The Secret Christian!

I was recently reminded of a group of people who existed in the early days of the reformation and who were derisively known as Nicodemites. The name probably speaks for itself. They were those who were deemed to be neither one thing or the other in religious matters, and so, were looked on as worthy descendants of that Pharisee who first came to Jesus by night and hear the indisputable terms of salvation, "Ye must be born again."

Nicodemus, with his religious counter-part Joseph of Arimathaea, has had a very bad press from the Christian church over many years, as the misuse of his name for those people mentioned above shows. And like so many other issues, what begins with a misunderstanding of one particular incident or phrase in the Word of God, very soon develops into an accepted piece of theological orthodoxy very hard and difficult to budge. So, it has become common-place for us today to hear of some people being referred to as "secret" disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ. Those people who show some kind of a religious interest, but who have never really made any public declaration of their faith, but who still ought to be looked upon as "secret" disciples of the Lord, and so, truly born again and surely bound to inherit eternal life at the last.

Now, we are quite prepared to acknowledge that there may be such people; (ultimately, "The Lord knoweth them that are His.") But, to create a distinctive grouping under such a title seems to us to be very precarious to say the least, and has little or no warrant from the scriptures whatsoever. "Oh," says someone, "but what about a man like Nicodemus? Or that other man, Joseph of Arimathaea? Does not the Bible even say that Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, 'but secretly for fear of the Jews'?" Indeed it does say that. But far from Joseph of Arimathaea (and Nicodemus too) being a case in favour of our present-day category of "secret" disciple, both these men and their cases absolutely militate against any such grouping. And what, in fact, the cases of Joseph and Nicodemus should do, is shout out a warning note in the ears of any who would set their hope of eternal life on any such imagined category of saved and redeemed souls within the fulness of the context of the whole word of God rightly divided.

You remember the incident involved? It is in the nineteenth chapter of John's gospel and at verse thirty-eight: "And after this," it says, "Joseph of Arimathaea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus: and Pilate gave him leave … And there came also Nicodemus, which at first came to Jesus by Night …" and so forth. There is the phrase, "a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews;" That is what has given rise to the category of "secret disciple" within the Christian church. But, just who was this Joseph of Arimathaea in the first place? There are quite a few references to him: he was "a good and just man," we are told; he had "not consented to the deed of counsel" of the other members of the Sanhedrin; he was "an honourable counsellor;" he "waited for the kingdom of God."

Now, it's that last-mentioned phrase that is probably the all important one. Joseph of Arimathaea belonged to that class of people such as devout old Simeon who "waited for the consolation of Israel." In other words, his eyes were ever towards the coming of the promised Messiah. And, obviously, when this Man, Jesus of Nazareth, appeared on the scene, Joseph of Arimathaea began to look on him with expectant heart, and the thought more and more formed itself in his mind that, perhaps, this was He of whom the prophets spake. He didn't express his thoughts and his hopes, of course: he kept them to himself. In other words he entertained them secretly – he was "a secret disciple," Until! Until what? My friends until the Cross; until the Cross.

Don't you remember the words that begin that verse thirty-eight of John chapter nineteen? "And after this," it says, "Joseph of Arimathaea ..." After what? After the cross. And above all, after all that the cross has set so clearly before us in that chapter 19 of John's gospel. Read the numerous references to the fulfilment of scripture in the crucifixion of this Jesus of Nazareth on that cross: - the parting of the garments, the cry, "I thirst," the futile attempt to break His legs because not a bone of Him should be broken, the opening of the fountain in His riven side. John rightly sees the Law and the prophets fulfilled. But John wasn't the only one who stood by and realised with burdened, and yet with joyful, heart that this was, indeed, the Christ, the Son of the living God. Dear old Joseph saw it, too. And, my friends, when he saw it, then he was a secret disciple no more; and in he went to that ruthless ruler of Jerusalem, Pontius Pilate, and performed one of the greatest gospel exploits left on record, when he begged the body of the Lord that he might take it away and lay it in his brand new tomb. Is this secret discipleship? Then, would that all the Lord's people were secret disciples! But, surely, the issue is clear, Joseph's secret discipleship is before the cross. We live in a post-crucifixion age; can a man or a woman once see the Cross, and the One who "was there put to shame" for them, and not express the salvation that the sight has imparted to their souls? Surely, such an idea must be held up to question.

Bear in mind, of course, we are not here dealing with the degree of witness or testimony that any one particular Christian might have over and above another. Some people have a ready out-going spirit, even in the things of their salvation, while others have a quieter and retiring disposition. But for a person to be born again of the spirit of God and not so much as even utter one cry of life seems to be a condition that finds no grounds in the Word of the Lord at all, and most certainly in that previous incident concerning that man Joseph of Arimathaea.

Look at his situation again. As we say, mark his description as one who was looking for the kingdom of God. And as this prophet of Nazareth preached, and ministered, and performed great works in the midst of the people over that three year period of his life, this Joseph looked on in silence and secretly committed his heart to the hope that this was He who should come. But, one thing was yet needed: for those of Israel who really knew the Word of God aright, "the Christ must first suffer, and then enter into His glory." And as that suffering had not yet come about in the fullest sense, Joseph of Arimathaea must still only have secret hopes and secret thoughts concerning this Man in their midst. Until! Until, my friends, he saw Him "lifted up from the earth" – bruised, and bleeding, and despised and rejected of men – and then he knew of a surety that this was the Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world.

There could be no secret discipleship now. Now, he could echo the words of old Simeon, "mine eyes have seen Thy salvation;" and now, he enters into the hall of Pilate and puts his life in the balance when he begs the body of the Saviour.

The same applies to Nicodemus. Was he not party to that request to Pilate that night, and the burial which followed? Of course; for now he had seen what Christ pointed him to that night when he had first approached the Saviour and had heard those words about the conditions for entering into the kingdom of God. And not only that, but had been pointed to the very sight that would bring that salvation to the hearts of men and women: - "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life." Now Nicodemus beheld that sight that had been set before his mind's eye on that memorable night, and the sight found ready expression in his actions which followed, which were far from secret – as far from secret as his partner in the deed, that rich man from the region of Arimathaea.

Again, we press the warning on any who are resting the hope of their soul's salvation on such a questionable foundation. When Joseph, and Nicodemus, too, saw the cross in all its fulness to their hearts, their secret discipleship was gone. Don't stop short with either of those men's lives: the Saviour whom, for a time in that age before the Cross, they followed secretly, was the Saviour whom they acknowledged openly, once that Cross was uplifted before their eyes. "Go and do thou likewise," for we know of no other foundation on which to set a man or a woman's hope.