The Old Testament is a description of God’s continuous fidelity to his people and the people’s almost constant disobedience and their willful wandering away from him. God sent the prophets and holy leaders to guide the people, but they continued to organize their lives based on selfishness, disinterest, and violence. God attempted to restart his creation several times by eliminating certain pockets of ill will such as Sodom and Gomorrah and even once attempt to redo everything in the Flood. It is truly amazing that God didn’t just give up on us and walk away. Rather than walk away from us, God decides to redo us from the inside out – the same external form, but a new internal creation. God loves us beyond our sins and beyond our human capacity.
Nicodemus comes to Jesus in today’s Gospel as a teacher in Israel steeped in the tradition of the Old Testament. He comes at night; he comes still full of fear of being seen with Jesus; he comes not wishing to lose his important position; he comes out of darkness, still carrying darkness.
Still living in that darkness, Nicodemus is able to recognize something special in Jesus and what he is doing. He comes bearing compliments and praise for Jesus and lauding his wondrous works. Yet Jesus does not respond to the praise, he immediately tells Nicodemus he has to be reborn. Nicodemus cannot understand how to be born again. As a result, we have Jesus’ response as remembered by John: God so loved the world. That is how we are recreated. Living in that love as manifested to us through the life and resurrection of Jesus.
As Christians we live in the joy that God loves us so much that he sent his Son to take on our flesh. Many people continue to live in the darkness without God. Many more live in a sort of grey area where they recognize a God or gods but do not live untied to God – not truly Christian – lukewarm as Jesus says.
During this pascal season we renew our joy of living in the love that God has for us and we renew our mission to share that love with everyone else.
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.
Image: https://beads-of-joy-blog.blogspot.com/2019/05/god-so-loved-world.html