By Anne-Christine Hoff (November 2025)
The story of Nicodemus has many practical, real-world applications. Just like today, certain zip codes, cities, regions, and real estate carry with them social, economic and cultural advantages. In Jesus’ time, an insider’s club also existed for the well-connected, the highly respected, and the wealthy. Like today, much of the snobbery of Jesus’ time had to do with location. Were you from Galilee? Well, then, you were a hick, and your words carried less weight. From Judea? Well, then, we could assume that you knew things because your location put you close to the capital and the centers of learning.
Much of the story of Nicodemus revolves around issues of secrecy and snobbery. John 3 describes Nicodemus as “a ruler of the Jews” (3:1)[*] and as “Israel’s teacher” (3:10). He is a member of the Sanhedrin, the highest court of justice, the supreme council in ancient Jerusalem, and the final court of appeals for matters regarding religion and law. In short, Nicodemus has a lot to lose by associating himself with the Galilean, not only because of Jesus’ controversial teachings, but also because of Nicodemus’ status as “one of them,” an insider in the elite world of Jewish learning and a resident of Jerusalem (John 7:50).
The story resonates because of Nicodemus’ initial cowardice. Nicodemus is drawn to Jesus, but he is too afraid to meet with him by day. He wants to learn from Jesus, but he doesn’t want to lose social status by associating himself publicly with Jesus. Nicodemus’ first utterance to Jesus separates him from the other Pharisees who seek to arrest him. He states, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one can do these signs that you are doing unless God is with him” (John 3:2). Nicodemus’ statement puts his social standing at risk if it were to be discovered.
Part of the low status of Galilee had to do with its reputation as the “Galilee of the Gentiles” (Matthew 4:15). The Sea of Galilee where Jesus centered his ministry ran along the Via del Maris, a good place for trade and commerce, a center of the fishing industry, but also a place that was ethnically and religiously mixed, a place of less religious importance than Judea. The line that the Pharisees drew then is not only a geographic border but also a distinction between Jew and non-Jew. That is why in John 7, the Pharisees deem Jesus’ words of lesser importance because as they say, “Have any of the authorities or Pharisees believed in him?” They also dismiss the crowd that follows Jesus as “not [knowing] the law” and as “accursed,” which is another way of saying that the crowd is probably not Jewish (John 7:48-49).
Jesus’ teachings to Nicodemus on the night when he meets with him represent a dramatic shift in the law. Jesus tells him that he must be “born of the Spirit.” He states, “The wind blows where it wills, and you can hear the sound it makes, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes; so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit” (John 3:8). The need to be “born of the Spirit” reflects a radical departure from the teachings of the Pharisees. As Jesus states, the wind will “blow where it wills” and implicit in that statement is the idea that the wind will blow on whom it wills, on Gentile and Jew alike, and with or without Israel’s teachers.
As a Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin, Nicodemus knows the law. As a wealthy man, he is considered “a ruler of the Jews” as stated in John 3:1. What Jesus teaches Nicodemus not only upends his current status, undermining the value of his knowledge as a teacher of the law, so when Nicodemus responds with the question “How can this happen?” the question reflects his uncertainty about the way in which the teachings of Jesus undermine the established religion of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Jesus’ words also uproot the principles of Judaism that he has grown up with, where traditions passed from father to son, and salvation came if one continued to carry those traditions to the next generation.
By John 19, Nicodemus will be carrying the dead Jesus through the streets of Judea. He will spend a great deal of his wealth on spices to wrap the body. As an out follower of Jesus, he will lose his status as a member of the Sanhedrin. He will lose his position within the Pharisees as someone to be heeded. He will lose status as a “ruler of the Jews.”
The story of Nicodemus’ value lies in its real-world application. A transformation that comes from within, the need to be “born of the Spirit,” means not being like other people, and certainly not being like the elites of this world. It means a real-world loss of advantages. Even if one starts off as a secret believer, eventually, one’s actions will separate you from the safety of the herd. Nicodemus’ curiosity drives him away from his colleagues. While initially he meets with Jesus alone and at night, by the end he carries Jesus in broad daylight, and his secret it out for all to see.
[*] All quotes from Scripture come from The New American Bible.
Anne-Christine Hoff is an associate professor of English at Jarvis Christian University. She lives with her daughter and her two dogs in Mineola, Texas. Her work has appeared in LifeSite News, American Thinker, Middle East Quarterly, The Barcelona Review, and New English Review.
Follow NER on Twitter @NERIconoclast
3 Responses
This is a lovely examination.
Thank you, Cary, I appreciate that!
Bravo to this author for this brief but excellently insightful article.