ is not speaking of any religion or system of praying God. Instead, He is asking Nicodemus to go on the path of proven science of wisdom and omnipresent ‘Word’. No Trumpeting of God: Quite like Laws, Christ does not support merely going to God in Temples. Shouting from rooftops anent God and his ‘Word’ is not required because the Kingdom of God is within every individual. This God must be realised through hard work and discipline. Even Lightfoot indicates as much when he says that Jesus' words teach: It is not enough for [people] to be children of Abraham to give them any title to or interest in the Messiah. They must further be born from above; they must claim [the kingdom] by a heavenly, not an earthly birth.6 Gospel of john is extending to us, in several ways, message for our present and prospective life as well. It is telling us the fundamental principles of peace and success in Author’s Last Name life. How to go from darkness to light in this modern stressful fast moving world? Gospel is telling this in several passages. There are a number of other themes that John uses to accomplish his purposes. For example, themes of light and darkness, eternal life and temporal life, heavenly things and earthly things, flesh and spirit, truth and falsehood, belief and unbelief, John the Baptist and Christ, and Judaism and Christianity etc. These themes throw light on the words of Jesus and their relevance in this modern technological world of today. The real question that gets utmost attention in this dialogue is the importance of teacher in our lives. The teacher is the seeker of truth and the ultimate giver. Christ is teacher. Nicodemus is teacher. John is teacher. Hence, this entire Biblical Dialogue is a presentation of great depth and relevance not only to saints but also to mundane beings like all of us. Author’s Last Name Works Cited Brown, R.E. The Gospel According to John I-XII. New York: Doubleday, 1966.139. Carson, D. A. The Gospel According to John. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing Co. 1991. Fredriksen, Paula. From Jesus to Christ. London: Yale. 1988. 20-21. Gaventa, B.R. From Darkness to Light: Aspects of Conversion in the New Testament. Philadelphia: Fortress. 1986. Grese, William. "Unless One is Born Again: The Use of a Heavenly Journey in John 3”. Journal of Biblical Literature. 107/4. 1988. King James Version Holy Bible. Nashville, TN: World Publishing, 2004. Lightfoot, John. A Commentary on the New Testament from the Talmud and Hebraica. Oxford University Press. 1859. Volume 3. Read More