Tuesday of the 2nd Week of Easter (Year C)
Ac 4:32-37 | Ps 92:1ab.1c-2,5 | Jn 3:7b-15
In today’s Gospel, we drop in on Nicodemus and Jesus having a quiet discussion in the night.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
Nicodemus? Where have I heard that name before?
Brothers and sisters, let me introduce Nicodemus,
Uh, okay. Hi.
a Pharisee…
Boo! Hiss!
…of some standing with the Sanhedrin,
You killed Christ! MURDERER!
who came to Jesus in secret to be instructed (Jn 3:1-21),
So what? MURDERER!
who exhorted his Pharisee brethren to set aside “star chamber” justice, and not to condemn Jesus “without first hearing him to find out what he has been doing” (Jn 7:50),
MURDERwait, what?
and who, after Jesus’ crucifixion, quietly worked with Joseph of Arimathea at great personal risk to give Him a burial fit for a King, with a royal surfeit of myrrh and aloes (Jn 19:38-42).
Oh.
It’s easy to look at people who are “from that group”:
- the foreign workers who just boarded the bus we’re riding, and who smell a little “off”…after building our homes and other infrastructure,
- the young families staying downstairs, whose toddlers keep breaking noise ordinances by shrieking in the dead of night…and keep their parents sleep-deprived and frantically trying to figure out what’s wrong,
- the middle-aged lady peddling 4D lottery tickets to every diner at the hawker centre we frequent…”reduced to poverty by the very gambling habit she now tries to pass on to others” (what Sherlockian powers of deduction we have!)
and pass judgement from our own limited point of view, whether publicly or in the secrecy of our own hearts. It’s far harder to Do Right By Christ in full view of the collective “jury” around us; it’s too easy to justify our inaction with the ludicrous “love thy neighbor, don’t make them lose face”. When everyone else is doing the same uncaring thing, showing compassion makes you stick out like a nail that’s just begging to be hammered.
The Pharisees were depicted in the Bible as legal fanatics who were long on self-righteousness and short on love for thy neighbor. In contrast, Nicodemus shows us another way, a thoughtful and compassionate way.
It’s sad that, in his time, he had to hide his right-minded activities to avoid some very serious consequences. Now that stoning and traumatic removal of body parts are largely things of the past, perhaps we can do better than St. Nicodemus.
Lord, grant us the courage to do what is right and just, without excusing ourselves for fear of those around us. Amen.