Lent 2 Year A 5 March 2023 Nicodemus
Readings: Genesis 12.1-4a; John 3.1-17
God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world,
but in order that the world might be saved through him.
This morning’s gospel propels us into the stuff of cloak and dagger!
Courage and integrity in the face of fear –
though not without a little caution! And some tough choices to make.
Nicodemus is a wealthy Pharisee.
And there is good historical evidence to suggest that he was a member
of one of the most distinguished families in Jerusalem.
He is also a man hungry for Truth.
And now, Nicodemus thinks he might just
have found something, someone, different – and precious.
A most unusual man has been teaching both in Galilee and Jerusalem.
Peoples’ lives are being turned upside down:
the lame have leapt to their feet, the blind see.
Of course there are also some down-sides.
After all, he does seem to choose his friends
without much thought as to how others will perceive his choices!
And this rabbi, far too free and easy in his relationships with women! Nicodemus’ colleagues have a definite problem
with this different if not difficult man.
He flouts the regulations of the Law as they have come to understand them.
And why does he raise such a commotion wherever he goes?
Whatever will happen next – we’ll have revolution on our hands!
-480For one of Nicodemus’ standing it would be damaging indeed
to his reputation if not dangerous to show too much interest.
Notwithstanding all of this,
something tells Nicodemus he must somehow get to talk with Jesus,
discover what it is, this exhilarating freedom Jesus offers!
How dangerous can that be compared to losing the joy he’s been glimpsing in all who surround this man. Freedom from past failures.
Freedom from that crippling sense of worthlessness.
Freedom to move into new ways of living and being.
Nicodemus’ nerves are steeled.
Scribes and Pharisees, were usually spoken of by Jesus together.
Scribes were the educated wise men of the Middle East,
and in Jesus’ day were often given the title Rabbi, as was Jesus himself.
During the exile in Babylon in the sixth century BC,
the scribes became important interpreters of the Law.
They poured over Scripture
and from the great principles of the Law as given to Moses,
they worked out a pattern of rules and regulations
to govern every conceivable situation in life.
And in the absence of the Temple, the building of meeting houses
was begun, those community centres – the synagogues,
where scribes taught the people the Law and what it meant.
The synagogue represented a new movement
the Jewish people took back with them
when they began their return to the land of their birth – sent back by
the great king Cyrus of Persia only fifty years after the Babylonian Exile.
Now, in addition to being centres of education
the synagogue came to be a place of worship.
Worship focused on prayer and teaching. Worship beyond the Temple.
Worship without the need for priests to conduct sacrifice.
A revolutionary concept in every culture of the day.
While the newly built Second Temple would remain central to Jewish life,
synagogues were now appearing in every major town and city.
During the Hasmonean dynasty
two hundred years before our gospel story takes place,
there was an increasing corruption of the Temple priesthood
And a new group, political as well religious,
a new group emerges: the Pharisees.
Predominantly a lay movement, they were scribes and teachers
strongly opposed to the rapidly growing influence of Hellenism.
This was a progressive lay movement, more democratic,
closer to the ordinary people,
keen to interpret the Law for contemporary times.
They pledged themselves to rigorous observance
of every detail of scribal regulation,
insisting on strict practice for all who would be holy before God.
They believed that such observance
would bring reward in the after-life, a radical new idea
rejected by the older aristocratic Sadduccees,
that ancient lineage of priests based in the Temple
who claimed descent from Zadok, chief priest under the kingship of David.
The Saduccees were the most powerful men in the nation.
Following the death of Herod, Judea and Galilee
were governed by these religious authorities based at the Temple,
the High Priest and the Council or Sanheddren, which included members from all three groups: scribe, pharisee and priest.
Nicodemus is also a member of this Sanheddren. An unusual member.
Trusting no one will see him Nicodemus visits Jesus by night,
asking Jesus to explain himself.
He receives an accurate if astonishing reply!
‘You will only understand what I am about if you are born again!’
As might we, Nicodemus questions Jesus’ statement:
How can he suggest something so ridiculous!
No one can get back into their mother’s womb to be born a second time!
True, but…. We can only receive what Jesus offers
if we are willing to see with new eyes, learn with a new heart.
So radical a shift in our perceptions does this require
that it is indeed, the equivalent of a new birth!
Think about this a moment. Is it not true that real freedom
often does demand a radical change in our thinking?
All those tough challenges in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount!
A letting go of past attitudes so fundamental
it is as if they have never been. The miracles Nicodemus
has seen and heard about which draw him to Jesus are minor
compared with the significance to our happiness
of our inner spiritual life as we embrace Jesus and his teaching.
Living God’s freedom starts with our spirit and God’s Holy Spirit.
This freedom is a new beginning. It is also a mystery.
Such ideas were not new in Jesus’ world.
The Gentile proselyte who embraced Judaism
was seen as becoming like a new-born child.
But the change Jesus demanded was greater still.
It involved the spirit and not the letter, of the Law.
There will be times when seeming to break the Law
will bring us closer to God. As in Jesus healing on the Sabbath.
His repeated touching and healing of those considered ‘unclean’.
His practice of eating with those who had put themselves beyond the pale! Who you ate with was a great matter of status!
His bringing of people together such as tax-collectors and zealots –
men deeply opposed to one another in their former lives.
His breaking of the taboos which separated men and women.
Then Jesus’ deep concern and love for the destitute,
those with no means to fulfil purity regulations.
And his willingness to engage with the foreigner.
In Lent we reflect on the motivations of our hearts.
So, are we driven by fear? By an overriding ambition for status?
A seeking for power over others?
Or are we driven by a passionate desire to be true to who we are,
true to our best selves?
A passionate desire for the well-being of others?
A heart that seeks justice – but is fuelled by compassion and mercy?
A willingness to forgive – ourselves, as well as one another.
Identifying with Christ and his love for the world,
his freedom of living, had a powerful and dramatic impact
on the everyday lives of those who followed him.
They indeed experienced the likeness of being ‘born again’.
Oh, and Nicodemus, what choice did he make in the end?
The gospel of John goes on to tell us that in the fulness of time,
Nicodemus does choose to put his life on the line for Jesus.
When it was usual to leave the bodies of the crucified for the scavengers,
Nicodemus with Joseph of Arimathea, will claim Jesus’ body,
provide abundant pure nard for the anointing of his body,
give him a rich man’s burial following his shameful death. Amen.