The Third Chapter of John

Paper Summary:

The Gospel of John, chapter III, begins with the story of Jesus talking to Nicodemus; a tale of a religious man questioning the godly authority of a spiritual man named Jesus Christ. The paper shows that the story is a metaphor of a spiritual conversion, or the change in a person's belief system. Despite being a Jew, Nicodemus desires to have a private conversation with a spiritual man in the late hours of the night, hoping to find the answers to eternal life.

From the Paper:

"In this metaphor of a spiritual conversion, Nicodemus feels the need to sneak away from his old friends and his old beliefs in search of something different. Carol Hulbert makes this observation "not only is Nicodemus visiting at dark, he himself is in the dark." Nicodemus needs something more than the religiosity he has learned from the Pharisees. "Nicodemus was raised a Jew observant to the Law and believed following the Mosaic Law made him acceptable to God." (Yeager) In this secret encounter, Nicodemus calls Jesus "Rabi", which means "teacher that comes from God." Nicodemus tells Jesus, he and the Pharisees know that Jesus is a teacher that comes from God because of all the miracles he and the Pharisees had witnessed."

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