What would your answer be to the question – what is at the heart of Christianity?  Can you imagine sitting down with someone who knows very little about Christianity and explaining to them what it is all about?  This is the kind of experience that we read about in this week’s gospel (John 3:14-21, the fourth Sunday of Lent).  Jesus is conversing with Nicodemus.  Nicodemus was a Pharisee and one of the rulers of the Jews at the time of Jesus.  We hear about his interest in Jesus in John’s Gospel.  We are told that he was a secret follower of Jesus.  We are told that he came to Jesus by night, presumably so that he would not be seen by other Pharisees.  And in the text on the fourth Sunday of Lent we read of a conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus.  Jesus explains that he has been sent by God “not to condemn the world but that through him the world might be saved.”

From what are we saved?  Ultimately, we are saved from death and destruction.  Again and again the scriptures present Jesus as the one who lifts burdens from human beings.  He heals people from the burden of illness.  He brings people back from the margins of society.  He sits at table with those who were seemingly unworthy to eat in company.  He challenges any suggestion that his way should be brought about by coercion or force.  He invites and challenges, but never indoctrinates his followers.  He brings mercy where judgement prevails.  He gives new hope to those who have reached the end.  He offers forgiveness to those who have lost a way back.  His encounters are empathetic, compassionate and merciful.  And it is these things that bring life.  They are the things that continue to bring life, for don’t all of us wish to be relieved of our illnesses, unburdened of our weariness, freed from our guilt, welcomed without judgement, invited to explore faith without coercion and believe in the promise of life eternal.

This is ultimately at the heart of Christianity.  Jesus Christ came to proclaim life over death; life over condemnation; mercy and compassion over judgement.  And the Christian community is called to be witnesses to that proclamation.

The fourth Sunday of Lent is a call to all of us to take to heart the words of St Paul to the Ephesians, “God loved us with so much love that he was generous with his mercy: when we were dead through our sins, he brought us to life with Christ.”  We, therefore, are called to be people who live in the light of that life and bring life to others, even in the smallest of ways: a smile, a helping hand; a word of encouragement; a forgiving and generous countenance.

At the heart of Christianity is the resurrection of Christ.  The witness of a God who stands only for life, a life that breaks through even the barriers of death.

I wonder what happened to Nicodemus on that first Easter Sunday morning when the tomb was found empty.

By Fr Brendan Reed

Published: 8 March 2024