Word to the Wise
Wednesday, April 27, 2022 - 2nd Week of Easter - Wed
[Acts 5:17-26 and John 3:16-21]"God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. [John]
These words are familiar. The citation, JOHN 3:16, has shown up on a banner at televised athletic events for years. In many ways the lines are a summary of the entire fourth gospel! I like to distill it even further: JESUS IS THE ONE WHOM GOD HAS SENT.
In characteristically dramatic fashion, the evangelist sets the scene in darkness in which the leading Pharisee, Nicodemus, comes to Jesus. One of the major images of this gospel is that of Jesus as the "light of the world." [John 1:3-5; 9:5]. Contrast is an important "tool" in this gospel: light/darkness, above/below, sight/blindness, misunderstanding/understanding. The theme of water and the Spirit also appears and will reappear in the scene with the Samaritan woman [4:7-15]. Judicial language is another characteristic and we see it in the lines: "And this is the verdict...." This conflict theme permeates the entire gospel and probably reflects the conflict between Jews who accepted Jesus and those who did not and were expelling believers from the synagogues.
The broad message of the scene with Nicodemus is that Jesus is sent by his Father as a pure gift, but a gift that will be rejected by those for whom it is intended. The "Prologue" to this gospel is a point to which we must return over and over again: "He came to what was his own, but his own people did not accept him." [1:11]
Nicodemus departs in darkness, but gradually comes to belief as we learn later on in the gospel {John 7:50-52; 19:39]. The "light of faith" is worth our meditation. Are we like Nicodemus who is at "dawn" in his faith or like those at "dusk" who leave and return to a former way of life? [6:66] Faith is the continual acceptance of God's loving gift of the "light of the world." AMEN