GOOD SHEPHERD CHURCH SEMINARY
MODULE 37
NICODEMUS [PART FOUR]
DISCIPLE AT THE FOOT
OF THE CROSS
DISCIPLE AT THE FOOT
OF THE CROSS
Objectives; By the end of this Module you should;
- Know about Nicodemus
- Have knowledge about the Sudarium
- Be able to preach about the role Nicodemus played in the life of Jesus
- Know about the Resurrection of Jesus, Son of God
Nicodemus, Disciple at the foot of the Cross
1. The Sudarium Fingermarks
2. Resurrection
3. Temple Veil
4. Consequences of discipleship
1. The Sudarium Fingermarks
The man's hands trembled as he placed the cloth over the bloodied Head of the Messiah.
Balancing perilously on the rickety wooden ladder, the men - one at the head, one holding the waist and the last supporting the legs - lowered the dead Body of Jesus into the waiting arms of His devastated mother below.
Nicodemus, one of the men removing the dead Jesus from the cross, was not ashamed of the tears which slipped down into his beard.
He beheld the broken Hope of Israel lying - pierced through the heart and thus clinically dead - in His mother's arms.
Nicodemus' own dreams for Israel had perished along with the Messiah.
Joseph of Arimathea had meanwhile entered the quarters of Pontius Pilate in order to request burial for Jesus.
He proposed to give dignified burial to the Rabbi by making available the newly hewn tomb he had intended for himself.
The usual fate of the crucified was mass burial with fellow condemned criminals.
Pontius - still smarting from being manoeuvred into the death of Jesus, and with the recriminations of his wife fresh in his ears, readily gave his assent.
Nicodemus meanwhile organized about a hundred pounds of aloes and myrrh to be brought to the tomb.
Mindful of the rapidly approaching Sabbath, Nicodemus, Joseph, John and the women carried out a hasty burial.
As Nicodemus grimly helped to bear the body of the Christ to the hastily provided tomb, the wailing of the bereaved women was almost too much to bear.
At the tomb the Sudarium - the cloth which had been used to cover Jesus' Head - was cast to one side.
Mary covered her Son's Face with burial veil of byssus.
Thereafter Nicodemus and Joseph - now both ritually unclean according to Mosaic law for touching a corpse - helped to wrap the naked Jesus in the simple burial winding sheet over front and back.
The precious aloes and myrrh were wrapped within the burial sheet.
Such an amount of precious herbs signified a royal burial.
The heavy tombstone was then pushed into place under the watchful eye of the Roman guard.
The Chief Priest and the Pharisees had approached Pilate to request this experienced guard.
Jesus had clearly stated He would rise again after three days.
The temple delegation had explained to Pilate that they did not want Jesus' disciples to steal the Body and falsely claim Resurrection had taken place.
Nicodemus, obedient to the rules of Jewish faith, went home as the Sabbath was imminent.
As the group of grieving mourners left the tomb, hastening home before night fell, little did Nicodemus know that millenia later we would gaze on the marks left by the fingers of the one who had held the Sudarium to Jesus' Face. [1]
Perhaps the owner of the marks was Nicodemus himself . . .
2. Resurrection
Seated at home, Nicodemus mourned the Messiah. He had witnessed the earthquake, the rocks that split as Jesus died.
Indeed, still today in Jerusalem, a split in the rock upon which Jesus was crucified can be clearly seen.
Nicodemus had much to ponder; and remembered how Jesus had prophesied that He would rise again from the dead.
But crucified, pierced through the heart?
It was time to face reality.
A long night passed; then the Saturday. Another night.
Proof indeed that Jesus was thoroughly, irrevocably dead.
Roman guards - masterful in military skills - guarded the tomb from robbery.
Until the blinding flash of light and earthquake that felled the guards so that they lay as dead men, unconscious from the energy released by the Resurrection of the mighty Son of God.
Jesus, newly risen, gently shook off the aloes and myrrh that Nicodemus had packed around Him within the burial winding sheet, and blinked off the sheer byssus veil.
His angels attended Him, and brought Him clothing to cover the nakedness with which He had been crucified and then buried.
When the centurion and those guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and what had happened, they were terrified out of their wits, and said, "Truly, this was the Son of God . . ." [2]
Jesus had triumphantly wrought His greatest miracle, the culmination of His signs, teachings and healings during His public ministry.
Now He carried out the next phase of His celestial military manoeuvre.
He descended into Sheol - the realm of the dead and deprived of the vision of God. [3]
Satan cowered and raged as the dazzling Figure - very well known to him from aeons before - descended to his dominion and inexorably and ruthlessly freed all the human captives held there.
The war for the cosmos had taken a new - and, for satan, frightening - turn.
Confident until now that he would rule humanity and earth for eternity in lieu of the heavenly Throne he had wanted, satan now began to realize that he was fighting a losing battle in the celestial war.
