He’s Baaaaack

Today’s reading (John 19) obviously contains Jesus’ crucifixion, one of the cornerstones of the Christian faith. But there is a small detail in the story that is cool in a big way. After Jesus dies, we see two men come and take care of Jesus’ body, preparing it for burial and then giving it what they assumed would be its final resting place.

There’s no way this was done in secret, so these two guys are taking a public stand for Jesus that even Peter and the other apostles were too afraid to take. And one of the two men is … Nicodemus. Nicodemus was a Pharisee who (in John 3) had come to Jesus at night (presumably because of the fear of being seen with Jesus) because he was interested, yet walked away apparently still deliberating and without a commitment.

And I think this just shows that we have to be patient with people. That not everyone moves at the same speed, so we need to gracefully give people time. That we shouldn’t give up on someone just because they don’t make an immediate decision, but instead need to have faith and continue gently pointing them to Jesus.