Johann Quisumbing

Spiritual Lessons for those who Listens by JQuisumbing

When it comes to spiritual lessons for our daily lives, I found that within The Chosen’s presentation of the storyline of Nicodemus, there lies a fantastic opportunity for me as a Bible Teacher to offer eye opening, life-changing precepts for everyone who has ears to listen. 

In Fear & Wonder (part 1), Nicodemus, a well established religious leader, highly respected and confident that the Lord was with him, had been driven away in fear when he was confronted by a deranged, tortured female, possessed by no less than seven demons. His fear was not his only dilemma. His hasty retreat from the possessed’s lodging was not only witnessed by the residents of the Red Quarter but by his fellow Pharisees. We pick up his storyline at about 35 minutes into episode 1 (season 1). The setting was twilight in his bed chambers. Nicodemus had his head bowed in his hands, looking both disheartened and lost. Here was a man froth with doubt.

DOUBT had been mostly implemented by evil to only sow confusion, disillusionment and depression with the desired ending of death when the heart had given up. For believers (at least, those I know anyway), the use of this word is hardly considered in their witness to the lost. But as doubt can be used for evil, it can definitely be greatly used for good when done in God’s way. How?

While Nicodemus was questioning things, his wife reminded him that he was the ‘Teacher of Israel’ who should not have questions of uncertainty but one who gives answers; a bringer of clarity. He asked his wife to stand with him in front of a mirror. As they looked at their not-so-clear reflection, he said, “Sometimes, I wonder if what we can know of Adonai (God) in the law is just as blurred. What if we’re not seeing the whole picture? What if it’s more beautiful and… [pause for effect] …and more strange than we can imagine?” 

Do you know what mirrors (including distorted ones) are good for? They will always show you what it is reflecting; nothing more, nothing less. A mirror cannot lie. Even a distorted mirror will show exactly what it was meant to reflect and that is a blurred image of the subject. For Nicodemus, that mirror represents the initial seed of doubt that had been sown in him to question his own religious beliefs. 

Do you recall what Jesus instructed in the Sermon of the Mount concerning the teachers of the law and the Pharisees? “For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.”¹  He said this because they had focused so much on the conglomeration of the ‘oral’ law which is of their own making, they have lost sight of the very Giver of the Law. This was illustrated in episode 2, when one of Nicodemus’ underlings defiantly declared that the ‘law is God!’ 

Speaking of the Law, have you ever considered that when you gauge yourself against the Ten Commandments, it is like looking into a mirror and seeing that you can’t measure up? God’s ideal is that if you break one commandment, you are guilty of breaking them all.²  The reality here is that the purpose of the Law is to remind us that we have a SIN problem. So, the seed of doubt that was planted in Nicodemus was first to humble him with this reality. Now, it’s time to see the seed sprout.

After listening to his wife’s rebuke, the Pharisee-in-him reasserted itself. Nicodemus  reasoned away his failure by saying, “Only God Himself could have drawn them out. – Only God Himself…” The stage is set. 

Let us go to episode 2, where it was reported to Nicodemus that the woman that he failed to help was seen to be miraculously healed. Now, he had already declared to the council of leaders that the depth of her demonic oppression was beyond human aid. His official report was meant to placate the leadership with an intellectual dissertation. It was a screen, so that they would not see how this failure had affected him personally. This is seen as he sought out clarification in both Scripture and the accumulated writings of scholars from ages past. In the scene, he was in the middle of his research when one of his students barged in, startling him to react frustratingly, to say that he was officially summoned. When he was being told about the sighting of the healed woman, you could almost see what he was thinking. How was this possible? Could it be that he didn’t fail after all? He had to find out. Upon hearing that the council wanted a formal rabbinic court inquiry into the miracle, Nicodemus managed to convince them to allow him to investigate. 

Again, I have to commend Erick Avari’s performance as Nicodemus. As his character progresses through the storyline all the way to episode 8 of season 1, I recommend that you pay attention to his facial expressions. Masterful! His evolving expressions had provided me with a perfect opportunity to emphasize an important spiritual principle taught by Jesus to His disciples about the right type of faith. This is just a hint. I’ll reveal the principle close to the end of this post. 

About 21 minutes into episode 2, Nicodemus found the healed woman who was actually Mary of Magdala, wonderfully played by the actress Elizabeth Tabish.

