Illustration created for this project.

Nicodemus

A Pharisee and member of the ruling council who came to Jesus by night and was told that no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again — the conversation that contains John 3:16. He appears twice more: cautioning his colleagues that the law does not judge a man without hearing him, for which he was mocked as a Galilean; and after the crucifixion, coming with Joseph of Arimathea and about seventy-five pounds of myrrh and aloes to bury the body. He moves through the gospel from darkness towards the open.

Role: Pharisee

Lived: 1st century

Born: Jerusalem

What we know — and how we know it

Bible — stated in scripture (with verse) · 1 Scholarly — supported scholarly belief · 1

Life, role & deeds

BibleA Pharisee and ruler of the Jews who came to Jesus by night and later helped bury him.

John 3:1–2; 19:39

Death & legacy

ScholarlyA later apocryphal 'Gospel of Nicodemus' attached his name to accounts of Jesus' trial and descent to the dead.

Gospel of Nicodemus (apocryphal)

Where in scripture

John

Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.
John 3:1

Jesus answered him, “Most certainly, I tell you, unless one is born anew, he can’t see God’s Kingdom.”
John 3:3 — 'You must be born again'

Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?”
John 3:4

Nicodemus answered him, “How can these things be?”
John 3:9

Nicodemus (he who came to him by night, being one of them) said to them,
John 7:50

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 — Helps bury Jesus

Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, a public-domain translation.

John 3:1 John 3:3 John 3:4 John 3:9 John 7:50 John 19:39

In their own words — 4 recorded sayings

“He came to Jesus by night and said to him, Rabbi, we are certain that you have come from God as a teacher, because no man would be able to do these signs which you do if God was not with him.” — John 3:2

“Nicodemus said to him, How is it possible for a man to be given birth when he is old? Is he able to go into his mother's body a second time and come to birth again?” — John 3:4