A New Covenant

I love this season of the liturgical year. Old Testament readings are replaced by passages from the Acts of Apostles and we, as a Church, get to retell the amazing story of our own beginnings.

Through the Gospel passages we also reflect with the first Christian communities as they recall the words and actions of Jesus and try to make sense of his seemingly disastrous, but now hope-filled death on the cross.

In today’s Gospel we recall the story of Nicodemus, the Pharisee who, though fascinated by Jesus, came to see him under the cover of night for fear of his colleagues in the Sanhedrin. It is to Nicodemus that Jesus entrusts the revelation that ‘the Son of Man must be lifted up ..so that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him’.

Nicodemus does not understand what Jesus has imparted to him. Nevertheless he grows steadily in his commitment and devotion to Jesus, bravely defending him before the Sanhedrin (John 7:50-51) and tenderly helping to anoint Jesus broken body after his crucifixion (John 19: 39-42)

But it is only through the power of Jesus’ resurrection and the revelation of the Holy Spirit that Nicodemus can understand and take hold of the rebirth promised by Jesus. We, as children of the new covenant, have access to that same grace.

Lord Jesus, reveal to us, as you did to Nicodemus, what it means to be born of the Spirit.