Nicodemus and Joanna
Joanna: Nicodemus! Hello! Are you here to see Chuza?
Nicodemus (looking uneasy): No, no, I’m actually here to see you Joanna, not your husband.
Joanna: Me? But he’s Herod’s steward, the one with power and influence. What could I possibly help you with? Pharisees don’t usually turn to women for assistance.
Nicodemus: I know, but this is different, it has to with, well, it has to do with (whispers) Jesus.
Joanna: Jesus? I didn’t know you were interested in Jesus.
Nicodemus (looking around fearfully): Shhh! Not so loud, someone might hear you! You know how the other Pharisees and leaders feel about him. At first they just thought he was a nuisance, but now they’re really starting to hate him.
Joanna: I know, but I don’t understand it. Why does he bother them so much? He preaches about God’s love and how we should love one another. What’s so scary about that?
Nicodemus: Some think he’s a radical who’s trying to turn our country upside down. Others think he’s just another misguided messiah. I was intrigued so I went to see him last night and --
Joanna: You went to see Jesus last night? If you wanted to meet him, why didn’t you just go see him during the day like everyone else?
Nicodemus: Would you please not speak so loudly! I don’t want everyone in the palace to know I wanted to see him. That’s why I went at night, so no one would see me.
Joanna: Are you scared of Jesus or scared of what other people will think?
Nicodemus: Both, I think. He’s just so different from any other teacher I’ve ever heard of. The more I learned of his teachings from other people, the more I wanted to speak to him myself. He speaks with such authority and wisdom, more than any Pharisee or teacher of the law, certainly more than me.
Joanna: I know, and he teaches women right along with the men. I’ve always wanted to learn more about the scriptures and about our faith, but no one would ever teach a woman. Listening to him has opened my mind to new ideas and new ways of thinking about faith and God and life and everything.
Nicodemus: And then there are his miracles, the sorts of things that we read about in the scriptures, but that no one has actually seen for hundreds of years.
Joanna: Like healing people! And that wedding in Cana, that was incredible. I’ve never seen anything like it. I couldn’t believe it when he changed the water into wine for that poor family.
Nicodemus: Were you there? But that was such a poor, common crowd, far below someone of your class. How could you gather with people like that?
Joanna: They’re the same class as Jesus and you just visited him, didn’t you? I’ve become friends with his mother, Mary. I have so much respect for her. She may not be rich or well educated, but she has great wisdom and love to share.
Nicodemus: But doesn’t it scare you to gather openly with people like that? With Jesus and his friends?
Joanna: What would I be scared of? They may be poor and a bit rough, but they’re good people.
Nicodemus: But what do people say when they see you with them? The people who count, the people like us? What does your husband say?
Joanna: My husband gave up telling me what to do a long time ago. It made life much easier for both of us. And as for other people “like us,” I don’t care what they think. I used to worry about that all the time, but somehow spending time with Jesus has changed me. It’s like I’m a different person, like I’ve been born anew.
Nicodemus: That’s what Jesus tried to talk me to about, being born again! But I didn’t understand what he meant.
Joanna: What did exactly he say?
Nicodemus: Well, I was trying to explain why I knew he was someone special, so I said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher sent from God, for no one could perform the miracles you are doing unless God were with him.” Then he said, “I am telling you the truth, no one can see the Kingdom of God unless he is born anew.”
Joanna: That sounds like Jesus, sometimes it takes awhile to figure out what he’s talking about.
Nicodemus: I never figured it out! When he said that, I responded, “What do you mean? How can a grown man be born again? He certainly can’t go back into his mother’s womb a second time!” I thought I was being pretty witty, but he just went on to talk about being born of water and the Spirit, and the Spirit being like the wind. Finally I broke in and asked, “What?? How can all this be? You’re making no sense!” And you know what he said? “You’re a great teacher in Israel and you don’t know all this?” What kind of an answer is that? And how dare he speak to me that way?
Joanna: He hurt your pride, didn’t he? And you can’t get past that and your fear.
