A night visit and the most famous verse in the Bible: Nicodemus in John 3

The most quoted verse in the Bible, John 3:16, comes from a private conversation at night between Jesus and a religious leader who was curious but cautious. His name was Nicodemus.

Who he was

Nicodemus was a Pharisee and “a ruler of the Jews”, a member of the council in Jerusalem. He was a respected teacher of Israel. He came to Jesus by night. John does not say why. Some suggest he feared what his colleagues would think; others that night was simply a quiet time to talk. Nicodemus began politely: “Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.”

Born again

Jesus replied directly: “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus was puzzled: “How can a man be born when he is old?” Jesus explained that a person must be “born of water and of the Spirit”. Jesus compared the Spirit to the wind: “The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh.” When Nicodemus asked how this could be, Jesus answered, “Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?”

John 3:16

The conversation leads to the verse many Christians learn first: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” The next verse adds that God sent His Son not to condemn the world, but to save it. Nicodemus appears again in John 7. When the Pharisees wanted to arrest Jesus, he asked, “Doth our law judge any man, before it hear him?” His colleagues mocked him.

In John 19, after the crucifixion, Nicodemus came with Joseph of Arimathea to bury Jesus. He brought about a hundred pounds of myrrh and aloes, a costly gift.

From night to daylight

Before John 3:16, Jesus reminds Nicodemus of a story from Numbers: “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up.” Just as the Israelites who looked at the bronze serpent were healed, those who look to Christ in faith receive life. Nicodemus first came in the dark, asking questions. By the end of John’s Gospel, he was openly caring for the body of Jesus when many disciples had fled. His story shows faith growing slowly, from curiosity to courage.