The Gospel according to John (3:7b-15)
Jesus said to Nicodemus:
“‘You must be born from above.’
The wind blows where it wills, and you can hear the sound it makes,
but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes;
so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
Nicodemus answered and said to him,
‘How can this happen?”
Jesus answered and said to him,
“You are the teacher of Israel and you do not understand this?
Amen, amen, I say to you,
we speak of what we know and we testify to what we have seen,
but you people do not accept our testimony.
If I tell you about earthly things and you do not believe,
how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things?
No one has gone up to heaven
except the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man.
And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert,
so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.”
Reflection:
I have always loved the story of Nicodemus. I’ve written in the past on this Tuesday of the 2nd Week of Easter, as the Gospel is always this one from John chapter 3. It ends just prior to that most familiar Bible verse, John 3:16, which we will hear tomorrow. The story of Nicodemus is one that stands in stark relief to pretty much all of the interactions we have in the Gospels between Jesus and the religious leaders, the Pharisees.
Nicodemus comes by night to see Jesus, because seeing Him in daylight would subject him to the same scorn that Jesus receives. But, I don’t think Nicodemus is doing that to avoid others knowing about the conversation. I think it’s because Nicodemus was actually looking to understand Jesus and His mission. It’s presented very early in John’s Gospel, but I have to think that Jesus had been preaching, teaching and healing for a least some time to get the attention of one of the “teachers of the Jews”.
Nicodemus’ questions and Jesus’ answers sound like Nicodemus was just slow and not understanding and Jesus was annoyed that He had to explain things to Nicodemus, but I think that’s a shortcoming of translating from Aramaic to Greek to Latin to English. Something is definitely lost in translation! I think we miss that Jesus was recognizing Nicodemus’ effort and was trying to help him to understand. Doesn’t that sound like the journey you and I make each day in our faith? God speaks to us and tries to help us understand His tremendous love for each one of us. And, we probably don’t understand a lot of what His plan entails, right?
That’s okay. That’s where faith comes in. If we knew everything of God’s plan, there would be no need for faith. We would have complete knowledge, which does not require faith. In this time in between for us, we won’t have complete knowledge. We just have to listen to the voice of God’s Spirit, and have faith in this God who loves us, and trust that the place He is leading us to is a place we need to be.
As we walk through this Easter season, let us try to act as Nicodemus did – let us try earnestly, honestly, humbly to learn more about this amazing God we worship, and ask Him to guide us along that way. It’s a journey that is worth taking and is one that will take the rest of our lives to complete!
Action for the Day:
Pause today and ask God to show you what He wants you to do today to serve His children. It can be as simple as extending a kind word to someone you meet, offering a listening ear to someone who needs to talk, or to pray for someone you know is in any kind of need. If you feel that prompting, listen to it and share a blessing with someone today!
Link to the DEACON5 website: https://deacon5.com/
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