Nicodemus was up “to no good”, not “to know good.” Nicodemus was a member of the Jewish ruling council. He was one of the people who was in charge of the worship at the temple. The money changers and the livestock dealers could not have functioned without that counsel’s permission. The actions and the teachings of Jesus were hurting him financially.

He came to Jesus at night, even though a man of his social status could very easily have come in the daytime. John leaves it unsaid, but very much implied that Nicodemus did not want his visit to Jesus to be publicized or known by his fellow Jews. Outwardly he seems to say the right things by acknowledging that Jesus comes from God. He admitted that the signs Jesus was performing had to have God’s power behind them. The obvious question is, “If he believe that, then why didn’t he believe in Jesus?”

Words are interesting things. Many sound alike, many more have two or more meanings, and many are susceptible to being funny/puny. I like the study of words and am fascinated with how meaning changes based on context, culture and the passing of time. In the book of John we find that quite often he records the words of Jesus as having two possible meanings and quite often they can be understood as puns.

When an educated man hears a word that has two possible meanings, it gives him an opportunity to make a choice. He can choose to deal with the serious understanding intended by the speaker, or he can choose to misdirect and pretend misunderstand to avoid dealing with a touchy subject. When Jesus said, entering the kingdom of God requires being born “again”, the Greek word translated “again” has the literal translation “from above” which would mean “from God.”

Nicodemus deliberately chose to misunderstand. He chose to speak of physical rebirth rather than admit his need for a spiritual renewal. He chose ignorant unbelief because his heart was set on doing evil.