Jesus and Nicodemus in the studies in John’s Gospel John 3:1-21 (KJV)
Nicodemus was a prominent member of the Sanhedrin. Sanhedrin was an assembly of twenty-three to seventy-one men appointed in every city in the Land of Israel. It was the highest judicial council in the ancient Jewish state. They were entrusted with the responsibility of teaching and administering the Jewish religious codes. Sanhedrin comprises both the Pharisees and the Sadducee sects. Thus Nicodemus was both a ruler and a teacher in Israel and he was conversant with the laws that govern the spiritual life of the Jews 1. (Officers’ Christian Fellowship)
The reason behind Nicodemus visit at night is not clear to the reader. Various reasons have been proposed such as the introversion of Nicodemus, his self-awareness, image-consciousness and his hypocritical Imagination. 2 (Baker, Greg)
The purpose of the visit of Nicodemus is not stated in the text. However Nicodemus has been convinced of the mission and calling of Jesus. There was something
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It is well noted that there were some secret disciples of Jesus among the Pharisees. After hearing Nicodemus, Jesus neither comforted himself with the flattery of Nicodemus nor acknowledged the content of the words. Jesus’ mission was to proclaim the Kingdom of God.
Jesus had no time for flattery; he went straight to the point. Jesus cuts to the quick. “Except a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). The Greek word is deliberately ambiguous, meaning either “from above” or “again.” Nicodemus understood the statement to mean a new birth.
Jews understand that repetition of a word denotes its absolute meaning. Thus a word said twice as Jesus said, verily, verily, means, truly, truly, it means absolutely true. The words said “Except a man,” This entails every man including the Jews and the Pharisees5. (Stevenson,