Meeting Jesus at Night

 John 3:1-17  2^nd Lent  March 1, 2026

 

Nicodemus is an interesting character.

He only appears in the gospel of John

and then only 3 times.

 First is this time. He’s described as a Pharisee

who came to Jesus by night so he wouldn’t be seen.

 Second, when the chief priests and Pharisees

are plotting against Jesus and Nicodemus

cautiously suggests that Jesus deserves a fair hearing.

 

And third, after Jesus’ death, when he brings

an extravagant mixture of spices to help bury him.

That’s all we get, three glimpses.

 

Nicodemus is described as a Pharisee, a leader.

I had had always thought of Pharisees as

strictly religious leaders like today’s pastors.

Maybe it was the long robes they reportedly wore.

But that’s not quite right.

In the first century, religion and government

were inseparable.

 

The Pharisees were not just religious leaders,

they were deeply involved in government.

They were on councils and courts and juries,

and they had some authority over the police force.

They were involved in making and enforcing laws.

These leaders were in some ways

more akin to our politicians than pastors.

 

And the Pharisees were a political party.

It was basically a two party system and

they were rivals to the other political party - the Sadducees.

 

 

The Sadducees were more part of the ruling classes,

they were aligned with the High Priest.

 

The Pharisees were not fans of the authority of the High Priest.

A Pharisee saying was “the word of a smart child takes

precedence over an ignorant High Priest.”

The Pharisees started as a reform movement.

After the return from exile, they sought to preserve

Jewish identity and faithfulness under foreign rule.

They emphasized purity, devotion, and

obedience to the law in everyday life — not just at the temple.

 

They had high ideals.

 

But over time, like so many movements,

power reshaped them.

Some became comfortable. They compromised.

They enjoyed the privileges of influence

while still preaching sacrifice for everyone else.

 

Sound familiar?

 

Nicodemus was one of them —

educated, respected, established.

No doubt he worked hard to get there.

No doubt his position brought security for him and his family.

He likely wore the finest clothes,

dined in the right places, moved in the right circles.

 

And no doubt he felt he was serving God.

 

But then there was Jesus.

Jesus insulted the Pharisees and the Sadducees equally.

He was a thorn in everyone’s side.

He disrupted the comfortable.

He healed. He spoke with authority. He drew crowds.

And people couldn’t ignore him.

 

Apparently, Nicodemus couldn’t either.

So Nicodemus goes to see Jesus.

But he goes at night. Why at night?

Nicodemus and Jesus
Henry Ossowa Taylor

Because being seen with Jesus could cost him everything — 

his reputation, position, safety, maybe even his life.

So he sneaks around to meet Jesus.

So how should we see this man Nicodemus?

A person who was bold to do what he did?

Or a person who wasn’t strong enough

to do what he should have done?

History is not unanimous on this.

 

Martin Luther said in a sermon

that Nicodemus needed to forsake

his devotion to Judaism and be baptized

(And then he insulted the pope a few times.)

Because that’s just what Luther would say.

 

John Calvin, Luther’s French contemporary

used the word Nicodemite

as an insult to talk about people

who compromised their protestant faith

in order to maintain their jobs and status and sometimes their lives,

because they continued to attend Roman Catholic mass

and keeping the outward appearance of being Catholic

despite believing in Protestant doctrine.

Because that’s just what Calvin would say.

They criticized Nicodemus for being held back by his fear.

  

On the other hand,

There is a town called Nicodemus, Kansas

established in 1877 and is the only remaining

community established by African Americans in the US

They named their town after Nicodemus because enslaved people

who learned to read generally did so in secret and at night,

due to risks of punishment for this forbidden activity.

They saw Nicodemus as a symbol of rebirth and hope —

learning and seeking freedom in secret until the time was right.

 

So which one is it?

I actually don’t think the author of this gospel

meant for us to judge or praise Nicodemus.

 

I think the point of the Gospel is to be sympathetic with

Nicodemus struggle, and I think we’re meant

to recognize ourselves in him.

 

When Nicodemus comes to Jesus,

Jesus doesn’t tell him to make a small adjustment.