Upon seeing her, the seed of doubt had sprouted not just curiosity but a hunger. For before him stood a person who was literally healed by God. He had read about it in the Scriptures; he had expertly lectured about it but never in his wildest imagination did he ever thought he would witness the genuine article. When Mary almost retreated from his inquiry, he begged her… “I am desperate for your help, Mary?” he pleaded. For a Pharisee, a self-proclaimed holy man, to humbly beg for help from a woman who would have been branded as hopelessly sinful, I would say that he was almost hooked. But that curiosity needs a little bit more tweaking before it becomes saving faith. 

In their conversation, he asked her, ‘how long after his visit did she feel the change?’ She told him that it was nothing he did that healed her. He was a little comically disappointed. Then, just as she was about to tell him who, you would hear starting in the background the gentle solemn musical tone, subconsciously indicating to the audience to pay attention that something sacred was being said. Mary spoke first.

He called me Mary. 

He said, “I am His. I am redeemed.”

Then Nicodemus whispered, ‘And it was so?’

With his rabbinic knowledge of Scriptures, you have to wonder if the words ‘I am His’ would ring a bell. Keep in mind that what all Israelites know was that the name that God had given to Moses before the burning bush was YAHWEH (YHWH) which translates to ‘I Am’. To them, it is strictly forbidden to use His name as a personal identity. Now connect this back to episode 1, when Nicodemus said that, ‘Only God Himself could have drawn the demons out.’ The idea that any man should identify themselves as ‘God’ would have been abhorrent to Nicodemus, but yet, look at his face. What do you see? 

Ah, the spiritual seedling is growing.

Mary told him a number of things about the healer except for His name which he wanted. At this time, Nicodemus was so deep in searching for Him that he extended his stay in Capernaum to do crucial research, to the detriment of his wife’s wishes. His search eventually took him to finding John the Baptizer (episodes 4 & 5), where the prophecies of Isaiah connected the promised Messiah to the one he sought. Let us jump to episode 6, when he heard of a gathered crowd listening to a ‘common’ person who has commanded the attention of the entire area. When he got there, he found the street jammed packed with people, their full attention toward an open door where he could just make out the top of the head of someone speaking. He was again feeling out of his element, as he was in the Red Quarter, when he spotted Mary of Magdala on top of the roof. Upon asking himself why she was there, He soon lost his discomfort. Then, he heard from that rooftop a voice calling down into the house through an opening begging the preacher to heal her paralytic friend.³ 

Now, the entire scene was cinematically busy, jumping from many perspectives of different characters who were there; Nicodemus (of course), his underlings, Mary & the African woman on the roof, Simon Peter, Jesus & the other disciples in the house, and even a couple of Romans. You will have to watch it for yourself for its full effect. Meanwhile, getting back to Nicodemus, there was no denying that he had witnessed a miracle happening. But I felt that the crux of that whole scene was when the man who was once paralyzed walked right by him and he followed him intently with his eyes.

If I was to use one word that described what his face reflected it would be CHILDLIKE.

Earlier, I mentioned an important spiritual principle taught by Jesus about the right type of faith. Well, when his disciples came to Him arguing about who then would be the greatest in the kingdom, placed the child among them and said, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”⁴ What do children have that we must emulate to enter eternal life? Most always say innocence. But kids are mischievous practically all of the time and some can even be quite cruel. And remember that foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child.⁵  So, what do they have? Remember that salvation can only be had by faith and children, though flawed as can be, they do have a great capacity to believe. That is the faith that God wants. And that’s what I read from Erick Avari’s performance.

We finish this posting with the scene in episode 7 when Jesus and Nicodemus met at night. The biblical content of their main discussion, I will write about in a future article. For now, let us look at what was once a proud overbearing person to one whom… Well, I’ll let you fill in the blanks yourself. 

Jesus had concluded the discussion with God’s plan of salvation. Nicodemus looked a little bewildered, for there was much to absorb. Then, as he gazed at the man before him, the healer himself, he confessed, “My whole life I have wondered if I would see this day.” 

When they both stood up, he asked, “Is the kingdom of God really coming?” 

“What does your heart tell you?” Jesus replied.

“Oh… My heart is swollen with fear and wonder and can tell me nothing except that I am standing on holy ground,” Nicodemus said sobbing. Then he knelt and kissed Jesus’ hand. When asked what he was doing, he answered from a Psalm…

“Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, And you perish in the way…”

Jesus then lifted him up and completed the verse, “Blessed are all those who take refuge in Him.”⁶

When they embraced, like a father to his son, Nicodemus wept even more.

TO GOD BE ALL THE GLORY

Footnotes: [1] Matthew 5:20; [2] James 2:10; [3] Mark 2:1-12; [4] Matthew 18:3; [5] Proverbs 22:15; [6] Psalm 2:12;

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