The New Way

One thing you found was that he was a Pharisee.  The Pharisees were a group of highly educated men who studied the Jewish Scriptures (this is the same as our Old Testament).  Many times, the Jews referred to this book as The Law and the Prophets.    But the Pharisees loved the Law so much that they had even created an additional book, called the Talmud that contained thousands of more laws.  Many of them taught what they no longer believed or practiced.  That's why, in modern usage – a Pharisee is someone who doesn't practice what he preaches!  He is a hypocrite.

You probably also listed that he was a member of the Jewish Council or Sanhedrin (a ruler).   Now, this was an impressive group of scholars and leaders.  Some believe there were 23, some believe 71, members of this group at the time of Jesus.   Apparently, it fluctuated in size.  They were the ruling leaders of the Jews.  The group was made up of both Pharisees and Sadducees.   The Sadducees were another group of Jewish leaders who only studied God's law (not the Talmud) – and therefore felt superior to the Pharisees.   But they, too, did not practice what they preached according to Jesus.   We'll learn more about both groups as we continue the study.   But for now, you simply need to know that the Jewish Council or Sanhedrin was a group of men who oversaw all religious, civil and criminal laws and their enforcement.   They were allowed to rule the people in any way they saw fit under the Roman governors.  The only thing they were not allowed to do under Roman rule was to put a man to death.     So, Nicodemus was a very important man in his world.

So, why do you think Nicodemus came to Jesus at night?