My help comes from Lord. Psalm 121:2
Lent 2, Year A
In Psalm 121 King David asked and answered an important question. The question,
From where is my help to come?
David’s answer,
My help comes from God, the maker of heaven and earth. God watches over our comings and goings forever. Psalm 121:2 & 8
When trouble comes who or what do you turn to? When life deposits you in the valley of the shadow of death what calms your fears? Psalm 23:4
When you needed help getting out of a mess of your own making, who rescued you without blaming you? Psalm 91:15. God is my refuge and strength. Psalm 46:1
(I sang)
I love the lord, he heard my voice and pitied every groan. Long as I live and troubles rise; I’ll hasten to his throne. LEVAS Hymnal 67
God is my refuge and strength; a very present help in time of trouble.
Psalm 46:1
Nicodemus walked with God. God was his refuge and strength.
Nicodemus was born into a tribe where males were educated and trained to be Pharisees. This meant he devoted himself to studying God’s word and debating the laws and commandments. Nicodemus rose into the ranks of the Sanhedrin. His wisdom, skills, and accomplishments exceeded that of other Pharisees. The Sanhedrin was a panel of religious leaders who adjudicated cases to determine when people failed to obey God.
Rumors about Jesus reached the Sanhedrin: how Jesus healed a woman no doctor had been able to cure, restored sight to a man born blind, and taught in synagogues. Some Pharisees complained because people said Jesus’ wisdom and knowledge rivaled their’s. Instead of going along with his colleagues, Nicodemus visited Jesus. As God did at the Exodus, God lead Nicodemus with a “pillar of fire by night” (Exodus 13:21). Why did Nicodemus visit Jesus at night? Maybe Nicodemus went after the Sanhedrin court hours. Perhaps Nicodemus visited when people were not out and about to avoid contributing to the confusion and conflict in his faith community. Most people assume Nicodemus visited Jesus at night because he was afraid. He might have been fearful and conflicted: wanting to learn from a person empowered by God while upholding religious tradition. Nicodemus, true to the God he loved and faithful to his profession, spoke with Jesus on behalf of devout Jews and educated Pharisees. First he addressed Jesus as he would a colleague,
Rabbi,
Then Nicodemus declared
we (believers, religious scholars and leader and not I myself alone) know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you unless they are united with God. John 3:1-2
During their lively exchange, Jesus informed Nicodemus that he was God’s Son. Jesus told him righteousness was based on human faith and God’s grace. Jesus declared that neither sin nor death could separate believers from God. Jesus spoke like a poet using images of light, wind, and childbirth. Nicodemus, because he was trained to think like as a religious lawyer and ethicist, misunderstood more than he understood. In spite of his confusion, Nicodemus’ respect for Jesus grew. His faith had taught him to trust that, in God’s time, all would be made clear. Nicodemus’ respect for Jesus was not enough to conquer all his fears, but was enough to prepare him for what came next.
In the 7th chapter of John, the case of Jesus’ work came before the Sanhedrin. The judges heard descriptions of Jesus’ healings on the Sabbath and were outraged. The testimony about Jesus’ preaching in synagogues and teaching the Temple incensed them. After all, Jesus was not born into a tribe of religious leaders, his people were carpenters, and there were rumors that his mother was pregnant with him before she married. Nicodemus heard the testimony and already knew the rumors, but disagreed with his colleagues. He spoke during the proceedings, but was not brave enough to share his assessment of Jesus. Instead, Nicodemus chastised the Sanhedrin for a procedural violation.
Our law does not judge people without call them into the court for a hearing to find out what they are doing, does it? John 7:51
His colleagues responded: dismissing Nicodemus’ correction, accusing him of bias, and referencing a prophetic prediction.
Are you one of Jesus’ followers from Galilee? Search the Scriptures and you will see that no prophet is to arise from Galilee. John 7:52
This court proceeding toughened Nicodemus. It prepared him. The same evidence and arguments would be made during the next and last trail of Jesus. The shame Nicodemus experienced because he declined to defend Jesus and failed to site laws or prophecies that supported Jesus, readied him. Enduring this humiliation with God forced Nicodemus to trust God. He remember from his time on the Sanhedrin and the beloved Scriptures that God’s justice eventually prevailed. This humiliation, with all its heartache, equipped Nicodemus for what came next.
Things soon went from bad to worse. Troubles, beyond Nicodemus’ worst fears, rose. Though he was powerless to change the course of events, Nicodemus was ready and able to respond. Jesus, a teacher sent by God, was arrested, tried in Nicodemus’ court, then sentenced to death by Pilate. With God as his “pillar of cloud by day” (Exodus 13:21), Nicodemus with Joseph of Arimathea collected and prepared Jesus’ body for burial and laid it to rest in a new tomb in broad daylight. When Jesus died, Nicodemus took up his own cross. He openly and boldly served as a disciple of Christ.
How did I come to this conclusion? Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John do not count him among the disciples. There is an apocryphal Gospel, a text not included in the Bible, composed by Nicodemus. This text is called the Gospel of Nicodemus or the Acts of Pilate. (You can find and read it with an internet search.) In this book Nicodemus recounts the proceedings of Jesus’ trial, sentencing, death, resurrection and ascension. The Gospel of Nicodemus says over and over the Sanhedrin and Pilate put a just man to death. In this book Nicodemus testifies that Jesus was the Messiah who was raised from the dead. Nicodemus argues that, like other great prophets, Enoch and Elijah, Jesus was assumed into heaven. Nicodemus defended Joseph of Arimathea and get him reinstated as an honored member of the Pharisees after the Sanhedrin arrested him for using his tomb to bury Jesus. Though omitted from the Bible, the Gospel of Nicodemus shows his faith development, fear management, and conflict negotiation. It recounts his journey of discipleship. Nicodemus loving and serving the Lord. God was his strength and help. God can do for you what God did for Nicodemus. When troubles come your way, when you are your own worst enemy let God guide you. Just as God was a pillar of fire by night guiding Israel and cloud by day shielding Israel, God will guide you through dark nights of the soul and shield you from the scorching heat of injustice.
From where is help to come? Our help comes from God, the maker of heaven and earth. God is watching over our comings and goings forever. Psalm 121:2 & 8
