This is part of our series of posts on the texts appointed for the Revised Common Lectionary readings.
by Rev. Wilson Pruitt
John 3:1 Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews.
John 3:2 He came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.”
Nicodemus comes by night so as not to be seen. When we start to explore the full extent of God’s power of reconciliation, it can move against the wisdom of the world that often portrays itself as ‘christian.’ Nicodemus was a faithful Jew, a Pharisee, a student of Torah. He saw something amazing in Jesus, but he also knew that there were others in Jerusalem who would feel threatened by Jesus.
The status quo always has its defenders. The status quo of criminal justice is literally filled with millions in this country who think that their ideology of good guys and bad guys is all that is saving our children from suffering. This does not even get into those who explicitly profit from the status quo system, but people whose ideology is trapped in this manichaean good vs. evil that cannot see how far God’s grace can go.
Jesus spoke in the public square the truth of God’s love. He was not ashamed of who he was or what God was doing. Yet he also met with those who had to come in the night. He did not berate Nicodemus for coming at night. Jesus welcomed him and explained the reality of new birth. He answered questions again and again, even to the point of the radical claim of John 3:16, a claim that the carceral state cannot abide. Some may come in the night. Some may come in the day, but God’s radical love and reconciling mercy is there for all, whether those currently in prison or those currently impersonating others. God’s mercy is there and we must offer it, in the night and the day.