troy the temple as a house of God, yet he would
speedily re-establish a true means of approach to the Most High for the
souls of men. He clothed his reply in a figurative dress, as he was often
wont to do in his teaching,--"Destroy this temple, and in three days I
will raise it up." To his unsympathetic hearers it must have been
completely enigmatic. Even the disciples did not catch its meaning until
after the resurrection had taught them that in their Master a new chapter
in God's dealing with men had begun.

118. The unreadiness of the Jewish leaders to receive the only kind of
message he had to offer produced in Jesus a decided reserve. He did not
lack a certain kind of success in Jerusalem. His cures of the sick won him
many followers who seemed ready to believe almost anything of him. But the
attitude taken by the leaders made it evident that Jesus must make
disciples who should understand in some measure at least his idea of God's
kingdom, and, understanding, must be ready to be loyal to it through good
report and evil. For the position taken by the leaders of the people had
an ominous significance. It could mean but one thing for
Jesus,--unrelenting conflict. If they could not be won, they who would so
legalize the desecration of God's house would not hesitate at any extreme
in opposing his messenger. This possibility confronted Jesus at the very
outset; therefore he held the popular enthusiasm in check, knowing that
as yet it had little of that kind of faith which could endure seeming
defeat.

119. One of those who were drawn to him, however, gave Jesus opportunity
to lay aside his reserve and speak clearly of the truth lie came to
publish. He was a member of the Jewish sanhedrin, a rabbi apparently held
in high regard in Jerusalem. While his associates were dismissing the
claims of Jesus with a wave of the hand, Nicodemus sought out the new
teacher by night, and showed his desire to learn what Jesus held to be
truth concerning God's kingdom. Jesus first reminded the teacher of Israel
of the old doctrine of the prophets, that Israel must find a new heart
before God's kingdom can come (Jer. xxxi. 31-34; Ezek. xxxvi. 25-27), and
then declared that the heavenly truth which God now would reveal to men is
that all can have the needed new life as freely as the plague-stricken
Israelites found relief when Moses lifted up the brazen serpent. This
conversation serves to introduce the evangelist's interpretation of Jesus