A reading
from the Holy Gospel according to John. (Jn 7, 40-53)
When some
people in the crowd heard what Jesus said, they believed.
‘This is really the prophet’, they said. Others said, ‘This is the Messiah.’
But some asked, ‘Surely the Messiah does not come from Galilee, does he? Has
not the scripture said that the Messiah is descended from David and comes from
Bethlehem, the village where David lived?’ So there was a division in the crowd
because of him. Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on
him.
Then the
temple police went back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them,
‘Why did you not arrest him?’ The police answered, ‘Never has anyone spoken
like this!’ Then the Pharisees replied, ‘Surely you have not been deceived too,
have you? Has any one of the authorities or of the Pharisees believed in him?
But this crowd, which does not know the law—they are accursed.’ Nicodemus, who
had gone to Jesus before, and who was one of them, asked, ‘Our law does not
judge people without first giving them a hearing to find out what they are
doing, does it?’ They replied, ‘Surely you are not also from Galilee, are you?
Search and you will see that no prophet is to arise from Galilee.’ Then each of
them went home. This is the word of the Lord.
It was the great day, John tells us just a few verses before today’s gospel
reading. It was the last day of the festival of the Tabernacles. Jesus was standing
there, and he cried out, ‘Let
anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink. Some in the crowd were impressed and said
‘This is really the prophet’. Others thought he was the Messiah. Others did not
believe, not because of any religious reason, but because of a sort of racism.
They said ‘Surely the Messiah does not come from Galilee, does he?’ ‘Can
anything good come out of Nazareth?’ Nathanael told Philip when he told him
that they had found the Messiah. ‘Come and see’ Philip answered.
The chief priests and Pharisees saw trouble arising from this
faith in Jesus the carpenter from Nazareth, or the lack of it. So they sent
temple police to arrest Jesus. When the police went back to the chief priests
and the Pharisees, these asked them ‘Why did you not arrest him?’. The police
answered ‘Never has anyone spoken like this!’ They heard Jesus speaking, and
they saw the impression he made on the crowds, and they could not arrest him.
Here John introduced Nicodemus for the second time. Who was
Nicodemus? We met him for the first time when he visited Jesus because he
wanted to have a clear idea of who Jesus was, and what was he standing for.
Only one man in the whole Bible is named Nicodemus. It is the man in John’s
gospel. He was a leader of the Jews, a teacher. We do not know much about him.
His name, though, can inspire us. The name Nicodemus is made up of two Greek
words, Nicos, that
stands for victory, and Demos, meaning people. So this name can be interpreted
as ‘Victory for the people’. Indeed, this just man points to Jesus, who is the
Victory for the people.
Through this Pharisee, John sends us a message inviting us to follow in his footsteps.
First we meet him in a dialogue with Jesus. He knew that, sooner or
later, he had to judge this carpenter turned teacher. He decided to speak to
this man of God, so he could form an intelligent and informed decision when the
time came to judge him in the Sanhedrin. He told Jesus, on that first meeting,
‘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.’
The first meeting between Nicodemus and Jesus ended with
words that are an invitation, ‘Those who do what is true come to the light, so
that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.’ It is like
Jesus is asking Nicodemus, who had come to Him during the night to come to the
light. It is an invitation for us too for, as St. Paul said, ‘You, beloved, are
not in darkness ... for you are all children of light and children of the day;
we are not of the night or of darkness’ (1 Thes 5, 4-5).
We meet Nicodemus again, in today’s gospel selection. Slowly
but surely Nicodemus is coming to the light. Surely Jesus loved him, and he
knew it. Jesus loves to be and to speak with people of good will.
Nicodemus saw that the chief priests and the Pharisees wanted
to arrest Jesus.
He surely knew what some
of the people of Jerusalem were saying, ‘Is not this the man whom they are
trying to kill?’ So he decided to defend Jesus who, according to law had a
right to a fair judgement. In a way he was also defending the temple police who
did not arrest Jesus, for they had the right to express their minds. ‘Never has
anyone spoken like this man’, they reported. Nicodemus spent time in dialogue
with Jesus, and the temple police heard Jesus preach. So they saw what Jesus was standing for. For the
other members of the Sanhedrin, Jesus was only an enemy they wanted to eliminate
at all costs. Nicodemus tried to put an end to this injustice. Indeed, he lived
up to his name and tried to give ‘victory for the people’. For his stand in
favour of a fair judgement for Jesus, Nicodemos was insulted by colleagues.
They told him, ‘Surely you are not also from Galilee, are you?’ Remember the prejudice
of the people, ‘Has anything good come out of Galilee?’ ‘Search’ they told him,
‘and you will see that no prophet is to arise from Galilee’. Does this echo
Christ’s words during his first meeting with him, ’Are you a teacher of Israel,
and yet you do not understand these things?’ These words from Jesus the
carpenter are a teaser, I think. Those from the other members of the Sanhedrin
were an insult!
The third time we meet Nicodemus is when he showed in public
that he was a friend of Jesus, a disciple. Joseph of Arimathea, who was a
disciple of Jesus in secret because of his fear of the Jews, got permission and
went to take the dead body of Christ for burying. Nicodemus, who had come to
Jesus by night, also went to the cross taking with him a mixture of myrrh and
aloes weighing about a hundred pounds. They took the body of Jesus and buried him according to the custom of the Jews. Indeed he remembered what
Jesus told him. ‘Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must
the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal
life... Those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly
seen that their deeds have been done in God.’ Nicodemus came public about his friendship
with Christ.
Nicodemus’s gift reminds us of the gifts the wise men offered
baby Jesus, gold, frankincense, and myrrh. It was a gift for his birth. That of
Nicodemus was a gift for his burial or, we might say, for his resurrection. A
hundred pounds of myrrh is a huge amount, much more than was needed for a
burial. He recognized in Jesus the Son of God, who lives forever.
This, is the spiritual journey of Nicodemus. He first made
personal contact with Jesus and expressed his doubts and his desires. That’s
prayer that strengthens hope! He then defended Jesus’ right to a fair judgement
and the temple police. That’s charity expressed in deeds! Then he publicly
showed his love for his crucified master when he helped in his funeral, for
until then he was a disciple in secret. That’s faith shown in courage!
We do not know what happened to Nicodemus after Christ’s
burial. We know that his spiritual journey is an example for us to follow. He
tells us again and again Christ’s message, ‘For God so loved the world that he
gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may
have eternal life.
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