Metaphysical meaning of Nicodemus (mbd)
Nicodemus, nic-o-de'-mus (Gk. fr. Heb.)--overcoming of the people; victor over the people; victory of the people; victorious among the people; innocent blood; pure blood; blood without blemish.
A ruler of the Jews, who came to Jesus by night to inquire into His teaching. To Nicodemus Jesus emphasized man's need of a new or spiritual birth (John 3:1-9)
Meta. The popular idea of religion dominant in the consciousness, hence the esoteric meaning of his name, victorious among the people, victor over the people, victory of the people. He is pictured as a prominent Pharisee, one who believes in the strict letter of the Scripture, yet is open to conviction if a higher truth can be entertained safely. This pharisaical side of man's mind, in its faithfulness in the observance of religious form, becomes aware of the presence of divine power.
Nicodemus' coming to Jesus (spiritual I AM) "by night" (spiritual darkness) shows that intellectual learning counts for naught in the regeneration. Man must be born of Spirit in order to be redeemed.
When the pharisaical phase of the mind, which Nicodemus represents, becomes receptive to Truth, the spiritual I AM (Jesus) reveals the importance of man's coming into an understanding of "heavenly things." Man establishes the "heavenly things" (Truth) in mind, body, and affairs through denial of carnal beliefs and affirmation of spiritual realities.
To be "born of water" is to be cleansed of all impurity, sin, and materiality, through denial. To be "born of the Spirit" is to come into the consciousness of divine law and to lift the whole man into a new life of harmony and order by affirmative prayer. A religion that is accepted just because our parents believed in it is a dark state, because there is no real understanding in it. This is the Nicodemus phase of mind. He was a Pharisee and a ruler of the Jews. He represents the pharisaical side of man's mind, which observes the external forms of religion without understanding their real meaning. We accept our inherited religious tendencies without giving much consideration to their origin. In olden times it was considered unfilial, and an evidence of disobedience, for children to join any church other than that to which their parents belonged. The Jews were especially rigid in the observance of this inherited religion, and they proudly referred to their forefathers--Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob--who were taught of God.
This ruling tendency of our surface religion is spiritual darkness; so it is represented as coming to Jesus (spiritual I AM) by night. But there is that in it which is pure (pure blood), is single in its desire to know Truth, and is seeking the light; when we begin to ask the cause of the works of healing that are being done on every hand by people who believe in Truth, we are acknowledging that there is evidence of divine power.
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Preceding Entry: Nicanor
Following Entry: Nicolaitans
