num_pages: 36
description: Saint Nicodemus was a Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin who according to the Gospel of John showed favour to Jesus. He appears three times: the first is when he visits Jesus one night to listen to his teachings (John 3:121); the second is when he states the law concerning the arrest of Jesus during the Feast of Tabernacles (John 7:4551); and the last follows the Crucifixion when he assists Joseph of Arimathea in preparing the corpse of Jesus for burial (John 19:3942).The discussion with Jesus is the source of several common expressions of contemporary Christianity specifically the descriptive phrase born again used to describe the experience of believing in Jesus as Saviour and John 3:16 a commonly quoted verse used to describe God's plan of salvation.An apocryphal work under his name  the Gospel of Nicodemus  was produced at some point in the medieval era and is mostly a reworking of the earlier Acts of Pilate which recounts the harrowing of Hell.Though there is no clear source of information about this Nicodemus outside the Gospel of John the Jewish Encyclopedia and many Biblical historians have theorized that he is identical to Nicodemus ben Gurion mentioned in the Talmud as a wealthy and popular holy man reputed to have had miraculous powers. Christian tradition asserts that Nicodemus was martyred sometime in the first century. Nicodemus is venerated as a Saint by the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Roman Catholics celebrate his memorial on August 3. The Franciscan Order erected a Church carrying his name and the name of St. Joseph of Arimathea in Ramla. The Orthodox Church celebrates him on the Sunday of the Myrrhbearers a variable date falling always on the third Sunday of Easter and also on August 2 the date when tradition states that his relics were found along with those of the Apostle and Protomartyr Stephen and Gamaliel (another member of the Sanhedrin who according to a disputed Christian tradition converted to Christianity).
language: English
title: The Gospel of Nicodemus: Christ's Descent into Hell
publisher: None