He doesn’t say, “Tweak this belief,”

or “Add this practice.” He doesn’t say, “Try harder.”

He says, “You must be born again.”

 

Not just a little alteration and adjustment,

but completely changed. Reborn.

 

Now I know that these words in Jesus mouth

are weighed down with connotations

from the modern world.

 

Telling people they need to be “born again”

evokes a specific rigid modern social practice

which has grown to be a judgmental litmus test.

But if we can put aside that baggage

for a little while.

  

Jesus is saying that Nicodemus needs to

go through a whole life alteration before he can truly

understand Jesus and grasp what Jesus is doing.

Jesus is telling Nicodemus that his whole way of being —

his identity, his security, his assumptions —

has to be transformed if he

wants to truly see the kingdom of God.

 

And notice something important:

Jesus didn’t say this to his disciples when he called them

in chapter 2. He just told them ‘Follow me’

and ‘come and see’

 

And notice in the next weeks, he doesn’t

tell the woman at the well or the

man born blind. Jesus doesn’t say

they have to be born again in order to

know and understand Jesus.

They all get it right away.

 

They’re all at the bottom rungs of

society, they have nothing to lose,

giving up what they have and trading in

for a new life in Christ is will not be hard.

 

It’s the one with the most to lose

who is told he needs to be born again.

 

Jesus is preparing Nicodemus (and us) for the truth

that believing and following are two different things.

And that following Jesus comes with sacrifice.

Nicodemus believes in Jesus. But following?

That could cost him everything.

 

We live in a time, a country, a place 

where Christians are still very much the 

dominant culture and power, this leads us to believe

we don’t have to sacrifice anything.

 

We just have to say we accept

Jesus Christ as our Lord and savior

or we believe in One God the Father

the almighty maker of heaven and earth,

and we just comfortably retain our lives as is.

We won’t have to sacrifice anything,

We won’t have to change anything.

Society has accommodated us.

 

If we’re comfortable, we can just stay the same

the world can just stay the same

and no one has to give up anything.

Martin Luther King called it “a high blood

pressure of creeds and an anemia of deeds.”

 

But Jesus journey is about sacrifice.

Jesus told us to take up our cross

and follow, not just believe, but follow.

 

And those who have the most

to lose, those who have the most privilege

in whatever world their living in

will probably find it hardest follow Jesus call.

 

Nicodemus stands as a compassionate warning:

those who have the most security,

the most privilege, the most to lose —

may find it hardest to actually heed Jesus call.

 

Tradition says that eventually

Nicodemus did step into the light.

He publicly came out and followed Jesus.

And because of that he lost his status.

He was driven out of Jerusalem

by the leadership he once belonged to.

 

Why would he do that?

I have to believe he heard the truth from Jesus that night

and like so many others,

he found that truth irresistible

and worth absolutely everything:

And that truth was that

“God so loved the world that he gave his only son.”

 

Jesus was talking to a man who was afraid

of losing everything, and Jesus handed him everything right there.

 

“For God so loved the world…”

Not just the disciples.
Not just the poor.
Not just the brave.
The world.

God loves Pharisees.
God loves politicians.
God loves secret seekers.
God loves hesitant disciples.
God loves people who aren’t sure what following will cost.

I believe that Nicodemus heard this word of God’s love for all

and it changed him. He was reborn. That gave him new life.

 

As Martin Luther said,

“The law says do this and it is never done.

Grace says believe in this and it’s already done.”

 

That love is what transforms belief into following.

That love is what gives us courage to step into the light.

That love is what makes rebirth possible.

Temptation of Bread

 Luke 4:1-13

February 22, 2026, Lent 1

Temptation of Christ
J. Kirk Richards

 

Jesus is tested in the desert by Satan.

He is presented with three temptations:

food, security, and wealth and power.

I have to tell you, I think I could pass on security and power.

But it doesn’t matter, because I think I would fail the first test.

 

After 40 days in the desert, without food,

I think I would cave right away.

I could see not eating few days,

technically a healthy person

could survive 60 days without food

but forty days of not eating is a long time.

What harm would it be just to accept a little bit of bread?

I mean forty days without it, Jesus could have died,

then what good would he be?

 

How annoying is it that we have this constant need of food?

