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April 20, 2004, Tuesday, Second Week of Easter

Nicodemus

In John’s Gospel, Nicodemus comes on the scene three times. (The other Gospels never mention him.)

(1) Toward the beginning of John’s Gospel, Nicodemus comes to Jesus at night wanting to learn more about him. (The passages quoted in the next post and other posts this week.)

(2) Later in the Gospel, at a gathering of the chief priest and Pharisees who were speaking against Jesus, Nicodemus speaks up: “Does our law condemn a person before it first hears him and finds out what he is doing?”

(3) Toward the end of John’s Gospel, Nicodemus helps Joseph of Arimathea bury Jesus. (Nicodemus brought “a mixture of myrrh and aloes weighing about 100 pounds.”)

Nothing further is known about Nicodemus. (There are legends of course. Some say that he was martyred. “St. Nicodemus” was even given a feast day – August 3rd.)

Nicodemus was also said to be the author of the “Acts of Pilate” (also referred to as the “Gospel of Nicodemus.”) This apocryphal work describes the trial of Jesus and his resurrection. (It was actually written in the fourth century.)

Last week, the first week after Easter, the daily Gospels were passages from all four Gospels describing different appearances of the Risen Lord. Beginning this week, and for the rest of the 50-day Easter Season, all the weekday passages are taken from John.

April 20, 2004, Tuesday, Second Week of Easter

Jesus said to Nicodemus, “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.” (Jn 3:7-15

Jesus is not just another prophet and miracle worker. He alone has seen God face to face. Which means that he alone can reveal heavenly things.

John’s Gospel particularly emphasizes this right from the beginning. In his Prologue, John writes:
”In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…No one has ever seen God. The only son, God, who is at the Father’s side, has revealed him.”

Why doesn’t Jesus tell us more about God? What does God look like? What is it like when God speaks? What does heaven look like?

Because this is all beyond every category we know. Its breadth and depth is wider and deeper and more wondrous than the earthly mind can even begin to take in – something like trying to explain to a one year-old what it’s like to have a child. You simply let the child experience your love. You can’t explain it.

So, Jesus says things like, “As the Father loves me, so do I love you.”

And I get a hint of what God is like. Because Jesus is the Son of God, and he loves me.

Spend some time with the Risen Lord.