Secret Meeting

I was gone all last week, riding my bicycle across California. My younger daughter Denae and I went with a YMCA group and rode from Yuma, Az. to Carlsbad, Ca. and camped along the way. It was a great time. Here is a shot of Denae and I riding in Black Canyon between Julian, Ca and Romona, Ca. We dedicated the ride to Peggy and drew on her gift of encouragement. Denae and I would talk about Peggy and wonder what she is doing now.

Now that Easter is behind us, we can continue our walk through the story but at a more in depth level in the book of John. So let's move forward into John 3 focusing on verses 1 and 2 " There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night...."

As we launch into Chapter 3, I didn't want to go too quick, because these are key verses in the Bible. The first couple verses in John 3 sets the scene a bit. This is a civil interaction Jesus had with the Jewish elite. Nicodemus was a Pharisee. A Pharisee was a leader in the Jewish culture. They were mostly made up of business men from the time (as opposed to preists) and they were very influential to the Jewish people. They portrayed a strict adherence to the Old Testament laws (the Mosaic Laws). While that sounds good, Jesus' greivence against many of the Pharisees was that they were showing outward appearence of righteousness, while having no inward change or transformation. They lacked a relationship with God.

Have you ever seen a intricate downtown scene in a movie? But if you were on set, you'd see that the buildings are all facades made of plywood, nails, plaster and paint. The movie set is only designed to look like a downtown scene, but it really isn't. Many of the Jewish leaders, like the Pharisees, were like this, they portrayed righteousness to the people on the outside, but inwardly they were corrupt. Jesus knew this and that was what he was confronting.

It is interesting to me that Nicodemus was seeking Jesus at night. You can tell that it is not acceptable for an elite guy, like Nicodemus, to meet with Jesus, a rebel and alledged outlaw. But Nicodemus was seeing through the mask he was wearing and saw that Jesus was REAL!

How does this apply to us? We all carry with us a degree of false fronts or facades, like a Hollywood set. Jesus will meet us in the night and address it. He will always be there for a soul seeking the truth. He was there for Nicodemus, he has been there for me and will be there for you.

Dear Jesus, Help me identify in my life the Hollywood sets. Let me be "real" in You and what You stand for. Amen.