Every day, our bodies call for it.

Most of us have it pretty easy,

we can just go down to the store and buy it,

but what if you don’t have the money for it?

what if you don’t have the access or the resources?

What if you’re in a desert of any kind?

 

Just the prospect of being without food is terrifying

to a lot of people, the fear of not being able to eat

or of not being able to feed your children drives

a lot of people to do a lot of things they normally wouldn’t.

The compromises that people make to survive are soul-snatching.

 

We make compromises in our own lives for the sake of food.

For that piece of bread.

We’ve all done things we haven’t wanted to do just to keep a job.

And good, honest people can be driven to do the unimaginable.

Listen to this story:

 

In 1922, a town called Herrin in southern Illinois

was a mining town and there was a nationwide mine workers strike.

The owner of the mine near Herrin went along with the strike,

but he was deep in debt, and as the strike went on, he saw

the price of coal rise and rise and he couldn’t resist the temptation.

 

So he decided to just move out what had already been dug up

and was waiting on rail cars to ship.

This was in violation of what had

previously been agreed on with the union.

To do it, he decided to bring in non-union workers.

And he hired armed guards to monitor the mines.

He brought in poor people needing work from Chicago

who probably had no idea that they were breaking a strike,

or what exactly they were walking into.

 

After the first train car of coal left the mine,

Two striking union workers tried to get into to the mine

and they were shot and killed by the guards.

The next day, the union workers came on masse.

They started shooting into the mine trapping the workers

the sheriff was called, but he did nothing to curb the violence.

A truce was attempted. The strike breakers sent out

a mine guard with a broomstick and a white apron on it.

 

They began marching the workers, the guards, and the

superintendents into Herrin which was 5 miles away.

The plan was for the strike breakers and the guards

and the superintendent to get to Herrin and to leave the state.

Along the way, a mob of people gathered around them.

The mob became angry, as mobs do,

yelling and taunting the strike breakers.

Someone yelled that the best way to stop a

strike breaking was to kill all the strike breakers.

And then it started.

  

There are a lot of terrible, terrible details.

But in the end, 23 people were killed:

18 workers, 4 guards, and the mine superintendent

while a mob of over 1000 people, men women and children

watched, encouraged, and even joined in.

 

The Herrin Massacre.

There’s a painting depicting it in the Columbus Art Museum.

I’m not showing it, because it’s too disturbing.

One reporter that had come to witness tried to give

an dying man some water, and he was told that if he did

he wouldn’t live to see the next day.

 

Six people out of the mob were arrested,

the first two trials, which were held outside Herrin,

but in another town in Southern Illinois,

ended in acquittals. The prosecution gave up after that

and no one was ever prosecuted.

 

In 1978, journalism students from

Southern Illinois University went to

Herrin to interview people who remembered it.

Most Herrin people who were there

said they were not ashamed of the incident.

Most said you couldn’t blame them for doing what they did.

One man said, “they were taking the bread out of our mouths.”

 

Do you see yourself in that story?

I would guess most of us would not.

I didn’t when I first heard the story. I was aghast.

 

But the juries that acquitted the people could

apparently saw themselves in this story.

And the people years on said

they would have made the same choice.

“They were taking the bread out of our mouths.”

 

That whole town of people were not sociopaths.

I’m sure their parents taught them right from wrong.

The murder rate in Herrin after that was

not higher than anywhere else.

We all know that standing up for ourselves in

the face of injustice is the right thing to do.

I think unions have been a great asset to working people.

 

But somewhere along the line, they compromised.

They compromised their integrity, their compassion,

and their humanity.

They gave into the temptation for bread,

then they wanted to secure their jobs,

then they went for power with violence.

 

We might look down on the compromise they made.

But the truth is, we make compromises with the devil every day.

If you’ve ever been in a situation where

you might lose everything you’ve had,

you know what desperation can lead us to,

the things we would trade to have it all back

the way it was before.

 

Many of us have stayed in bad home

situations for economic reasons.

I think each one of us has, at one time or another,

worked against our best judgment,

or allowed one of our boundaries to be broken

or kept our mouth shut in order to keep a job and keep

that food flowing into our homes. We compromise.

