Good Morning

Do you remember Nicodemus? He was the Pharisee who came to Jesus at night. Did he come at night because he didn’t want others to know he was curious about Jesus or because of the crowds during the day?

John 3:1-2

Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said, "Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him."

Maybe clarity is shown by this next passage. Nicodemus was hanging around with Joseph who didn’t want others to know he was a follower of Jesus.

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 Jews. 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. d 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 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.

Yet these two were brave enough to approach the authorities and ask for Jesus’ body after he had died while others hid.

Are there times when you are unsure of whether you want others to know you follow Jesus? Are there times you are brave enough to step out and to be counted as a follower of Jesus?

Just something to think about today as you go on your way.