tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16959378.post6198177411480850422..comments2023-10-16T04:58:53.689-04:00Comments on Verily Verily: Bennema on NicodemusRafaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14471888340005683193noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16959378.post-18761923759254171542010-11-11T06:00:46.085-05:002010-11-11T06:00:46.085-05:00Sure, Jamie; it's certainly possible. In the s...Sure, Jamie; it's certainly possible. In the synoptics we find a great example of "religious scholars pos[ing] questions and debat[ing] on another," when the Sadducees ask Jesus about a woman who married seven brothers (Matt. 22.23–33).<br /><br />John 3.1–21 could certainly be a similar example. But Nicodemus's appearances later in the gospel (7.45–52; 19.38–42) make me think he wasn't just coming to debate Jesus as just another teacher/rabbi. I'm prone to take N.'s statement in 3.2 at face value: He acknowledged that Jesus came from God and that God was with him, the very thing John says about the Word (1.1–18).<br /><br />But if you're right about N.'s motives in John 3, you're also right that N. continued to think about Jesus' words, apparently. Enough, anyway, that he stuck his neck out for Jesus in John 7 and 19.Rafaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14471888340005683193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16959378.post-14274915184004579252010-11-10T23:30:53.285-05:002010-11-10T23:30:53.285-05:00Do you think that Nic could have come to Jesus wit...Do you think that Nic could have come to Jesus with his own agenda? Didn't religious scholars pose questions and debate one another? I think maybe N came to Jesus and, with flattery, threw down the gauntlet, so to speak. He acknowledges Jesus' miraculous signs, possibly acknowledging him as a worthy debate opponent.<br />But Jesus doesn't even let it begin. He throws something at N, that is nothing like N has ever heard before, forcing him to think. Jesus challenges N, and earns his respect, enough that N continues to think and study on what Jesus said to him.<br />I'm not sold on that theory, just something I was thinking about this week. What do you think?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07471964388152540113noreply@blogger.com