Joseph of Arimathea. Remember him? He turns up in the gospels just after Jesus has died. We don’t know much about him, but his story of faith matters to God.
He was a member of the Council, that is, one of the Jewish leaders. The same Council that a few verses earlier had condemned Jesus to death. But not Joseph. He had not agreed with their decision. He was a follower of Jesus, but in secret, for fear of the Jewish leaders. He was waiting for the kingdom of heaven. *
But after Jesus’ death he breaks his secrecy, and ‘boldly’ goes to Pilate to ask for Jesus’ body. Then he and Nicodemus prepare and bury Jesus’ body according to Jewish law. Nicodemus seems to have followed a similar path to Joseph; we first see him, a teacher of Israel, coming to Jesus in the dark of night, wanting to know more but wanting to remain secret. Now he too is willing to come out of his secrecy to bury Jesus’ body, presumably at risk to themselves. After all, Jesus’ disciples have run away for fear.
I wonder if Joseph was a Pharisee or a scribe? I wonder what he felt and how he acted when groups of his fellow leaders set out to trap Jesus with their questions? Did he stay behind wanting no part of it, or did he go, not to trap Jesus but to really hear what he had to say? Perhaps when those groups of hostile leaders met and argued with Jesus, perhaps there was one at the back listening, really listening. His heart leaping with hope as he realised that the kingdom of God- the Godly King was here. I wonder if his eyes caught Jesus’ for a moment, and Jesus found faith there among this group of leaders for whom he had such hard words.
How did he feel as his fellow teachers interrogated Jesus and found him guilty and set about convincing Pilate to sentence him to death? Did he want to speak up but didn’t have the courage? Or perhaps hearing the words Jesus spoke before the council was the last step of faith for him, when he realised exactly who was standing before him.
Something happened to give him courage, to move him to act so that Jesus’ body would be buried properly. And for that his story goes into the history books.
I love that God’s redemption story is made up of the stories of individuals and their moments of faith and of doubt, their great moments and their failures, and their relationship with their loving Father God. Joseph, a Jewish leader and secret believer (of which there are many around the world.) Rahab, a prostitute, and David, a King. Hannah, longing for a baby, and Mary, a teeenage mum. Ruth, a stranger who loved her mother-in-law, Gideon, hiding, scared, in a barn, and Daniel, an exile who rose to great heights. All woven into God’s big story.
And he still does this, still uses individual stories of faith to encourage and to build his kingdom. Corrie Ten Boom, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, C.S. Lewis. Who are your modern day Christian heroes?
Then there are the less famous. The ones who write the blogs that I read, bravely sharing their stories and showing that God turns up in every circumstance of life. And the friends who share their stories over a latte in Costa.
It seems amazing to me that God can take those moments when we choose to say yes to him and weave them into his ongoing tapestry of redemption. He can take our small stories and blow them sky high.
And you. Are you facing a crisis of faith right now? What is your story? Who could it help?
‘Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.’ John 21:25
*(John 19:38-39, Luke 23:50-53, Mark 15:42-43, Matt 27:57)
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