Scripture tells us little about Nicodemus, and only John mentions him. He was a Pharisee and a ruler of the Jews. He came to Jesus at night, called him a teacher come from God, and then struggled to follow what Jesus said about being born again.
John does not tell us how that night ended. We see Nicodemus twice more. Once he asks the council to give Jesus a fair hearing and gets mocked for it. Then, after the crucifixion, he brings about seventy-five pounds of myrrh and aloes to bury Jesus' body.
“
How can a man be born when he is old?
Name means
“Victor over the people” (Greek)
Home
Jerusalem
Role
Pharisee, ruler of the Jews, teacher of Israel
Read in
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Nicodemus's story
Bringing the spices
Beginning
Comes by night
He comes to Jesus with respect and questions. Jesus tells him he must be born again, and he asks how this can be.
Turning point
Speaks up in council
He asks whether their law judges a man without hearing him. The others ask if he is from Galilee too.
Ending
Buries Jesus
With Joseph of Arimathea he wraps Jesus' body in linen with a large amount of spices and lays it in a new tomb.
Starts as a respected teacher with questions in the dark. Ends as a man who openly honored the crucified Jesus.
Where Nicodemus lived and went
Only places Scripture records. Softer, dotted pins are traditional or uncertain sites. Tap a pin for the passage.
HomeMinistryKey momentTraditional or uncertainPinch or use + to zoom. Tap a cluster to spread it out.
Nicodemus appears only in Jerusalem.
How Nicodemus is wired
The Investigator
Enneagram 5, Loyalist wing
To understand before he commits.
Scripture doesn't give us much here, so treat this as a best guess.
At their best, toward 8 Under stress, toward 7
Why we think so
1
Comes with questions. He opens with what he knows and keeps asking how. ()
2
Thinks in categories. He is a teacher of Israel and reasons from what he already understands. ()
3
Observes before acting. He watches and speaks briefly before making his costly move at the burial. ()
He appeals to the law and proper procedure rather than to his own opinion. ()
The Challenger. He acts boldly and in public, bringing a great quantity of spices to bury a man the council had condemned. ()
The Enthusiast. Little recorded.
The case for 6
Coming at night and appealing to procedure could reflect a cautious loyalist weighing the cost of standing with Jesus. Scripture gives too little to be sure.
Other lenses
Big Five. Read from what he says and does in the Gospels and Acts.
ReservedOutgoing
SteadyReactive
ChallengingAccommodating
SpontaneousDisciplined
TraditionalCurious
DISC style: Thoughtful, careful, quietly brave.
Strengths & struggles
What's good in Nicodemus
Honest curiosity. Respect for fair process. Generosity when it counted.
Where Nicodemus struggles
He thought in terms of what he already knew and took Jesus' words about new birth literally ().
What Nicodemus wanted most
To understand who Jesus was and what God was doing ().
What Nicodemus feared most
Scripture doesn't say. John notes that he first came by night, but does not give the reason ().
The Son of Man was lifted up so that people like Nicodemus could be born again.
Jesus told Nicodemus that new birth comes from the Spirit, not from effort or learning. Then he pointed to the cross. “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up” (). Nicodemus later helped take that lifted-up body down and bury it.
Questions to sit with
1
What questions about Jesus are you still carrying, and who could you bring them to?
2
Where might quiet faith need to become open faith for you?
Study Nicodemus with your group
Ready-to-lead group studies with discussion questions and a leader's note are on the way.
