JOSEPH OF ARIMATHEA AND DAVID'S THRONE IN BRITAIN! TRIUMPH PROPHETIC MINISTRIES (CHURCH OF GOD) * ALTADENA * CALIFORNIA * With a brief mention in the four gospels, Joseph of Arimathea leaves the New Testament record never to be heard from again. However, this intrepid and fearless man of God is NOT lost from the pages of secular records. History and tradition records the in- credible story of Joseph's relationship to Christ and the journeys they made together to the western confines of the Roman Empire. Joseph's business interests, and how he transferred the PHAREZ LINE OF DAVID to Britain after the death of Christ, makes fasci- nating reading and reveals a part of God's intricate plan for the re- demption of His people Israel! No story is more riveting or more exciting than that of the drama of Joseph of Arimathea and the founding of the Church of God in the tin islands of Britain! John D. Keyser We get a fleeting glimpse Then Pilate commanded the that is, the day before the Sabbath, Jo- in the New Testament. This great body to be given to him. And seph of Arimathea, a PROMINENT man of god strides onto center- when JOSEPH had taken the COUNCIL MEMBER, who was him- self WAITING FOR THE KINGDOM stage, commands our attention body, he wrapped it in a clean OF GOD, coming in and taking cour- for a few short verses then, just linen cloth, and laid it in his new age, went in to Pilate and asked for the as quickly, disappears -- never to tomb which he had hewn out of body of Jesus. Pilate marveled that He be heard from again! Yet this the rock; and he rolled a large was already dead; and summoning the man, whose life is just as fasci- stone against the door of the centurion, he asked him if He had been dead for some time. And when he nating or as intriguing as that of tomb, and departed." (Verses found out from the centurion, he Paul or Peter, performed a VI- 57-60, NKJV). granted the body to Joseph. Then he TAL MISSION in the plan of bought fine linen, took Him down, and God! With these words Joseph wrapped Him in the linen. And he laid of Arimathea disappears from Him in a tomb which had been hewn Matthew records in chap- out of the rock, and rolled a stone the pages of the Bible. against the door of the tomb. -- Verses ter 27: "Now when evening had 42-46, NKJV. come, there came A RICH MAN The other gospels cover from Arimathea, named JO- the SAME EVENTS, adding de- Luke adds little that is not SEPH, Who himself had also be- tails that Matthew doesn't men- covered by Matthew and Mark: come A DISCIPLE OF JESUS. tion. We read in Mark: "And behold, there was a man This man went to Pilate and named Joseph, A COUNCIL asked for the body of Jesus. Now when evening had come, MEMBER, A GOOD AND because it was the Preparation Day, Page 2 "The Bible never men- JUST MAN. HE HAD NOT Joseph of Arimathea, following tions him again, yet we are CONSENTED TO THEIR the crucifixion. Surely this man not left in the dark concern- COUNSEL AND DEED. He was who was a disciple of Jesus; who ing the DOMINANT ROLE from Arimathea, a city of the had shown rare courage in beg- Joseph played in the spread- Jews, who himself was also wait- ging the body of Jesus, would ing of Christianity." ing for the kingdom of God. This have become a close follower of man went to Pilate and asked for Christ after the transforming ex- the body of Jesus. Then he took perience at Pentecost. The Bible it down, wrapped it in linen, and never mentions him again, yet laid it in a tomb that was hewn we are not left in the dark con- out of the rock, where no one cerning the DOMINANT ROLE had ever lain before." (Luke Joseph played in the spreading 23:50-53, NKJV). of Christianity." (The Traditions of Glastonbury. Artisan Sales, John, the apostle of love, Thousand Oaks, CA. 1983. tells us a little more: P.21). After this, Joseph of Arimat- WHO was this man who, hea, being a DISCIPLE OF JESUS, in all probability, risked the BUT SECRETLY, FOR FEAR OF wrath of the Jewish authorities THE JEWS, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus; and Pilate when he requested the body of gave him permission. So he came and Christ for burial? took the body of Jesus. And NICODE- MUS, who at first came to Jesus by A Man of Substance! night, also came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds. Then they took the body of Je- In