Scripture: John 19:31-42
It was the Preparation Day and the Jewish leaders didn’t want the bodies to remain on the cross on the Sabbath, especially since that Sabbath was an important day. So they asked Pilate to have the legs of those crucified broken and the bodies taken down. Therefore, the soldiers came and broke the legs of the two men who were crucified with Jesus. When they came to Jesus, they saw that he was already dead so they didn’t break his legs. However, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. The one who saw this has testified, and his testimony is true. He knows that he speaks the truth, and he has testified so that you also can believe. These things happened to fulfill the scripture, They won’t break any of his bones. And another scripture says, They will look at him whom they have pierced.
After this Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate if he could take away the body of Jesus. Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but a secret one because he feared the Jewish authorities. Pilate gave him permission, so he came and took the body away. Nicodemus, the one who at first had come to Jesus at night, was there too. He brought a mixture of myrrh and aloe, nearly seventy-five pounds in all. Following Jewish burial customs, they took Jesus’ body and wrapped it, with the spices, in linen cloths. There was a garden in the place where Jesus was crucified, and in the garden was a new tomb in which no one had ever been laid. Because it was the Jewish Preparation Day and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus in it.
Consider:
Nicodemus is such an interesting through character in this story. We are introduced to him at the beginning as a sort of Jesus Curious - not ready or willing to stake anything of meaning based on the rumors he heard, but curious enough to seek out the person who might have the answer he needed.
Nicodemus goes away that first night disappointed, dejected, and alone. He got answers, but they weren’t the ones he wanted to hear. In fact, he didn’t even understand most of them.
Still, he keeps popping up in Jesus’ story, little glimpses of a different kind of witness - one who isn’t so sure about this Jesus thing, but can’t quite seem to let it go. While he never quite “got it” on an intellectual level, never showed up at one of the disciple revivals, or was named as one of the 12 most important followers of Jesus, he was the one who shows up with the spices and oil needed to prepare Jesus for death.
Being a follower of Jesus doesn’t always mean we are able to say the right words or can quote Thomas Aquinas and cite 140 different Bible verses from memory. In fact, sometimes being a follower of Jesus looks distinctly like the opposite of those things. We can show up for God and be curious at the same time.
Certainty is not the definition of faith. Doubts and questions, sometimes, are. Just ask Nicodemus.
Respond:
What questions do you have about God?
Make two lists - first, the list should be things about which you are absolutely certain. (God is love might be an example.) Then, make a list of all the questions you have about God.
Which one is longer?
Looking at your questions list, put a line through the questions about which there is no answer. Then, circle the questions you’d like answers to - and add next to them where you might find them. Finally, look at the questions which remain. Like Nicodemus, those may just be the questions which you become comfortable with holding in tension with the certainities you already named. And that’s a perfectly faithful response.
Pray:
Dear God, help me be comfortable with the questions of my heart. Help me to continue to be curious and open to your leading. Remind me that showing up is often the greatest act of faith. Amen.
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