Way back in the beginning, Lent was a season of preparation for new Christians, who would be baptized on Easter Sunday. The typical Lenten discipline was the fast.
It was taken very seriously. Usually, fasting was observed Monday through Saturday, when they were permitted only one meal at the end of the day – a vegetarian meal. Sundays were exceptions, because every Sunday is considered a little Easter – a feast day, a celebration of the resurrection.
It is rare now for Christians to observe such a strict Lenten discipline. When we think of a Lenten fast, we might think of giving up sweets or caffeine. We consider it optional. And, very likely, we are not really sure what the point of it is.
This is probably why many Christians now embrace the idea of taking something up rather than giving something up during Lent – that feels more purposeful, somehow. Yet the Lenten fast is a spiritual practice that still may have much use for us. We might just need a new angle. What if instead of speaking about giving something up, we rephrased it as letting something go?
Nicodemus was asked to let go of some things. He needed to let go of certain ways of looking at the world – this idea of what it means to be born, for example. He needed to let go of his concepts of truth, of certainty. He needed to let go of the way he understood God’s actions in the world, and even who he was in relation to God and all of humankind. Nicodemus was being asked to let go of some really big things.
And Nicodemus, as we see, was not very successful at it. This conversation we hear between Jesus and Nicodemus is funny, in a way. Jesus is speaking on a level that Nicodemus doesn’t grasp, his words seem to fly right over Nicodemus’s head, and Nicodemus responds with questions that completely miss the mark.
The problem seems to be that Nicodemus wants answers, but answers that fit into his boxes. And Jesus is handing him a whole new set of boxes. But Nicodemus can’t deal with it, he’s drowning in his confusion.
Then Jesus tries to throw him a lifeline: he tells him about God’s unfathomable love. But, maybe it is just plain unfathomable to Nicodemus. He doesn’t say anything more, and we might assume he walked away into the night.
If only he could have recognized the help he needed. If only he could have accepted the love Jesus offered.
We feel sad for Nicodemus, because we certainly know what it is like to be utterly confused by something, like he was confused by Jesus. We understand how it feels to be losing control of things, the way Nicodemus was losing his grasp on everything he believed to be true. We might even worry about him. Maybe you find yourself wondering: whatever became of Old Nic?
I can tell you that Nicodemus made another appearance in the story in chapter 7. Jesus is teaching among crowds of people at a religious festival. The Pharisees are about ready to have him arrested, but Nicodemus is there and he says something to the others to slow things, calm them down.
Nicodemus makes one final appearance. After Jesus is crucified. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus take his body from the cross to the tomb. Nicodemus brings the myrrh for his burial.
Is the jury still out on Nicodemus? Possibly. But there is hope for Nicodemus. He appears to have stepped out into some new territory; he is letting go of some things for the sake of being present to the new things.
What is it in your life that you need to let go of this season? What is standing in the way of you accepting the help Jesus wants to give you, of receiving the unfathomable love of God?
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Photo by Aamir Suhail on Unsplash