Nicodemus: I have every reason to be proud! I am a great teacher in Israel, I am well known and well respected by everyone who matters. Who is he to treat me like I know nothing? He’s just a poor carpenter’s son, what does he know compared to me? (pauses) Oh, who I am fooling? Yes, he hurt my pride. I’m not used to not understanding. I thought we would speak like two equals, but it didn’t feel that way.
Joanna: Yet when I speak with him, he treats me as an equal, as if I am equally important in God’s eyes as he is. Maybe there’s a lesson for you to learn here, Nicodemus. I had to let go of worrying about what other people think of me in order to be born anew as a follower of Jesus. I also had to let go of thinking that I was better than others and being so terribly controlling with everyone in my household. Once I let go of that fear and control, I could follow him with an open heart and learn so much from him. I truly am a different person now, more compassionate, more accepting of others. But I had to let go first. What do you need to let go of in order to be born anew, Nicodemus?
Nicodemus: Where do I start? Obviously my pride, and my pride is what has led to my fear. If I weren’t so proud I wouldn’t be scared of what others think about Jesus. But it’s worse for me than for you. I could lose my position as an influential Pharisee if people find out that I’m a follower of Jesus!
Joanna: Would that be the end of the world? You would still have all your knowledge, you would have your family and your home. Is the influence and power that important?
Nicodemus: I never thought of it that way. I just don’t like the idea of people laughing at me or looking at me differently because of what I believe.
Joanna: Do what I do, if they laugh or point fingers at me I just tell them how much happier I am now, how much more meaning my life has. Some people keep laughing, but some listen and have even started to follow Jesus themselves.
Nicodemus: I suppose, but it’s such a risk. If I lose my power and influence, who will listen to me? Who will I be?
Joanna: Jesus doesn’t care about power and influence. He wants to bring about change in the world so that everyone has the chance to live up to their potential as God’s children, no matter what gender or race they are, how rich or poor they are, even what age they are. He treats children, women and elders with the same respect he treats rich men of power. That’s what being born in the Spirit is about, it’s about letting go of our fear, pride and anger and anything else that holds us back from living as God’s children, living in God’s love. When we do that, we really feel like we’ve been born anew as a new person, the person God meant us to be.
Nicodemus: But don’t you ever have days where you fall back into your old ways? How can we change so completely for the rest of our lives? Jesus made it sound so complete and permanent: “born again.”
Joanna: Wait a minute, did he say born again or born anew? There's a difference.
Nicodemus: There is? I think he actually said born anew, born of the Spirit. Isn't that the same thing as born again?
Joanna: Well, I've heard him talk about being born anew, and to me that sounds like something that can happen again and again, not a one time thing.
Nicodemus: Oh, that does make a difference. I know myself, I’m not that strong, I can’t just give up my fear and pride and never look back. I know I’ll fall back into it.
Joanna: Exactly, We all have days like that. Even Jesus gets tired and frustrated sometimes. Every day I have to pray and ask God to help me live in the new way Jesus has shown me. Every day I feel my old desire for control and my fear sneaking back in, but I just pray and trust that God will help me. That's why I like the idea of being born anew rather than being born again, to me it means that it's a process I go through every day rather than a one time thing.
Nicodemus: I like that. But what about when you make mistakes? Don't you ever feel like you'll never get it right?
Joanna: Of course! But I trust that God understands and forgives me. Jesus says that God is there to love us, not judge us.
Nicodemus: He said something like that to me last night He said he hadn’t come to judge the world, but to save it. It's similar to what I've been taught all my life, and yet it's so different. I want to trust what he says, but I just don’t know if I’m ready to make those kind of changes in my life. I like Jesus’ teachings, but he asks too much.
Joanna: You don’t have to decide today, Nicodemus. I followed Jesus for quite awhile before I started to make changes in my life. Just don’t give up on him. I think you need him in your life.
Nicodemus: You’re right, I do. I guess I’ll have to swallow my pride and my fear and spend more time with him. I pray God will give me the courage and the faith to do that with an open mind.
Joanna: And an open heart, Nicodemus, don't forget that. An open heart is just as important as an open mind when it comes to Jesus.