Understanding Secret Discipleship: Joseph of Arimathea
Matthew 27:57-60, Mark 15:43-46, Luke 23:50-53, John 19:38-42
And after these things, when evening had already come, behold, there came a rich man named Joseph, a man from Arimathea, a city of the Jews, who was a prominent member of the council, a good and righteous man. He had not consented to their plan and
action; who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus, but a secret one, for fear of the Jews, who also himself was waiting for the kingdom of God. And this man gathered up courage, and went to Pilate, and asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus.
And Pilate wondered if he was dead by this time. And summoning the centurion, he questioned him as to whether He was already dead. And ascertaining this from the centurion, Pilate granted permission (of) the corpse to Joseph. Then Pilate ordered the body to be given over to him.
Therefore, he came and took away His body. And Nicodemus also came, who had first come to Jesus by night, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds weight.
And so Joseph bought a linen cloth (and) they took the body of Jesus down and wrapped Him in the clean linen cloth, with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. 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. And on account of the Jewish day of preparation, because the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there in his (Joseph’s) own new tomb where no one had ever lain, which he had hewn into the rock. And he rolled a large stone against the entrance of the tomb, and went away.
Joseph of Arimathea is only mentioned in these passages, but in all 4 Gospels which shows his importance in the account of the burial of Jesus. Each of the Gospel writers had praise for what Joseph did and commended him. They even said that Joseph became a secret disciple for fear of the Jews. That stuck out to me as I was writing this – I believe that we are being told that there are certain instances that we can be secret disciples. One reason would be so that we can keep helping the ones spreading the Word so we can keep supporting them. Does that make sense? I’m going to have to mull this one over a bit…
Number of Fish: 1
Total Fish: 149
153 Fish 