John 3:1-2 -- Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.”Nicodemus Ben Gurion was a wealthy Jew who lived in Jerusalem in the first century C.E. Many scholars believe him to be identical to the Nicodemus, the Pharisee, mentioned in the Gospel of John.
Nicodemus was one of the three richest men in Jerusalem. He was responsible for supplying water to the pilgrims that came to attend the Jewish festivals in Jerusalem. He had extensive land holdings in Galilee and elsewhere, which were no doubt worked by tenant farmers.
Nicodemus Ben Gurion (son of a young lion) appears in the Babylonian Talmud, and in other Jewish and Christian literature of the first centuries after Jesus, including in the history books written by Flavius Josephus,
Flavius Josephus was a Jewish priest, scholar, and historian who wrote valuable works on the Jewish revolt (66–70 A.D.) which led to the destruction of the 2nd Temple. He wrote of earlier Jewish history including "The Antiquities of the Jews." Flavius lived from ~37 - 100 A.D.
Like Nicodemus, Flavius Josephus was a member of the Ben Gurion family. His given name was Yosef Ben-Gurion. Many people adopted the name "Flavius" after gaining the Roman franchise under the Flavian emperors. There is some speculation that Nicodemus Ben Gurion and Yosef Ben Gurion were related.
[Note: I placed several hyperlinks into this article. They are intended to provide deep contextual understanding.]
Did Nicodemus Recognize the Messiah?
As a prominent member of the Jewish Sanhedrin, one of the wealthiest men in Jerusalem and a key character in the Gospels, Nicodemus was no doubt a righteous man -- a Tzadik in Hebrew.
Jesus caught Nicodemus's attention and judging from his words and actions, Nicodemus took note of Jesus's miraculous acts and knowledge of scripture. Who is to say whether Nicodemus searched the scripture for other signs or prophetic verses that pointed to Jesus as the Messiah. Besides, until his resurrection, even the disciples didn't understand the plan for Jesus's resurrection. See John 20.9..
It is clear that Nicodemus recognized something was very special about Yeshua. Nicodemus's curiosity drove to go see Jesus at night as recorded in the Gospel of John 3:1-2. It describes that Nicodemus acknowledged Jesus as a "teacher from God" due to the signs Jesus performed. This encounter leads to a significant theological discussion about being "born again" and Jesus's famous John 3:16 passage.
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life".
Nicodemus Speaks Up in Jesus's Defense
After Sukkoth and "the Last Day of the Great Feast," in John 7, the Pharisees are looking for Jesus with intentions to kill Him.
John 7:45-47 -- The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why did you not bring him?” The officers answered, “No one ever spoke like this man!”
Nicodemus speaks up on behalf of Jesus; questioning the Pharisees' judgment:
John 7:50-52 -- Nicodemus, who had gone to him before, and who was one of them, said to them, “Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?”
The Pharisees replied to Nicodemus saying in verse 52, “Are you from Galilee too? Search and see that no prophet arises from Galilee.”
Surely this would have triggered Nicodemus to think of the famous prophet Jonah who was born in the town of Gath Hepher in the Northern Kingdom of Israel. Gath-hepher was only about 5 miles from Nazareth in the Galilee region of ancient Israel,
Jonah was from the Galilee, so imagine what Nicodemus thought about Jesus's words in this synoptic gospel:
Matthew 12:38-41 -- Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.
Nicodemus must have put the puzzle pieces together. Nicodemus knew Jesus was of God. He had a strong sense that Jesus was the Messiah and that he was going to rise up out the tomb, like Jonah from the "belly of the great fish." Nicodemus wanted to be a witness!
This explains Nicodemus's actions described in the Gospel of John
John 19:38-42 -- Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jewish leaders. With Pilate’s permission, he came and took the body away. He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds.[a] Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs. At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.
The "strips of linen" which Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea wrapped the dead body of Jesus in, were none other than the "linen clothes" described in John 20.
