It could well be that the Temple guards and Nicodemus, the heroes of today's Gospel may, have used the verses of the Responsorial Psalm in their prayers. They needed God's help. They were taking a risk in their honest expression of their reactions to Christ. The Temple guards could have lost their jobs and Nicodemus exposed himself to the risk of being ostracised and, maybe, even killed. As it was they were lucky enough to have been only treated with contempt by the members of the Sanhedrin who were bitterly opposed to Jesus.

As we contemplate the scene it may strike us that it is very dangerous to belong to a small group of powerful people who feel their positions and influence are being threatened by all kinds of real or imaginary opponents.

Secondly it may strike us as very interesting that John should have chosen to introduce Nicodemus three times into his carefully planned account of Jesus. In Chapter 3 Nicodemus comes to see Jesus "by night". Why by night? We can imagine Nicodemus walking home in the early hours of the morning, silent and thoughtful. In today's Gospel we find him confronting his fellow Sanhedrin members, challenging them to, at the very least, show a basic fairness and openness to Jesus. Not surprising then that in Chapter 19 we find Nicodemus at the tomb of Jesus honouring the one who had impressed him so much.