Nicodemus ATC 4

At the Cross

Part 4: Nicodemus

NARRATOR:

Nicodemus--you are a pharisee. Most of your colleagues seemed to want Jesus dead, but you appear to be rather distraught about what happened here today. How has the death of Jesus affected you?

Nicodemus

I kept expecting Him to come down off the cross. To me it wasn't a matter of whether He would, but just how and when.

My faith in Jesus was strong. I admit I hadn't been exactly vocal about it. But I did do more than most of the religious leaders. I did go to Him and give Him a chance to explain His teaching to me. And when the chief priests and Pharisees wanted to take Jesus by force, I did do my best to get Him a fair trial.

Jesus' whole problem was that He attracted the rabble, and that kept the leaders from taking Him seriously. That was not the way it should have been! Jesus is a very intelligent Man. His teaching seems inspired--it cuts right to the heart. I knew it was just exactly what our poor nation needed, so I resolved to try to get the officials to listen.

When they were trying to get up a posse to grab Him and maybe stone Him, I saw my chance. I spoke up: "Does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he is doing?" I asked.

It was the perfect opportunity. If I could just get them to bring Jesus in for a hearing, I knew that a lot of them would begin to believe in Him as the Messiah as I had. But they just mocked me. Asked if I was part of the rabble from Galilee too!

It really set me back. I thought about it a lot. And I came to realize that, if I was going to have any influence with the leaders, I would have to be less open about my relationship to Jesus.

So I began to work more in the background. Usually speaking to just one or two in an attempt to help them be more open-minded.

And I think I was making some progress.

But then it all came to a head a few days ago.

Some of the real hard-liners decided it was time to act. They figured they had to get Jesus off the streets before all the Passover pilgrims arrived.

And then one of His disciples offered to betray Him.

At first they just talked about getting Him off the streets, and maybe putting Him on trial--to expose the silliness of what He was teaching.

Of course I couldn't fight against that idea, because I knew that once they put Him on trial, they would see that He wasn't silly at all.

But then things started getting out of hand. It started at Annas's house, and really got going when they had Jesus in Caiaphas's courtyard. All the while, though, I was working to try to keep things under control. I had good friends there, and I worked like leaven in bread with them, trying to change the tone of things.

I was standing next to my friend Joshua when they decided to take Jesus to Caiaphas. That worried me because I knew Caiaphas had suggested that Jesus should die. I leaned over to Joshua, and said, "This whole thing smells of rotten justice to me. We ought to do something!" But he acted like he didn't even hear me.

Later that night I wove my way back and forth among the crowd of religious leaders gathered at what they called a trial, and kept trying to plant seeds of doubt about what they were doing. "This stinks," I said to one. And to another, "This is rotten!" I hoped to get reassuring nods, or maybe even a smile of agreement. But everybody seemed to be caught up in mob fever. Then someone suggested that the best way to deal with Jesus would be to crucify Him--to publicly humiliate Him, to terrorize all who had followed Him, so that they would go back to their fishing nets and not cause any more problems.

The mob's fury grew stronger at that suggestion, and as they marched Jesus out to face Pilate, I suddenly realized that all my efforts had been in vain. All my years of plotting a way to get Jesus a fair hearing had profited nothing at all--and could profit nothing with these men who were only concerned to preserve the positions of power they had attained through compromise with the Roman overlords.

But then in my darkest hour, new hope dawned in my mind.

I had been watching Jesus carefully. The strange thing was that He had done nothing to defend Himself.

And then it hit me: This was all part of His plan.

Why hadn't I realized that before?

As they led Him to Pilate, to put the capstone on their diabolical plan , the words He had said when I first talked to Him that night in Jerusalem came back to me: "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up." Suddenly I could see Jesus' plan! He had to be lifted up on the cross to get people's attention. Think of it! He was willing to undergo that kind of pain and humiliation in order to draw all the world to Himself!

And then He would come down off the cross--miraculously of course--and bring healing just like the serpent in the wilderness!! The miracle of coming down from the cross would attract attention--both Jews and Romans would have to acknowledge Him!

Jesus is brilliant! I thought. How could He come up with such a brilliant plan if He wasn't divine?

Throughout the rest of the morning, I could think of nothing else. My worries were over. When Pilate and Herod questioned Jesus, I simply stood aside to watch the Master work His plan.

As they led Jesus to Calvary, I must have been the only one of those who believed in Him who wasn't terror-stricken. I wanted to speak to some of the others, but I thought better of it. Better to let them be surprised with all the rest. After all, surely Jesus would have explained His plan to them if He wanted them to know about it beforehand.

I was almost euphoric with expectation. Finally the consummation had come--and in my life time--and I was to have a part in bringing it in!

I hated to see them put Him on the cross. I couldn't imagine the pain He was suffering. But I knew it was all a part of His plan!

Jesus seemed to grow weaker and weaker there on the cross, but I thought that fit the plan too. It would make His coming down all the more dramatic.

When it got dark in the middle of the day, a lot of people took it as an omen. I thought Jesus was controlling nature like we had heard He had done during a storm on Galilee.

When He cried out "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani," I wasn't quite sure what He had said. Then someone suggested that maybe He was calling for Elijah, and I began to expect Elijah to come, just like Malachi had prophesied.

By that time I guess a bit of worry had crept into my anticipation. I could see that Jesus was really suffering up there, and I couldn't imagine why He would prolong the agony.

Then it happened. The thing I knew couldn't happen.

He died.

I thought maybe He had just lost consciousness. But then the soldiers came and ran a spear right into Jesus' side. When the blood and water came out together, I knew He really was dead.

Such a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. Such a wrenching. My knees quaked, and I was too weak even to walk at first. My mind whirred. I couldn't think of anything. And then it hit me again. He was dead. The purest, least corrupted Man I had ever met was dead, and soon He would be nothing more than a stinking mass of rotting flesh.

I couldn't let that happen. I had to stop it somehow.

But it was too late. What I could have done had all evaporated into the past tense and become what I hadn't done.

But something had to be done.

I wandered aimlessly through the market. And then at the spice merchant's it hit me. I hadn't done what I could to keep Jesus from being defiled in the past. Now I would spare nothing.

Myrrh and aloes to wrap His body in. At least He wouldn't smell bad, as nature took its course. I could at least try to hide the reality I couldn't face.

A hundred pounds' weight. I ordered it. It would cost a small fortune, but now--now when it was too late to do anything that would make a real difference--now nothing was too much to do for the Master.

It was more than we would ever need. But I had to do something.

There was so much I wished I had done.

Read Part 5 the testimony of Peter

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