When I read John 3:1-17, I can’t help imagining Nicodemus as someone who feels a bit like many of us do – curious about Jesus, wanting answers, but not totally ready to be seen asking the big questions. Instead of asking them openly, he waits until it’s dark to visit Jesus almost like he’s sneaking out to talk to someone he trusts but doesn’t fully understand. Sometimes those questions feel too big or too awkward to ask in the daylight.
When Nicodemus approaches Jesus, he starts with confidence: he knows the right words and his main beliefs. However Jesus doesn’t let him stay in that safe, controlled space. Instead, he tells Nicodemus “You must be born again”. Nicodemus reacts the way any of us might: “How is that supposed to work?” He’s thinking literally, practically and logically, but Jesus is talking about something more meaningful – a new beginning, a new way of letting God shape who we are becoming.
Lent is kind of like that. It’s a season that invites us to slow down and look honestly at our lives. Not to make you feel guilty, but in a way that asks, “Where do I need a fresh start?” As a teenager, it’s already a season of constant change for me – new pressures, new expectations, new emotions. Jesus’ words remind us that spiritual growth isn’t about having everything figured out. It’s about letting God work in us, even when we don’t fully understand how.
Jesus describes the Holy Spirit like the wind – free, unpredictable and impossible to control. That image makes sense to me, sometimes life feels unpredictable too. One day you feel amazing and the next you don’t. One moment you feel close to God, the next you’re not sure if He’s even listening. But Jesus’ point is that the Holy Spirit is always moving, always working, even when we can’t see it.
Then Jesus speaks the words many of us know off by heart: “For God so loved the world…” It’s easy to hear those words and not think too much about them – but if you do, you’ll see that God doesn’t just love you because you’ve held everything together. God doesn’t just love you because you’ve been strong enough or faithful enough. God loves all of you and everything about you – including the messy, stressed, insecure parts of you. God loves you – fully, freely, without conditions. In the same way that Jesus didn’t shame Nicodemus for coming at night. He simply met him there.
Sometimes we forget that faith is supposed to be alive, growing and honest. Lent isn’t about proving ourselves to God. It’s about making space for God to meet us where we are. It’s about letting the light in, even if we’re still standing in the shadows.
Nicodemus begins in the shadows, but he doesn’t stay there. Maybe Lent can be that kind of turning point for us too – a time to ask questions, to let the Holy Spirit move again and to trust that God’s love is big enough to hold every part of us. Jesus didn’t come to condemn us, He came to save us.
Scott Watson (QP Youth)