Moderator’s Challenge Joseph of Arimathea – one of the heroes of the faith
ALAN BROYLES Moderator
Mark 15 that Joseph was “looking for the kingdom of God.” We don’t know how long Joseph had been a follower of Jesus, but we can put together these pieces of information from the four gospel writers, and conclude that Joseph must have been very careful about sharing his newfound faith. Had the other members of the Sanhedrin learned of his conversion, Joseph would most likely have been banished from the council and his life in Jerusa- lem ruined.
But Joseph went personally to Pilate to ask for Jesus’ body so that the Scrip- H
ere is one of the few individ- uals mentioned in all four of the gospels, and thus wor- thy of our attention and study as we approach the Easter season. Parallel accounts are found in Matthew 27, Luke 23, and John 19.
Mark 15:42-46 “And when evening had come, since
it was the day of Preparation, that is, the day before the Sabbath, Joseph of Ari- mathea, a respected member of the coun- cil, who was also himself looking for the kingdom of God, took courage and went to Pilate and asked for the body of Je- sus. Pilate was surprised to hear that he should have already died. And summon- ing the centurion, he asked him whether he was already dead. And when he learned from the centurion that he was dead, he granted the corpse to Joseph. And Joseph bought a linen shroud, and taking him down, wrapped him in the linen shroud and laid him in a tomb that had been cut out of the rock. And he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb.”
Joseph was a member of the San-
day – he was one of the rulers of the Jewish religion. Matthew writes in the 27th chapter of his gospel that Jo- seph was a disciple of Jesus. In John 19, we read that Joseph was “secretly a follower of Jesus, for fear of the Jews.” Luke 23 tells us that Joseph had not consented to the actions of the Sanhe- drin council, which led to the cruci-
man (Isaiah 53:9). - late, and without this courage, Joseph would have been just like the 11 apostles – scared to death that they would suffer the same fate as Jesus. So, if you will, imagine the scene – Joseph of Arimathea, a wealthy and re- spected member of the Jewish council- carrying a dead man down the road in order to bury the body in his own tomb. No doubt his robe was stained by the blood from Jesus’ body; no doubt there were onlookers who stood by, watching and whispering and murmuring. Probably there were some of Joseph’s fellow Pharisees and Sadducees there
- spected member of the council” by demonstrating his love for Jesus – the man Before this day, Joseph was in fear of his fellow council members – but not
now! Now Joseph’s secret was not a secret anymore – by his actions, he was saying to the world: “Yes – I am a believer and a disciple of Jesus, and I don’t care who knows it!”
In addition, according to Mosaic laws, this act of carrying a corpse made Jo- But in Joseph’s mind, that really didn’t seem to matter now. As he struggled down the road toward the tomb, he perhaps recalled that moment in the not- claimed to be – God’s own Son who had come to earth. We can understand the confusion Joseph may have felt after his conversion. It would seem that Joseph was led by the Spirit not to do anything that would endanger his standing with the Pharisees and Sadducees. Then, on the day he had been called to do: to carry the Savior to the place He was to be buried. So we can suppose that the load on Joseph’s shoulders was lighter, and the whispers and taunts he must have heard only served to make him more reso- lute in completing his task of giving Jesus the burial spoken of in the Scriptures –this was Joseph’s calling. The Lord God Almighty has a way of accomplishing His will in ways we can- not imagine. In this case, He sent Joseph and Nicodemus to bury His Son – two men from the council who had condemned Jesus to die. Then Joseph and Nicodemus – two respected elders in the Jewish religious community – gave Jesus the burial prophesied in the Scriptures, and we hear from them no more – at least not directly. We do, however, see the consequences of their faith and
continued on page 31 To the ends of the
Earth...Together March/April 2025 3
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