Nicodemus, a leader in the Jewish community, comes to talk with Jesus “by night.” It seems that, unlike many of the other religious leaders who want to entrap Jesus or turn the crowds against him, Nicodemus has actual questions and wants to know more. Jesus takes the conversation deeper, introducing complex topics that have puzzled people of faith through the centuries and theologians today still struggle with today.
Like many late night conversations, the ideas get weightier and more difficult to understand, yet in the final two verses, Jesus offers a concise and beautiful summary: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”
God’s love for the world is so great, God reaches out in remarkable ways to bring healing and new life. Don’t be mistaken – God’s intention is reconciliation and wholeness for everyone and everything. God shows up to share love and teach us how to live that love. God is not here to condemn our broken and unwell parts, but to transform and heal them. To transform and heal us and the whole world.
This week, the church marks Holy Trinity Sunday, where we lift up the complicated and baffling idea that God is both one and three. Religious thinkers have been trying to explain it for generations, but there really are more questions than answers about this (and many other) aspects of the life of faith. It seems to fit that in this week’s gospel reading, Jesus shares challenging and complicated ideas while Nicodemus asks questions. We also have so many questions. The story concludes as Jesus shares two clear and unequivocal sentences about love and God’s commitment to new life for the world – the whole world. We realize we are like Nicodemus. Things are confusing and we have so many questions. Yet the core, the summary, the guiding hope of our faith is the love of God and God’s commitment to each of us and the whole world.