Lent II Sermon: Lenten Contrast – Caiaphas & Nicodemus

... I'm not sure I'm sold on the ending yet... methinks there can be a little more graceful close, but it is late, so I will just have to revisit it in the morning.

Matthew 26:57
Those who had arrested Jesus took him to Caiaphas, the high priest, where the teachers of the law and the elders had assembled.
John 19:39
He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds.

Lenten Contrast – Caiaphas & Nicodemus

It is Election Season again.  Voters around the country have to choose what they want in their elected officials.

Regardless of which side of the aisle you’re on, I think we can agree that the people whom we elect to represent us should be people of integrity and character.  Perhaps we are looking for someone who is able to identify with the “common man” or is a strong public speaker or debater.  Maybe the candidate’s education or previous political experience are major factors.  There are dozens of factors that come into play when deciding which candidate you will vote for come November. 

Well today as we continue our Lenten series contrasting the major players in the Passion History of our Lord, we are going to look at two of the highest religious and political leaders in the Jewish world.  And, even though they probably came from similar backgrounds, we are going to discover an eternally important difference:

                           Between  Caiaphas and Nicodemus

                  1.  One was looking for a solution

                  2.  The other was looking for a Savior  

First of all, let’s examine the man Caiaphas.  From a human point of view, he was the best that the Jewish culture had to offer.  He and his family were the first to grasp what Jesus was claiming.  He was the first to happen upon a solution to the “Jesus problem” and he was skilled enough to maneuver both people and Romans into doing what they did not want to do. It seems that he was quite a man.

First of all, the Bible tells us that he was the High Priest that year.  That says a lot.  The office of High Priest was one of the most significant and exclusive positions that you could hold as a religious leader.   In lineage you had to be a direct descendant of Aaron.  When it came to conduct and morally, you had to be impeccable.   Your knowledge of the Torah and the Tradition of the Elders had to be complete.  Your dedication was to be absolute.  You were to be at the temple always.  You were always on call. 

Caiaphas fit those requirements to a T.  He was respected, revered, and feared.   And it shouldn’t come as a surprise when Jesus comes into the world, the High Priest becomes Jesus’ sworn arch-enemy.  After all, Jesus came to replace the High Priest with a better priesthood.  You see, the High Priest’s job was to offer sacrifices for the sins of the people, especially on that Great Day of Atonement when he alone would enter the Most Holy place of the temple to offer the blood of a sacrificial bull and ram and goat to atone for the sins of the people and make them at one with a perfect God once more.  But because the people and the sacrifices weren’t perfect, the High Priest would continue to have to do this year after year.  Talk about job security!

But this Jesus of Nazareth threatened to dispute this status quo.  If Jesus was indeed the promised Messiah, then all the sin of the entire world would be paid for and there would be no reason for these elaborate animal sacrifices.  The old order of worship with the sacrifices and ceremonial law would be obsolete.  In effect, Jesus’ work would render Law aspects of the Temple ritual and worship useless.  And that was the power that Caiaphas – and every other High Priest that came before him- held over the people, it would destroy the High Priesthood and all who worked under him (a fairly large bureaucracy with many mouths to feed!)

In fact this Jesus not only threatened to dispute the spiritual life and livelihood of the High Priest, but the entire political climate of the region.  The High Priest did more than offer sacrifices and supervise the Temple worship.  His position, especially with the loss of sovereignty to the Romans in 67 B.C., became politicized and secularized.  In effect, the High Priest was the Prime Minister of the Sanhedrin, the ruling council over Jerusalem.  He had become the local government. Depending on the strengths and preferences of the overlords, the power of the High Priest could also encompass the entire region of Judea, with some power over Jews scattered throughout the Roman world.  All that would be disrupted and destroyed if Jesus were crowned King of the Jews.  The resulting chaos could be catastrophic!  Needless to say this religious leader faced what he perceived to be a big problem.  So Caiaphas sat as judge over a rigged trial.  His verdict was written days in advance when he arranged for the arrest of Jesus at the betrayal of one of his closest friends.  He was so consumed with himself and his job and his desire to maintain the status quo that he missed the Savior that was standing in front of him.  To him, the solution to the “Jesus Problem” was to put him to death, to be done with him- to put him on a cross and into the ground and move on with the way things were.  But that solution would only be effective if Jesus was a mere man.  If the claims that Jesus made and Caiaphas rejected and despised were indeed untrue.  Caiaphas was banking on Jesus being a liar, but we know that he most certainly was not.  We know by faith that Jesus was indeed the Son of God, He absolutely was the Messiah that was promised in the Garden of Eden thousands of years prior, and no tyrant, cross or grave could keep Him from fulfilling His divine purpose of living a perfect life, suffering the death that we deserved, and rising again on Easter morn.  Truly, Caiaphas would soon find out that his solution was no solution at all.

Now there another Jewish religious leader mentioned in our text, and that is the man Nicodemus.  He was no slouch when it came to the requirements necessary for a religious leader.  He was a member of the Sanhedrin – the Jewish ruling counsel.  Because of that, he too would be well learned in the Scriptures.  He would be required to be upright and demonstrate the exemplary moral life in words and deeds.  He too would be respected and admired – a man and teacher of great power of influence over all the people. 

But he was also another religious leader who was in a quandary about this Jesus of Nazareth.  We find out in John chapter 3 that Nicodemus was impressed by Jesus’ miracles.  He was convinced that Jesus was “a teacher who has come from God”, but he still had questions.  Nicodemus wanted to talk to Jesus without any distraction, without any interruptions, away from the crowds that followed Jesus everywhere he went.  He wanted to speak with Jesus teacher to teacher to get some answers and some idea if this man might possibly be the promised Messiah.  So he went to Jesus alone and at night.  He had to keep it a secret, because by going to see Jesus he was taking a risk.  

He was risking his reputation.  He was risking his position on the Jewish ruling council because many of his brothers on the bench had already made up their minds about this man.  They didn’t like Jesus. They were jealous of Jesus.  In their minds Jesus was a threat, and he needed to be stopped.

And if Nicodemus was seen with Jesus, if it got back to the other members of the council that Nicodemus had been talking with Jesus, he feared that they might turn their animosity against him.  They could strip him of his position.  They could take away his power.  And Nicodemus wasn’t ready for that, at least not yet.  A lot of others in his position felt that same pressure as John 12:42-43 tells us:

Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him.  But because of the Pharisees they would not confess their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue, for they loved praise from men more than praise from God.

As it turned out the risk was worth the reward because that candlelight conversation changed Nicodemus’ life forever.  He certainly was troubled because he knew the Scriptures – he knew what God was like and what he was like.  He knew that he was a sinner and that he couldn’t earn forgiveness and a home in heaven by his own works and merit.  And then Jesus told him things he had never heard before.  Jesus taught him about the kingdom of God and the Spirit of God and what it means to be born again.  Nicodemus was the first person to hear those beautiful words that are sweet music to our ears: “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” (3:16).

When Nicodemus left Jesus that night he didn’t have everything figured out, but the seeds of faith had been sown.  For the time being he decided to keep his visit and his feelings a secret, but he soon realized that he couldn’t keep quiet forever.

There you have it…two religious leaders…one who regarded him as a foe to be vanquished…the other as the Savior to be vindicated and proclaimed victorious.

two religious leaders – both devout men had to either embrace Jesus as THE promised one, or reject him as a heretic-  Caiaphas chose the ladder and was willing to be what was expedient – a solution HE could come up with that would make the situation beneficial for himself and his family.  The solution that would salvage his prestige and power and ensure his earthly security for succeeding generations.   And so almost automatically he knew what to do with Jesus.  He came up with a solution that swift and ruthless:  “Isn’t it better that this one man die so the whole nation doesn’t perish – so we can save our jobs, our livelihood, our way of life here and now?”  It became easy for him to eliminate this innocent one from his life and from the face of the earth.

But Nicodemus – this silent believer – came and sat at Jesus’ feet.   And when he did, he discovered a solution for the spiritual dilemma of sin which troubled his conscience and formed a barrier between him and his God.  Nicodemus desperately wanted a solution that was seemingly impossible for his to do on his own - to be born again as a child of God and heir of heaven.  He was desperately crying out for one who could do this for him – who could save him from his sin.  And on Good Friday at Golgotha he discovered what he was looking for – a Savior who would be the once and for all vicarious sacrifice for him – who would be beaten for him – who would offer his perfect life as the atoning price for all sins of all time – the sins of Nicodemus – as well as for the sins of you and me.  AS this learned rabbi gazed upon the cross, he undoubtedly understood the truth that the prophet Isaiah had proclaimed hundreds of years earlier:

But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.  WE all like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all!  53:4-6

All that is ours by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. And that’s the most important solution of all, not only for this life but also the life to come.

Nicodemus wasn't one of the twelve disciples, but he did something Peter and James and John and the other disciples weren't willing to do.  When he saw what his Lord had done for him he resolved to do something for his Lord.  In broad daylight he (and Joseph of Arimathea) took the dead body of Jesus down from the cross and gave him a proper burial. 

News of what Nicodemus had done was bound to get out.  Nicodemus knew that the Jewish leaders would eventually find out, but he didn't care anymore.  He didn't care who knew.  He wanted the whole world to know that he was a follower of Jesus.

And when it was reported that the strips of linen he had used to wrap Jesus' body were no longer wrapped around Jesus' body - when Nicodemus learned that the stone that had been rolled in front of the entrance to the tomb was no longer blocking the entrance to the tomb, he wasn't the least bit disappointed.  He had to have been excited - elated.  He knew in his heart that Jesus had risen.  And I would like to think that for the rest of his life Nicodemus told anyone who would listen that one day he would live with his Savior in heaven.

So as we look at these two religious leaders who were faced with the same dilemma of what to do about Jesus, may we always be Nicodemus.  May we always come to the Savior by faith and see him on that cross and know that because we believe in him we will not, but have everlasting life.  May we never forget that by his wounds we are healed.  May we always cherish the awesome fact that Heaven- eternity in perfection is ours through the death and resurrection of God’s one and only Son.  It is no coincidence that the name Nicodemus means "conqueror" or "victorious people,"- My friends, by the grace of God that is what we are. 

We are conquerors - We are more than conquerors through him who loved us, and so we can't be silent.  With our words and our actions, we declare our allegiance to God.  We confess our faith in God.  And we give all thanks and praise to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.