Reflection
Acts 4:23-31
Psalm 2
John 3:1-8
Nicodemus must have been an incredibly interesting person. He must have been like many of us, trying to growth in our faith but we have so many questions. In today’s gospel, we see that Nicodemus came to Jesus at night. That was done so Nicodemus could meet Jesus without anyone recognizing that he was going to meet with Jesus.
Jesus lets Nicodemus in on baptism: “unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter the Kingdom of God.” The Jews had practiced a ritual bathing that was similar to baptism, so Nicodemus would have had some thought of the purifying effect that Jesus was describing.
However, Jesus goes even further than the Jewish understanding of the ritual – baptism makes the person new. That newness comes from how we are made children of God through baptism. We leave the old self behind and become someone new.
The courage of Nicodemus is the courage we all need to appreciate. While Nicodemus did not immediately leave his position as an elder, he would be one of the people preparing the body of Jesus for burial. We need to keep growing our knowledge of Jesus and thereby come to follow Him more closely. We need to make a decision to follow Jesus every day. Go for it! It is worth it!
Smile at God today!