Nicodemus the physician of Bethany
Doctor of Lazarus in Bethany. He treats him during that gangrene which will lead him to death.
"I have tried everything, as you know. But to no avail. I also… hoped, yes, I hoped that he might at least live reacting against the exhaustion of the disease with the good nourishment and the cordials I prepared for him. I tried also with poisons that preserve the blood from corruption and support one’s strength, according to the old schools of the great masters in medicine. But the disease is stronger than the means we use to cure it. Such diseases are like corrosions, they can destroy one. And when they appear exteriorly, the inside of the bones has already been affected, and like the lymph that in a tree ascends from the roots to its top, also in this case, the disease has spread from his feet to his whole body… [...] believe a doctor who is grateful to you because he remembers Theophilus [...]"[1]
He is led to examine cases of people suddenly healed by Jesus:
" I have examined people who were doomed and who have been cured. A strange power emanates from Him. It is a mysterious fluid that revives and gathers together the scattered reactions and makes them wish to recover… I don’t know. I know that I have followed Him, being also mingled with the crowd, and I have seen wonderful things… Send for Him. I am a Gentile. But I pay homage to the mysterious Thaurnaturge of your people. And I would be happy if He could do what I could not do."[2]
Character and Appearance
An elderly man, with a very dignified appearance. He is not a Hebrew because he has his face completely shaved like the Romans.[3]
Apostolic Path
He remains an upright man, but of pagan conviction:
"We read that at times the gods have descended upon the Earth. I… had never believed it… [...] And I will believe in Him and become one of His followers if I see Lazarus… rise from the dead. Because we must speak of resurrection now, rather than recovery."[2]
His Name
Nicodemus is the name of kings of Bithynia, in Asia Minor (north of present-day Turkey), where Nicaea and Chalcedon are located.