{"id":12109,"date":"2026-02-24T10:13:51","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T14:13:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/socialjesus\/?p=12109"},"modified":"2026-02-25T09:26:36","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T13:26:36","slug":"privilege-risks-justice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/socialjesus\/2026\/02\/privilege-risks-justice\/","title":{"rendered":"When Privilege Takes Risks for Justice"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"When
Photo Credit: Jack Taylor<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

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Our reading this week is from the gospel of John:<\/p>\n

Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. He came to Jesus by night and said to him, \u201cRabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.\u201d Jesus answered him, \u201cVery truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.\u201d Nicodemus said to him, \u201cHow can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother\u2019s womb and be born?\u201d Jesus answered, \u201cVery truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be astonished that I said to you, \u2018You must be born from above.\u2019 The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.\u201d Nicodemus said to him, \u201cHow can these things be?\u201d Jesus answered him, \u201cAre you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?<\/p>\n

Welcome Readers! <\/i><\/b>Please subscribe to Social Jesus Here<\/i><\/b><\/a>.<\/i><\/b><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

This is Part 1 of the series <\/b>Nicodemus Visits Jesus<\/b><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cVery truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.<\/p>\n

\u201cIndeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. (John 3:1-17)<\/p>\n

Nicodemus\u2019s visit to Jesus in John 3 is one of this Gospel\u2019s most intimate and arresting narratives. A Pharisee and member of the Jewish ruling council, Nicodemus slips to Jesus under cover of darkness, seeking understanding, recognition, or perhaps safety in the shadows. The conversation that follows begins with questions about Jesus\u2019 signs in John\u2019s gospel to the Jesus\u2019 famous statements about being \u201cborn again\u201d and that \u201cGod so loved the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

This encounter also, in the context of Nicodemus\u2019 power and privilege and his desire to meet Jesus in secrecy, carries urgent social and ethical implications for contemporary concerns. The nighttime setting suggests fear, vulnerability, and the cost of being seen publicly as standing in solidarity with Jesus. The scene is quite familiar for those today in justice work who take up the risk of confronting unjust systems. Jesus was standing on the side of those being harmed by the very system Nicodemus held power in and benefitted from. He had much to lose if he became associated with Jesus publicly.<\/p>\n

Reading John 3 through a lens shaped by our justice work today invites contemporary Nicodemuses to consider how transformation begins in risky dialogues across difference. Nicodemus, with all his fear, still takes a step toward Jesus, even if it is a tentative one. We\u2019ll unpack this risk a bit, in Part 2<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Begin each day being inspired toward love, compassion, justice and action. Free.<\/p>\n

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