Did Nicodemus ever accept Jesus?

Neostarwcc

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The closest the Bible comes to answering this question is in John 19:40 Nicodemus plays a role in burying the body of Jesus Christ. But nowhere in the Bible does it actually say that Nicodemus believed in Jesus or ever took Jesus's words in John 3 to heart. Or even that Nicodemus ever recognized his words as legitimate. But this has been haunting me lately. Did Nicodemus ever accept Jesus? Nicodemus at the very least respected Jesus enough to give him a proper Jewish burial but maybe the fact that Nicodemus even bothered burying the body of Jesus at all meant that he believed in him. I mean after all he recognized that Jesus had to be sent from God to do all of the miracles and signs that he did. So maybe he went to Jesus for salvation? Idk... I wish I knew...
 

FireDragon76

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This assumes that "accepting Jesus" has any soteriological value, a notion that my religious tradition denies. It is obvious that Nicodemus respected Jesus and his teachings. That's "accepting Jesus" enough for me.
 
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A_Thinker

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The closest the Bible comes to answering this question is in John 19:40 Nicodemus plays a role in burying the body of Jesus Christ. But nowhere in the Bible does it actually say that Nicodemus believed in Jesus or ever took Jesus's words in John 3 to heart. Or even that Nicodemus ever recognized his words as legitimate. But this has been haunting me lately. Did Nicodemus ever accept Jesus? Nicodemus at the very least respected Jesus enough to give him a proper Jewish burial but maybe the fact that Nicodemus even bothered burying the body of Jesus at all meant that he believed in him. I mean after all he recognized that Jesus had to be sent from God to do all of the miracles and signs that he did. So maybe he went to Jesus for salvation? Idk... I wish I knew...
Every man's salvation is his own. Only God can know the heart.

The fruits Nicodemus displayed were indicative of belief ...
 
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Neostarwcc

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This assumes that "accepting Jesus" has any soteriological value, a notion that my religious tradition denies. It is obvious that Nicodemus respected Jesus and his teachings, else he would not given up a costly grave for him. That's "accepting Jesus" enough for me.

True. Like I said he respected Jesus enough to give him a proper Jewish burial and he clearly believed that Jesus was somebody sent from God or else he wouldn't have bothered to visit him secretly. But I'm talking more along the lines of "was Jesus saved?"
 
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Neostarwcc

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Every man's salvation is his own. Only God can know the heart.

The fruits Nicodemus displayed were indicative of belief ...


That's so true! Even if the Bible never explicitly says "and Nicodemus believed in him" it does give some hints that Nicodemus did in fact believe. I mean the Bible says that Nicodemus believed that Jesus had to have been sent by God. So that only brings one to speculate that he believed the rest. Especially when the man cared enough about Jesus to give him a proper Jewish burial.
 
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FireDragon76

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I can't believe I confused Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea. My bad.

BTW, both are considered saints in Catholic and Orthodox churches.

Nicodemus says that Jesus is a teacher sent by God. I think its pretty obvious he has not rejected Jesus' teachings and goes to him to learn more, so the idea he is a saint is congruent with that, but I don't think we can know for sure.
 
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FireDragon76

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BTW, the English song/poem Jerusalem, written by William Blake, is based upon the medieval legend that Joseph of Arimathea took Jesus to Britain as a child. It's very unlikely of course. Obviously, Christians traditionally considered both Joseph and Nicodemus holy men.
 
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Erik Nelson

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I can't believe I confused Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea. My bad.

BTW, both are considered saints in Catholic and Orthodox churches.

Nicodemus says that Jesus is a teacher sent by God. I think its pretty obvious he has not rejected Jesus' teachings and goes to him to learn more, so the idea he is a saint is congruent with that, but I don't think we can know for sure.
Nicodemus is also remembered fondly in the Jewish Talmud.

WINDOWS INTO THE BIBLE by Marc Turnage

Ideally, he might make a great source of common ground for all sides. Like Rabbi Gamaliel.
 
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FireDragon76

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Some mainline scholars do not think Nicodemus actually existed. Christians traditionally understood this story as primarily allegory and were less interested in its facticity. Nicodemus represents a pragmatic person who does not understand spiritual truths, in their mind. He could also be a polemical device against the pharisees, which is likely because John draws sharp distinctions between the new Way and Judaism.
 
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Erik Nelson

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Some mainline scholars do not think Nicodemus actually existed. Christians traditionally understood this story as primarily allegory and were less interested in its facticity. Nicodemus represents a pragmatic person who does not understand spiritual truths, in their mind. He could also be a polemical device against the pharisees, which is likely because John draws sharp distinctions between the new Way and Judaism.
Well, certainly looks like all parties on all sides somehow imagined the exact same hallucination of a righteous man named Nicodemus :)
 
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redleghunter

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The closest the Bible comes to answering this question is in John 19:40 Nicodemus plays a role in burying the body of Jesus Christ. But nowhere in the Bible does it actually say that Nicodemus believed in Jesus or ever took Jesus's words in John 3 to heart. Or even that Nicodemus ever recognized his words as legitimate. But this has been haunting me lately. Did Nicodemus ever accept Jesus? Nicodemus at the very least respected Jesus enough to give him a proper Jewish burial but maybe the fact that Nicodemus even bothered burying the body of Jesus at all meant that he believed in him. I mean after all he recognized that Jesus had to be sent from God to do all of the miracles and signs that he did. So maybe he went to Jesus for salvation? Idk... I wish I knew...
I think we can conclude that Nicodemus by burying Jesus came out into the open he was a believer.

