Nicodemus
VIEW:27 DATA:01-04-2020
victory of the people
(same as Nicolas)
Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary
NICODEMUS.A Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin (Joh_3:1; Joh_7:50), elderly (Joh_3:4) and evidently well-to-do (Joh_19:39). He is mentioned only in the Fourth Gospel, and there he figures thrice. (1) At the outset of His ministry Jesus went up to Jerusalem to keep the Feast of the Passover, and His miracles made a deep impression on Nicodemus, half persuading him that He was the Messiah; insomuch that he interviewed Him secretly under cover of the darkness (Joh_3:1-21). He began by raising the question of the miracles, which, he allowed, proved Jesus at the least a God-commissioned teacher; but Jesus interrupted him and set him face to face with the urgent and personal matter of regeneration. Nicodemus went away bewildered, but a seed had been planted in his soul. (2) During the third year of His ministry, Jesus went up to the Feast of Tabernacles (October). The rulers were now His avowed enemies, and they convened a meeting of the Sanhedrin to devise measures against Him (Joh_7:45-52). Nicodemus was present, and, a disciple at heart but afraid to avow his faith, he merely raised a point of order: Doth our law judge a man, except it first hear himself and know what he doeth? (RV [Note: Revised Version.] ). (3) At the meeting of the Sanhedrin which condemned Jesus to death Nicodemus made no protest; probably he absented himself. But after the Crucifixion, ashamed of his cowardice, he at last avowed himself and joined with Joseph of Arimathæa in giving the Lords body a kingly burial (Joh_19:39).
David Smith.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
Edited by James Hastings, D.D. Published in 1909
A ruler of the Jews, a master ("teacher") of Israel, and a Pharisee. John (Joh_3:1-10) alone mentions him. John knew the high priest (Joh_18:15), so his knowledge of Nicodemus among the high priest's associates is natural. John watched with deep interest his growth in grace, which is marked in three stages (Mar_4:26-29).
(1) An anxious inquirer. The rich were ashamed to confess Jesus openly, in spite of convictions of the reality of His mission; so Joseph of Arimathea "a disciple, but secretly for fear of the Jews" (Joh_19:38). The poor "came" by day, but Nicodemus "by night." By an undesigned coincidence marking genuineness, Jesus' discourse is tinged, as was His custom (Joh_6:26-27; Joh_4:7-14; Joh_4:35), with a coloring drawn from the incidents of the moment: cf6 "this is the condemnation that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light", etc.; cf6 "every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light ... but he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest that they are wrought in God" (Joh_3:19-21). Nicodemus was now a timid but candid inquirer; sincere so far as his belief extended. Fear of man holds back many from decision for Christ (Joh_7:13; Joh_9:22; Joh_12:42-43; Joh_5:44; Pro_29:25; contrast Isa_51:7-8; Isa_66:5; Act_5:41).
Where real grace is, however, Jesus does "not quench the smoking flax." Many of Nicodemus' fellow rulers attributed Jesus' miracles to Beelzebub; Nicodemus on the contrary avows " we (including others besides himself) know Thou art a teacher come from God, for no man can do these miracles which Thou doest, except God be with him." Nicodemus was probably one of the many who had "seen His miracles on the Passover feast day, and believed (in a superficial way, but in Nicodemus it ultimately became a deep and lasting faith) when they saw" (Joh_2:23-24); but "Jesus did not commit Himself unto them ... for He knew what was in man," as He shows now in dealing with Nicodemus. Recognition of the divine miracle. working Teacher is not enough for seeing the kingdom of God, Jesus with a twice repeated Amen solemnly declares; there must be new birth from above (margin Joh_3:3; Joh_3:5; Joh_3:7), "of water (the outward sign) and of the Spirit" (the essential thing, not inseparably joined to the water baptism: Mar_16:16; Act_2:38 (See BAPTISM)), so that, as an infant just born, the person is a "new creature"; compare Naaman the type, 2Ki_5:14; 2Co_5:17; Eze_36:25-26.
For, being fleshly by birth, we must continue fleshly until being born of the Spirit we become spiritual (Joh_3:6). Nature can no more east out nature than Satan cast out Satan. Like the mysterious growth of the child in the womb, and like "the wind" whose motions we cannot control but know only its effects, "the sound," etc., so is the new birth (Joh_3:8; Ecc_11:5; 1Co_2:11). Such was the beginning and growth of the new life in Nicodemus (Mar_4:27). Regeneration and its fruits are inseparable; where that is, these are (1Jn_3:9; 1Jn_5:1; 1Jn_5:4). Nicodemus viewed Jesus' solemn declaration as a natural man, "how can these things be?" (Joh_3:4; Joh_3:9; compare Joh_6:52; Joh_6:60; 1Co_2:14). Yet he was genuinely open to conviction, for Christ unfolds to him fully His own divine glory as having "come down from heaven," and as even then while speaking to him "being in heaven" in His divine nature; also God's love in giving His Son, and salvation through the Son who should be lifted up, as the brazen serpent was, to all who look to Him in faith, and condemnation to unbelievers.
