The Nobility of Joseph And Nicodemus

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John 19:38-42

38 After these things Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took away his body. 39 Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventyfive pounds in weight. 40 So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. 41 Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. 42 So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there.

 
 

Sundown Friday is fast approaching, and because that Saturday was not just a normal Sabbath day, but a “high day” (i.e., Passover—see 19:31), Joseph and Nicodemus have to work quickly to at least get Jesus laid in a tomb before the holiday begins. Fortunately, Joseph owns a tomb very close by the site of the crucifixion, and so they rush to get Jesus’s body laid there. (The reason the women come back so early on Sunday morning is to finish the job of properly preparing the corpse for burial.)

This is the first mention John makes of Joseph of Arimathea, and Nicodemus has been mentioned twice previously. The amount of spices Nicodemus brings is astounding—100 lbs.!—and the expense must have been immense.

It is important that the tomb is a brand new, empty tomb, so that no one can claim that somehow there was a mix-up with the body.

QUESTION OF THE DAY
Nicodemus and Joseph are both fearful of the Jews, and yet they do something brave and noble anyway. I wonder how often a brave action, done in spite of fear, is much more important than we can possibly know at the time?

 

Joseph Of Arimathea

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Matthew 27:57-66

57 When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who also was a disciple of Jesus. 58 He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. 59 And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud 60 and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut in the rock. And he rolled a great stone to the entrance of the tomb and went away. 61 Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb.

62 The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate 63 and said, “Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise.’ 64 Therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last fraud will be worse than the first.” 65 Pilate said to them, “You have a guard of soldiers. Go, make it as secure as you can.” 66 So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard.

 
 

We are almost finished with the Gospel of Matthew! Three quick points on today's account of the burial of Jesus:

  • Joseph of Arimathea is a good man. His faithfulness probably seemed like a waste--why lavish so much attention on a man who was already dead? But some actions are just right in themselves, and there doesn't have to be a larger point. And, of course, what can seem useless to us won't really ever be wasted by the Lord anyway.

  • The fact that it is a “new tomb” in which Jesus’s body is laid shows that the women couldn’t have been mistaken when they later find it empty—Jesus’s was the only body previously in there;

  • Pilate and the Jewish leadership try to prevent the Resurrection by ordering a guard to keep watch over the tomb. Talk about a useless gesture: there was no power in the universe that could have kept Jesus in the grave!