Today’s Gospel Reading (John 3:16-21) is the 3rd segment of Rabbi Jesus’ “Late Night Catechism” for Nicodemus (John 3:1-21).
As we recall from the 1st segment (John
3:1-8), Jesus began his teaching to Nicodemus, addressing the necessity of
being born from above (John 3:3). But Nicodemus was not really following the
line of Jesus’ teaching because he was
thinking like humans while Jesus was teaching a theme that is beyond human
thinking – something transcendental yet to connect humans on earth to heaven.
So Nicodemus wondered how he, as an old man, could go back to mother’s womb and
be “born again” in response to Jesus’ saying “born from above”.
Realizing Nicodemus’ difficulty in following his
teaching, Jesus explained that being born from above means to be born of the
Holy Spirit, in addition to being born of water (John 3:5). Being born of water
refers to baptism with water, as done by John the Baptist in preparing for the
public appearance Jesus as the Christ. And being born of the Holy Spirit was
implicated by John the Baptist (John 1:33; Matthew 3:11//Mark 1:8//Luke 3:16).
Upon addressing baptism of the Holy Spirit as a
necessary condition to enter the Kingdom of God, a focus on Rabbi Jesus’
catechesis to Nicodemus was on the Holy Spirit in relation to the one who sends
from heaven, namely, God the Father, and Jesus, the Son of God (who calls
himself the Son of Man), who was sent by the Father in heaven. Thus, there is a
Trinitarian implication here.
First, Jesus juxtaposed the Holy Spirit to wind.
Both in the Old Testament Hebrew and in the New Testament Greek, there is a
parallel between spirit and wind, as the Hebrew word, “ruah” and the Greek word, “pneuma”
means both wind and spirit. With this juxtaposition between the Holy Spirit and
wind, Jesus implicated that the Holy Spirit, as well as works of the Holy
Spirit, such as baptism of the Holy Spirit, cannot be controlled by human will,
just as we cannot control wind, which blows as it wills (John 3:8).
Did Nicodemus understand this line of Jesus’
teaching on the Holy Spirit?
Not really.
So, Nicodemus asked Rabbi Jesus, “How can this
be?”(John 3:9).
In response, Jesus expressed his dilemma and frustration
in teaching the truth to people like Nicodemus, because they do not accept it
if he speaks of it with what they know – because they do not believe if he
speaks of it with earthly things (physical things). So, he wonders how they
Nicodemus would believe the truth if Jesus speaks of it with heavenly things
(John 3:11-12).
Though Jesus was not so confident that Nicodemus
would believe the truth of his teaching, Jesus nevertheless goes on with his
teaching, shifting a focus from the Holy Spirit to heaven, where the Father,
who sends the Holy Spirit and him, the Son, is.
In speaking of heaven, Rabbi Jesus said that nobody
had ever gone there – except for the one who came from there, and he is the Son
of Man, referring to himself (John 3:13). In other words, it is to tell that
Jesus came down from heaven, as sent by the Father. That is why Jesus said
later that no one had seen the Father in heaven, except the one who is from Him
(John 6:46), when he referred himself as the living bread life from heaven (John
6:35, 41, 48, 51). And this is why Jesus said that nobody can come to the
Father except trough him, as he is the way and the truth and the life, during
Last Supper (John 14:6). Heaven is where the Father is and where Jesus, the
Son, came from.
Then Jesus said that he, the Son of Man, must be
lifted up, as Moses lifted up the serpent on his pole in the desert, so that people
may believe and be entitled to eternal life (John 3:14-15).
Since Rabbi Jesus came from heaven, where the Holy
Spirit for people like Nicodemus to be born of – to be baptized with on
Pentecost is also sent from, he need to be lifted up to heaven. But, not
straightforwardly. For Jesus to be lifted up to heaven, he first needed to be
lifted up on the Cross (death by Crucifixion), then, lifted up from his tomb
(Resurrection from the dead), and finally, lifted up from the earth to the
Father in heaven (Ascension). This way, the Holy Spirit can be sent down on us
for us to be born of and to be baptized with on Pentecost (John 16:7).
