That saved me the trouble, @Dottard You are most welcome (+1 for the answer). In the current Roman Martyrology of the Catholic Church, Nicodemus is commemorated along with Saint Joseph of Arimathea on 31 August. (Read John 3:5-7.) 2 He came to Jesus at night and said, Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher who has come from God. Brown 1994:2:1270). Nicodemus. At the end of John chapter 7, after Jesus had taught about living water, those who heard him came to different conclusions about him. [John 19:39] Nicodemus must have been a man of means; in his book Jesus of Nazareth: Holy Week, Pope Benedict XVI observes that, "The quantity of the balm is extraordinary and exceeds all normal proportions. So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Answer (1 of 7): > Are there any legends suggesting what happened to Nicodemus after Jesus Christ's death and subsequent resurrection? He came to Jesus at night and said, "Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. Who Was Doubting Thomas? Nicodemus appears in Johns Gospel two more times. Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. Known for: Nicodemus was a leading Pharisee and well-recognized religious leader of the Jewish people. Keep reading to learn the answers to these questions and others. Nicodemus said to him, "How can a man be born when he is old? For no one could do the miraculous signs that you do unless God were with him.". Jesus Teaches Nicodemus. As the the bronze serpent was lifted up on a pole, all who . Further associations with royalty may be implied from the fact that Joseph's tomb is a garden tomb (v. 41), since the kings of Judah were buried in garden tombs (2 Kings 21:18, 26), including King David (Neh 3:16 LXX; cf. Simon of CyreneMark 15: 21 They compelled a passer-by, who was coming in from the country, to carry his cross; it was Simon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Earlier I received a question from a friend based on Acts 1:18 which reads: With the payment he received for his wickedness, Judas bought a field; there he fell headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out. Sources outside of the Bible, as we know, are unreliable at times, but the Gospel of Nicodemus, as well as other apocryphal works, indicated that Nicodemus lost his position as a Pharisee and was kicked off the Sanhedrin, and was eventually banished from Jerusalem by the hostile Jews. Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.'. Nicodemus was going to teach Jesus what he understood about scripture, little did he understand he was going to have an encounter with the author of what we know is the Bible. Nicodemus, who was a Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin, is one of the most fascinating people in the Gospel of John. . No enemy of Christ would take such a risk for fear of being exposed by the Jews. At that time, there developed the use of "Nicodemite", usually a term of disparagement referring to a person who is suspected of public misrepresentation of their actual religious beliefs by exhibiting false appearance and concealing true beliefs. He didn't argue with Jesus as other Pharisees did in later chapters. They accuse the crowd of being deceived and ignorant of the law. Nicodemus himself might have wanted to know if Jesus was the Messiah. All rights reserved. ' (ESV). Nikdmos) was a Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin mentioned in three places in the Gospel of John: He first visits Jesus one night to discuss Jesus' teachings (John 3, John 3:1-21).The second time Nicodemus is mentioned, he reminds his colleagues in the Sanhedrin that the law requires that a person be . . Jesus was kind, HE did not humiliate Nicodemus, Jesus explained what HE was about. Indeed, in this story we see this family gaining two new members. Florida Agricultural And Mechanical University, Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis, Massachusetts Institute Of Technology (Mit), Missouri University Of Science And Technology, State University Of New York Health Science Center At Brooklyn, Suny College Of Environmental Science And Forestry, The University Of North Carolina At Charlotte, The University Of Texas Health Science Center At Houston, The University Of Texas Health Science Center At San Antonio, The University Of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, The University Of Texas Medical Branch At Galveston, The University Of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Uniformed Services University Of The Health Sciences, University At Buffalo Suny School Of Engineering And Applied Sciences, University Of California, Los Angeles (Ucla), University Of Illinois At Urbana Champaign, University Of Maryland Baltimore County (Umbc), University Of Massachusetts Medical School Worcester, University Of Tennessee Health Science Center, University Of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. Underline any details you learn about him. Nicodemus asked. What was the relationship between Jesus and Nicodemus? The Jewish leaders had a different perspective. By submitting your email address, you understand that you will receive email communications from Bible Gateway, a division of The Zondervan Corporation, 3900 Sparks Drive SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546 USA, including commercial communications and messages from partners of Bible Gateway. Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience. But Nicodemus believed because of the miracles Jesus did. Episode 8 follows the Apostles as they gather, preparing to leave Capernaum on their way to Samariathe public ministry of Jesus on its first tour. The discussion with Jesus is the source of several common expressions of contemporary American Christianity, specifically, the descriptive phrase "born again" used to describe salvation or baptism by some groups, and John 3:16, a commonly quoted verse used to describe God's plan of salvation. Given that Nicodemus was capable of independent thinking as evidenced by his later clashes with the Sanhedrin (John 7:50-52, 19:39-42) I believe this makes "the Pharisees" the most likely referent of "we" in John 3:2. The song "Help Yourself" by The Devil Makes Three contains a very informal retelling of the relationship between Nicodemus and Jesus.[8]. By the time Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea had died, they had surely found this out. Before Nicodemus conversion, John writes, Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews; this man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him (John 3:1-2). Home Yeshiva University Did Nicodemus Leave Money For Jesus? Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds (John 19:39). Why did the pharisees and the party of Herod's followers plan to kill Jesus? n-ih-kh-uh-d-ee-m-ih-s. Speaking of Nicodemus, I was most powerfully affected by the scenes of Christ and Nicodemus in the final two episodes of the series. In Biblical Names the meaning of the name Nicodemus is: Victory of the people. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.". v. 41; Mt 27:60], which may suggest the lack of an established family mausoleum in the city" (1985:287). Jesus was objectively being quick to the point in logic because Nicodemus was an expert of the Hebrew Scripture. Jesus gave Nicodemus the date, time, and place to meet, and the viewer watches the wheels continue to turn in the mind of this newest convert. Song of Solomon 4:6,14 Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, I will get me to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense. Nicodemus said to him, "How can these things be?" Bishop Barron's Gospel Reflections straight to your inbox. Jesus laments that Nicodemus cannot seem to grasp such a heavenly concept (John 3:12) and relies on an Old Testament story (Numbers 4-9), which a Pharisee was sure to have heard before, to illustrate how to be born again and get to heaven. Ernst Pepping composed in 1937 an Evangelienmotette (motet on gospel text) Jesus und Nikodemus. John 3:2-Nicodemus said "we" know," who are "we" he refers to? Apparently strengthened for muron; myrrh. What does John say about Nicodemus after his nighttime conversation with Jesus? John's account of the burial may continue to develop the theme of Jesus' royal identity. It is in John 7:45-51 that he makes his second appearance, in which he explains the law of Jesus' imprisonment at the Feast of Booths. Nicodemus helped Joseph prepare Jesus' body for burial. [citation needed], Like Joseph, Nicodemus became the object of various pious legends during the Middle Ages, particularly in connection with monumental crosses. Nicodemus was a Pharisee and the Pharisees, unlike the Sadducees, believed in the resurrection, but were also responsible for a high level of legalism, so Nicodemus was not only a ruler, he was a member of the Sanhedrin, which was the ruling body of the Jews, but why is John the only one who writes about Nicodemus? Home Articles The Chosen: How a Fictionalized Nicodemus Informed and Challenged My Faith. Num. Scripture doesn't tell us. We know from John 3 that Nicodemus was a Pharisee, a member of the Jewish ruling council, who came to Jesus at night with a question. Jesus expresses surprise, perhaps ironically, that "a teacher of Israel" does not understand the concept of spiritual rebirth: Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? But there are three problems with this idea. Jesus was in Jerusalem during the Passover Feast, and "many believed in His name when they saw the signs that He was doing" ( John 2:23 ). Always the last on the list of the Apostles, he was their treasurer. John 19:39-40 reads, "Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight. Nicodemus was a Rabbi and he called Jesus Rabbi, a respectable title. He was a member of the Sanhedrin, so could "we" include, if not all, but most colleagues ? The better answer is that Nicodemus, while not yet fully convinced of Jesus divinity, had seen the miracles Jesus performed. Follow Christ's journey to the Cross. 'You cannot mean that a man is to enter the second time into his mothers womb, and be born. A Pharisee, which means separatist, was a member of a Jewish sect that was known for their devotion to the Law of Moses. And the tragedy is mine, not his. The Little Flower had given every material thing to Christ, and she then lovingly offered her every single conversation and thought to his providence by virtue of her Little Way. 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