Saint Nicodemus was a Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin.
Nicodemus, according to the Gospel of John, showed favour to Jesus.
He appears three times in John.
Nicodemus visits Jesus one night to discuss his teachings with him.
The second time Nicodemus is mentioned, is when he states the law concerning the arrest
of Jesus during the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
The last time Nicodemus appears in the Bible is Crucifixion, when he assists Joseph of
Arimathea in preparing the corpse of Jesus for burial.
The discussion with Jesus is the source of several common expressions of contemporary
Christianity, specifically, the descriptive phrase born again used to describe the baptism,
and John 3:16, a commonly quoted verse used to describe God's plan of salvation.
An apocryphal work under his name — the Gospel of Nicodemus — was produced the mid-4th
century, and is mostly a reworking of the earlier Acts of Pilate, which recounts the
harrowing of Hell.
Though there is no clear source of information about Nicodemus outside the Gospel of John,
the Jewish Encyclopedia and many Biblical historians have theorized that he is identical
to Nicodemus ben Gurion, mentioned in the Talmud as a wealthy and popular holy man reputed
to have had miraculous powers.
Christian tradition believes that Nicodemus was martyred because of his belief in Christ
sometime in the 1st century AD.
Nicodemus in the Bible
As is the case with Lazarus, Nicodemus does not belong to the tradition of the Synoptic
Gospels and is only mentioned by John, who devotes more than half of Chapter 3 of his
gospel, a few verses of Chapter 7 and lastly mentions him in Chapter 19.
The first time Nicodemus is mentioned, he wishes to meet Jesus "at night," intrigued
by the miracles performed by Jesus:
Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God.
For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.
Then Jesus has a conversation with Nicodemus about the meaning of being born again / born
from above and mentions the "kingdom of heaven" Jesus is surprised to see that "Israel's teacher"
does not understand the doctrine of spiritual rebirth.
Then, in John Chapter 7, against the advice of "the chief priests and the Pharisees,"
Nicodemus defends Jesus, advising his colleagues to hear and investigate before making a final
judgment against Jesus.
It is implied that Nicodemus was a Galilean by their mocking response.
Finally, when Jesus is buried, Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about 75 pounds,
for the embalming of Jesus' body according to Jewish custom.
Since the other gospels do not provide details about Nicodemus, these are the only canonical
sources that are available.
Veneration and liturgical commemoration Nicodemus is venerated as a saint in the various
Eastern churches and in the Roman Catholic Church.
The Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic churches commemorate Nicodemus on the Sunday
of the Myrrhbearers, celebrated on the Third Sunday of Pascha as well as August 2, the
date when tradition holds that his relics were found, along with those of Stephen the
Protomartyr, Gamaliel, and Abibas.
The traditional Roman Catholic liturgical calendar lists the same feast of the finding
of their relics on the following day, August 3.
In the current Roman Martyrology of the Catholic Church, Nicodemus is commemorated along with
Saint Joseph of Arimathea on August 31.
The Franciscan Order erected a church under the patronage of Saints Nicodemus and Joseph
of Arimathea in Ramla.
Nicodemus in art
Nicodemus figures prominently in medieval depictions of the Deposition in which he,
and Joseph of Arimathea are always shown removing the dead Christ from the cross, often with
the aid of a ladder.
Like Joseph, Nicodemus became the object of various pious legends during the Middle Ages,
particularly in connection with monumental crosses.
He was reputed to have carved both the Holy Face of Lucca and the Batlló Crucifix, receiving
angelic assistance with the face in particular and thus rendering the works instances of
acheiropoieta.
Both of these sculptures date from at least a millennium after Nicodemus's life, but the
ascriptions attest to the contemporary interest in Nicodemus as a character in medieval Europe.
In popular culture
In August 16, 1967, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. references Nicodemus needing to be born
again, a metaphor about the United States needing a revolution to address social and
economic inequality.
The speech was called “Where Do We Go From Here?,” and delivered at the 11th Annual
SCLC Convention in Atlanta, GA.
Nicodemus was portrayed by Laurence Olivier in the Franco Zeffirelli television miniseries
Jesus of Nazareth.
In the miniseries, Nicodemus tries to warn Jesus that he might be arrested, and is there
to watch the Crucifixion.
He speaks the famous words "And with His wounds we are healed".
Nichole Nordeman's song To Know You includes the lyrics: "Nicodemus could not understand
how You could truly free us.
He struggled with the image of a grown man born again.
We might have been good friends, 'cause sometimes I still question too how easily we come to
You."
The song Help Yourself by The Devil Makes Three contains multiple references to Nicodemus
and his interactions with Jesus.
Other references include songs from the Christian band For Today, in which one song entitled
"Nicodemus" contains lyrics hinting at his biblical legacy.
Also, in many books there are names used as Nicodemus to represent him.
Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea are the central characters in the Biblical historical
fiction book "Nicodemus' Quest" by Bill Kincaid.
The two men are Pharisees and members of the Sanhedrin who investigate whether Jesus might
be the Messiah foretold by Jewish prophets.
Although the book is fiction, it is consistent with the biblical narrative while giving a
wealth of details about Jewish customs and events, Messianic prophesies, Jewish and Roman
laws that were ignored in the trials of Jesus, and details about the crucifixion.
In the Biblical, historical fiction, "Nicodemus" by Keith Ballard Farris, the life of Jesus
is told from the point of view of Nicodemus.
The story begins in Bethlehem, where the life of a young Nicodemus first collides with the
changes and challenges that will tear apart his family.
Nicodemus is the leader of the rats in the book "Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH."
The stoner rock band Om, refers to Nicodemus in the song Gethsemane,
:"Nocodemus awaits in vigil weeping, The Arahat rising and the healing ghost descends,
Lamentations cease enter rarefied light prevails, Devekut gleams sing freedom from tamasic field."
Notes
References Cornel Heinsdorff: Christus, Nikodemus und
die Samaritanerin bei Juvencus.
Mit einem Anhang zur lateinischen Evangelienvorlage, Berlin/New York 2003
External links Jewish Encyclopedia: Nicodemus
Catholic Encyclopedia: Nicodemus "St. Nicodemus", Butler's Lives of the Saints