Now that the Octave of Easter is over, our Gospel this morning is not an account of the Lord’s resurrection. Rather, we hear a vignette (usually called a “pericope”) that takes place, according to Saint John’s Gospel, relatively early on in Jesus’s ministry. In this episode, Jesus is in Jerusalem teaching and presumably healing.
It would seem that after this first encounter with Jesus, Nicodemus remained one of his disciples, albeit a secret one. After the Lord’s death on the cross, it was Nicodemus, along with Joseph of Arimathea, who saw that Jesus was properly buried. Indeed, burying the dead was and remains one of the corporal works of mercy.
In today’s Gospel, Nicodemus seeks Jesus out at night because, as a member of the Sanhedrin, which was the Jewish council that governed at least Jerusalem under the Romans, he did not want anyone to see him talking to this Nazorean whose preaching and miracles were causing a stir. His approach to Jesus is fairly cautious. In response to Nicodemus’s statement about God being with him, Jesus does not say: “You’re very perceptive, Nicodemus. In fact, not only is God with me, I am God in the flesh.”
Jesus, as he seems wont to do, cuts to the chase, meaning gives the answer to the question that is really on Nicodemus’s heart: “unless one is born from above, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.”1 In short, he tells Nicodemus about eternal life, which desire is what drew this member of the Jewish ruling class to the Nazorean peasant. But Nicodemus is confused by this answer. He takes it literally and rightly points out that everyone is only physically born once.
Of course, to heed Jesus’s summons would require Nicodemus to make his discipleship public. But he does not do this until after Jesus’s crucifixion when he helps to retrieve Jesus’s lifeless body and place it in the tomb. Jesus persists: “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless one is born of water and Spirit he cannot enter the Kingdom of God. What is born of flesh is flesh and what is born of spirit is spirit.”2 In fact, you’re not really born until you are baptized.
Nicodemus Visiting Jesus, by Henry Ossawa Tanner, 1899
Jesus’s words here clearly point to baptism. But the Lord also links what we now call confirmation to baptism when he states: “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.”3
As he is throughout most of the Acts of the Apostles, the Holy Spirit is the focal point of our first reading. The occasion is Peter’s and John’s release after they were hauled into the Sanhedrin on suspicion of heresy for teaching and healing in Jesus’s name and proclaiming him Messiah and Lord. The primitive Christian community was so happy that the two were free that they offered up a prayer of thanksgiving. Of course, “Eucharist” means “thanksgiving.”
So powerful was their prayer that “the place where they were gathered shook, and they were all filled with the holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.”4 This, my friends, is how people reborn to eternal life pray! Is this how we pray? Do we pray in the Holy Spirit’s power?
What does the community pray for? They pray that they continue to speak God’s word with boldness, heal the sick- like the crippled man Peter healed in the Temple, and perform other signs and wonders done in the name Jesus.5 One mistake we make is to see this as so much crazy charismania, meaning an uncontrolled and wild Pentecostalism. A “charism” is a gift of the Holy Spirit. Because every Christian is possessed of spiritual gifts, these can be used in a healthy manner. In light of this, a distinction can be made between “Charismatic” and “Pentecostal.”
As Jesus noted in speaking with Nicodemus, the Spirit blows where he will. In other words, we don’t have a repeatable formula for miraculously healing the sick or bringing about belief by performing amazing signs. But we can visit the sick, even in this time of pandemic. Like burying the dead, visiting the sick, too, is a corporal work of mercy. We can call people, email them, text, or use Skype and Zoom to check in on them, especially those whom we know don’t have anyone else to do so. We can use our resources to provide necessities for those in need.
Of course, we must be consistent and persistent in intercessory prayer, lifting up the needs of others to God, who is all-good and who is mercy itself. As far as speaking God’s word with boldness, as the Scripture tells us: “Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope, but do it with gentleness and reverence.”6
1 John 3:3.↩
2 John 3:5-6.↩
3 John 3:8.↩
4 Acts 4:31.↩
5 Acts 4:29-30.↩
6 1 Peter 3:15-16.↩
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