Saint Nicodemus
The Pharisee who visited Jesus by night and later helped bury him
- Rank
- Saint
- Kind
- Layperson, Biblical figure
- Feast
- 3 August
- Countries
- Israel
Life story
Nicodemus appears only in the Gospel of John. In John 3 he is introduced as a Pharisee and a member of the Jewish ruling council who came to Jesus by night to talk with him. The conversation that follows, about being born anew, is among the best known passages of that Gospel. The text does not say why he chose the night, and readers have long debated whether it was caution or simple convenience.
He is mentioned again in John 7, where the chief priests and Pharisees complain that the temple guards had not arrested Jesus. Nicodemus reminds his colleagues that their law does not condemn a man without first hearing him, and they answer him with sarcasm. His last appearance is in John 19: after the crucifixion he brings a very large quantity of myrrh and aloes, and together with Joseph of Arimathea he wraps the body of Jesus in linen cloths and lays it in a new tomb in a garden near Golgotha.
The New Testament says nothing more about him, and later writings fill the gap. An apocryphal text of the fourth century or later, called the Gospel of Nicodemus or the Acts of Pilate, is attributed to him, though he did not write it in its present form. According to tradition, he was baptised by Peter and John and was removed from the council for his sympathy toward the Christians. The Roman Martyrology records a tradition that in the year 415 a priest named Lucian was shown in a vision the burial place of Stephen, Gamaliel and Nicodemus near Jerusalem, and that the relics were found; the feast of 3 August commemorates that finding.
Works and witness
- A Pharisee and council member who met Jesus by night (John 3)
- Reminded his colleagues that the law requires a hearing first (John 7)
- Brought myrrh and aloes to prepare the body of Jesus (John 19)
- With Joseph of Arimathea, laid the body in a new garden tomb
- According to tradition, his relics were found near Jerusalem in 415
Saints from the same country
References
- Gospel according to John
- Gospel of Nicodemus (Acts of Pilate), apocryphal
- Martyrologium Romanum
Written by Anawim from documented history. Some details about ancient saints rest on tradition and are marked as such.