"What a coward! Just look at him, the big shot religious and governmental official sneaking around at night. It's not like Jesus was hard to find during the day. For goodness sake, take a hike to the Sea of Tiberius and you'll find him easily enough. But there he goes again, catching up with the Master at night!"Given the Apostles' reactions to some others who tried to get close to Jesus - or to whom Jesus tried to get close - it's probably not too far off the mark to suggest that at least one of them might have spoken this way about Nicodemus' covert approach to following the Lord. Certainly, we are sometimes tempted ~ and sometimes fall prey ~ to these ignoble thoughts. Perhaps, we even speak them.
But, Jesus never does!
He seems to have a knack for detecting the real reasons why people behave the way they do. No, its not because he's a bleeding heart liberal. Remember his completely un-PC behavior in the temple? Jesus simply understands people. Behind our quirky ~ and sometimes irksome ~ behavior, he sees the real us (Isaiah 42:3)! And, its a good thing that he does!
Because sometimes... it takes a long time ...a very, very long time for us to pluck up the courage to stand with him.
So, if you're sneaking around like Nicodemus today, don't worry to much about it. At least not yet. But, just remember, that one day ~ at just the right time ~ he's gonna invite you out of the shadows.
Today's Readings: Monday, April 24th, 2006.
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