Gospel in Art: Nicodemus, a leading Jew, came to Jesus by night

Dead Christ Supported by Nicodemus, by Baccio Bandinelli © Church of Sta. Annunziata, Florence

Source: Christian Art

Gospel of 17 April 2023
John 3:1-8

There was one of the Pharisees called Nicodemus, a leading Jew, who came to Jesus by night and said, 'Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who comes from God; for no one could perform the signs that you do unless God were with him.' Jesus answered:

'I tell you most solemnly,

unless a man is born from above,

he cannot see the kingdom of God.'

Nicodemus said, 'How can a grown man be born? Can he go back into his mother's womb and be born again?' Jesus replied:

'I tell you most solemnly,

unless a man is born through water and the Spirit,

he cannot enter the kingdom of God:

what is born of the flesh is flesh;

what is born of the Spirit is spirit.

Do not be surprised when I say:

You must be born from above.

The wind blows wherever it pleases;

you hear its sound,

but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going.

That is how it is with all who are born of the Spirit.'

Reflection on the sculpture

In today's reading we hear of Nicodemus approaching Jesus at night. Night time can indeed be a good time to pray: a busy day has finished and we can gather our thoughts. But the reason why Nicodemus approached Jesus 'at night' was probably to avoid any attention. He was probably ashamed to seek Jesus during the day, when everyone might see the two of them meeting. Nicodemus wanted to be discreet and away from any publicity.

In today's reading, Nicodemus says that he did understand that Jesus was a 'teacher who had come from God'. The miracles that Jesus performed had convinced him that Jesus was sent by God. And then comes the beauty of today's passage, where Jesus says that we all have two births: one of the flesh (when we are born into this world) and one of the spirit (when we when we are baptised and truly place our lives in the hand of God)....

Our unusual, over life-size marble sculpture features Nicodemus supporting the body of the dead Christ. It was sculpted by Baccio Bandinelli. We see Christ's monumental lifeless body being held up, not by Our Lady (as in Michelangelo's Pietà carved some 50 years earlier), but by a single male figure. The figure, identified as either Nicodemus or Joseph of Arimathea, is considerably smaller than Christ. The instruments of Christ's passion appear before the figures on a rocky ground, flanked by an inscription on a small marble block that gives both the artist's name and the titular subject of the sculpture: "The Divine Pietà: Here Baccio Bandinelli made his tomb".

LINKS

Gospel in Art: https://christian.art/
Today's reflection: https://christian.art/daily-gospel-reading/john-3-1-8-2023/