John 20:3-9 -- So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb. 4 Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, 7 and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus'[a] head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. 8 Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; 9 for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead.
What happened to those linen clothes?
What happened to those linen clothes is the story of the Shroud of Turin and the Sudarium. You can read about those on my blog starting with my post titled - A Love Letter from Jesus. Find links to my other related posts at the bottom.
There is no telling who removed the Shroud from the tomb and what the chain of custody was from when it was removed from the tomb until 1354 when it resurfaced.
The first historical record of the Shroud of Turin is from 1354, when it was presented to the dean of the church in Lirey, France by a French knight named Geoffroi de Charny. From there:
- 1453: The shroud is acquired by the House of Savoy, Italy's royal family.
- 1532: The shroud is damaged by fire in a chapel in Chambéry.
- 1578: The Savoys move the shroud to Turin, where it has remained ever since.
- 1983: A descendant of the Duke of Savoy donates the shroud to the Holy See (Pope) of the Catholic Church
Here is my theory about the ~1320 year gap in time between the resurrection and when the burial linen clothes reappeared:
I think it is highly likely that Nicodemus recovered the Shroud. I also believe Nicodemus made special arrangements to hide it in secrecy so it did not end up in the hands of the "wrong people."
As a wealthy man, Nicodemus would have had the means to secure the Shroud and arrange for its private secret transference upon his death. He may even have confidentialy provided the funding or rewards necessary to have it secretly transferred from one generation to another until it finally ended up in the hands of a king in the 1300's and ultimately the Holy See, the Pope in 1983.
As far as history is concerned, Nicodemus gave us the tremendous gift (charity) of the burial shroud. He did so anonymously, which elevates his actions to a highly righteous act!
What came of Nicodemus?
Matt 16:24 -- Jesus told his disciples, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me’”
Little is known, or at least recorded of what came of Nicodemus after he handled Jesus's burial. It is known that he lost his position as a Pharisee. He was kicked off the Sanhedrin and was eventually banished from Jerusalem by the hostile Jews.
If you think about it, Nicodemus is perhaps the first man in the world to truly understand who Jesus was and what his historical mission was. He was also the last man to see Jesus's body.
Here is the thing about what Nicodemus did by preparing Jesus's body and placing him in the tomb. Aside from the ritual significance and playing a critical role in the prophecy, Nicodemus performed the most righteous selfless act which a person can do according to Jewish belief.
Judaism describes tzedakah (charity) as an act of chesed (lovingkindness) that brings the giver closer to God. Judaism teaches that the mitzvot of “accompanying the dead” (the mitzvot associated with burial) is one of the most selfless mitzvot because there can be no expectation of receiving anything in return. The person being buried can not do anything in return. To this day, the mourners at a Jewish burial will shovel the dirt back into the grave of the decreased in order to fulfill this mitzvot of burial.
Think about this in the context of Nicodemus. Truly, he came "after" Jesus and denied himself!
The Significance of the Cloths
Luke 2:12: "And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. "
Remarkably, the swaddling cloths were likely similar to those used to wrap sacrificial lambs, powerfully symbolizing Jesus as the "Lamb of God" who would take away the world's sins. The cloths used to wrap him at birth mirrored those used for lambs destined for Temple sacrifice.
In the Septuagint book Wisdom of Solomon 7:1-5, reflecting on King Solomon's birth, it states that Solomon was nursed in swaddling clothes which underscores the commonality of human birth and the humble beginnings shared by all, including kings.
I wonder if there is a spiritual connection between clothes wrapped around baby Jesus and the clothes wrapped around crucified Jesus. They were both "a sign." The "swaddling cloth" marked the Messiah's birth and the "linen clothes" marked his resurrection.
One great theologian of the early church made this very connection. St. Gregory of Nazianzus was an early Roman Christian Theologian who served as Archbishop of Constantinople from 380 to 381. He is widely considered the most accomplished rhetorical stylist of the patristic age (the time of early church writings). He noted that Jesus was "wrapped in swaddling clothes" but would later "take off the swathing bands of the grave." This is to say that Jesus' swaddling clothes foreshadowed his ultimate mission and sacrifice. They symbolically connected his birth to his future crucifixion and resurrection.
