Investigating the Bible: Thinking bravely

Sociologists call “groupthink” the tendency of cohesive social groups to never question group decisions. In 1980, financially struggling Bill Gates offered to sell his computer operating system to IBM for $100,000. IBM rejected it, and it is considered one of the worst ever business decisions.

The Pharisees and scribes, a powerful group of religious leaders in New Testament days, also exhibited groupthink. Jesus said they had an even deeper problem. “Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” (John 8:43-44, New International Version used throughout). However, one Pharisee was different. He demonstrated two essential characteristics needed to hear, understand, and believe in Jesus.

Courage. Pharisees and the scribes, the lawyers of their day, had power, wealth, and prestige. If any Pharisee disagreed with his peers, he risked everything. So, it isn’t surprising that one high-ranking Pharisee first came to Jesus secretly. “Now there was man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. 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.’” (John 3:1-2).

Thinking bravely is hard but has its rewards. One teenage girl liked country music, which was considered weird by her classmates. When she sat down to eat lunch next to someone, they would move away, and kids made fun of her. In the ninth grade she moved to Nashville, and at 14, Taylor Swift became the youngest person ever to be a professional songwriter with Sony/ATV publishing. Swift found value in her difficulties. When she returned to her hometown, she said the same girls who had been cruel… “showed up, wearing my T-shirts and asking me to sign their CDs. It was bittersweet, because it made me realize that they didn’t remember being mean to me and that I needed to forget it too. If I hadn’t come home from school miserable every day, maybe I wouldn’t have been so motivated to write songs. I should probably thank them!”

Humility. Nicodemus, the distinguished teacher, humbly came to this despised rebel for help. Jesus “… declared, ‘I tell you the truth, unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God’. ‘How can a man be born when he is old?’ Nicodemus asked. ‘Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born!’ Jesus answered, ‘I tell you the truth, unless a man is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.’” (John 3:3-5).

Nicodemus likely became a believer. When an attempt to arrest Jesus failed, he defended him: “Nicodemus … asked, ‘Does our law condemn a man without first hearing him to find out what he is doing?’” (John 7:50,51). The Pharisees mocked him: “They replied, ‘Are you from Galilee, too? Look into it, and you will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee.’” (John 8:52). After the crucifixion of Jesus, Nicodemus went with Joseph of Arimathea to retrieve the body of Jesus. “Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen.” (John 19:39,40).

The courage and humility of Nicodemus led to this promise from Jesus, which many trust today: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16).

David Carlson Pastor (yes, that is his last name, not his profession) lives in Oregon and is a graduate of Bethel Theological Seminary in Minnesota (M.Div., M.Th.).