Fr Paul reads from John’s Gospel (3: 1-8) in which Jesus teaches Nicodemus about the Kingdom of God.

Last week, the focus of all our reflections was rejoicing at the Resurrection of Jesus and as Easter now continues, Fr Paul says, we are going to hear some of the great discourses of Jesus through the Gospel of John.  In other words, we are going to concentrate on the teachings of Jesus, not what Jesus does.

Nicodemus comes to Jesus in the night, which is significant for John because (as we just celebrated at Easter) Jesus is the Light of the world.  We also have a clear picture that Nicodemus is confused, and he is criticised for failing to understand his own tradition. For us, Nicodemus is a figure of discovery.  Like all Christians, he will be all right in the end.  For as we know, he took part in the burial of Jesus; he became a disciple.  It is interesting to note that it is only in these Gospel verses that we hear the term ‘Kingdom of God’.

Fr Paul says, we also hear of the Spirit and how it works. As Jesus describes towards the end of the Gospel, it is like the wind; we cannot see it, but we can hear it and feel it. It is the same with God.