Doubt

There is limited information about Nicodemus in the Bible, except for the Gospel of John. Nicodemus was a Pharisee or educated religious leader, he likely had a position in the Jewish decision-making institution, the Sanhedrin. His educational training in debate, inquiry, and reasoning created a struggle for him to answer the question presented by Jesus about being born again to enter God’s kingdom.

I think it’s important to note two facets about this night time visit. First, “night” is used metaphorically in John’s gospel to represent the absence of God. Indeed, later in chapter 3:19-21, the writer condemns those who prefer darkness to light. Second, discipleship (or faithfulness) begins when we approach God. Nicodemus approached at night for his own reasons, most likely fear—fear of being seen by others but, perhaps, fear of being seen with Jesus in the bright sunlight.

It is easy to completely identify with Nicodemus in his confusion when Jesus began talking about being born from above then about the wind and being born of water then brings in Moses lifting up the serpent. I easily imagine me sitting next Nicodemus with my eyebrows furrowed, thinking,”Huh?”

But Nicodemus showed up again and is recorded twice, in John’s Gospel: In 7:50-52 Nicodemus gave a modest defense of Jesus in the midst of a fierce conflict between Jesus and the religious authorities; and in, 19:38-42 where he helped Joseph of Arimathea (a secret disciple) bury the body of Jesus. We are reminded in v. 39 that Nicodemus first approached Jesus in the night and here he was at the burial of Jesus, Nicodemus provided an abundant supply of spices with which to use for the body. I envision the act of enveloping Jesus’ body with burial spices then to the burial itself as an act of proclamation by both Nicodemus and Joseph. Is the gospel writer suggesting that Nicodemus moved out of the night shadows of distrust to the bright light of trust? Nicodemus’s appearance throughout the gospel suggests that belief in Jesus is movement, or a journey, if you will. One commentary writer notes: “In the Gospel of John ‘faith’ is never a noun. Believing … is a verb.”

Everyone experiences doubts about the faith at times — “I have” many times, Pope Francis said — but such doubts can be “a sign that we want to know God better and more deeply.” “We do not need to be afraid of questions and doubts because they are the beginning of a path of knowledge and going deeper; one who does not ask questions cannot progress either in knowledge or in faith,” the Pope said Nov. 23 at his weekly general audience.

The key, he said, is to see those doubts as a call to deepen one’s faith either through study or through seeking the guidance of another believer. “To do this, it is necessary to listen to the word of God and understand what it teaches us,” he said. “But, at the same time, an equally important path is that of living the faith as much as possible.”

When faith is seen mainly as “an abstract theory,” he said, “doubts multiply.”

But when faith is lived and shown in service to others, the pope said, “then many doubts vanish because we feel the presence of God and the truth of the Gospel in the love that, by no merit of ours, lives in us and that we share with others.”  It is significant that the last time we meet Nicodemus he is providing a service in the burial of Jesus.