In my New Testament class at BYU we are learning about the life of Jesus Christ while he was on this Earth. Today I was reading in the bible dictionary about Nicodemus. Nicodemus is the man who defended Christ in front of the Pharisees, was the ruler of the Jews, and brought spices to Jesus' burial.
Recently, I have been looking back on my days in high school when defending my religion with the other members in my class was a daily occurrence. We had a teacher who had Anti-Mormon literature on his bookshelves. On the first day of school, I approached my teacher and told him that his books offended me and wished he would take the books off of the shelf. I remember his answer as clearly as a bell on Christmas day, "Mary, you have been brain washed your entire life. I would be doing YOU a favor if I made you read one of these books."
I quickly answered by saying, "I believe in my religion whole heartedly so I would be doing you a favor if I made you read the Book of Mormon." After my comment I walked out of the class, hoping I would never have to return. Later that day I went and saw my guidance counselor and asked to be removed from the class. My counselor refused and told me that if I wanted credit for the class I had to stay in that class with that teacher. As soon as I got home from school, I went to my room for some personal study time and knelt on the ground. I asked for Heavenly Father to give me strength to be able to endure this teacher and to be able to stand up for what was right. That year was a cruel year for me in that class, but whenever I had the opportunity to defend my brother, Jesus Christ, and my Heavenly Father, I took advantage of it. I learned so much from standing up for my belief. If my teacher ever challenged me back and I did not know the answer, I would go to my bishop, parents, and teachers and ask for help on understanding topics that I did not understand as well. This experience taught me many lessons that I would not have learned without the trial. I am extremely thankful for that teacher in high school and even more thankful that he was put in prison the following year for being disrespectful towards others in the classroom.
The only person I had to stand up to was my history teacher in high school. Standing up to him was hard, but the trial gave me the testimony that was needed for the years that followed high school. Nicodemus had to stand up to a group of pharisees who mocked him and ruined his reputation among the Jews. I pray that one day I will have the strength Nicodemus had while standing up for what he knew was right. He is an example to me and will hopefully be an example to everyone one day.
