Fourth Sunday of Lent (B)

Readings:

1. Chronicles 36.14-16, 19-23
   Psalm 137.1-2, 3, 4-5, 6  Response:  “Let my tongue be silenced, if I ever forget you!”
2. Ephesians 2.4-10
3. John 3.14-21

[Note:  Many parishes use the readings from Cycle A during Lent.  In that case, the gospel would be John 9.1-41, the story of Jesus and the man born blind.]

Reflections on the Gospel Reading

A characteristic way that John the Evangelist conveys his message about Jesus is by placing discourses in the mouth of Jesus.  Some of them are rather lengthy, such as the Last Supper discourse that takes up five chapters!  This Sunday’s reading is taken from the first discourse in John’s Gospel. (John 3.1-21)  A Pharisee named Nicodemus comes to Jesus by night with the beginnings of faith.  Jesus invites him to deeper faith by pointing out the necessity of being begotten or born from above.  (The Greek word anothen is ambiguous and means both “again” and “from above.” See Brown 1966, 130.)

Nicodemus understands the word to mean “again” 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?” (John 3.4 NRSV) Jesus responds by speaking of birth by water and the Spirit.

Nicodemus’ second question: “How can these things be?” leads to the portion of the discourse that we read today.  Jesus “explains that this rebirth can only come as a result of the ‘lifting up’ of the Son of man, that is, his death and glorification.” (Fuller & Westberg 2006, 253)

This gospel passage has so many themes that one hardly knows where to begin in commenting on it.  John’s Jesus speaks in stark contrasts:  love and hate; eternal life and perishing; light and darkness; saving and condemnation; belief and unbelief; doing the truth and practicing wickedness.  There are still more themes, and I have chosen to reflect on two of them – “Nicodemus” and the meaning of “lifting up.”

Nicodemus

Nicodemus appears three times in John’s Gospel.  Quite possibly he was an actual historical person. (See Brown 1966, 129-130; Fuller & Westberg 2006, 253.)  However, for John the Evangelist Nicodemus also plays a symbolic role; “he represents a group among the Jewish leaders who hesitantly came to believe in Jesus.” (Brown 1966, 129 See John 12.42.)  When he first comes to Jesus he has a belief based on miracles.  He addresses Jesus as Rabbi and a teacher from God because, he says, “no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.” (John 3.2 NRSV)

We saw from last Sunday’s gospel reading that Jesus didn’t put much stock in professions of faith based on his miracles or signs.  “When he was in Jerusalem during the Passover festival, many believed in his name because they saw the signs that he was doing.  But Jesus on his part would not entrust himself to them because he knew all people . . .” (John 2.23-24 NRSV)  In John’s narrative Nicodemus, then, serves as an example of one of those people.

Nicodemus first comes in secret by cover of night.  Although he is drawn to Jesus, he is not prepared to risk his honorable status by acknowledging Jesus publicly. (See Pilch 1996. 59.)  After all, he was a leader of the Jews, a member of the Sanhedrin, “the official Jewish court, made up of seventy priests, scribes, and elders, presided over by the high priest.” (Note to John 11.47 in NRSV.)  His reputation would suffer if other members of the Sanhedrin knew he was meeting with Jesus¹.

We meet Nicodemus again in Chapter 7 of John’s Gospel.  Having come up to the temple again in the fall for the feast of Booths, Jesus has become the center of controversy.  The chief priests and the Pharisees send the temple police to arrest Jesus.  Returning empty handed the police explain their failure to arrest Jesus by saying, “Never has anyone spoken like this!” (John 7.46 NRSV)  When the Pharisees berate the police for their explanation, Nicodemus speaks out:  “Our law does not judge people without first giving them a hearing to find out what they are doing, does it?” (John 7.51 NRSV)

The nighttime visitor has become a daytime defender. (See Pilch 1996, 60.)  Nicodemus has risked his honorable status to speak out on behalf of at least fair treatment for Jesus.  The rebuke is immediate.  “Surely you are not also from Galilee, are you?” (John 7.52 NRSV)  This comment reflects the disdain of the Judean elite for people from Galilee such as Jesus.  For Nicodemus this incident is another step toward publicly identifying with Jesus.

The third and final time Nicodemus appears in John’s Gospel is in Chapter 19 after Joseph of Arimathea, another secret disciple of Jesus, received Pilate’s permission to remove Jesus’ body from the cross.  “Nicodemus, who had at first come to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds. They took the body of Jesus and wrapped it with the spices in linen cloths, according to the burial custom of the Jews.” (John 19.39-40 NRSV and note.  A hundred Roman pounds would be about seventy-five of our pounds.)

Such an enormous amount of spices was enough for the burial of a king! (See Brown 1970, 960; Malina & Rohrbaugh 1998, 275.)  By this use of hyperbole John the Evangelist seems to be saying that Nicodemus, whose faith is no longer based on miracles but on Jesus who has been raised up on the cross, is finally recognizing Jesus as king.  Moreover, by burying Jesus he has taken over the obligation of Jesus’ family, thus publicly becoming one of his followers.