 

And  just being a part of the world

make us part of the great compromise.

We turn our heads and look away as bodies pile

up and wars are fought in our name.

We live with the fact that in the supposed richest country

in the world, people can’t afford health care and

people go hungry and can’t afford homes.

As part of society, we make compromises with evil.

We turn away because it makes life easier than paying attention.

 

It all starts with that one little compromise.

Giving into that one fear.

And before we know it,

we’ve given our soul away to the devil.

We start with the temptation of food,

and once we take that, it leads to security,

and inevitably it leads to domination and power.

And then we belong to the devil.

Even if we still worship God.

 

We are right now in a rash of certain

Christians who want to claim political power.

We’re not the first nation to do this and

this is not the first time in history for sure,

but it seems like this Christian claim of absolute

political power is getting as close as it’s ever been.

 

A self-proclaimed Christian Nationalist pastor,

Doug Wilson, was invited to speak at the pentagon this week,

speaking to the military at the newly-instituted

monthly prayer services there.

(all the prayer services have been Christian,

and all were Christian Nationalist by the way)

 

Wilson has defended slavery, saying it wasn’t so bad,

believes that women shouldn’t have

the right to vote apart from their husbands,

wants homosexuality to be illegal,

and he advocates for a full-on Christian theocracy,

which punishes people for not following.

 

Disturbing to say the least.

But the most disturbing thing is, he’s not alone in these thoughts today.

 

Now I don’t think that any of these people

started out saying they want to be megalomaniacs.

They don’t begin their public lives wanting

power and control like an evil villain in a

super-hero movie.

 

They start out with that little temptation.

With those little “what ifs” that the devil feeds us:

“If you don’t do this, you could starve.

what if they take what’s yours, protect your family,

it’s about your survival, it’s just some bread,

it’s rightfully yours, take it. It’s about your security,

it’s about your future, they’re trying to take away your heritage,

your faith, your way of life,

you’re doing this for God.

You’re doing this to defend Jesus.” 

 

And eventually, you’re calling for the arrest

of people who think or worship differently than you.

You’re hating your enemies, you’re looking at the sliver

everyone else’s eye and ignoring your own,

you’re making captives instead of setting them free,

you’re scolding the 5000 for not fending for themselves,

instead of feeding them. Basically you’re defying everything

that Jesus ever stood for.

 

Jesus had been in the desert without food for forty days

without shelter and without anything to rely on.

Jesus is at his worst and most vulnerable

He’s in the middle of nowhere and doesn’t know

when the next time he will be able to eat is.

He could have taken that bread.

But he didn’t.

 

Surely Jesus could have been trusted

to take control of all the kingdoms of the world

and run them justly and fairly.

But he didn’t.

 

If God had wanted us to take over political

empires and have Christian theocracies,

then this story would have ended very differently.

But Jesus didn’t take over the Roman Empire

and impose his will on everyone through political control.

God didn’t want that.

God didn’t want that for Jesus,

and Jesus rejected it because he knew it was what the devil wants.

And the devil wants it because he knows

it will lead to our destruction.

 

It’s not about the wrong party having control

It wouldn’t be better if they had some

reasonable, more sympathetic policies.

Exercising earthly dominion in the name of Jesus

runs contrary to everything that Jesus stood for.

It never works out, because it’s not of God.

 

Preacher and author, Barbara Brown Taylor wrote:

Jesus was not killed by atheism and anarchy.

He was brought down by law and order

allied with religion—which is always a deadly mix.

Beware those who claim to know the mind of God

and are prepared to use force, if necessary, to make others conform.

Beware those who cannot tell God’s will from their own. 

 

We have a savior who has stood up to the powers of this world.

Who did not use his power for his own sake.

We have a savior who would not compromise with Satan.

He gave up his comfort, his power, and his position

he gave up his short cut and his sure thing,

and he traded it for us and for our salvation.

 

Jesus knew that this world is hopelessly tied up with the devil

Jesus knows that we are slaves to sin and cannot free ourselves

And Jesus knew that God loves us all the same,

so Christ gave us a path.

A path of service to others, a path of forgiveness,

A path to life instead of death.