(2) A sincere but as yet weak believer. The next stage in Nicodemus' spiritual history appears Joh_7:45-53. Naturally timid, Nicodemus nevertheless remonstrates with bigots. The Pharisees, chagrined at the failure of their officers to apprehend Jesus, said, "why have ye not brought Him?" They replied, "never man spoke like this man." The Pharisees retorted, "are ye also deceived? surely none of the rulers or the Pharisees have believed on Him, have they? (Greek) But this people who knoweth not the law are cursed." Here one who, as they thought, should have stood by them and echoed their language, ventures to cast a doubt on their proceedings: "doth our law judge any before it hear him and know what he doeth?" (compare Lev_19:15; Exo_23:1). Indignantly they ask, "art thou also of Galilee? ... out of Galilee hath arisen (Greek) no prophet." Spite made them to ignore Jonah and Nahum. John marks the spiritual advance in Nicodemus by contrasting his first coming "by night" (Joh_7:50). He now virtually confesses Jesus, though in actual expression all he demands is fair play for an injured Person. As before he was an anxious inquirer, so now he is a decided though timid believer.
(3) The third stage is (Joh_19:39) when he appears as a bold and strong believer, the same Nicodemus (as John again reminds us) as "came at the first to Jesus by night." When even the twelve shrank from the danger to be apprehended from the mob who had clamored for Jesus' crucifixion, and whose appetite for blood might not yet be sated, and when Christ's cause seemed hopeless, the once timid Nicodemus shows extraordinary courage and faith Christ's crucifixion, which shook the faith of others, only confirms his. He remembers now Jesus had said He "must be lifted up," like the brazen "serpent," that all believers in Him might have eternal life. So Nicodemus had the honour of wrapping His sacred body in linen with 100 pounds of myrrh and aloes, in company, with Joseph of Arimathea.
Christ's resurrection richly rewarded the faith of him who stumbled not at His humiliation. Compare on the spiritual lesson Mat_12:20; Zec_4:10; Pro_4:18. Like Mary who "anointed Christ's body to the burying," "what Nicodemus did is and shall be spoken of for a memorial of him wheresoever the gospel is preached throughout the whole world." Where real desire after the Saviour exists, it will in the end overcome the evil of the heart, and make a man strong in faith through the Holy Spirit. The Talmud tells of a Nicodemus ben Gorion who lived until the fall of Jerusalem, a Pharisee, wealthy, pious, and of the Sanhedrin; bearing originally a name borne by one of the five rabbinical disciples of Christ (Taanith, f. 19, Sanhedrin f. 43); and that his family fell into squalid poverty.
Fausset's Bible Dictionary
By Andrew Robert Fausset, co-Author of Jamieson, Fausset and Brown's 1888.
Nicode'mus. (conqueror of the people). A Pharisee, a ruler of the Jews and a teacher of Israel, Joh_3:1; Joh_3:10, whose secret visit to our Lord was the occasion of the discourse, recorded only by St. John. In Nicodemus, a noble candor and a simple love of truth shine out, in the midst of hesitation and fear of man. He finally became a follower of Christ, and came with Joseph, of Arimathaea, to take down and embalm the body of Jesus.
Smith's Bible Dictionary
By Dr. William Smith.Published in 1863
a disciple of Jesus Christ, a Jew by nation, and a Pharisee, Joh_3:1, &c. At the time when the priests and Pharisees had sent officers to seize Jesus, Nicodemus declared himself openly in his favour, Joh_7:45, &c; and still more so when he went with Joseph of Arimathea to pay the last duties to his body, which they took down from the cross, embalmed, and laid in a sepulchre.
Biblical and Theological Dictionary by Richard Watson
PRINTER 1849.
Most of the Jewish leaders arrogantly rejected Jesus teaching, but Nicodemus had a sincere desire to know the truth. He was a respected Pharisee and a member of the Jewish Council, or Sanhedrin (Joh_3:1; Joh_7:50), but he was also willing to admit that Jesus miracles showed that God was with him (Joh_3:2; cf. Joh_2:23-25).
At first Nicodemus had difficulty understanding Jesus figurative teaching concerning the new birth (Joh_3:3-10), but he did not dismiss the teaching. He showed courage in opposing the prejudice of his fellow councillors against Jesus, and suggested that at least they ought to give Jesus a fair hearing (Joh_7:48-52).
When the Sanhedrin finally condemned Jesus to crucifixion, Nicodemus and at least one other member disagreed with the decision. That man was Joseph of Arimathea. He and Nicodemus showed publicly that they were followers of Jesus by taking his body down from the cross and giving him an honourable burial (Luk_23:50-53; Joh_19:38-42).