Nicodemus was much older than Jesus. He must have been aware of King Herod's reaction to the news that a baby was born who is alleged to be the Messiah. Could Nicodemus have known that Jesus was that "baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger."
If Nicodemus suspected that baby Jesus was adult Jesus, could that have played a part in his decision to go see Jesus at night? Could it have played a part in his speaking back to other Jewish leaders about how they were judging Jesus?
Nicodemus must of understood much more than what the bible explicitly tells us. In my opinion, that explains why Nicodemus Ben Gurion performed the "Mitzvot of Burial." That was Nicodemus's way of "picking up the Cross" "after Him."
We Living in Biblical Times
Here is an fascinating historical connection between the biblical Nicodemus Ben Gurion and modern Israel.
Israel was "created in a day" in the Hebrew month of Iyar* on May 14, 1948, when David Ben Gurion, the head of the Jewish Agency, proclaimed the establishment of the State of Israel. The declaration came just before the expiration of the British Mandate."
The Israeli Knesset created "Ben-Gurion Day" to honor the first Prime Minister which is held on Kislev 6, the date of Ben-Gurion's death. Kislev is the month in which we celebrate Hanukkah, when the Temple was rededicated.
Be it Nicodemus or David, surely the "Ben Gurion" name is for a blessing.
Who are you in the bible?
When one reads a story, it is not uncommon to relate to a particular character in the story. When this happens we may start to see the story through that character's eyes. We begin to project ourselves onto the character's thoughts and actions. In the Tanakh, referred to by Christians as the "Old Testament," I relate to the prophet Jonah. In the Gospels I relate to Nicodemus.
This phenomenon may give me greater insight into Nicodemus. Or it may have reinforced biases that have caused me to come away with unfounded opinions. I will just have to keep reading and writing to try to figure out which it is.
In Conclusion:
The bible is 66 books, written in three languages (Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic) by 40 people in three continents (Asia, Africa and Europe) over 1500 years. God may not have been the editor or publisher, but he was the producer and director. God also did the casting. God chose Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. God chose Isaiah and Jonah. God's calling was on the man who gave the disciples a colt, a foul of a donkey in Bethphage, for Jesus to ride into Jerusalem. God's calling was on Nicodemus!
What I find most amazing about how God uses people, such as Nicodemus, and all the stories in the bible, is the subtle, nearly imperceptible orchestration of a multitude of details in order for God to achieve His intended outcome. Events which seem like independent natural occurrences may have all been intentionally woven together, like a pattern in fabric, to create the greatest story ever told.
Despite mankind's God given "free will," God is able to achieve "His plan" through His choices of the people He calls. God knows each us so well that He can play us like an instrument. The more we do God's will the more God knows He can use.
Isaiah 42:
6 I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations,
7 to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.
8 I am the Lord; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols.
9 Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them.”
There is much more the mystery of Ben Gurion. Hear Johnathan Cahn tell the amazing story:
The Mystery of David Ben Gurion from the Levitcus Code.
One more note about David Be Gurion. When he died, his office was preserved just as he left it. On Ben Gurion's desk was a Bible in Hebrew -- the ENTIRE Bible. Ben Gurion was reading the New Testament!!
THINK ABOUT THAT!
* Epilogue
Israel celebrates Independence Day annually on May 14, which is 5 Iyar in the Hebrew calendar. Iyar is known as a month of healing.
Kings 16:1 refers to Iyar as Ziv (“brightness”) because, during this month, the sun shines most brilliantly, and the summer solstice occurs (at least in the Northern Hemisphere). Jewish tradition states that the generation that left Egypt became radiant during this Iyar, for God healed them of their blemishes as they prepared to receive the Torah at Sinai.
Luke 2.12 -- This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger
Luke 12.2 -- Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known.
