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By Paul David Tripp

I want you to consider a principle: Faith makes you a canvas upon which the Redeemer can paint the beauty of his grace.

What do you think this principle means? And how does it apply to the situations, locations and relationships of your everyday life?

Take a moment to meditate on these questions, and when you’re ready, grab a Bible and read John 3:1-21.

THE BACKGROUND

In most of the gospel narratives, the Pharisees are identified as a group of people, but in John 3, we’re introduced to a specific Pharisee by name—Nicodemus.

Nicodemus was a member of the ruling legal council, the Sanhedrin, which was essentially the Supreme Court of the Jewish people. The Sanhedrin was virulently opposed to Jesus and his messianic claims, and they repeatedly tried to trap him with questions and publicly expose him as a fraud.

In the ultimate miscarriage of justice, the Sanhedrin arrested Jesus, put him on mock trial, convicted him of blasphemy, and then turned him over to the Roman authorities to be crucified.

With that being the case, it makes sense that Nicodemus, being a member of that Sanhedrin, would approach Jesus under the cover of nightfall. This meeting was incredibly risky—who knows what would have happened to Nicodemus had his colleagues learned that one of their own was so convinced that Jesus was from God that he sought him out to have questions his answered.

It makes sense that Nicodemus was afraid, but he had little seeds of faith planted in his heart. As they began to sprout, these seeds of faith caused Nicodemus to take that life-changing walk at night to meet the Messiah. The conversation that followed would result in the most memorable words ever spoken.

A LITTLE FAITH

Isn’t it comforting to know that Christ doesn’t require us to possess a big and bold faith? Rather, in forgiving and understanding grace, he accepts us as we are, with miniscule, weak, doubt-filled faith.

He never mocks our wobbly knees and shaky hands. He never turns his back on us when fear mixes with faith in our hearts. The story of Nicodemus proves that Jesus doesn’t ask us to march toward him in the broad daylight. No, he joyfully receives us when we sneak toward him under the cover of darkness!

Our Lord is just that tender, just that patient, just that kind. He knows that the mysteries of redemption confound and confuse us. He recognizes that the truths he reveals about himself are counter-intuitive to us. He understands that the things he calls us to do are intimidating for us.

With compassion and empathy, he graciously invites us to come as we are, and he promises that when we do, he won’t turn us away.

THE FAMOUS CONVERSATION

As you read John 3, it’s striking to note that Jesus does not question Nicodemus’ timing, motive or manner. He doesn’t rebuke him for coming under the cover of night. He receives him without judgment and is immediately willing to answer his questions.

It’s also important to note that while Nicodemus’ opening question is about the true identity of Jesus, Jesus responds by confronting Nicodemus with the eternally crucial issue of the moment. In grace, Jesus cared more about the spiritual state of this man than he did about defending his personal messianic claims.

In the moments that follow, Christ unpacks for this fearful and wobbly faith-filled member of the Sanhedrin the mysteries of new birth and the essentiality of his impending sacrifice. There’s laser focus to this conversation, because the Redeemer is talking to a man in desperate need of redemption.

You can tell from Nicodemus’ responses that Jesus has taken his mind to places that it has never gone before! Jesus is revealing to the heart of this man what only God can make known to us.

This is an important concept to grasp: It takes divine grace for us to understand the mysteries of, and our need for, divine grace. You and I don’t run to, or rest in, divine grace because we have faith. No, we have faith because we’ve been met by divine grace.

Nicodemus has been drawn to Jesus by divine grace. He’s hearing the words of Jesus because of divine grace. He’ll embrace what he has heard because of divine grace.

The whole narrative of John 3 is not driven by the resolve of Nicodemus, but by the power and glory of rescuing, revealing, forgiving, accepting and transforming divine grace!

A CHOSEN CANVAS

I want to return to the principle we considered at the start of this story: Faith makes you a canvas upon which the Redeemer can paint the beauty of his grace.

Nicodemus had no idea of what was happening through him in this moment of history. He had been chosen to be with Jesus on that life-changing night, not just because he needed to personally receive the truth-revealing, heart-changing grace of God, but also because he had been chosen to be an instrument of that grace in the lives of an untold company of believers down through the ages.

Nicodemus was completely unaware, but he had been chosen to be the canvas on which Jesus would paint one of the best-known portraits in all of Scripture of his redeeming grace!

Under the cover of darkness on that world-changing night, Nicodemus was more than just a seeker of truth and a recipient grace. Because he was those things, he became a canvas as well. And on the canvas of Nicodemus’ heart, propelled by little sprouting and fearful seeds of faith, Jesus would paint the glorious colors of his work of redemption.

With the skill of a divine artist, Christ took his brush and painted, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16, ESV).

What a stunning portrait of the entire narrative of redemption!

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Source: Church Leaders