John 19:38 38And after these things, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly on account of fear of the Jews, asked Pilate so that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took away his body.
Jesus had died, and the Sabbath was approaching. The Jews did not want to leave dead bodies on the crosses lest their holy day be somehow desecrated by the death they had a hand in bringing about. The next few verses give a special look at two people and how they responded to Jesus’ death. Little is known about Joseph of Arimathea. He is mentioned in all four Gospels. The Synoptic Gospels state that he was a member of the Sanhedrin (Mark 15:43). This point gives evidence that not everyone agreed with what the chief priests did. Some, like Joseph, believed in Jesus. Joseph was also rich (Matthew 27:57) and looking for the kingdom of God (Luke 23:51). He was a seeker of truth and found it in Jesus. The kingdom of God is visible to those who seek it in faith. Arimathea was a Jewish town (Luke 23:50), though its location is disputed. It must have been close enough to Jerusalem that Joseph could be part of the ruling council.
John describes Joseph as a disciple of Jesus. At some point, he had come to believe. What he saw and heard in Jesus convinced him that Jesus was the Messiah. John records also two contradictory things about Joseph. On the one hand, he was a secret disciple because he was afraid of what others would say. He must have felt isolated and alone in the crowd of the Sanhedrin. Peer pressure and shame can cause believers to cower in fear of what others might think or even what they might do.
On the other hand, Joseph acted bravely by going to Pilate and asking for Jesus’ body. Joseph must have had some influence and position in order to ask the Roman governor for the body of a condemned man. The time of day would have been approaching late afternoon or close to evening. The Sabbath was quickly approaching. Joseph cared enough about Jesus that he did not want to see Jesus’ body exposed on the cross on the Sabbath or disposed of irreverently in a mass grave with other criminals. The Gospels do not record if Joseph was the one to actually get Jesus’ body down from the cross, but he did take the initiative to take Jesus’ body away to a nearby tomb, as the following verses indicate.
Joseph offers a lesson about fear and bravery, how sometimes the irony of our faith is that we believe yet do not have the courage to bear witness to Jesus. Joseph was available to be used by God in a moment and situation that no one else could be. That his name is mentioned in all the Gospels suggests that he became well known in the early church for his act of kindness toward Jesus. We can hope that he met the resurrected Jesus, which would have changed his fear into courage and conviction.
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