Nicodemus Visits Jesus

Nicodemus, a Pharisee and member of the Sanhedrin, came to Jesus by night, acknowledging: “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God” (John 3:2). Jesus responded with the famous teaching: “Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

When Nicodemus asked how this was possible, Jesus explained spiritual rebirth through water and Spirit, comparing it to the wind that “blows where it wishes.” This conversation contains one of Christianity’s most quoted verses: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). Nicodemus’s nighttime visit suggests initial secrecy, though he later defended Jesus publicly (John 7:50-51) and helped bury him (John 19:39).