As Black History month draws to a close, let us pause to remember, to honor, and to celebrate. We remember the suffering, we honor the resilience, and we celebrate the victories of the Black community, who against all odds, kept faith in a God, who delivers. This Sunday’s Gospel from John speaks powerfully into that story.
In this passage, we meet a man named Nicodemus. He was a Pharisee, a leader, educated and respected. Yet he came to Jesus at night. Night suggests darkness – not just the time of day, but a spiritual condition. Nicodemus had position but still lacked something. He had religion but still wrestled with understanding. So, he came in the dark, searching for light.
Jesus tells him something revolutionary: “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”
To be born again is to experience transformation. It is not about status, education, wealth, or power. It is about spiritual rebirth. That message has echoed through the history of Black faith in America.
We remember those forced into physical, social, and legal darkness, enslaved, oppressed, and told they were less than human, but they still encountered the Light of Christ. The sang spirituals under open skies, they found a faith that affirmed their dignity and hope. They discovered that being born again meant no chain could define their identity, because their identity was rooted in God.
Jesus says, “The wind blows where it wishes… So, it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” The Spirit cannot be controlled or confined, that same spirit moved in the courage of Harriet Tubman, the bold witness of Frederick Douglass, the prophetic voice of Sojourner Truth, and the dream-filled preaching of Martin Luther King Jr. They were transformed by faith and became instruments of change.
Nicodemus came in the night, but he did not stay there. He grew in faith and courage. So, we are called to move from darkness into light – to embrace the new birth Christ offers and to live as people transformed.
May we remember that the same God who sustained our ancestors still moves today. May we trust the wind of the spirit. May we walk boldly in the light of God’s love-born again, renewed, and committed to justice, faith and hope.
Title: Christ and Nicodemus; Date: ca. 1896; Artist: Fritz von Uhde (1848-1911); Building: Private Collection; Object/Function: Painting; Scripture: John 3:1-1. Permalink: https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=56264 (Use this link to refer back to this image.)