When the friends and disciples ran, Joseph and Nicodemus outwardly showed faith.
 
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FireDragon76

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Well, certainly looks like all parties on all sides somehow imagined the exact same hallucination of a righteous man named Nicodemus :)

This is not about hallucinations, it is believed to be a common literary devices to place figures in a story who were not necessarily representing any one specific person. Nicodemus represents the believing Jew who is ignorant but seeking enlightenment. The fact his name is similar to an historical figure might also not be coincidental, it might be a polemical critique of Judaism. Especially because the Gospel of John was believed to have been written down during that time period.

The Synoptic Gospels are much more representative of what we think of as history. John is basically a spiritualized gloss of Jesus' life.
 
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Jonaitis

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Some mainline scholars do not think Nicodemus actually existed. Christians traditionally understood this story as primarily allegory and were less interested in its facticity. Nicodemus represents a pragmatic person who does not understand spiritual truths, in their mind. He could also be a polemical device against the pharisees, which is likely because John draws sharp distinctions between the new Way and Judaism.

What? Sure, the stories we read in Scripture may present an allegory, but they themselves aren't just allegories. If Nicodemus represents what you say he represents, then Jesus represents a good moral man who is zealous for the faith/truth that he was willing to die for. C'mon people.
 
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John 1720

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The closest the Bible comes to answering this question is in John 19:40 Nicodemus plays a role in burying the body of Jesus Christ. But nowhere in the Bible does it actually say that Nicodemus believed in Jesus or ever took Jesus's words in John 3 to heart. Or even that Nicodemus ever recognized his words as legitimate. But this has been haunting me lately. Did Nicodemus ever accept Jesus? Nicodemus at the very least respected Jesus enough to give him a proper Jewish burial but maybe the fact that Nicodemus even bothered burying the body of Jesus at all meant that he believed in him. I mean after all he recognized that Jesus had to be sent from God to do all of the miracles and signs that he did. So maybe he went to Jesus for salvation? Idk... I wish I knew...
In many cases the Gospel leave those who encountered Jesus as unnamed; such as:
  • John 5:5-8 Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, "Do you want to be made well?" The sick man answered Him, "Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me." Jesus said to him, "Rise, take up your bed and walk."
But in many cases specific names are named. If we ask ourselves why we can conclude this was done because in many instances those names would have been familiar to ancient Christians. They would have heard of them, adding to the authenticity of eye witness testimony. The Gospel of John was written several decades from the resurrection of Christ. Now in the case of Nicodemus it was documented by the early church that he became a follower of Christ. So while we cannot authenticate that through the NT we do have two reasons to believe that he did become a follower and no evidence to point to the contrary. Lastly we are told that Jewish priests did become disciples as well.
  • Acts 6:7 Then the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith.
In Christ, John 1720
 
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FireDragon76

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What? Sure, the stories we read in Scripture may present an allegory, but they themselves aren't just allegories. If Nicodemus represents what you say he represents, then Jesus represents a good moral man who is zealous for the faith/truth that he was willing to die for. C'mon people.

Jesus was a good man zealous for the truth whom I and Christians through the ages also confess was the Son of God and Savior of the world. It is not a contradiction to both take biblical scholarship seriously, and yet confess the faith once delivered to the saints.

The Gospel of John is a mystical work (in contrast to the synoptics). It is a mistake to think it is referring to empirical reality exclusively. In the early church, catechumens were not even permitted to read John because it was considered so difficult. They read Mark instead.
 
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Jonaitis

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Jesus was a good man zealous for the truth whom I and Christians through the ages also confess was the Son of God and Savior of the world. It is not a contradiction to both take biblical scholarship seriously, and yet confess the faith once delivered to the saints.

The Gospel of John is a mystical work (in contrast to the synoptics). It is a mistake to think it is referring to empirical reality exclusively. In the early church, catechumens were not even permitted to read John because it was considered so difficult. They read Mark instead.

We must break away when "biblical scholarship" begins to drift from accepting Scripture as they are. We can babble about what the early church fathers held to, but we must face the fact that they were never in agreement on everything, small and great, and held to questionable things (ex. baptismal regeneration). We should maintain the reality of what the inspired authors present to us that these things were true and offer far more than some historical value.

"Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?" - Luke 18:8
 
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FireDragon76

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We must break away when "biblical scholarship" begins to drift from accepting Scripture as they are. We can babble about what the early church fathers held to, but we must face the fact that they were never in agreement on everything, small and great, and held to questionable things (ex. baptismal regeneration). We should maintain the reality of what the inspired authors present to us that these things were true and offer far more than some historical value.

"Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?" - Luke 18:8


Baptismal regeneration is not a questionable thing, it is a central doctrine of my religion. My religion is based on the lived reality of the catholic confession of faith, just as men like Nikolai Grundtvig realized it is, it is not based on nailing down every bit of the Bible with absolute certainty. My salvation does not rest on just exactly who Nicodemus is in the Bible. That idea is absurd. My faith rests on the historic confession of the Church throughout the ages.
 
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Jonaitis

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My salvation does not rest on just exactly who Nicodemus is in the Bible. That idea is absurd. My faith rests on the historic confession of the Church throughout the ages.

That's an extreme and definitely not what I was conveying.
 
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