in Jerusalem, there can be no doubt that they also will have belonged to this lay aristocratic elite. 2. Nicodemus is a Pharisee (John 3:1). The Pharisees in the Fourth Gospel are not usually the Pharisees in general, but the small number of wealthy aristocratic Pharisees who belonged to the ruling elite. Because they formed the one identifiable party other than the chief priests,111 John can refer to the ruling group as “the chief priests and the Pharisees” (7:32, 45; 11:47, 57; 18:3), ignoring