No 8

(Nicodemus)

A prominent Jew in the time of Christ, he is mentioned only in the gospel of John. The

name is of Greek origin but according to Josephus, the Jews occasionally borrowed names

from the Greek; the name means: “the people are victor”. A Hebrew form of the name can also be found in the Jewish Talmud.

Nicodemus was a Pharisee and in his position of sanhedrist (John 7), was a leader of the Jews. Christ, in Nicodemus’ nocturnal visit, called him a master in Israel (John 3:10). He appears in this interview as a learned and intelligent believer but timid and not easily initiated into a new faith. Being born again was so foreign to Nicodemus’ thinking that he actually thought that a person had to go back into the mother’s womb. Whether or not this was like a metaphor to Nicodemus we do not know but Jesus had to use strong words to help him understand true spiritual rebirth. He next appears as a member of the Sanhedrin in John 7:50, 51 and offers a word of defence for the accused Galilean “Our Law does not judge a man, unless it first hears from him and knows what he is doing, does it?” In his last appearance in the Bible, he is found helping Joseph of Arimathea with the embalming of the body of Jesus in John 19:39. He may not have played a very important role in the Bible but he was present when Jesus said the most famous and widely quoted verse in the Bible – John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”