reading these verses sus, and bound it in strips of linen with from the Bible we can glean a the spices, as the custom of the Jews is number of things. First, and fore- to bury. Now in the place where He most, is the fact that he was a was crucified there was a garden, and RICH MAN from Arimathea. in the garden a new tomb in which no Ancient traditions note that Jo- one had yet been laid. So there they laid Jesus, because of the Jews' Prepa- seph was a man of refinement, ration Day, for the tomb was nearby. -- well educated and possessing John 19:38-42, NKJV. many talents. He evidently had extraordinary political and busi- To most readers of the ness abilities that helped him to Bible, therefore, Joseph of Ari- become one of the wealthiest mathea is remembered in passing men in the world of that time. as the rich man who took the His financial and social standing body of Christ down from the can be estimated when we real- tree and placed it in his own pri- ize that he owned a palatial vate sepulcher. He then silently home in the city of Jerusalem passes out of the Scriptural re- and a country estate just outside cord leaving no trace whatsoever the confines of the city. These in the Word of God! same traditions reveal that Jo- seph also owned another spa- As E. Raymond Capt cious estate several miles north notes: "Strangely, the Bible has of Jerusalem at ARIMATHEA -- nothing further to say about Page 3 which is known today as council member. This would in- unfortunately, never been sufficiently Ramalleh. dicate that he was a member of reported. Today, we know the trial for the GREAT COUNCIL or SAN- life was fought out on the floor of the Sanhedrin with all the stormy violence Ramalleh was the birth- HEDRIN of the Jews -- the su- of a bestial, prejudiced fury on one side place of Samuel the prophet and preme national tribunal estab- and the granite uncompromising cour- is called, in the Greek Septuagint lished at the time of the Mac- age of the defence by men who knew version of the Old Testament, cabees, or perhaps earlier in the that by the very act of their challenge Arimathaim. This town was lo- time of Ezra. they had signed and sealed their own death warrant. -- The Drama of the cated on the busy caravan route Lost Disciples. Covenant Publishing between Nazareth and the Holy That Joseph was present Co. Ltd., London. 1980. P.13. City, and may therefore have at the trial of Jesus before the been a large factor in Joseph's Sanhedrin is evident by Luke's Jowett goes on to say that choice of a profession. All the comment that Joseph "had not "on this particular occasion we information we have about Jo- consented to their counsel and see the opposition potent with seph indicates that he was prejudice, slashing at a man of unusual business In the Roman Empire of the time of Christ with their verbal abilities within the Jewish Christ, the term "DECURIO" was darts, subtly fanning the and Roman trading circles flame of antagonism of his day. commonly used to designate AN OFFI- against Him. On the other CIAL -- under Roman authority -- side, we see the champions All four of the gos- WHO WAS IN CHARGE OF METAL of the defence striking pels state that he was "a MINING. The implication is that Jo- back with rapier swiftness. disciple of Jesus" who was seph was a PROVINCIAL ROMAN The history of the Trial, as himself "waiting for the SENATOR in charge of Rome's over- it has come down to us, kingdom of God." John seas mining interests. shows that the defence adds that Joseph was a dis- fought back with all the ciple of Jesus "secretly, for resolute heroism of fearless deed." In fact, there is evidence fear of the Jews." It is obvious, warriors, invincible in the cour- that Joseph of Arimathea led an then, that Joseph of Arimathea age of their firm convictions." was well aware of the person and impassioned defense of Christ at the trial. In the crowded assem- ministry of Christ in his home- The defense of Christ by bly of the Sanhedrin, Christ was land and, in order to protect his Joseph and those who supported led to face Caiaphas and his standing and business interests, him must have been brilliant, father-in-law Annas who, as the was a "secret" disciple of Jesus. and a classic in the legal annals reigning High Priest of Judaism, The religious hierarchy of the of Judea at the time.