Church Father John Chrysostom once said, “We who have once for all cloned ourselves in Christ, and been made worthy to have him dwelling within us, may show everyone, if we choose, simply by the strict discipline of our life and without saying a word, the power of him who dwells in us.”[1] Today we celebrate Trinity Sunday, a day in the Christian Calendar when we focus on the beauty, mystery, and wonder of a God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

I love the story of Nicodemus because it reminds me that those who have knowledge don’t always have understanding. And that is good news for all of us and anyone who has ever read something in the Bible and walked away more confused than before. In the early days of the pandemic, as all of us sat at home contemplating the challenges of life, the Furtado children—as true preacher kids—sat in our living having a heated discussion about nothing less than the Holy Trinity. I don’t rightly recall all the details of their conversation, but the discussion revolved around the question of how one God can be Father, Son, and Spirit. As a proud father, or terrible pastor, I decided they could get to answers on their own, so I decided to remain silent in the room next door.  At some point, as voices were raised and deeper questions emerged one of the girls very matter-of-factly said, “it just is.” As in, there is nothing to explain, the Trinity is a mystery beyond our knowing. Whether they knew it at the time or not, my girls were entering a two-thousand-year-old conversation. A conversation about a power beyond human comprehension foreshadowed in the exchange between Jesus and Nicodemus.

You see, Nicodemus was a powerful Jewish man—a person with great wisdom and influence, one who understood the things of God and was charged to care and lead his people. And even though the gospels paint Pharisees and Jewish leaders with a broad brush, these individuals played a very important role in Jewish society. Josephus, the Jewish historian, described the Pharisees as the most influential group among the Jewish population. They were noted authorities on the interpretation of Jewish law, and they offered wise counsels to those who sought to obey God’s commandments.[2] All this seems like trivial information, but it’s not. In order for us to understand the resistance to the something new Jesus brings; we must be aware of what was feared being lost. In our lives when we struggle to move from a state of sameness and newness, is not necessarily because we fear what is to come as much as grieving what we may leave behind. So, in days when external social influences threatened the religious identity and survival of Israel, the Pharisees and other leaders helped the people to remain faithful and to continue to live in obedience to God. They believed that through the faithful observance of the Law and personal faithfulness to God the nation would receive both blessings and salvation. When you understand that the future of your people depends on their faithful actions in the present, you might take all matters of faith very seriously.

So, Nicodemus stood as a part of this noble sect of leaders who cared for the Law of the LORD, and helped the people be faithful to God’s commandments. So after hearing about and seeing the deeds of Jesus, this wise Jewish teacher comes to the Lord in the dark of night. Much has been said about the time of the day he chooses to see Jesus. John, being “the Gospel of Light,” definitely paints a certain picture of those who move in darkness. John chapter 1, speaking about the Word says, “What came into being through the Word was life, and the life was the light for all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness doesn’t extinguish the light.”[3] Also, John 10:11, “But whoever walks in the night does stumble because the light isn’t in them.” We could certainly read that Nicodemus coming to Jesus in the dark of the night meant that he was distant from the realities of the k