Today’s Reading: Mark 15:42-47, Luke 23:50-56, John 19:38-42
Afterward Joseph of Arimathea, who had been a secret disciple of Jesus (because he feared the Jewish leaders), asked Pilate for permission to take down Jesus’ body. – John 19:38a
The gospel accounts of Mark, Luke and John help us put together the hours after Jesus’ death. Each account adds more detail to who Joseph of Arimathea was, and what it took for him to go to Pilate to ask for the body of his friend.
Now there was a good and righteous man named Joseph. He was a member of the Jewish high council, but he had not agreed with the decision and actions of the other religious leaders. He was from the town of Arimathea in Judea, and he was waiting for the Kingdom of God to come. – Luke 23:50-51
John tells us that Joseph had followed Jesus secretly out of fear of the other religious leaders. He believed in who Jesus said he was, yet did not stand up for Jesus among his peers. But tonight, when even Jesus’ disciples were nowhere to be found, Joseph was courageously approaching the Roman governor who handed Jesus over to be crucified.
Joseph of Arimathea took a risk and went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. (Joseph was an honored member of the high council, and he was waiting for the Kingdom of God to come.) Pilate couldn’t believe that Jesus was already dead, so he called for the Roman officer and asked if he had died yet. The officer confirmed that Jesus was dead, so Pilate told Joseph he could have the body. – Mark 15:43-45
Joseph was not the only religious leader among the Jews who believed in Jesus. With him that night was Nicodemus, the Pharisee who had come to Jesus at night to ask him questions. Jesus took the time to explain to him what it meant when he said that you must be born again to see the Kingdom of God. In light of this moment on Friday afternoon, consider the truth Jesus had previously revealed to Nicodemus that night:
“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.
“There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son. And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants. – John 3:16-21
COME TO THE LIGHT
Here Nicodemus was, stepping into the light to ask Pilate for the body of Jesus. The Sabbath had not yet begun, which means it was not after sundown. The sun may not have been shining on that Friday afternoon, but Nicodemus had found the courage to serve Jesus, and here he was going down in history as the man who supplied the myrrh and aloes for Jesus’ burial.
When Pilate gave permission, Joseph came and took the body away. With him came Nicodemus, the man who had come to Jesus at night. He brought about seventy-five pounds of perfumed ointment made from myrrh and aloes. – John 19:38b-39
Consider with me how difficult it must have been for these two men to take Jesus’ body down from the cross. It was an honor for them to serve Jesus in this way, but it was probably the most difficult thing they had ever done. To remove the nails from his hands and feet, to extract the thorns from his brow, to apply the ointment and wrap the linen cloth around his body…
Following Jewish burial custom, they wrapped Jesus’ body with the spices in long sheets of linen cloth. The place of crucifixion was near a garden, where there was a new tomb, never used before. And so, because it was the day of preparation for the Jewish Passover and since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there. – John 19:40-42
But he was buried like a criminal;
he was put in a rich man’s grave.
But it was the Lord’s good plan to crush him
and cause him grief.
Yet when his life is made an offering for sin,
he will have many descendants.
He will enjoy a long life,
and the Lord’s good plan will prosper in his hands.
When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish,
he will be satisfied.
And because of his experience,
my righteous servant will make it possible
for many to be counted righteous,
for he will bear all their sins.
I will give him the honors of a victorious soldier,
because he exposed himself to death.
He was counted among the rebels.
He bore the sins of many and interceded for rebels. – Isaiah 53:9b-12