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Nicodemus
The Pharisee who came to Jesus by night — and who would eventually help bury him in daylight.
Nicodemus was a Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin, the ruling council of Israel. John’ s Gospel introduces him with the observation that he came to Jesus “ by night” — a detail that has been read as evidence of his fear of the council ever since.
The Night Visit
John 3 records the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus, which contains some of the most quoted verses in the Bible. Nicodemus begins with a cautious compliment: “ Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God.” Jesus answers with a statement that cuts straight past the compliment: “ Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”
Nicodemus does not understand. He asks how a man can be born when he is old. Jesus explains the difference between physical birth and spiritual birth, and then delivers the verse that has become the summary of the gospel: “ For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son...” (John 3:16).
A Growing Faith
Nicodemus appears twice more in John’ s Gospel, and each time his faith is a little more visible. In John 7:50–51, he defends Jesus before the Sanhedrin, arguing that the law requires a hearing before judgment. In John 19:39–42, he comes out into the open, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes to anoint the body of Jesus and helping Joseph of Arimathea bury him.
The trajectory is clear: fear gives way to courage. The man who came at night ends by acting in daylight. His story is a portrait of how faith grows in a man who has much to lose by confessing it.
“ He came to Jesus at night and said, ‘ Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God.’”
John 3:2Sources
- John 3:1–21; 7:50–51; 19:38–42.
- Raymond E. Brown, The Gospel According to John I– XII (Anchor Bible, 1966), 136–142.
- Craig S. Keener, The Gospel of John: A Commentary, vol. 1 (Hendrickson, 2003), 538–563.