Who was Nicodemus?

The short answer

Nicodemus was a Pharisee and a member of Jerusalem’s ruling council. John’s Gospel says he first came to Jesus at night with questions. Later he spoke up for Jesus before the other leaders, and after the crucifixion he brought spices to bury him.

What the record says

John tells of the first visit:

Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. He came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do, unless God is with him.”

John 3:1 to 2

Jesus told him that unless a person is “born anew,” he can’t see God’s Kingdom (John 3:3). Nicodemus asked how a grown man could be born a second time (John 3:4).

Later, when the chief priests and Pharisees wanted Jesus arrested, Nicodemus asked them about their own law:

“Does our law judge a man unless it first hears from him personally and knows what he does?”

John 7:51

After Jesus died, he came with Joseph of Arimathea to bury the body:

Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus by night, also came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred Roman pounds.

John 19:39

Only John’s Gospel mentions him.

How Third Day tells it

Third Day is a novel. In the novel he goes by Yeshua, the name his family would have called him. Nicodemus is an old teacher with a school in Jerusalem and a seat on the high council. In chapter three, “The Chamber,” the council meets after Lazarus walks out of his tomb. Nicodemus sits at the end of the row with the fourteen men who resisted the last warrant. When Caiaphas lays out Roman counts of the crowds, Nicodemus says these people aren’t disciples. They came to see a man leave a tomb. Caiaphas says it is better that one man die, and a resolution goes on the table that Jesus of Nazareth must die before any trial.

Nicodemus rose. He removed his council signet and placed it on the table.

Twelve men follow him, then one more. On the public stair afterward, Nicodemus says they will close his school. In chapter nineteen, “The Burial,” he comes to the cross with two vessels under his cloak, draws the nails, and helps wash and wrap the body in Joseph’s new tomb.