Nicodemus asked, “What do you mean by this? How does this happen?”

10-12 Jesus said, “You’re a respected teacher of Israel and you don’t know these basics? Listen carefully. I’m speaking sober truth to you. I speak only of what I know by experience; I give witness only to what I have seen with my own eyes. There is nothing secondhand here, no hearsay. Yet instead of facing the evidence and accepting it, you procrastinate with questions. If I tell you things that are plain as the hand before your face and you don’t believe me, what use is there in telling you of things you can’t see, the things of God? (The Message)

I remember reading a commentary in which the author said, ‘When people raise questions about the Christian faith you need to bear in mind the ‘RH Factor’: Is it a red herring or a real hindrance?’ That came to mind as I read Jesus’ words highlighted in bold text above. There are people whose questions are in fact a smokescreen. They have no intention of facing up to the evidence.

What Jesus has to teach us about eternal/spiritual realities can be trusted. He knows what He is talking about. People looked up to Nicodemus as someone who knew what he was talking about. The language used in verse 10 may suggest that he was the foremost teacher in Israel. Yet Jesus implied that Nicodemus didn’t know as much as others thought he did; didn’t know as much as he thought he did.

All of us who hold any kind of office/role in the church where we teach others, need to humble ourselves and acknowledge that there is so much we do not know. Let us place ourselves at the feet of Jesus, recognising that He, and He alone, is the supreme Teacher. Real insight comes from listening to Him.

” Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Jesus, in Matthew 11:29)