Did Nicodemus Hear John 3:16?
This Sunday the Revised Common Lectionary has us reading John 3:14-21. This rather major change from the BCP lectionary of 1979 is a mystery to me; I would have preferred extending the reading for Lent II in Year A (last year) from 3:1-17 to 3:1-21. That is to say, I think these verses belong with the Nicodemus story—indeed, that they are the end of it. And so it’s a shame we will hear them in isolation from that context.
They fit Nicodemus. He comes to Jesus in the night, and in verse 20 we have Jesus (or the gospel writer?) saying, “everyone who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light.” If Nicodemus heard those words, he would feel their challenge: he had come to Jesus in the night, not because he was evil—but he was, perhaps, in danger of going that way. In the previous verse Jesus (or the gospel writer) says that “the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” If he heard those words, Nicodemus would sense that Jesus was speaking directly to his heart. Is he going to be on the side of light, or will he stay in darkness?
The subsequent mentions of Nicodemus in John suggest that Jesus’ words convicted him and turned his heart towards the light. In chapter 7, Nicodemus stands up for Jesus amidst the leaders who were trying to condemn him. And at the end of chapter 19, after the crucifixion, Nicodemus takes Jesus’ body and anoints it with “myrrh and aloes” and wraps it in a linen cloth, as was appropriate—as was loving—as the deed of someone who has come into the light, whose deeds are righteous and good.
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John’s Gospel works on multiple levels at the same time. Nicodemus, told by Jesus that he must be born anew from above, asks how he will fit back into his mother’s womb. He is thinking on only one level; Jesus of course was using fleshly language to speak of the Spirit.
John’s multiple layering is sometimes manifest in the grammar or the structure of the text itself. It is clear, in chapter 3, that Nicodemus is no longer there by the time we get to verse 22. But it is not clear when Nicodemus leaves. At the same time, it is not clear where Jesus stops speaking. Biblical Greek has no quotation marks. So we do not know where Jesus leaves off and the gospel writer picks up. In the NRSV, Jesus speaks all the way through verse 21. But in the RSV Jesus stops at verse 15, and from verse 16 on it is the evangelist John making a comments and generalized theological claims upon the events as a whole. “So God loved the world,” (and the “so” rightly goes first; the sentence means, God loved the world in this way, by giving his only Son)—did Jesus say this, or is John making a comment? The King James Version, like the Greek, has no quotation marks, and thus could be read either way.
I think it interesting to meditate on these various possibilities: Nicodemus stayed around, or Nicodemus left; Jesus kept speaking, or Jesus stopped and we are getting commentary. In both cases, it could have happened at different times.
One of the layers of John’s Gospel is the layer of us, the contemporary church, hearing it read. If Nicodemus might or might not be there listening, how about us? How much do I hear? When do I tune in or tune out? At the end of it, through internal transformations we can only guess at, Nicodemus has become a courageous believer in Jesus, might this be happening to me? As I read John’s Gospel, as I hear it in church, as it sinks through my mind into my heart, am I turning into someone who loves the light, someone who will be courageous for Jesus’ sake?
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Out & About. This Sunday, March 10, I am to preach at St. Matthew’s in Dallas at 9 and 11:15 a.m. Then at 5 p.m. we will discuss the strangely popular recent novel, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce. We meet in the Great Hall for 90 minutes; everyone is welcome, and if you’ve read the book you are welcome also to talk.
Wednesday, March 13, I will address the Lenten program at St. Matthew’s on Five Basic Christian Teachings important for our time. This week’s topic is the most important of all: what is a human being? I take this to be revealed in Jesus, who was the one truly complete human being. This is discussed in chapter 4 of A Post-Covid Catechesis, if you want to read up in advance. You can come at 7 p.m. for the class, or at 6:30 for a light supper, or at 6 to join in the stations of the cross.
Sunday, March 17, I will be a guest at the rector’s forum of New York City’s parish of Calvary and St. George’s. Topic: “The emergence of the distinction of humans and (other) animals.” Info here: https://www.calvarystgeorges.org/events/rectors-forum-with-the-rev-canon-victor-lee-austin