Bridgeway Bible Dictionary by Don Fleming
PRINTER 1990.
nik-ṓ-dē?mus (Νικόδημος, Nikódēmos): A Pharisee and a ?ruler of the Jews,? mentioned only by John. He (1) interviewed Christ at Jerusalem and was taught by Him the doctrine of the New Birth (Joh_3:1-15), (2) defended Him before the Sanhedrin (Joh_7:50-52), and (3) assisted at His burial (Joh_19:39-42).
1. The Interview:
This meeting, which it has been surmised took place in the house of John (Joh_3:1-15), was one of the results of our Lord's ministry at Jerusalem during the first Passover (compare Joh_3:2 with Joh_2:23). Although Nicodemus had been thus won to believe in the divine nature of Christ's mission, his faith was yet very incomplete in that he believed Him to be inspired only after the fashion of the Old Testament prophets. To this faint-hearted faith corresponded his timidity of action, which displayed itself in his coming ?by night,? lest he should offend his colleagues in the Sanhedrin and the other hostile Jews (Joh_3:2). In answer to the veiled question which the words of Nicodemus implied, and to convince him of the inadequacy of mere intellectual belief, Christ proclaimed to him the necessity for a spiritual regeneration: ?Except one be born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God? (Joh_3:3). This was interpreted by Nicodemus only in its materialistic sense, and therefore caused him bewilderment and confusion (Joh_3:4). But Christ, as on another occasion when dealing with His questioners on a similar point of doctrine (compare Joh_6:52, Joh_6:53), answered his perplexity only by repeating His previous statement (Joh_3:5). He then proceeded to give further explanation. The re-birth is not outward but inward, it is not of the body but of the soul (Joh_3:6). Just as God is the real agent in the birth of the body, so also is He the Creator of the New Spirit; and just as no one knoweth whence cometh the wind, or ?whither it goeth,? yet all can feel its effects who come under its influence, so is it with the rebirth. Only those who have experienced it as a change in themselves, wrought by the Divine Power, are qualified to judge either of its reality or of its effects (Joh_3:7, Joh_3:8). But Nicodemus, since such experience had not yet been his, remained still unenlightened (Joh_3:9). Christ therefore condemned such blindness in one who yet professed to be a teacher of spiritual things (Joh_3:10), and emphasized the reality in His own life of those truths which He had been expounding (Joh_3:11). With this, Christ returned to the problem underlying the first statement of Nicodemus. If Nicodemus cannot believe in ?earthly things,? i.e. in the New Birth, which, though coming from above, is yet realized in this world, how can he hope to understand ?heavenly things,? i.e. the deeper mysteries of God's purpose in sending Christ into the world (Joh_3:12), of Christ's Divine sonship (Joh_3:13), of His relationship to the atonement and the salvation of man (Joh_3:14), and of how a living acceptance of and feeding upon Him is in itself Divine life (Joh_3:15; compare Jn 6:25-65)?
2. The Defense:
The above interview, though apparently fruitless at the time, was not without its effect upon Nicodemus. At the Feast of Tabernacles, when the Sanhedrin was enraged at Christ's proclamation of Himself as the ?living water? (Joh_7:37, Joh_7:38), Nicodemus was emboldened to stand up in His defense. Yet here also he showed his natural timidity. He made no personal testimony of his faith in Christ, but sought rather to defend Him on a point of Jewish law (Joh_7:50-52; compare Exo_23:1; Deu_1:16, Deu_1:17; Deu_17:6; Deu_19:15).
3. The Burial:
By this open act of reverence Nicodemus at last made public profession of his being of the following of Christ. His wealth enabled him to provide the ?mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds,? with which the body of Jesus was embalmed (Joh_19:39 ff).
The Gospel of Nicodemus and other apocryphal works narrate that Nicodemus gave evidence in favor of Christ at the trial before Pilate, that he was deprived of office and banished from Jerusalem by the hostile Jews, and that he was baptized by Peter and John. His remains were said to have been found in a common grave along with those of Gamaliel and Stephen.
Nicodemus is a type of the ?well-instructed and thoughtful Jew who looked for the consummation of national hope to follow in the line along which he had himself gone, as being a continuation and not a new beginning? (Westcott). The manner in which the Gospel narrative traces the overcoming of his natural timidity and reluctant faith is in itself a beautiful illustration of the working of the Spirit, of how belief in the Son of Man is in truth a new birth, and the entrance into eternal life.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
PRINTER 1915.
