Courage

March 21

Numbers 19-20

Psalm 36:1-6

Proverbs 8:25-26

Mark 15:21-47

Courage

“And when evening had already come, because it was Preparation day, that is, the day before the Sabbath, Joseph of Arimathea came, a prominent Council member, who himself was waiting for the kingdom of God; and he gathered up the courage and went before Pilate, and asked for the body of Jesus….And ascertaining this from the centurion, he granted the body to Joseph.  And when Joseph had bought a linen cloth and took Him down, he wrapped Him in the linen cloth and laid Him in a tomb which had been hewn in the rock.  And he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb.”  Mark 15:42-43, 45-46 LSB

All four gospels tell us about Joseph of Arimathea and his role in the burial of Jesus.  We are not given very many details about Joseph in the Bible.  We know that he was a wealthy man and that he was a member of the Council, or the Sanhedrin.  Luke describes him as a good and righteous man and tells us that he had not consented to the crucifixion of Jesus.  John gives us a little more detail about Joseph saying that Joseph was “a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because of his fear of the Jews.” John 19:38 LSB  Jesus crucifixion was a defining moment in Joseph’s life.  He, along with Nicodemus, believed in Jesus and they followed Him, but they were not willing to do so publicly.  They had too much to lose.  They were members of the Jewish ruling body and if the others found out that they believed Jesus was their long-awaited Messiah, they would have faced serious consequences.  They would probably have been thrown out of the Sanhedrin and possibly worse.  They were not willing to take that risk so they remained quiet and kept their faith in Jesus a secret.  It is interesting that Jesus’ disciples had followed him closely making no secret of their allegiance to Him.  They travelled everywhere with Jesus and were seen with Him every day.  But on the night of His arrest, they all ran away and hid.  Peter even denied knowing Him.  Some of them stood in the background and watched his crucifixion, but they were afraid to speak up for Him in fear that they would be arrested and sentenced to death as well.  It wasn’t until after His resurrection, ascension and the coming of the Holy Spirit on them at Pentecost that they became bold and fearless as they shared the gospel throughout the world. 

            While Jesus was alive, Joseph remained in the background, hiding and fearful for anyone to find out that he believed.  But something about Jesus’ death gave Joseph courage.  When the others ran away, this man who had been hiding, boldly stood up and requested Jesus’ body from Pilate.  He wrapped Jesus in linen cloths and gently laid Him in his own tomb and rolled a stone over the opening.  The Bible doesn’t tell us what happened to Joseph after that.  Pilate gave him the body without incident, but it is likely that when the Sanhedrin found out, he faced consequences from them.  God used Joseph to fulfill the prophecy in Isaiah 53:9, “So His grave was assigned with wicked men, yet He was with a rich man in His death.”  (LSB)  His courage is an example to us to boldly step out in faith when God leads us to do something.  Joseph  couldn’t have understood at the time that his actions were fulfilling part of the prophecies that confirmed that Jesus was the Messiah.   He just courageously obeyed what God prompted him to do.