“And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil.” – John 3:19

Too close to power, Nicodemus,
to be unaware
of what a savage place the palace, or
the council chamber, is.

The finest houses are adorned
with “those retired”
by the coups and calumnies
of those who rule.

Sometimes they’ve stepped across
the corpses slaughtered
on the battlefields of Munda
or the streets of Rome.

By sprays of blood or of dishonor,
Caesar’s heirs and Herod’s
threaten you, poor Nicodemus,
and you know it well.

The light has come into the world
by law and prophets’ words,
and greed has shrouded it in murder, theft,
and royal robes.

So nod, then, Nicodemus, as
you ponder on the snake
which, lifted up, no longer threatened life
but gave it back again.

How strange to find the light at night
as Moses’ people found
their healing in the very form they feared.
So, Nicodemus, nod.

The day approaches when you’ll gaze
upon the lifeless form
of light, and carry it into the dark,
and light will shine once more.

A poem/prayer based on John 3:14-21, the Revised Common Lectionary Second Reading for Year B, Fourth Sunday in Lent.

The image is Nicodemus by JESUS MAFA, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=48385 [retrieved February 28, 2023]. Original source: http://www.librairie-emmanuel.fr (contact page: https://www.librairie-emmanuel.fr/contact).