Nicodemus before Christ

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Nicodemus weaved his way silently through the marketplace in Jerusalem. Was he not also a member of the Sanhedrin? Was he not also a faithful Jew, who believed in the coming of the Messiah? Nicodemus was lost in thought, and his musings grazed over the merchants he passed, whose only concern was selling what remained of their wares on the eve of the Sabbath. And this Jesus of Nazareth, what harm had he done? Nicodemus has always said as much to the other members of the Sanhedrin. “Does our law condemn a man without first hearing him to find out what he has been doing?” Rumour was circulating in the marketplace that, although Jesus of Nazareth had done nothing wrong apart from performing miracles, today he had been unable to save himself from the crowd and from the Romans. He had been crucified for declaring himself the King of Jerusalem, in an insult to the Roman Empire. But Pontius Pilate would hear no more. It was they, the Jews of the Sanhedrin, who had delivered Jesus unto the prefect, Pilate. The prefect had washed his hands of the affair; he had rinsed his fingertips in water poured by a Roman soldier. In this tale, Pilate was innocent. His duty was to ensure order in Galilee. “Here is the man who says he is king:” so the Roman guards had presented Jesus to Pilate, with a crown of thorns digging into his temples. Pilate’s personal guard had even written “King of the Jews” on the crucifixion plaque. It was true, the Sanhedrin had delivered one of their own unto Pilate. Nicodemus scoured the markets for perfumes, so that Jesus’ body might be embalmed when the sun set. He stopped before a stall, and ordered a mixture of myrrh and aloes. He would pay a fortune for the innocent; hundreds of Roman denarii. He then made his way to the great wall of Jerusalem to observe the three crucified men from afar. He remembered his meetings with Jesus in the olive grove.

“Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him,” said Nicodemus when he met with Jesus on the Mount of Olives.

“Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”

“How can someone be born when they are old? Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born?” a worried Nicodemus asked, observing his disciples falling asleep.

“Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

“How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.

“You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and you do not understand these things? Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”

Nicodemus leaned over the great wall of Jerusalem, having concealed the mixture of myrrh and aloes in his tunic. Jesus, the king of the Jews, was dying on the cross. The silent crowd admired his suffering, his breathing, his sweat, his agony, his martyrdom and his every movement. Every drop of blood was a mystery; precious gems melting away into the hard earth of Jerusalem. The crowd’s gaze was transfixed upon him, particularly when he spoke to the thunder that groaned and split the sky. “Father, father, why have you forsaken me?” he asked the heavens. He was an innocent lamb, pure and faultless. Clouds were gathering in the sky; Nicodemus could not hold back his tears. They were tears for the mother, Mary of Bethlehem, who had come with John, son of Zebedee, to bid farewell to her only son. Nicodemus closed his eyes and the thunder rolled even louder, then louder still as lightning tore the sky. Nicodemus thought of the kingdom Jesus had often spoken of: a kingdom that could not be entered without will, without effort. A kingdom of the just, the humble and the honest. Jesus told his disciple, Matthew: “It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.” “But what is this kingdom of yours, Nazarene?” whispered Nicodemus. Nicodemus bowed his head in a sign of respect. He moved away from the wall and went to find Joseph of Arimathea, to give him the mixture of myrrh and aloes. 

Suddenly a terrible earthquake erupted beneath Galilee, as Jesus of Nazareth breathed his last.

Alan Alfredo Geday