Implications for Us

John appears to have written his Gospel for Christians living in a society that was deeply polarized around the person and message of Jesus. (See Malina & Rohrbaugh 1998, 85-89.)  People of status in that society paid a great price for becoming Christians.  At the very least they were shunned; and quite likely they were subjected to persecution.  For those early Christians Nicodemus served as a model.  The figure of Nicodemus can still bring great consolation to those who undergo suffering as a consequence of living out their faith.

In a society where calling oneself a Christian involves no particular disadvantages and even confers certain privileges, the message is far less striking.  However, it does raise a question about how radical our Christianity is and about how much we have compromised with prevailing cultural values.

The “Lifting up” of Jesus

At the beginning of today’s reading Jesus says to Nicodemus:  “Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.”  In chapter 8 Jesus declares, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I AM . . . ;” (John 8.28 Raymond E. Brown‘s translation  See Brown 1970, 346.) and in Chapter 12 he says, “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” (John 12.32 NRSV)

The three references to “lifting up” in John’s Gospel correspond to the three predictions of the death and resurrection of the Son of Man in the other three Gospels. (See Brown 1966, 146.)  Being lifted up is John’s way of referring to Jesus’ glorification.  It refers to “one continuous action of ascent; Jesus begins his return to the Father as he approaches death (xiii 1) and completes it only with his ascension (xx 17).  It is the upward swing of the great pendulum of the Incarnation corresponding to the descent of the Word which became flesh.” (Brown 1966, 146)

Implications for Us

This understanding of “lifting up” is crucial to understanding John’s passion narrative, which is read each year at the Good Friday liturgy.  A central theme is the revelation of Jesus as king, precisely when he is crucified.  The cross is the beginning of Jesus’ glorification.

The veneration of the cross, the central liturgical action of the Good Friday service, reinforces this theme.  In the ancient liturgy the cross that was veiled during at least part of Lent and unveiled for veneration was a precious cross, carved or jeweled, not a crucifix.  The ritual of unveiling is a symbolic action reflecting the message of John’s passion narrative.  By removing the veil, the eyes of faith can see that the cross is truly glorious.

After the reading of the passion on Good Friday the mood should change.  Sorrowful songs concentrating exclusively on the suffering and pain of Jesus, appropriate as they may be in other settings, are out of place during the veneration of the cross.  Songs during the veneration of the cross should stress the mystery of the cross as the source of our salvation and point forward to the resurrection.  Rather than agonizing sorrow, the mood should be one of quiet anticipation.

Remembering the theme of “being lifted up” will help us enter more fully into the Paschal Mystery during the three-day celebration of Jesus’ passion, death, and resurrection that begins on Good Friday.

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In preparing these reflections, in addition to the biblical texts, I consulted the following works:

Brown 1966 – Raymond E. Brown, S.S., The Gospel according to John (i-xii) , Volume 29 of the Anchor Bible (Garden City, NY:  Doubleday & Company,  Inc., 1966)

Brown 1970 – Raymond E. Brown, S.S., The Gospel according to John (xiii-xxi) , Volume 29a of the Anchor Bible (Garden City, NY:  Doubleday & Company,  Inc., 1970)

Brown 1997 – Raymond E. Brown, S.S., An Introduction to the New Testament. The Anchor Bible Reference Library (New York:  Doubleday, 1997)

Dodd 1968 – C. H. Dodd, The Interpretation of the Fourth Gospel  (Cambridge:  The Cambridge University Press, 1968 [originally published 1953])

Fuller & Westberg 2006 – Reginald H. Fuller and Daniel Westberg, Preaching the Lectionary:  The Word of God for the Church Today, Third Edition (Collegeville, MN:  The Liturgical Press, 2006)

Malina & Rohrbaugh 1998 – Bruce J. Malina and Richard L. Rohrbaugh, Social-Science Commentary on the Gospel of John  (Minneapolis, MN:  Fortress Press, 1998)

Moloney 1998 – Francis J. Moloney, S.D.B. The Gospel of John.  Sacra Pagina Series Volume 4, A Michael Glazier Book (Collegeville [MN]:  Liturgical Press1998)

NJBC = New Jerome Biblical Commentary 1990 – Raymond E. Brown, S.S., Joseph A. Fitzmyer, S.J. and Roland E. Murphy, O. Carm., Editors, The New Jerome Biblical Commentary  (Englewood Cliffs, NJ:  Prentice Hall, 1990)

NRSV = New Revised Standard Version – Bruce M. Metzger and Roland E. Murphy, Eds. The New Oxford Annotated Bible containing the Old and New Testaments  (New York:  Oxford University Press, 1994)

Perkins 1990 – Phoeme Perkins, “The Gospel according to John” in NJBC, Section 61, nos. 46 –  55, pp. 995a – 996b.

Pilch 1996 – John J. Pilch, The Cultural World of Jesus:  Sunday by Sunday, Cycle B  (Collegeville, MN:  The Liturgical Press, 1996)

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