Nicode?mus, a Pharisee and member of the Sanhedrim, who was impressed by what he had heard concerning Jesus; but being unwilling, on account of his station, to commit himself without greater surety than he possessed, repaired by night to the house in which Christ dwelt, and held with him that important discourse which occupies John 3. The effect which was then produced upon his mind may be collected from the fact that subsequently, at one of the sittings of the venerable body to which he belonged, he ventured to let fall a few words in favor of Jesus, whose proceedings were then in question (Joh_7:50); and that he took part with his colleague, Joseph of Arimathea, in rendering the last honors to the body of the crucified Redeemer (Joh_19:39). Nothing further is known of Nicodemus from Scripture. Tradition, however, adds that after he had thus openly declared himself a follower of Jesus, and had been baptized by Peter, he was displaced from his office, and expelled from Jerusalem (Phot. Cod. p. 171). It is added that he found refuge in a country house of his cousin Gamaliel, and remained there till his death. Too strong an appreciation of the world's good opinion seems to have been the failing of Nicodemus. We do not lay much stress upon what he ventured to say in the Sanhedrim; for he suffered himself to be easily put down, and did not come forward with any bold avowal of his belief. Winer calls attention to the fact, that although he took part in the sepulchral rites of Jesus, he did not join Joseph in his application to Pilate for the body of his crucified Lord; and justly remarks that such characters usually require a strong external impulse to bring them boldly forward, which impulse was probably in this case supplied by the resurrection of Jesus.
The Popular Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature
by John Kitto.
Nicodemus
(Νικόδημος, conqueror of the people), a Pharisee, a ruler (ἄρχων , the usual title for a member of the Sanhedrim) of the Jews, and teacher (the article in ὁ διδάσκ. is probably only generic, although Winer and bishop Middleton suppose that it implies a rebuke) of Israel (Joh_3:1; Joh_3:10), whose secret visit to our Lord was the occasion of the discourse recorded by the evangelist. The name was not uncommon among the Jews (Josephus, Ant. 14:3, 2), and was no doubt borrowed from the Greeks. In the Talmud it appears under the form נקדימון, and some would derive it from נקי, innocent, דם, blood (i.e. Sceleris purus); Wetstein, N.T. 1:150. In the case of Nicodemus ben-Gorion, the name is derived by R. Nathan from a miracle which he is supposed to have performed (Otho, Lex. Rab. s.v.). Nicodemus is only mentioned by John (yet some German rationalists have sought or rather forced a comparison with the rich young man of Mar_10:17-24), who narrates his nocturnal visit to Jesus, and the conversation which then took place at this the evangelist may himself have been present. A.D. 26. The high station of Nicodemus, and the avowed scorn under which the rulers concealed their inward conviction (Joh_3:2) that Jesus was a teacher come from God, are sufficient to account for the secrecy of the interview. A constitutional timidity is discernible in the character of the inquiring Pharisee, which could not be overcome by his vacillating desire to befriend One whom he knew to be a Prophet, even if he did not at once recognize in him the promised Messiah. Thus the few words which he interposed against the rash injustice of his colleagues are cautiously rested on a general principle (Joh_7:50), and betray no indication of his faith in the Galilaean whom his sect despised. Even when the power of Christ's love, manifested on the cross, had made the most timid disciples bold, Nicodemus did not come forward with his splendid gifts of affection until the example had been set by one of his own rank and wealth, and station in society (19:39). See Hase, Leben Jesu, p. 106 sq.; Volbeding, Index Programmatum, p. 32.
In these three notices of Nicodemus a noble candor and a simple love of truth shine out in the midst of hesitation and fear of man. But Niemeyer (Charakt. 1:113 sq.) has endeavored to show that the apparent timidity of Nicodemus was but reasonable prudence. We can easily believe the tradition that after the resurrection (which would supply the last outward impulse necessary to confirm his faith and increase his courage) he became a professed disciple of Christ, and received baptism at the hands of Peter and John. All the rest that is reported of him is very uncertain. It is said. however, that the Jews, in revenge for his conversion, deprived him of his office, beat him cruelly, and drove him from Jerusalem; that Gamaliel, who was his kinsman, hospitably sheltered him until his death in a country house, and finally gave him honorable burial near the body of Stephen, where Gamaliel himself was afterwards interred. Finally, the three bodies are said to have been discovered August 3, A.D. 415, which day was set apart by the Romish Church in honor of the event (Phot. Biblioth. Cod. p. 171; Lucian, De S. Steph. inventione).
If the Nicodemus of John's Gospel be identical with the Nicodemus ben- Gorion of the Talmud (see Delitzsch ill the Zeitsckr.f. luth. Theologie, 1854, p. 643 sq.), he must have lived till the fall of Jerusalem, which is not impossible, since the term γέρων, in Joh_3:4, may not be intended to apply to Nicodemus himself. The arguments for their identification are that both are mentioned as Pharisees, wealthy, pious, and members of the Sanhedrim (Taanith, f. 19, etc.); and that the original name (altered on the occasion of a miracle performed by Nicodemus in order to procure rain) is said to have been בוני, Bonay, which is also the name of one of five rabbinical disciples of Christ mentioned in Sanhed. f. 43, 1 (Otho, s.v. Christus). Finally, the family of this Nicodemus are said to have been reduced from great wealth to the most squalid and horrible. poverty, which, however, may as well be accounted for by the fall of Jerusalem as by the change of fortune resulting from an acceptance of Christianity.
CYCLOPEDIA OF BIBLICAL, THEOLOGICAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
press 1895.
