This is the third and final time that Nicodemus the Pharisee appears in the Gospel of John. The first time, he had visited the Lord in the evening and was awakened to his spiritual need (3:2). The next time we hear of him, he confessed Christ before his pharisaical peers (7:50).

In today’s text, we find Nicodemus at the cross of Christ. It is moving to think that while many of the disciples had fled when Christ was arrested—and one had even denied Him—we find Nicodemus there, at the side of Christ. He probably recalled the words of the Lord, about the serpent in the wilderness, and that the Son of Man would be lifted up. Like his ancestors in the wilderness, Nicodemus had looked and “lived” (Num. 21:9).

Nicodemus and his fellow council member, Joseph of Arimathea, had not consented to the vote for the death of Christ as their colleagues had done (Lk. 23:51). Both Joseph and Nicodemus were disciples of Christ, but more or less “secretly, for fear of the Jews” (Jn. 19:38). Christ’s deepest agonies as sin-bearer began at noon, “the sixth hour” (Mt. 27:45); yet even as darkness covered the land, Nicodemus was in full daylight. Joseph had boldly asked Pilate for the Lord’s body, and they both lovingly prepared His body according to Jewish custom. It has been said that we can see three stages in the journey of Nicodemus to the light: the night of Nicodemus (Jn. 3); the dawn of Nicodemus (Jn. 7); and the noonday of Nicodemus (Jn. 19). We do not hear of Nicodemus again. As a member of the Sanhedrin, he already was old in age, and soon to pass from this world. What a wonderful end for the one who had come to Jesus “by night,” now in heaven’s light.