The dark night when Nicodemus came to Jesus reflected the dark night of his own soul. For a long time Nicodemus had lived in the sunny land of a Pharisee’s certitude. Nicodemus had it all figured out. He had all the answers. He was the Bible Answer Man. But then along came Jesus and suddenly his equations no longer added up. Jesus was an untrained, self-made rabbi from Galilee who was not a Pharisee — and yet God was obviously with him. All of this created deep theological cognitive dissonance for Nicodemus.
Jesus was the monkey wrench in Nicodemus’ theological system.
Jesus was the pebble in the shoe of Nicodemus’ certitude.
Jesus was the solar eclipse that suddenly cast a shadow of doubt into Nicodemus' soul.