Lent 2, Morning after thoughts...

Good morning!

Well, it was interesting to have a little bit of a look at Nicodemus yesterday. I think I mentioned, or at least I should've, that he appears *only* in John's Gospel. We get another brief look at him in chapter 7 when there is a failed attempt to arrest Jesus. In this passage (7:50), Nicodemus appears at least fair-minded, if not partially sympathetic to the cause of Jesus, stating: "Our law does not judge people without first giving them a hearing to find out what they are doing, does it?" Then the last we see of him is in Jn 19, when Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus claim the body of Christ following the crucifixion and anoint it for burial.

After John 19:39, Nicodemus--at least by name--disappears from history. What we do find in the book of Acts, however, is that the very first generation of Jewish followers of Jesus also includes some of the Pharisee sect (Acts 15:5). Typically, St. Paul is the only Pharisee-follower of Jesus that comes to our mind, but evidently in the "mother church" at Jerusalem there were others as well. Having said that, it appears--at least early on--that there was some debate (especially among the Pharisees) as to the pre-conditions that must be met by Gentile followers of Jesus.

One of the lessons we should learn from history is that our day & age of Denominationalism.......and the "fractured voice" sounding forth from groups that claim the same name but speak out of opposing viewpoints...is that this is nothing new. In the earliest years of the "Jesus movement" things were no different. And right at the top of the list of things that people disagreed about was WHAT exactly was the status of non-Jewish followers of the Jewish Messiah. There appears to have been at least 3 possible viewpoints: (1) non-Jewish followers of the Messiah must become Jewish proselytes (Acts 15:5). I find this viewpoint to be extra rigid given the fact that the Judaism of the day allowed for a sort of 'partial membership.' Gentile followers of the true God called "God-fearers" were allowed in the Synagogue--though not the Temple-- and admittedly, the hope was probably fostered that one day said God-fearers would become full converts. Still, they were at least allowed limited access to the community of faith even as Gentiles. (2) non-Jewish followers of the Messiah are considered members of the Church and are granted fellowship with Jewish believers--tho their status is something of a "second-class citizen." Again, the template for this viewpoint would be the "God-fearers" of the Jewish Synagogue. Many scholars think that this was the view held by St. James of Jerusalem, the brother of our Lord. (3) The most radical viewpoint was that expressed by St. Paul--the view that by faith in the Jewish Messiah, ANYONE was a child of Abraham (a true Jew) in God's sight. This is the point he makes in Gal 3:29 (among other places) "And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to the promise." It is debatable as to whether or not this view of Paul--which became part of the Scriptures of the Church--was ever fully adopted by the Jerusalem Church prior to the late second century and the expulsion of all Jews from Jerusalem by the Roman Empire.

One of the million dollar questions that the Bible never addresses is where does Nicodemus--a Pharisee & Teacher of Israel--fall on the above question? Was he, for instance, one of the ones in the Jerusalem church in Acts 15:5? This side of heaven, we'll likely never know.

Cheers,

TM