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Saints & Sinners: Joseph of Arimathea

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Saints & Sinners: Joseph of Arimathea SAINTS & SINNERS: JOSEPH OF ARIMATHEA March 24 2021 I Corinthians 15:12-26 John 19:31-42 In the holy name of Jesus, Amen. For our Lord’s birth and early life, God the Father provided a man named of Joseph. A righteous, pious man who would raise the little baby Jesus in the knowledge of the Scriptures and instill in Him the disciplines of a devout, religious life. Namely, the practice of morning and evening prayer, the routine of attending synagogue each week, as well as making regular pilgrimages to Jerusalem throughout the year. So, every day, once a week, and special times throughout the year, Joseph taught Jesus to turn His attention toward God and the truths of God. All of this, along with our Lord’s carpentry skills, Jesus learned from Joseph. For our Lord’s death, God the Father provided another Joseph, who was not our Lord’s teacher, as the first Joseph was, but rather, was one of our Lord’s disciples, a learner of Jesus. Joseph of Arimathea. This Joseph was a respected member of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish religious council in Jerusalem, that at times, was a source of consternation for our Lord during His earthly ministry. Just listen to how St. Paul, who wasn’t a member of the Sanhedrin, but he clearly was on track to become one, that is, if the resurrected Jesus hadn’t met him on the Road to Damascus. Listen to how St. Paul described those of this elite religious, ruling class— they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, 2 they did not submit to God's righteousness. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes (Romans 10:3-4). St. Paul knew this group well— He knew they did not believe in Jesus, nor tolerate any of Jesus’ claims. The Sanhedrin were the ones that condemned Jesus to death. However, when the final vote was cast, some members disagreed with the motion to execute Jesus: one of them was Joseph of Arimathea (Luke 23:51). Joseph did not support or consent to the actions of the Sanhedrin, but…majority rules, and the motion passed. My guess is, when Joseph did not consent with the other members, this was the first time he made his belief in Jesus public. You see, John 19:38 tells us Joseph was, “a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jewish leaders.” There was another time when some folks were fearful of the Jewish leaders. It’s when Jesus healed a young man born blind, doing so on the Sabbath. Remember that? The Pharisees were outraged, so they question the young man’s parents. They say, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” His parents answered, “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. But how he now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.” [His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue.] (John 9:19b-22) Excommunication. For Joseph of Arimathea, there’s too much to lose if he goes public about his belief in Jesus. There’s his position and reputation among the religious elites… There’s his being barred from synagogue, not to mention a hit to his wealth, for the Bible explains that he was a wealthy man. Joseph had to keep his cards to his chest— He’d be completely shunned if he did not. So, when the subject of Jesus ever came up, change the subject! 3 Talk about sports, politics or the weather. Know anybody like that? Gratefully, Joseph of Arimathea was not alone. There was another person he could talk to, another member of the Sanhedrin— a man by the name of Nicodemus. John 3, verses 1 and 2 read, “Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night.” Nicodemus didn’t meet Jesus at night because he was busy during the day. He came to Jesus by night because he didn’t want to be seen by others who would figure out that he admired Jesus’ teachings and wanted to hear more. So, both Nick at Night and Joseph of Arimathea—they keep their joy of Jesus’ teaching, and their belief in Jesus as the Messiah amongst themselves. But at that late-night voters meeting, the night of Jesus’ arrest and at the conclusion of His sham trials— where He was found guilty of blasphemy for telling the truth, these two men start going public. For Joseph in particular, it became increasing obvious that he could not remain in the shadows any longer. Due to Joseph’s wealth (Matthew 27:57) and his advance planning, he was able to contract the building of a tomb for himself, and members of his family. A tomb that had never been used…hewn out of stone. Imagine the face of a hill— not terribly different from the Flint Hills. And just underneath the soil is limestone. The limestone is hewn out with just enough room to have a couple people place a dead body on a carved out ledge. A stone is then carved to roll in front of the tomb, a little larger than a millstone, if you’ve ever seen one of those. This was primarily to keep the critters out 4 while the body decays. When it did decay, the tomb would be opened back up, so as to retrieve the bones, with them placed in an ossuary—a bone box, and put in place of honor. The tomb would be used again and again. But none of this will happen with Jesus—as we chanted earlier, His body will not see corruption, which means, He won’t be occupying this tomb very long. Regardless, Joseph has a tomb, already completed… close to the site of Jesus’ crucifixion (Matt. 27:60). But even this was foretold. The prophet Isaiah saw this, saying in Isaiah 53:9, And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, So, talk about going public— the rich man was Joseph of Arimathea, and even though he never thought he’d do what he ultimately does, the OT Scriptures had him pegged all along. So, while Jesus hangs upon the cross, Joseph goes to Pontius Pilate…he’s got the influence to be able to do that… and Joseph makes the request for the body of Jesus (Mark 15:43). Nobody wanted this broken body— Pilate even gave the people the option to have Him alive, yet they all chose Barabbas. But not Joseph—He’ll take the body of our Lord, the body of his Lord. Now look, typically— if the deceased was considered guilty of treason against the Roman Empire, that body wouldn’t be released to anyone. It was property of the State. Because the fear was, people would make a shrine out of it. But, in our Lord’s case, Pilate did not consider Jesus to be treasonous. 5 In fact, he didn’t consider him to be guilty of anything at all, along with the Roman Centurion we heard from last week. Pilate wished none of this had happened. But it had happened. And before Pilate can release the body, he has to get word Jesus is truly dead. John 19:31-34 explains how the soldiers break the legs of the other two criminals— so they could not push up anymore to breathe and thus hasten their death. Though, coming to Jesus, He’s already dead. They pierce His side though—just to make sure. Once death was determined, Mark 15:44-45 reads, “Pilate was surprised to hear that he was already dead. Summoning the centurion he asked him if Jesus had already died. When he learned from the centurion that it was so, he gave the body to Joseph.” Joseph is clearly coming out of the shadows. Preaching without saying a word. You know, Jesus Himself said, “When I am lifted up, I will draw all men to Myself…” And so, along with Nicodemus, Joseph is drawn to Jesus. They remove Jesus’ naked, bloody body from the cross, and in so doing, step out in front of the entire world to care for Him. According to Jewish Law, handling a dead body, they make themselves “unclean”— which would exclude themselves from the great celebration on Saturday, and everything else during that week— all because of a dead man! I’m sure other members of the Sanhedrin mock them both. But being ceremonially unclean and being mocked does not stop them. They place Jesus’ body in Joseph’s tomb (John 19:38-39) and prepare it for burial. Joseph bought linen cloths, and Nicodemus furnished an extravagant, expensive amount of myrrh and aloes— 6 myrrh to perfume the corpse, aloes as a balm for the body’s horrible wounds. Upon the birth of Christ, Jesus was wrapped in swaddling clothes, and here also…He’s wound with the same. When He was born, He received myrrh from one of those mysterious Magi, and at His burial He receives the same.
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