The Theme of Love and Justice in the Conversation Between Christ and Nicodemus

Abstract

The article analyzes an episode from the Gospel of John, dedicated to the conversation of Jesus Christ with Nicodemus. The place and role of Nicodemus in the general plot context of the gospel narrative is determined. The image of Nicodemus is analyzed, an assumption is made about the demonstration of worldview evolution on his example. A detailed analysis of the plot
of the Savior’s night conversation with Nicodemus is carried out. The main attention is focused on the problem of opposing love and justice in this fragment. The isagogical aspects of this text are analyzed, a comparative textological and semantic analysis of individual aspects of the fragment is carried out. The necessary attention is paid to the study of the figurative and semantic series of oppositions, which especially stand out among the concepts of «love» and «eternal life». The concepts of «court» and «justice» are analyzed as opposites to them. The problem of contrasting love and justice is examined in various contexts: through the prism of textual characteristics, through the logical-semantic structure of the text. The exegetical horizon of the problem is also
addressed, in particular, using the example of the works of such Church Fathers such as St. John Chrysostom, Blessed Theophylact of Bulgaria, St. Cyril of Alexandria. An allusion to the opposition of love and justice is substantiated as a translation of the conflict between the New Testament and the Old Testament consciousness.