Now a focus in Jesus’ teaching shifts to the Father,
who is in heaven.
Up to this point in Rabbi Jesus’ catechesis, it is
now clear that Jesus, the Son of God (Son of Man) , was sent from heaven, And
he explains why.
Jesus, the Son, was sent to us on earth (in the
world) because the Father in heaven loved us so much – considered us worthy to
have His only begotten Son, so that whoever believes in him will not perish but
be saved for eternal life (John 3:16-18). For this, the Theos-Logos (the Word that is God)(John 1:1) was incarnated so that
he can dwell among us (John 1:14), as God with us, as Emmanuel (Matthew 1:23;
cf. Isaiah 7:14), being made flesh in Mary’s womb by the power of God the Holy
Spirit (Luke 1:35; Matthew 1:18).
From here, Rabbi Jesus juxtaposes himself, the Son
of God, to the Light sent to us in the world (John 3:19-21).
When Rabbi Jesus taught about being born from above,
he referred to being born of the Holy Spirit, sent from above – sent from
heaven by the Father in heaven.
Then, Rabbi Jesus indicated that it is he, whom the
Father in heaven sent to us out of His love so that we may be saved through
him. ‘
Lastly, Rabbi Jesus implicated that the light is
sent to us from heaven, because the light is him (John 8:12).
Heavenly Father wants and hopes that we all seek the light sent to us in the world. It means that He wants and hopes that all of us come to the Son, whom He sent out of His love for us, as we live in the truth that this Son teaches, so that we may be saved through him.
For this reason, not only he was sent from heaven by
the Father to us, incarnating the Word, but was lifted up on the Cross, lifted
up from the tomb, and lifted up to heaven to set at the right hand of the
Father. Then, we can be born of the Holy Spirit, sent down from heaven. But, we
must live in Christ the truth – live in the Christ the light. He is, indeed,
the truth, as well as the way to the Father, and the life (John 14:6) and the
light (John 8:12). He is Parakletos
(1 John 2:1) and the Holy Spirit is another Parakletos
(John 14:16, 26) – to be with us to help us, as sent by the Father in heaven.
Remember, how Exultet
replaced Tenebrae as we began Paschal
Vigil to bless the light rising from the tomb of Jesus? Christ the light has
been risen! The truth has been risen, upon overcoming falsehood of evil,
calling us to live in this light and truth to be born of the Holy Spirit.
Thus concludes Rabbi Jesus’ “Late Night Catechism”
for Nicodemus.
See how Nicodemus struggled with his learning curve
in this catechesis given by Rabbi Jesus. The soteriological and Christological
truth in Jesus’ teaching is not easy. But, it does not require full
understanding. Rather it needs to be believed and taken it to heart to prompt
our inner conversions – deep metanoia
for the best result of being born of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost – being baptized
with fire.
In connection to today’s Gospel Reading (John
3:16-19), especially with a focus on Jesus’ contrast between the light-truth
and the darkness-evil (vv.19-21), the First Reading for today (Acts 5:17-26),
we can see how the apostles lived in the light and the truth in comparison to
how the high priests and the Sadducees lived in the darkness of evil.
Just as the light and the truth could not be kept in
the darkness of the dead, the darkness of the tomb (so Jesus rose from the dead
and the tomb), the apostles could not be kept in the darkness of jail. So, God
willed them to come out of it though it was heavily locked and guarded. And,
upon their escape, they were teaching the truth in the Temple area.
This phenomenon was beyond human control as it was
willed by God, just as we cannot control the Holy Spirit.
The truth of Christ Jesus, the light, cannot be
locked in the darkness by human evil. The fact that the apostles escaped from
the jail and publically taught the truth, as in today’s First Reading, is a
great testimony to this truth.
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