Monday of Week 2 of Easter – Gospel
Commentary on John 3:1-8
Today we go back to the early part of John’s Gospel and begin reading chapter 3. In the coming Easter weeks we will be going through John’s Gospel more or less in order.
Today we see the encounter between Jesus and the Pharisee, Nicodemus, who was also a member of the Sanhedrin—the governing council of the Jews. He was, then, a very highly placed official.
Nicodemus came to Jesus at night. This, on the one hand, indicates his fear of being seen by others, but on the other, probably also has a symbolic meaning. Religious man though he was, when he came to Jesus he was in a kind of spiritual darkness. But his virtue is that he comes to seek light. Jesus, of course, is the Light of the World. On the other hand, in the next chapter, the Samaritan woman will meet Jesus in the full blaze of the midday sun. It is interesting to contemplate the underlying meaning of this as well.
Nicodemus begins by praising Jesus. No man, he says, could do the things that Jesus did if he did not come from God. Given the fact that at this stage of John’s Gospel Jesus has hardly begun his public life, it is odd that Nicodemus can make this statement. But it shows that the events described in this Gospel are not to be taken with a strict chronology. This Gospel is rather a set of themes about the role of Jesus for us and the world.
Nicodemus sees in Jesus a prophet, a man of God, but has yet to recognise the full identity of Jesus. Jesus counters by saying that no one can see the Kingdom of God “without being born from above” (or ‘born again’—both readings are possible, and the meaning is basically the same). Though very common in the other Gospels, the term ‘Kingdom of God’ is only used here in John (vv 3 and 5). Its equivalent in the rest of John’s Gospel is ‘life’. To be truly in the Kingdom of God, i.e. to be fully integrated in the Reign or Rule of God, is to be fully alive.
Nicodemus hears Jesus literally, and asks:
How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?
His misunderstanding gives Jesus the opportunity to lead Nicodemus to a deeper understanding. To be born again is to be born of “water and the Spirit”, a clear reference to Christian baptism. Flesh only produces flesh (as in natural birth), but the Spirit gives birth to spirit and that is the second birth we all need to undergo:
You must be born from above.
The Greek word for “you” in this statement is plural and therefore directed to all, not just to Nicodemus.
And once we are reborn in the Spirit, we let ourselves be led to where God wishes:
The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.
The “wind”, the ‘breath’ of the Holy Spirit, is the sole Guide for our lives. He brings about our renewal in his own way. The word for “wind” here is a word which also means ‘breath’ and ‘spirit’ (in Greek, pneuma).
Once we are guided by the Spirit, we have put ourselves totally in God’s hands, ready to be led wherever God wants us to go. This is the message being given to Nicodemus. He must be ready to move in a different direction from that which has guided his life up to this point. This readiness will lead him to see in Jesus the Word of God. We, too, wherever we happen to be right now, must ever be ready for God, through his Spirit, to call us in a new direction and to follow his lead.
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Monday of Week 2 of Easter – First Reading
Commentary on Acts 4:23-31
After they had been released by the Jewish leaders following their arrest and interrogation, and had been given strict warnings not to continue what they were doing, Peter and John went back to their community and related all about their experience. This was possibly the same ‘upper room’ where the Apostles had met before and where the community may have continued to assemble.
The whole community then prayed. They recalled the words of the psalmist who asks why the Gentiles and the princes of the world conspire against the Lord and his anointed. Here we see in the unbelieving Romans the ‘Gentiles’, and Herod and Pilate represented by the ‘kings’ and ‘princes’. They have gathered against the Lord and his anointed. The word ‘anointed’ in Greek translates as ‘Christ’ (christos). The Herod in question is Herod Antipas, tetrarch of Galilee and Perea from 4 BC to AD 39. He was the one who executed John the Baptist and before whom Jesus appeared during his trial. Acts will later describe his rather gruesome death (Acts 12:20-23). Pontius Pilate, of course, was the same Roman procurator who had Jesus crucified.
Yet they recognise that all of this had been foreseen by God. About Jesus’ enemies, Scripture says:
Have you not heard
that I determined it long ago?
I planned from days of old
what now I bring to pass… (Is 37:26)
It was not that God forced them to act as they did, but that their freely chosen decisions were foreseen by God and would become part of his plan of salvation.
They beg the Lord, as persecution is also extended to them, that God will be with them through:
…signs and wonders…performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.
It is good for us too to be aware that, when as individuals or communities, we are true to the living out of our Christian faith, we can expect to face criticism, opposition, abuse and ridicule. Then we must also pray for the Lord’s assurance, protection and guidance. We do not necessarily expect those against us to change their minds, but we ask for the strength to continue being faithful to our convictions and the search for truth and goodness.
Then, suddenly, the place where the community is praying begins to shake and they are filled with the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of the Father and Jesus. Their prayer for strength and courage has been heard. Jesus had said:
Very truly, I tell you, if you ask anything of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. (John 16:23)
It is a mini-Pentecost and enables them to go out and proclaim the Good News with renewed confidence, unafraid of the threats and dangers that await them.
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