Monday of the Second Week of Easter
Nicodemus Syndrome: Living the faith only when no one else is around.
Nicodemus comes to Jesus in the dark of night. * He is afraid to be seen with Jesus because of what others, especially his peers within the Sanhedrin, would think. His faith is not only weak, but weighed down with fear.
He, along with Joseph of Arimathea, is a disciple in secret. Aren’t we like that sometimes — watering down our faith for fear of “what people will think?”
At the same time, Nicodemus models courage. For in the end he comes through. He, along with Joseph of Arimathea, had dissented from the condemnation of Jesus by the Sanhedrin. More importantly, he is at the cross and offers to prepare the body of Jesus for burial, along with the aforementioned Joseph. Finally, at Jesus’ death, both are secret disciples no longer.
It is ironic that these two members of the council come out of hiding and publically associate themselves with Jesus as a condemned criminal. It cannot be overstated that their request for his body was highly unusual, gutsy, even shocking. The Roman custom was to leave rotting corpses hanging on crosses to further terrorize conquered peoples, a horrifying political advertisement from the Pax Romana: don’t mess with us!
Let us pray throughout this Easter season that we, too, might find, through God’s grace, the courage of Nicodemus who himself emerged out of the “syndrome” that bears his name.
-Timothy J. Cronin
* Night-time can be a good time to pray. The busy world is quieter and we are less likely to be disturbed. The night carries its own rich mystery too, which helps us compose ourselves within the mystery of God. Monks pray in the night all their lives. We, too, can do so before retiring.