Tehillah Generation Chapel
Daily Manna | Tuesday, January 2, 2018 | Reading: Exodus 33:1-11, Exodus 4, Gen 3:1-21
Topic: The Tabernacle of God 320
Scripture: But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say not of this building. (Heb 9:11)
Note: 2Cor 5:1, “For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” The fascination of Nicodemus with the miraculous manifestation of God’s power in the ministry of Jesus is a phenomenon that’s very common with most people who are merely after the spectacular miracles of God. The meteoric rise in the fame and popularity of Jesus among the Jews was a serious cause for concern among the religious ruling class, the religious intelligentsia, as well as the sworn detractors of Jesus.
Nicodemus wanted the opportunity to meet with Jesus to understand the secret behind His awesome power, coupled with the authority with which He taught the word of God. Unlike some other folks within the religious ruling class, Nicodemus wasn’t one of the detractors of Jesus. For a man of his status and clout in society, he knew that it would be awfully shameful to be caught or suspected to be openly flirting with the troublesome Jesus. The character Jesus, was an abrasive nonconformist, particularly against the hypocrisy and double standards of the religious ruling class. Christ never spared the opportunity to speak the mind of God listeners, be they detractors or not.
It was therefore politically suicidal and religiously shameful for Nicodemus to be caught lowering himself to a man whose detractors knew that the only way they could ever get back at Him for all the pain and dishonour He caused them, was to derail Him, plot evil and wickedness against His life and to raise up false witness against Him, with which they hope to finally dispatch Him to an early grave. For Nicodemus to be found on the side of Jesus could be misinterpreted to be an act of betrayal against the religious Council. The stealth movement of Nicodemus in the night was therefore his only hope for him to venture into an understanding of the working of God in the realm of the supernatural.
Nicodemus was ready to take risk to get to Jesus. It could cost him his position and livelihood. Yet, he was ready to make a move. His fascination with the supernatural drew him closer to Jesus, unlike the nameless woman at the well, who was rather seeking for the best way to avoid Jesus. Yet, in the midst of his planned pursuit, what Nicodemus didn’t know was that his fascination with the working of the supernatural wasn’t the topmost priority that should have preoccupied him. What Nicodemus really needed was to be born again, so that he could see the kingdom of God, John 3:3. When a man becomes born again, all other kingdom things are added to him, including the working of the supernatural, which becomes the children’s bread.
Food for thought: The gateway to everlasting life is to be born again through the operation of the Spirit of Christ. Are you born again?
Declaration: But seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you. Matt 6:33
©Author: Rev Fred Aboe