(same as Nicolas)
Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary
NICODEMUS.A Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin (Joh_3:1; Joh_7:50), elderly (Joh_3:4) and evidently well-to-do (Joh_19:39). He is mentioned only in the Fourth Gospel, and there he figures thrice. (1) At the outset of His ministry Jesus went up to Jerusalem to keep the Feast of the Passover, and His miracles made a deep impression on Nicodemus, half persuading him that He was the Messiah; insomuch that he interviewed Him secretly under cover of the darkness (Joh_3:1-21). He began by raising the question of the miracles, which, he allowed, proved Jesus at the least a God-commissioned teacher; but Jesus interrupted him and set him face to face with the urgent and personal matter of regeneration. Nicodemus went away bewildered, but a seed had been planted in his soul. (2) During the third year of His ministry, Jesus went up to the Feast of Tabernacles (October). The rulers were now His avowed enemies, and they convened a meeting of the Sanhedrin to devise measures against Him (Joh_7:45-52). Nicodemus was present, and, a disciple at heart but afraid to avow his faith, he merely raised a point of order: Doth our law judge a man, except it first hear himself and know what he doeth? (RV [Note: Revised Version.] ). (3) At the meeting of the Sanhedrin which condemned Jesus to death Nicodemus made no protest; probably he absented himself. But after the Crucifixion, ashamed of his cowardice, he at last avowed himself and joined with Joseph of Arimathæa in giving the Lords body a kingly burial (Joh_19:39).
David Smith.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
Edited by James Hastings, D.D. Published in 1909
A ruler of the Jews, a master ("teacher") of Israel, and a Pharisee. John (Joh_3:1-10) alone mentions him. John knew the high priest (Joh_18:15), so his knowledge of Nicodemus among the high priest's associates is natural. John watched with deep interest his growth in grace, which is marked in three stages (Mar_4:26-29).
(1) An anxious inquirer. The rich were ashamed to confess Jesus openly, in spite of convictions of the reality of His mission; so Joseph of Arimathea "a disciple, but secretly for fear of the Jews" (Joh_19:38). The poor "came" by day, but Nicodemus "by night." By an undesigned coincidence marking genuineness, Jesus' discourse is tinged, as was His custom (Joh_6:26-27; Joh_4:7-14; Joh_4:35), with a coloring drawn from the incidents of the moment: cf6 "this is the condemnation that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light", etc.; cf6 "every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light ... but he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest that they are wrought in God" (Joh_3:19-21). Nicodemus was now a timid but candid inquirer; sincere so far as his belief extended. Fear of man holds back many from decision for Christ (Joh_7:13; Joh_9:22; Joh_12:42-43; Joh_5:44; Pro_29:25; contrast Isa_51:7-8; Isa_66:5; Act_5:41).
Where real grace is, however, Jesus does "not quench the smoking flax." Many of Nicodemus' fellow rulers attributed Jesus' miracles to Beelzebub; Nicodemus on the contrary avows " we (including others besides himself) know Thou art a teacher come from God, for no man can do these miracles which Thou doest, except God be with him." Nicodemus was probably one of the many who had "seen His miracles on the Passover feast day, and believed (in a superficial way, but in Nicodemus it ultimately became a deep and lasting faith) when they saw" (Joh_2:23-24); but "Jesus did not commit Himself unto them ... for He knew what was in man," as He shows now in dealing with Nicodemus. Recognition of the divine miracle. working Teacher is not enough for seeing the kingdom of God, Jesus with a twice repeated Amen solemnly declares; there must be new birth from above (margin Joh_3:3; Joh_3:5; Joh_3:7), "of water (the outward sign) and of the Spirit" (the essential thing, not inseparably joined to the water baptism: Mar_16:16; Act_2:38 (See BAPTISM)), so that, as an infant just born, the person is a "new creature"; compare Naaman the type, 2Ki_5:14; 2Co_5:17; Eze_36:25-26.
For, being fleshly by birth, we must continue fleshly until being born of the Spirit we become spiritual (Joh_3:6). Nature can no more east out nature than Satan cast out Satan. Like the mysterious growth of the child in the womb, and like "the wind" whose motions we cannot control but know only its effects, "the sound," etc., so is the new birth (Joh_3:8; Ecc_11:5; 1Co_2:11). Such was the beginning and growth of the new life in Nicodemus (Mar_4:27). Regeneration and its fruits are inseparable; where that is, these are (1Jn_3:9; 1Jn_5:1; 1Jn_5:4). Nicodemus viewed Jesus' solemn declaration as a natural man, "how can these things be?" (Joh_3:4; Joh_3:9; compare Joh_6:52; Joh_6:60; 1Co_2:14). Yet he was genuinely open to conviction, for Christ unfolds to him fully His own divine glory as having "come down from heaven," and as even then while speaking to him "being in heaven" in His divine nature; also God's love in giving His Son, and salvation through the Son who should be lifted up, as the brazen serpent was, to all who look to Him in faith, and condemnation to unbelievers.
