Following Jesus like Nicodemus
Following Jesus like Nicodemus The Rev. Bingham Powell In our Gospel today we are introduced to the character Nicodemus. Nicodemus was a wealthy, well respected member of the community. He was also considered to be a leader among the Jews. He had been hearing about this Jesus guy and was intrigued. He had some questions, and so he goes to Jesus to try and get his questions answered. The Gospel says he went in “the dark of night”, which could be because he wanted secrecy. He might also be concerned that he would lose his reputation if he ends up following Jesus. John’s is also a highly metaphorical Gospel, and when he talks about darkness and light there is usually a deeper meaning. The darkness and night could also represent confusion in Nicodemus’s mind about what is going on. But he is interested, and so goes down in the dark of night, lurking in the shadows, and asks Jesus some questions. Jesus gives answers, and there is some back and forth. I get the sense in this Gospel that Nicodemus probably left a little disappointed, that his questions were not as clearly answered as he would have liked. If this was the end of Nicodemus’s story, it would be easy to say that he had just been a foil for Jesus’s teachings. There are a lot of great teachings in this section of the Gospel: For God so love the world that He gave his only begotten Son; being born anew with water and the Holy Spirit. It would be easy to think Nicodemus was just a foil to get these teachings out, but Nicodemus shows up again in the Gospel. The next time he shows up is when Jesus is in Jerusalem for the Festival of the Booths. Jesus has been getting a lot more people around him. He has been going to the Temple to teach during the day, and the religious leaders, of which Nicodemus is one, are getting upset with Jesus. They think he is committing blasphemy, and some are calling for him to be killed. Nicodemus is there for one of these conversations with other leaders who are figuring out ways to arrest Jesus, but have been unsuccessful. Nicodemus tips his toe in the water of what it might mean to defend Jesus. He doe not give a full-throttle defense of Jesus. He does not say I am following him, or yes, he is the Messiah, or yes he is the Son of God. He asks if Jesus should not have a trial first. Shouldn’t he be given his due process before we execute him? Nicodemus puts forth a very basic, simple defense. Perhaps he is testing the waters as to what would happen if he came out in full support of Jesus. Nicodemus gets a lot of push-back from his friends, clearly showing that if Nicodemus had gone to see Jesus in the light of day, he would have been shunned by his friends. He might have lost his position in the community. This is the end of the second story of Nicodemus. Nicodemus comes a third time in the Gospel, at the end of Jesus’s life at the crucifixion, after Jesus has died. Remember that almost all of Jesus’s friends had abandoned him, but there are a few who don’t. The women don’t abandon Jesus, the beloved Disciple is at the foot of the cross, and there are two more men, Joseph of Arimathea, and Nicodemus. He is there when almost every else has abandoned Jesus, and with Joseph they take his body and bury it. Nicodemus is the one who provides the oils and perfumes and spices, about 100 pounds of them. This is a big investment that he is making in caring for Jesus’s body. They are hurrying to do this before it gets dark. The first time Nicodemus comes to Jesus it is in the dark, and here we have Nicodemus in the light where everyone can see that he is by Jesus’s side. There is an arc in the Gospel of Nicodemus moving from wondering and questions, lurking in shadows, to dipping his toe in the water, to having the courage to be there by his side when everyone else says Jesus is a criminal. It is a remarkable transformation that Nicodemus has over the course of the Gospel. Tradition tells us Nicodemus went on to be a follower of Jesus who was ultimately marty