Day 8
Happy Day 8 of #LentenDaily2026! If you have committed to fast from something during this season, you’ve made it through week one. How is it going? Any headaches from a lack of caffeine? Realizing how much time you have since fasting from social media and not quite sure how to fill it? If you are fasting from food during the day, are you finding yourself exhausted by 5pm and still have 4-5 hours before you can head to bed? Or maybe you’ve given up television and that bowl of ice cream that is your regular go-to activity in the evenings and don’t know what else to do, since it’s still winter and dark and gloomy outside.
How are you resisting the temptation to just give up and go back to your regular routine? Have you thought about sneaking a quick Coca Cola in the afternoon, just so you can stay awake at work or while driving the kids around to their after school activities? Or maybe temptation strikes most intently in the dark, when you are alone. If you could just eat or do _______, you’d feel more peaceful and able to truly rest. Even as I’m writing, it is obvious to me that these are lies that we believe, convincing ourselves that we can find true rest and peace, true connection by engaging in the very thing we have committed to lay down. Are we criminals or forgiven if we break our Lenten Promise? Of course we are forgiven! But in those moments of weakness, we would be wise to be curious as to WHY we gave in. Why we convinced ourselves that the donuts or caffeine or social media scrolling would satisfy our search for peace and meaning? That somehow, the darkness is more preferable than the light.
Today we read of a familiar interaction between Jesus and well respected Jewish leader, Nicodemus. Nic is intrigued by all that he has heard from and about Jesus and wants to know more. But he can’t risk coming in the daytime. It must be after dark.
Read John 3:1-21
Here we see Nicodemus for the first time. Nicodemus was a Pharisee, a member of the Sanhedrin, and a respected religious leader. He came to Jesus under the cover of night, not because he was a criminal but because he was curious. He was seeking answers and truth. He was intrigued by Jesus’ teachings, but he was afraid to be seen with Him in the light of day for fear of what his fellow Pharisees might say. So, he chose the night to have a conversation, and Jesus graciously allowed it.
When Nicodemus met Jesus, he said he believed He came from God as a teacher. Nicodemus believed this because no one could do the miracles Jesus was doing unless God was with him. Many of Nic’s fellow Pharisees also saw and heard of the first sign and the claims that Jesus was making regarding the temple, yet they did not come to Nicodemus’ conclusions. Yet, when Nicodemus saw the miracles he believed Jesus had come from God and was interested to learn more.
It appears that Nicodemus had a soft heart and wanted to authentically serve the Lord. He may have struggled with similar self-righteous and proud sins the other Pharisees did and many of us do, but overall, deep in his heart, he wanted to follow the Lord. It seems that Jesus knew when He met Nicodemus that he was different. In today’s reading we observe a phenomenal conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus that would change Nic’s life forever. This conversation makes up some of the most quoted Scriptures that many of us have memorized today, specifically John 3:16-17:
“For God so loved the world in this way:
He gave his one and only Son,
so that everyone who believes in him
will not perish but have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world,
but to save the world through him.”
Jesus knew it was understanding these things that would free Nicodemus from living the life of a Pharisee. As we established earlier, Nic loved God, but still struggled like the other Pharisees to understand the Kingdom of God. These new ideas didn’t fit into their neatly organized and managed theology. Jesus told Nicodemus, “Unless someone is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (v 3) Once Nic began to understand, he would need to come into the light. As Jesus concludes their conversation, “Anyone who lives by the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be shown to be accomplished by God.” (v 21) Come on Nic, come into the light.
Big Picture Questions for Today:
Does fear hold you back from curiously engaging with the truth of the gospel message? Do you, at times, allow the opinions of others, or your fears of their opinions, dictate your faith?
How can you step out of the shadows and into the light of Jesus and His kingdom today, embracing your identity as a child of God and the one whom Jesus loves.
Pray, and worship the One who spoke the light into existence, who separated the light from the darkness, who is Himself Light. Worship the One Who loved you so much that He sent Himself, through the person of His one and only Son, the Light that shines in the darkness and the darkness cannot overtake or overshadow Him. Come into the Light, dear friend, and be fully enveloped in the Light of the World.