(2) A sincere but as yet weak believer. The next stage in Nicodemus' spiritual history appears Joh_7:45-53. Naturally timid, Nicodemus nevertheless remonstrates with bigots. The Pharisees, chagrined at the failure of their officers to apprehend Jesus, said, "why have ye not brought Him?" They replied, "never man spoke like this man." The Pharisees retorted, "are ye also deceived? surely none of the rulers or the Pharisees have believed on Him, have they? (Greek) But this people who knoweth not the law are cursed." Here one who, as they thought, should have stood by them and echoed their language, ventures to cast a doubt on their proceedings: "doth our law judge any before it hear him and know what he doeth?" (compare Lev_19:15; Exo_23:1). Indignantly they ask, "art thou also of Galilee? ... out of Galilee hath arisen (Greek) no prophet." Spite made them to ignore Jonah and Nahum. John marks the spiritual advance in Nicodemus by contrasting his first coming "by night" (Joh_7:50). He now virtually confesses Jesus, though in actual expression all he demands is fair play for an injured Person. As before he was an anxious inquirer, so now he is a decided though timid believer.
(3) The third stage is (Joh_19:39) when he appears as a bold and strong believer, the same Nicodemus (as John again reminds us) as "came at the first to Jesus by night." When even the twelve shrank from the danger to be apprehended from the mob who had clamored for Jesus' crucifixion, and whose appetite for blood might not yet be sated, and when Christ's cause seemed hopeless, the once timid Nicodemus shows extraordinary courage and faith Christ's crucifixion, which shook the faith of others, only confirms his. He remembers now Jesus had said He "must be lifted up," like the brazen "serpent," that all believers in Him might have eternal life. So Nicodemus had the honour of wrapping His sacred body in linen with 100 pounds of myrrh and aloes, in company, with Joseph of Arimathea.
Christ's resurrection richly rewarded the faith of him who stumbled not at His humiliation. Compare on the spiritual lesson Mat_12:20; Zec_4:10; Pro_4:18. Like Mary who "anointed Christ's body to the burying," "what Nicodemus did is and shall be spoken of for a memorial of him wheresoever the gospel is preached throughout the whole world." Where real desire after the Saviour exists, it will in the end overcome the evil of the heart, and make a man strong in faith through the Holy Spirit. The Talmud tells of a Nicodemus ben Gorion who lived until the fall of Jerusalem, a Pharisee, wealthy, pious, and of the Sanhedrin; bearing originally a name borne by one of the five rabbinical disciples of Christ (Taanith, f. 19, Sanhedrin f. 43); and that his family fell into squalid poverty.
Fausset's Bible Dictionary
By Andrew Robert Fausset, co-Author of Jamieson, Fausset and Brown's 1888.
Nicode'mus. (conqueror of the people). A Pharisee, a ruler of the Jews and a teacher of Israel, Joh_3:1; Joh_3:10, whose secret visit to our Lord was the occasion of the discourse, recorded only by St. John. In Nicodemus, a noble candor and a simple love of truth shine out, in the midst of hesitation and fear of man. He finally became a follower of Christ, and came with Joseph, of Arimathaea, to take down and embalm the body of Jesus.
Smith's Bible Dictionary
By Dr. William Smith.Published in 1863
a disciple of Jesus Christ, a Jew by nation, and a Pharisee, Joh_3:1, &c. At the time when the priests and Pharisees had sent officers to seize Jesus, Nicodemus declared himself openly in his favour, Joh_7:45, &c; and still more so when he went with Joseph of Arimathea to pay the last duties to his body, which they took down from the cross, embalmed, and laid in a sepulchre.
Biblical and Theological Dictionary by Richard Watson
PRINTER 1849.
Most of the Jewish leaders arrogantly rejected Jesus teaching, but Nicodemus had a sincere desire to know the truth. He was a respected Pharisee and a member of the Jewish Council, or Sanhedrin (Joh_3:1; Joh_7:50), but he was also willing to admit that Jesus miracles showed that God was with him (Joh_3:2; cf. Joh_2:23-25).
At first Nicodemus had difficulty understanding Jesus figurative teaching concerning the new birth (Joh_3:3-10), but he did not dismiss the teaching. He showed courage in opposing the prejudice of his fellow councillors against Jesus, and suggested that at least they ought to give Jesus a fair hearing (Joh_7:48-52).
When the Sanhedrin finally condemned Jesus to crucifixion, Nicodemus and at least one other member disagreed with the decision. That man was Joseph of Arimathea. He and Nicodemus showed publicly that they were followers of Jesus by taking his body down from the cross and giving him an honourable burial (Luk_23:50-53; Joh_19:38-42).
