Gospel, John (3: 1-8)

Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ according to Saint John

Nicodemus Visits Jesus

3 Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. ² He came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.” ³ Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” ⁴ Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” ⁵ Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. ⁶ What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. ⁷ Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ ⁸ The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

 

The Gospel of the Lord

 

REFLECTION

 

The Word of God, heard with Faith, illuminates the way we feel, think and act.

Jesus’ encounter with this Pharisee (John 3: 1-8) will evoke in us the promises of our baptism.

  His name was “Nicodemus”, he was a cultured man but he had some doubts about his religion. Therefore, he discreetly decided to speak to Jesus at night so as not to compromise his position.

For Nicodemus, Jesus is just a reformer, which is why he calls him “Rabbi”, he does not speak on behalf of his sect because he recognizes in Jesus a higher authority. “We know that it comes from God….”

This Pharisee is representant of an institution that is based on the visionless and formal law that causes the people to suffer. Jesus is the Messiah who came to repeal the Law and replace it with the Law of Love. (John 10, 10) “I have come that they may have Life and have it in abundance”.

Jesus’ proposal to Nicodemus is also the same for us: to be born of water and the Spirit, that is, to purify oneself from sin and accept the way of love.

Like Nicodemus, we have options we can make: (John 3:19-21) “¹⁹ This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. ²⁰ Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. ²¹ But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God. ”

Adhering to this precept brings us closer to Jesus and draws us then nearer to God.

Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus is a true catechesis on Baptism. Through the grace of Baptism, we are born again, with a divine filiation, we become children of God, we belong to God, and we understand the things of God through the actions of the Holy Spirit in us.

 

PRAYER

Lord our God, help us to believe in the strength of your Word that bothers, pacifies and heals, to witness throughout the day the great event of having been baptized in CHRIST. Let us all sing: