Only about six months after Jesus started his earthly ministry, Nicodemus recognizes that Jesus ‘as a teacher has come from God.’ Impressed by the miracles that Jesus recently performed in Jerusalem at the Passover of 30 C.E., Nicodemus comes, under the cover of darkness, to confess his belief in Jesus and to learn more about this teacher. At that, Jesus tells Nicodemus a profound truth about the need to be “born again” in order to enter the Kingdom of God. On this occasion, Jesus also says the words: “God loved the world so much that he gave his only-begotten Son, in order that everyone exercising faith in him might not be destroyed but have everlasting life.”—John 3:1-16.

What a marvelous prospect lies before Nicodemus! He may become a close associate of Jesus, able to witness firsthand various aspects of Jesus’ life on earth. As a ruler of the Jews and a teacher in Israel, Nicodemus has a good knowledge of God’s Word. He also has keen insight, as seen by his identifying Jesus as a teacher sent by God. Nicodemus is interested in spiritual matters, and he is unusually humble. How difficult it must be for a member of the highest court of the Jews to acknowledge a lowly carpenter’s son as a man sent from God! All such qualities are invaluable in the making of a disciple of Jesus.

First of all, John pointed out that the Jewish ruler “came to [Jesus] in the night.” (John 3:2) One Bible scholar suggests: “Nicodemus came by night, not out of fear, but to avoid the crowds that would have interrupted his interview with Jesus.” Yet, John referred to Nicodemus as “the man that came to [Jesus] in the night the first time” in the same context in which he referred to Joseph of Arimathea as “a disciple of Jesus but a secret one out of his fear of the Jews.” (John 19:38, 39) It is likely, therefore, that Nicodemus called on Jesus under the cover of darkness out of “fear of the Jews,” just as others in his day feared having anything to do with Jesus.—John 7:13.