Scripture Scribbles: March 10, 2024

the Gospel

John 3:14-21

Jesus said 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.”

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, 
so that everyone who believes in him might not perish 
but might have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, 
but that the world might be saved through him.
Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, 
but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, 
because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
And this is the verdict,
that the light came into the world, 
but people preferred darkness to light,
because their works were evil.
For everyone who does wicked things hates the light
and does not come toward the light, 
so that his works might not be exposed.
But whoever lives the truth comes to the light, 
so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God.

the devotion

Nicodemus approaches Jesus in the night. Praying with this passage, I can feel warm night air and see the faces of these two men catching shadow and light from burning lamps nearby. One, the Word made flesh, the other, a ruler of the Jews and scholar of the law with everything to lose - or gain. I love the way Jesus, the light of the world, lets Nicodemus seek and find him in the night. They speak quietly but the intensity is palpable, isn’t it?

In this moment in the darkness, Jesus delivers the stunning summary and climax of God’s saving mission, illuminating the law and the prophets, the past present and future:

“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.”

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, 
so that everyone who believes in him might not perish 
but might have eternal life.

God comes all the way down into the darkest, most painful, most terrifying, most shameful, most desolate realities of our human experience. He takes it all upon himself so that we can look at him and know his love. So that we can look at him and know we are never alone in our suffering. So that we can look at him and know the serpent does not win. When we regard the Crucifix, we are seeing the God whose love pursues us to the very end. When we regard the Crucifix, we are seeing the open arms of the one who aches for us to let him embrace us. When we look at Jesus lifted on the cross, we see that nothing can separate us from the love of God.

That encounter with Jesus in the night was not the end for Nicodemus.

Nicodemus, the one who had first come to him at night, also came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes weighing about one hundred pounds. They took the body of Jesus and bound it with burial cloths along with the spices, according to the Jewish burial custom. Now in the place where he had been crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had yet been buried. So they laid Jesus there because of the Jewish preparation day; for the tomb was close by. (John 19:39-42)

I can imagine Nicodemus standing beneath the cross, looking up at the Son of Man lifted up. I can imagine that Jesus’ words from today’s gospel were in his heart and mind as he stood there. I can imagine he wept as he gently freed Jesus’ abused body from the cross and bound him for burial. In the silent time of the tomb, I can imagine Nicodemus waiting in the tension, pondering these words and all he had come to know about God and Jesus the Christ. I can imagine that he began to realize that the tomb must  not be the end…

Today’s devotion is written by Lucia Parker DeMarco