Jesus freed the dead from their eternal banishment, the Plan of God rolled forward, and His Resurrection mightily burst forward into collective resurrection.
Tombs broke open, newly risen bodies fleshed onto decayed forms and dry bones, and floods of the newly saved walked into Jerusalem.
They visited houses, speaking and witnessing to their loved ones about the glory which had taken place.
Did someone visit Nicodemus to tell him the glorious news that the Messiah had saved them? That his faith had not been in vain?
That the Son of David and the Son of God was shortly to re-enter heaven in glory? We do not know.
When Jesus returned from his mission of freeing the captives from the holding place of the dead He returned to Joseph's tomb - awaiting events.
As it turned out, the visit from Mary Magdalene.
At the tomb, it may have been that Jesus' eyes fell on a discarded cloth in the corner of the grave the Sudarium of His burial.
The Messiah's lips may well have curved in amusement and affection as He beheld the fingermarks on the Sudarium cloth.
We do not know whose fingermarks were left - extant to this day - on the woven textile, as the man cradled the Head of Jesus post execution.
We do know, however, that Jesus may have looked on the marks of His beloved disciple, Nicodemus the Pharisee.
The Messiah may have first gone to visit His mother when He began His post-resurrection appearances.
Is it possible that Jesus Himself at some stage appeared to His devoted disciple?
3. Temple Veil
Nicodemus later stood before the fluttering rag remnants of the huge temple curtain which had marked the boundary between Almighty God and humanity.
He understood the great theological significance of this event.
Witnesses told him that at the very moment of Jesus' death, those in the temple heard a massive rending as the huge curtain was torn in two - from top to bottom. [4]
Now this was no mean feat. The veil in the temple is believed to have been nearly 60 feet high, possibly four inches thick.
It was fashioned from blue, purple and scarlet material and fine twisted linen.
Only the high priest was allowed to pass once a year through this magnificent textile boundary. This he did in order to offer atonement for sin. [5]
The fact that the veil split at the very moment of Jesus' death must have certainly given the high priest and the Sanhedrin much cause for thought.
If the veil had split from the bottom, it would have been possible to infer that perhaps some human agency had been at work.
However, from the top downwards in one magnificent rent asunder - that manifestation could only have taken place at the behest of God.
Nicodemus - the man to whom Jesus revealed the Sacraments and the role of the Spirit - had been slow to understand.
This Pharisee was cautious of overhasty belief and anxious not to incur official wrath by public profession of belief in Jesus.
For good reason, as it turned out.
Yet this man became one of Christ's most prominent followers at a time when all seemed lost.
As Nicodemus stood looking with wonder at the temple veil, he realized that at last the unbridgeable gulf between God and humanity was eternally gone.
At last, all - man, woman and child - were free to come with confidence into the Holy of Holies knowing each to be beloved son and daughter of God.
4. Consequences of discipleship
Tradition tells us that there were consequences to the discipleship of Nicodemus.
It is believed that Nicodemus became a professed disciple of Christ, and received baptism from Peter and John.
It is related that the Jews stripped Nicodemus of his office, beat him and drove him from Jerusalem.
His kinsman Gamaliel received and sheltered him in his house until his death, and finally gave him honourable burial.
Some believe Saint Nicodemus was martyred.
It is said that he outlived the fall of Jerusalem, and his family were reduced from his previous wealth to such horrible poverty that, whereas the bridal bed of his daughter had been covered with a dowry of 12,000 denarii, she was subsequently seen endeavouring to support life by picking the grains from the ordure of the cattle in the streets.[6]
When we take up the call to discipleship, as Nicodemus did, we do not know what awaits us.
Perhaps we will not win earthly fame and glory.
There may be those who do not understand or respect our decision.
Yet the following of the Master in itself is eternal joy.
The honour of walking in His Footsteps is our precious heritage.
The happiness of knowing His Love is our wealth.
And, as Saint Paul tells us, '. . . we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.
And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.
For the joy set before Him He endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the Right Hand of the Throne of God.
Consider Him Who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.' [Hebrews 12:1-3]
Nicodemus, beloved disciple at the foot of the cross and carrying out the last offices for the dead with respect and devotion, is a lasting witness to Christ and icon of faith for us today. . .
Rev Catherine
[1] GSC Module 31; The True Portrait of Jesus - The Burial Cloths of the Resurrection [Part Two]
http://lumierecharity.blogspot.ie/2016/01/gsc-module-31-true-portrait-of-jesus.html
http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p122a5p1.htm
[4] Matthew 27; 50 - 51
http://biblehub.com/matthew/27-51.htm
[5] What was the significance of the temple veil being torn in two when Jesus died?
http://www.gotquestions.org/temple-veil-torn.html
[6] Nicodemus: Coward or convert?
https://rsc.byu.edu/archived/volume-9-number-3-2008/nicodemus-coward-or-convert
With thanks to biblehub.com, vatican.va, gotquestions.org, rsc.byu.edu and youtube
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