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Nicodemus Meets with Jesus – John 3:1-21 

Scripture records in John 3 that Nicodemus, “a ruler of the Jews,” (NKJV) came to Jesus by night to talk with Jesus (John 3:1-2). That Nicodemus was a ruler among the Jews may indicate that he was a member of the Sanhedrin, the 71-member Supreme Court of Israel that was led by the High Priest. Nicodemus’ visit started with an acknowledgement that he recognized Jesus was indeed sent by God since “no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him” (John 3:2, NKJV).

Such an acknowledgement was rare among Jewish leaders because some of them attributed Jesus’ miracles to Satan’s work (Matthew 12:22-28) or dismissed Jesus because there was no prophecy of a prophet to come from Galilee (John 7:52). Actually, Jesus’ goal in doing so many miracles was that people would recognize His divine authority and repent from their sins (Matthew 11:20-24) and have the opportunity to clearly accept or reject Him (John 15:22-24).

When Jesus stated that to enter God’s kingdom one had to be “born again” (John 3:3) that appears to have caught Nicodemus off-guard. While Nicodemus tried to grasp Jesus’ words, Jesus described the work of the Holy Spirit (John 3:5-8). Jesus went on to explain that “as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so the Son of Man must be lifted up” (John 3:14 NKJV). Nicodemus would have certainly been familiar with the episode of Moses being instructed to make and lift a bronze serpent on a pole for the people’s healing from sin (Numbers 21:5-9). In fact, Nicodemus might have been Israel’s most knowledgeable teacher (John 3:10).    

 

Nicodemus Questions the Bias Against Jesus – John 7:47-52

Another account of Nicodemus appears in John 7:47-52, where he tries to slow down the rush to judgement that the Sanhedrin was making about Jesus. Nicodemus rebuked his colleagues when he asked them, “Does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he is doing?” (John 7:51, NKJV). When fellow Pharisees dismissed Jesus as having been from Galilee (John 7:52), their statement showed that they had not done their research about where Jesus had been born (which was in Bethlehem, in accordance with the prophecy in Micah 5:2). The Pharisee’s statement also overlooked that the prophet Jonah came from Gath-Hepher (2 Kings 14:25) which was in the area of Galilee.      

 

Nicodemus Helps to Bury Jesus – John 19:38-42

Considering the limited information that we have about Nicodemus, it is somewhat surprising that when Jesus died Nicodemus joined with Joseph of Arimathea to prepare Jesus’ body for burial. All 4 gospel accounts record Joseph of Arimathea as having asked for Jesus’ body, wrapping the body in linen, and placing the body in a tomb. However, only John’s gospel mentions any assistance from Nicodemus. Was Nicodemus emboldened by Joseph’s leadership?  

What might have caused Nicodemus to develop faith in Christ? If Nicodemus was indeed one of the top teachers in Israel (John 3:10), then he might have done more thorough research than the other Pharisees to verify whether Jesus fulfilled the many prophecies about the Messiah (such as where He was actually born).   

Nicodemus was very much aware of the crucifixion since he brought burial ointments (John 19:39) soon after Joseph secured the body from Pilate (John 19:38). The crucifixion may have caused Nicodemus to remember Jesus’ prediction that He would be “lifted up” (John 3:14), and Nicodemus may have also remembered prophecies about the Messiah’s death from Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53 as they became fulfilled. Even the pagan Romans (likely having no background in the Hebrew scriptures) who guarded Jesus and witnessed the events of the crucifixion (including the earthquake) were overwhelmed with the conviction that Jesus was the Son of God (Matthew 27:54).

As Joseph and Nicodemus worked through the burial preparation, the fact that they were handling a dead body would have caused them to be ritually unclean (Numbers 19) and thus would have prevented them from participating in the impending Passover worship activities. Apparently, this did not deter either one of them as they publicly performed for Jesus a Jewish burial custom (John 19:40), while those who had walked with Jesus for 3 years appear to have been in hiding “for fear of the Jews” (John 20:19).