Bridgeway Bible Dictionary by Don Fleming
PRINTER 1990.
nik-ṓ-dē?mus (Νικόδημος, Nikódēmos): A Pharisee and a ?ruler of the Jews,? mentioned only by John. He (1) interviewed Christ at Jerusalem and was taught by Him the doctrine of the New Birth (Joh_3:1-15), (2) defended Him before the Sanhedrin (Joh_7:50-52), and (3) assisted at His burial (Joh_19:39-42).
1. The Interview:
This meeting, which it has been surmised took place in the house of John (Joh_3:1-15), was one of the results of our Lord's ministry at Jerusalem during the first Passover (compare Joh_3:2 with Joh_2:23). Although Nicodemus had been thus won to believe in the divine nature of Christ's mission, his faith was yet very incomplete in that he believed Him to be inspired only after the fashion of the Old Testament prophets. To this faint-hearted faith corresponded his timidity of action, which displayed itself in his coming ?by night,? lest he should offend his colleagues in the Sanhedrin and the other hostile Jews (Joh_3:2). In answer to the veiled question which the words of Nicodemus implied, and to convince him of the inadequacy of mere intellectual belief, Christ proclaimed to him the necessity for a spiritual regeneration: ?Except one be born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God? (Joh_3:3). This was interpreted by Nicodemus only in its materialistic sense, and therefore caused him bewilderment and confusion (Joh_3:4). But Christ, as on another occasion when dealing with His questioners on a similar point of doctrine (compare Joh_6:52, Joh_6:53), answered his perplexity only by repeating His previous statement (Joh_3:5). He then proceeded to give further explanation. The re-birth is not outward but inward, it is not of the body but of the soul (Joh_3:6). Just as God is the real agent in the birth of the body, so also is He the Creator of the New Spirit; and just as no one knoweth whence cometh the wind, or ?whither it goeth,? yet all can feel its effects who come under its influence, so is it with the rebirth. Only those who have experienced it as a change in themselves, wrought by the Divine Power, are qualified to judge either of its reality or of its effects (Joh_3:7, Joh_3:8). But Nicodemus, since such experience had not yet been his, remained still unenlightened (Joh_3:9). Christ therefore condemned such blindness in one who yet professed to be a teacher of spiritual things (Joh_3:10), and emphasized the reality in His own life of those truths which He had been expounding (Joh_3:11). With this, Christ returned to the problem underlying the first statement of Nicodemus. If Nicodemus cannot believe in ?earthly things,? i.e. in the New Birth, which, though coming from above, is yet realized in this world, how can he hope to understand ?heavenly things,? i.e. the deeper mysteries of God's purpose in sending Christ into the world (Joh_3:12), of Christ's Divine sonship (Joh_3:13), of His relationship to the atonement and the salvation of man (Joh_3:14), and of how a living acceptance of and feeding upon Him is in itself Divine life (Joh_3:15; compare Jn 6:25-65)?
2. The Defense:
The above interview, though apparently fruitless at the time, was not without its effect upon Nicodemus. At the Feast of Tabernacles, when the Sanhedrin was enraged at Christ's proclamation of Himself as the ?living water? (Joh_7:37, Joh_7:38), Nicodemus was emboldened to stand up in His defense. Yet here also he showed his natural timidity. He made no personal testimony of his faith in Christ, but sought rather to defend Him on a point of Jewish law (Joh_7:50-52; compare Exo_23:1; Deu_1:16, Deu_1:17; Deu_17:6; Deu_19:15).
3. The Burial:
By this open act of reverence Nicodemus at last made public profession of his being of the following of Christ. His wealth enabled him to provide the ?mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds,? with which the body of Jesus was embalmed (Joh_19:39 ff).
The Gospel of Nicodemus and other apocryphal works narrate that Nicodemus gave evidence in favor of Christ at the trial before Pilate, that he was deprived of office and banished from Jerusalem by the hostile Jews, and that he was baptized by Peter and John. His remains were said to have been found in a common grave along with those of Gamaliel and Stephen.
Nicodemus is a type of the ?well-instructed and thoughtful Jew who looked for the consummation of national hope to follow in the line along which he had himself gone, as being a continuation and not a new beginning? (Westcott). The manner in which the Gospel narrative traces the overcoming of his natural timidity and reluctant faith is in itself a beautiful illustration of the working of the Spirit, of how belief in the Son of Man is in truth a new birth, and the entrance into eternal life.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
PRINTER 1915.
