Daily Lectionary: Isaiah 24:1-13; 1 John 1:1-2:14
“If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” (1 John 1:6-7)
What does walking in the light have to do with the blood of Jesus cleansing us from all sin? Walking in the light means, for starters, that you confess your sins. You just come right out in the open and admit it, as you do in broad daylight every Sunday in the liturgy with words that say you “justly deserve God's temporal and eternal punishment.”
Nicodemus did not do that, at least not in John, chapter 3. In fact, he came to Jesus at night (John 3:2). He was the original Nick at Night! He was also a man of the Pharisees, a ruler of the Jews (John 3:1). No such man would be caught dead or alive with Jesus, at least in broad daylight. Sinners did that sort of thing. And Nicodemus wasn't one of those, or so he thought. Under the cloak of that night's darkness, Jesus showed him that he was one: “And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil” (John 3:19). Rather than walk with Jesus in the light, Nicodemus preferred the dark, for he was evil. That's what Jesus said. In broad daylight, He even called His own disciples evil: “If you who are evil know how to give good gifts...” (Luke 11:13).
“The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify to it that its works are evil” (John 7:7). The world does not like to hear that its works are evil. It prefers to believe that by its works it can separate itself from others. “Give your heart to Jesus; give your life to God; turn over a new leaf; stop all your sinning; be good; although no one is perfect, just give it all you've got. Do that, and God will certainly reward you with His salvation.” Jesus testified to the world otherwise. Yes, do all that; it is commanded of you in the law. But trust in any of that, and you will only be damning yourself. Jesus was just repeating what His Father once spoke through Isaiah, the prophet: “All our righteous deeds are like filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6). Rubbing filthy rags in God's face certainly does not please Him.
But, rubbing His ears with Jesus is a whole different story. And one great way to do that is at the Sacrament of the Altar, where Jesus gives you His Blood, cleansing you from all sins. There's your fellowship — with Him, and with each other. And this, in broad daylight! Your own works do not separate you from others, but leave you a sinner like the rest. But Jesus' Blood now saves us all, all the same. It does. Read John 6:54.