Nicodemus has been disparaged because he went secretly to Christ Jesus to inquire into his teaching. Yet, Nicodemus went, and went for the purpose of sincere inquiry; which is more than can be said for most of the other members of the Sanhedrin. Afterward, also, he spoke for Jesus in a meeting of the Sanhedrin. And after the crucifixion he joined another secret disciple, also a member of the Sanhedrin, in providing a burial such as was then regarded as suitable for a distinguished person. (See John 3:1-15; 7:45-53; 19:38-42.)
Furthermore, the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus furnishes two reasons for concluding that Nicodemus had at least a logical sense of Principle. One of these reasons is his saying to Jesus, "No man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him." In other words, he said, "No one can do these signs that thou doest, except God be with him" (Am. Rev. Ver.). The other reason is that when Jesus, in effect, told Nicodemus that the flesh is born of itself and is not man, Nicodemus did not ask him to explain how the flesh originated. In both of these respects, Nicodemus has furnished an admirable example for all inquirers into Christianity or Christian Science. In one or another of its different forms, the question, How did error originate? has presented itself to many inquirers into Christian Science, and is apt to recur until it is exposed to them as error's own question. That which does not proceed from divine Principle has no origin, no reality. Error's question about itself must be extinguished by this truth. (See "Miscellaneous Writings" by Mary Baker Eddy, page 346.)
Of course, we owe a debt of gratitude to Nicodemus for eliciting from the Master his great lesson on regeneration: "That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.... Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit." Thus, the great Teacher reduced to a few sentences the entire problem of human life, and gave its solution. Matter and Spirit are opposites. Neither matter nor Spirit evolves into or produces the other. Man is that which is born of the Spirit; he is purely spiritual. Material sense knows nothing about the real man. It cannot tell whence he cometh, nor whither he goeth. The human self must be born again; it must get rid of materiality by adhering exclusively to Spirit. This is the gist of the great lesson which Nicodemus got from Christ Jesus for us.
