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The Sanhedrin, the supreme council and highest court of justice of the Jews in Jerusalem, had wanted to condemn Jesus. Any member of the Sanhedrin who showed sympathy towards Jesus would have been considered by his colleagues as a traitor and an outcast. Yet we know that at least one member, Nicodemus, did.
Even before Jesus was tried, Saint John tells us that Nicodemus came to see Jesus, secretly and at night, to talk to him about what it means to see the kingdom of God (John 3). On this occasion Nicodemus partly confessed his belief in Jesus, saying: "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." Jesus tried to teach him about being born again by the Holy Spirit and by baptism. Saint John even says that it was to Nicodemus that our Lord said, "God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."
Nicodemus spoke out on Jesus' behalf before the chief priests and the Pharisees, pointing out to them that the Law demanded the accused be given a hearing before judgment was passed (John 7:50- 52).
Together with Saint Joseph of Arimathea, he had the privilege of laying Jesus' body in the tomb on Good Friday. He brought with him large quantities of costly myrrh and aloes to the tomb and with Joseph wrapped Jesus' body "with spices in linen cloth" (John 1939-42).
One of the apocryphal gospels was circulated under his name in the early centuries of the Church. Saint Nicodemus has always been venerated as a martyr, although nothing is mentioned about his conversion or martyrdom in the New Testament (Benedictines, Bentley, Delaney).
Prayer to Saint Nicodemus
Merciful God, whose servant Nicodemus was a secret disciple of Christ, meeting him by night to avoid the wrath of the other members of the Sanhedrin, and eventually spoke out to that body to remind them that Jesus had a right to a hearing and with reverence and godly fear prepared the body of our Lord and Savior for burial, and laid it in his own tomb: Grant to us, your faithful people, grace and courage to love and serve Jesus with sincere devotion all the days of our life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Ghost, one God, for ever and ever.
