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Luke

Luke 
Day 
Day 333

Luke 23:50-56; Mark 15:42-47; Matthew 27:57-61; John 19:38-42 "JOSEPH OF ARIMATHEA"

Day 333 – Luke 23

Text: Luke 23:50-56; Mark 15:42-47; Matthew 27:57-61; John 19:38-42

JOSEPH OF ARIMATHEA

It is heartening to read about Arimathea not only in Luke’s Gospel, but in all the other Gospel accounts! We know now that NOT ALL members of the Sanhedrin Council were wicked!

Luke wrote glowingly of Joseph in the following words.

“Now behold, there was a man named Joseph,
a council member, a good and just man.
He had not consented to their decision and deed.
He was from Arimathea, a city of the Jews,
Who himself was also waiting for the kingdom of God.”
Luke 23:50-51

Matthew had an interesting note to add concerning Joseph of Arimathea.

“Now when evening had come, there came a rich man
from Arimathea, named Joseph, who himself had also
become a disciple of Jesus…”
Matthew 27:57

Mark also included an interesting observation about Joseph.

“Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent council member,
who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God,
coming and taking courage, went in to Pilate
and asked for the body of Jesus.”
Mark 15:43

John added another insight concerning Joseph.

“After this, Joseph of Arimathea, being 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.”
John 19:38

The Sanhedrin Council must have exerted tremendous pressure on all council members, and thus they were able to sweep aside all opposition to the decision of the high priest Caiaphas and his cronies! Joseph couldn’t have done very much against the collective will of the majority in any case.

Besides, he had hidden his own personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, for fear of the Jews. However, there came a time when the prominent council member decided that enough was enough. He could not prevent Jesus from being crucified, but at least he could ensure that he be given a decent burial. With this thought in mind, Joseph of Arimathea approached Pilate and asked that the body of Jesus be entrusted to him for proper burial. All four Gospel writers paid him tribute for this noble act.

THE SURPRISE OF PILATE THAT JESUS HAD DIED SO QUICKLY

Mark recorded the surprise of Pontius Pilate when Joseph of Arimathea asked him for the body of Jesus. To die in just six hours was so swift that the Roman Governor had to send for the centurion to verify that Jesus had indeed died.

“Pilate marveled that He was already dead;
and summoning the centurion, he asked him
if He had been dead for some time.”
Mark 15:44

Pilate had not reckoned how much weight the sins that Jesus bore on behalf of the world could have affected Jesus! Then there was the fact that the last whole day saw Jesus being verbally and physically abused badly.

NICODEMUS, A RULER OF THE JEWS

John added the name of one more person who was a secret believer of Jesus – Nicodemus.

“And Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus by night,
also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh, and aloes,
about a hundred pounds (in round figures).”
John 19:39

Nicodemus had once come to Jesus to discourse with Him, concerning His teachings. Right from the start, Nicodemus admired Jesus. He knew that He was a “Teacher come from God” (Cf. John 3).

Unfortunately, Nicodemus like Joseph of Arimathea had been closet disciples of Jesus. They had not dared to boldly take a stand for their faith in Jesus, till this moment!

THE BURIAL OF JESUS

It was Joseph of Arimathea who was given permission by Pilate to bury Jesus. Thus we read the following words,

“Then he (Joseph) took it down, wrapped in linen,
and laid it in a tomb that was hewn out of a rock,
where no one had ever lain before.”
Luke 23:53 (Mark 15:45-46;Matt. 27:58-59)

In John’s Gospel, we read about the part that Nicodemus played, in the burial of Jesus.

“Then they (Joseph and Nicodemus) took the body of Jesus
and bound it in strips of linen with the spices,
as the custom of the Jews is to bury.
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.
So there they laid Jesus, because of the Jews’ Preparation Day,
For the tomb was nearby.”
John 19:40-42

The spices were not really used for embalming. The Jews did not embalm their dead as did the Egyptians. The use of myrrh and aloes, which were powerful spices were placed in the tomb to offset the odour due to putrefaction of a corpse!

WAS THERE A PROPHECY CONCERNING THE BURIAL PLACE OF JESUS?

Yes, there was. We read in the book of Isaiah these words,

“He was taken from prison and from judgment,
and who will declare His generation?
For He was cut off from the land of the living;
For the transgression of My people He was stricken.
And they made His grave with the wicked –
but with the rich at His death –
Because He had done no violence,
Nor was any deceit in His mouth.”
Isaiah 53:8-9

Imagine Isaiah prophesying how Jesus would be taken “from prison and from judgment”! And then the prophet went on further to describe how Jesus would die – with the wicked, and yet He would be buried with the rich at His death.

Jesus was given the personal tomb of a rich man, Joseph of Arimathea! It is breathtaking to know that the Scriptures predicted in such details, the death and burial of the Lord Jesus Christ!

THE WOMEN DISCIPLES

Luke noted that while Joseph and Nicodemus were busy wrapping up the body of Jesus and preparing it for burial, the women disciples of Jesus watched from a distance.

“And the women who had come with Him from Galilee
followed after, and they observed the tomb
and how His body was laid.
Then they returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils.
And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment.”
Luke 23:55-56

Matthew noted the names of two of the women who were there watching these proceedings.

“And Mary Magdalene was there,
and the other Mary, sitting opposite the tomb.”
Matthew 27:61 (Cf. Mark 15:47)

These women probably did not know Joseph of Arimathea or Nicodemus (who were not from Galilee). Thus they only watched the burial proceedings from a distance.