Nicode?mus, a Pharisee and member of the Sanhedrim, who was impressed by what he had heard concerning Jesus; but being unwilling, on account of his station, to commit himself without greater surety than he possessed, repaired by night to the house in which Christ dwelt, and held with him that important discourse which occupies John 3. The effect which was then produced upon his mind may be collected from the fact that subsequently, at one of the sittings of the venerable body to which he belonged, he ventured to let fall a few words in favor of Jesus, whose proceedings were then in question (Joh_7:50); and that he took part with his colleague, Joseph of Arimathea, in rendering the last honors to the body of the crucified Redeemer (Joh_19:39). Nothing further is known of Nicodemus from Scripture. Tradition, however, adds that after he had thus openly declared himself a follower of Jesus, and had been baptized by Peter, he was displaced from his office, and expelled from Jerusalem (Phot. Cod. p. 171). It is added that he found refuge in a country house of his cousin Gamaliel, and remained there till his death. Too strong an appreciation of the world's good opinion seems to have been the failing of Nicodemus. We do not lay much stress upon what he ventured to say in the Sanhedrim; for he suffered himself to be easily put down, and did not come forward with any bold avowal of his belief. Winer calls attention to the fact, that although he took part in the sepulchral rites of Jesus, he did not join Joseph in his application to Pilate for the body of his crucified Lord; and justly remarks that such characters usually require a strong external impulse to bring them boldly forward, which impulse was probably in this case supplied by the resurrection of Jesus.
The Popular Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature
by John Kitto.
Nicodemus
(Νικόδημος, conqueror of the people), a Pharisee, a ruler (ἄρχων , the usual title for a member of the Sanhedrim) of the Jews, and teacher (the article in ὁ διδάσκ. is probably only generic, although Winer and bishop Middleton suppose that it implies a rebuke) of Israel (Joh_3:1; Joh_3:10), whose secret visit to our Lord was the occasion of the discourse recorded by the evangelist. The name was not uncommon among the Jews (Josephus, Ant. 14:3, 2), and was no doubt borrowed from the Greeks. In the Talmud it appears under the form נקדימון, and some would derive it from נקי, innocent, דם, blood (i.e. Sceleris purus); Wetstein, N.T. 1:150. In the case of Nicodemus ben-Gorion, the name is derived by R. Nathan from a miracle which he is supposed to have performed (Otho, Lex. Rab. s.v.). Nicodemus is only mentioned by John (yet some German rationalists have sought or rather forced a comparison with the rich young man of Mar_10:17-24), who narrates his nocturnal visit to Jesus, and the conversation which then took place at this the evangelist may himself have been present. A.D. 26. The high station of Nicodemus, and the avowed scorn under which the rulers concealed their inward conviction (Joh_3:2) that Jesus was a teacher come from God, are sufficient to account for the secrecy of the interview. A constitutional timidity is discernible in the character of the inquiring Pharisee, which could not be overcome by his vacillating desire to befriend One whom he knew to be a Prophet, even if he did not at once recognize in him the promised Messiah. Thus the few words which he interposed against the rash injustice of his colleagues are cautiously rested on a general principle (Joh_7:50), and betray no indication of his faith in the Galilaean whom his sect despised. Even when the power of Christ's love, manifested on the cross, had made the most timid disciples bold, Nicodemus did not come forward with his splendid gifts of affection until the example had been set by one of his own rank and wealth, and station in society (19:39). See Hase, Leben Jesu, p. 106 sq.; Volbeding, Index Programmatum, p. 32.
In these three notices of Nicodemus a noble candor and a simple love of truth shine out in the midst of hesitation and fear of man. But Niemeyer (Charakt. 1:113 sq.) has endeavored to show that the apparent timidity of Nicodemus was but reasonable prudence. We can easily believe the tradition that after the resurrection (which would supply the last outward impulse necessary to confirm his faith and increase his courage) he became a professed disciple of Christ, and received baptism at the hands of Peter and John. All the rest that is reported of him is very uncertain. It is said. however, that the Jews, in revenge for his conversion, deprived him of his office, beat him cruelly, and drove him from Jerusalem; that Gamaliel, who was his kinsman, hospitably sheltered him until his death in a country house, and finally gave him honorable burial near the body of Stephen, where Gamaliel himself was afterwards interred. Finally, the three bodies are said to have been discovered August 3, A.D. 415, which day was set apart by the Romish Church in honor of the event (Phot. Biblioth. Cod. p. 171; Lucian, De S. Steph. inventione).
If the Nicodemus of John's Gospel be identical with the Nicodemus ben- Gorion of the Talmud (see Delitzsch ill the Zeitsckr.f. luth. Theologie, 1854, p. 643 sq.), he must have lived till the fall of Jerusalem, which is not impossible, since the term γέρων, in Joh_3:4, may not be intended to apply to Nicodemus himself. The arguments for their identification are that both are mentioned as Pharisees, wealthy, pious, and members of the Sanhedrim (Taanith, f. 19, etc.); and that the original name (altered on the occasion of a miracle performed by Nicodemus in order to procure rain) is said to have been בוני, Bonay, which is also the name of one of five rabbinical disciples of Christ mentioned in Sanhed. f. 43, 1 (Otho, s.v. Christus). Finally, the family of this Nicodemus are said to have been reduced from great wealth to the most squalid and horrible. poverty, which, however, may as well be accounted for by the fall of Jerusalem as by the change of fortune resulting from an acceptance of Christianity.
CYCLOPEDIA OF BIBLICAL, THEOLOGICAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
press 1895.
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