2 Chr 36:14-16, 19-23/ Eph 2:4-10/ Jn 3:14-21
If we were to look at the little red book that is in the pews, it is called "The Order of the Mass".
On the cover there is a symbol of the cross, and on the spaces in between the arms of the cross are the letters IC, XC, NI and KA.
IC, XC are the initials for Jesus Christ.
But what about NI and KA? Actually it is one word NIKA. It is a Greek word, and it means victor or conqueror.
So the letters around the cross stands for Jesus Christ the Victor or Jesus Christ the Conqueror.
We may not have known what NIKA stands for because it is a foreign word.
And we may also not know what the name Nicodemus means.
It is a foreign sounding name, and not many people have that name, and maybe for a good reason.
In today's gospel, the man who came to look for Jesus at night is called Nicodemus. He was also a Pharisee.
Somehow the name Nicodemus doesn't give a good impression, and hence it doesn't find favour with people who what to choose a name for baptism or other purposes.
But what does the name Nicodemus stands for?
There are two parts to the name: nico and demus.
Nico means "victory", and demus means "the people".
So Nicodemus means "he is the victory of the people", or "he who claims victory for the people".
So it is actually a meaningful and also a powerful name.
Yet the Nicodemus in the gospel came to see Jesus under cover of darkness because he was afraid for his reputation and status as a Pharisee.
The man whose name means “victory of the people” has come to see the man who is the Victor and the Conqueror.
And out of the strange meeting in the night, a very profound and enlightening truth is proclaimed.
In fact, this truth is often called the summary of the whole Bible, the very gist of the good news of salvation.
And it is this: God loved the world so much that He gave His only Son, so that anyone who believes in Him may not be lost but may have eternal life.
For God sent His Son into the world not to condemn the world but so that through Him the world might be saved.
That is the powerful and profound truth. That is also the truth about God and His deep love for us.
Jesus shines His light on us so that we live in the light of truth and love.
Surely we are attracted to the light.
The problem is that we also like to linger in the darkness.
In the end, we settle for some kind of twilight existence.
Coming back to Nicodemus (whose name means the victory of the people).
Nicodemus had only three appearances in the Gospel of John.
The first was in today’s Gospel passage, when he came to see Jesus at night.
The second was when he tried to intervene by speaking up for Jesus when the Pharisees were plotting against Him ( Jn 7:51).
The third and last time was when he appeared at the burial of Jesus and provided a large quantity of spices for the burial (Jn 19:39).
So Nicodemus was not a great sinner but neither was he a great saint. He was not a great coward but neither did he have great courage.
Nicodemus can be said to be an in-between, neither in the light nor in the dark, a twilight kind of person.
And that’s what most of us are – in the twilight zone.
We draw comfort from the light, but there is also the darkness we want to hide.
Like Nicodemus, we are neither a great sinner nor a great saint.
We are not great cowards but neither do we have great courage.
We are neither all for God nor all against Him.
And we are also neither all for the devil, nor all against him.
But living in the in-between, twilight zone kind of existence, how are we going to stand before Jesus Christ, the Victor and Conqueror?
It is either we are with Him or we are not. It is either we gather with Him, or we scatter.
It’s either we are in the light or we are in the dark.
Yet, we must remember that we are created in love and we are created to live in the light.
When we sin, we walk on the dark side.
Lent is the time for us to move from being in this in-between twilight zone and come to the light.
The Sacrament of Reconciliation is for us to let the light of God shine in our hearts and dispel the darkness of our sins.
It may be sleazy shadows like selfishness, laziness or ungratefulness, or it may be major black holes like unfaithfulness, viciousness and wickedness.
Whatever it may be, Jesus wants to conquer the darkness of our sins and claim victory over us.
We have to decide; we can’t go in-between or opt for the twilight zone.
Either we are for Jesus or we are against Him.
Either we are in the light or we are in the dark.
Either we live in love, or we rot in sin.