Home Group Material on
Discipleship: Nicodemus
and Joseph of Arimathea
1.
Starter
2.
Background
3.
Bible
Reading
Elaine Storkey tells of a visit to a Tearfund partner organisation in Thailand
where she was surprised to be told that the membership was 80% Buddhist
and 20% Christian. Yet these “Buddhists” asked her to pray in the name of
Jesus, sang worship songs to Jesus, spread the gospel among their people
and indeed clearly were actually disciples of Christ. They were “secret”
disciples, confined within the religion of their country. How should we react
to such a situation?
Nicodemus and Joseph were similar in many ways. Both were Pharisees
and members of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish ruling council. We are told that
Joseph was a secret disciple and Nicodemus also kept his discipleship
secret, although he did at one time speak up against the unjust
condemnation of Jesus (John 7:50-51). Joseph (and presumably also
Nicodemus) did not consent, in the Sanhedrin trial, to the death penalty for
Jesus. Together these men buried Jesus’ body after his death, anointing
him with expensive perfumes.
John 3:1-15
1
Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member
of the Jewish ruling council. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi,
we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could
perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”
3
Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God
unless they are born again.”
4
“How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked.
“Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be
born!”
5
Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of
God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh,
but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying,
‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear
its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it
is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
9
“How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.
10
“You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand
these things? 11 Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we
testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our
testimony. 12 I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe;
how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? 13 No one has ever
gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man.
14
Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man
must be lifted up, 15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in
him.”
John 19:38-42
38
Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now
Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jewish
leaders. With Pilate’s permission, he came and took the body away. 39 He
was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at
night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five
pounds. 40 Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices,
in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs. 41 At
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the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden
a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. 42 Because it was the
Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus
there.
4.
Study
Questions
5.
Reflection
6.
Prayer
a.
Nicodemus came to Jesus at night, presumably because he wanted a
private conversation with him, away from the crowds and busyness of
the day. He was impressed by his miracles and was searching for the
truth about this man “who has come from God” (v2). Yet it seems that
Jesus did not make it easy for Nicodemus. He went right to the heart of
the problem, telling him that what he needed was a completely new life.
Why do you think he was so blunt? Is this a suitable strategy in our
evangelism?
b.
By “the kingdom of God” Nicodemus would understand an earthly
kingdom of the Jews. This is what he was looking for. In what way
does Jesus alter his preconceptions about the kingdom in verse 3?
c.
Nicodemus was puzzled by Jesus’ teaching. Why did Jesus make it so
difficult by using the imagery of re-birth? Was he matching his teaching
to the intelligence of his audience, a highly educated man, taking him
beyond what he had taught to the crowds? If so, what can we learn
from this?
d.
What was the purpose of Jesus’ question in verse 10? Was he trying
to insult Nicodemus? Or was he trying to get him to think beyond the
narrow-mindedness of his Pharisaic beliefs?
e.
Nicodemus was on more familiar ground in verse 14. He would be
well aware of the time in Jewish history when Moses formed a bronze
snake and put it on a pole so that those who had faith and looked were
healed of their snake bites (Numbers 21:8-9). But Jesus then took him
from the familiar to a completely new teaching, crucial to forgiveness:
Jesus was to die for the sins of the world. How much of this do you
think Nicodemus would have understood then, and how much after
Jesus’ death?
f.
In John 7:48 the Pharisees asked the rhetorical question: “Has any of
the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in [Jesus]?” This was ironic
since Nicodemus was standing with them, yet he didn’t contradict the
assumption. Why not?
g.
The death of Jesus seemed to be the critical time for both Nicodemus
and Joseph to show their faith, although again they seemed to act
without the knowledge of the other Pharisees. Nevertheless, they were
showing courage, taking a risk and being very generous in their gifts of
anointing spices and a tomb. They were probably the only disciples
with the prestige and wealth to allow this to be done. They played an
essential role at a critical time. What does this teach us?
h.
How should we regard “secret” disciples like these two men? Do they
have their place in our society? In what walks of life might secret
discipleship be advantageous?
Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master,
servants stand or fall. (Romans 14:4)

Praise God that we have been re-born in Christ.

Pray that we each may be the disciple Christ calls us to be.

Pray that our church may value disciples of all kinds, helping each
one to grow in grace and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ.
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