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Today’s Gospel from John focusses on a conversation Jesus had with Nicodemus. To give you some important background information, Nicodemus was a Pharisee. Scripture scholars remind us that despite the negative portrayal of Pharisees in the Gospels not all the Pharisees were against Jesus. Yes, there was a small group that were against Jesus and looked for every opportunity to discredit him. But, there were a few like Nicodemus who were drawn to Jesus’s message and wanted to understand his ministry. Of course, there was likely a larger group who were quite indifferent to Jesus and his message. One of the points I am trying to make is that Nicodemus was different from the usual followers of Jesus. He was well educated in Jewish law and was dedicated to grow in his faith. Jesus challenges Nicodemus in a very different way.

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For someone not familiar with Jesus’ style of teaching this Gospel would be shocking. I suspect the Gospel would be shocking for the first listeners. It completely contradicts the 5th commandment about honouring one’s parents Exodus 20:12. While there are no actual scriptural references from Jesus there are Gospel references of Jesus showing love to his parents. In Luke 2:48-51, Jesus as a boy shows respect and honour to Mary and Joseph, his earthly parents by returning to them after being found in the temple and submitting to their authority. In John 19:26-27, from the cross, Jesus shows care and concern for his mother by entrusting her to the disciple John, demonstrating his protective love.

We have talked about this style of teaching before.

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Today’s Gospel begins with Jesus accepting an invitation to dine with one of the leading Pharisees. During this gathering, Jesus shares a teaching inspired by His observations that challenges the conventional understanding of social status. He emphasizes a reversal of worldly status through humility. But what exactly did Jesus mean by humility?