It was a brutal sight. Three men screaming in pain and gasping for breath. They were naked, bleeding and hanging on Roman crosses outside of Jerusalem.

Everyone from servant girls to politician’s wives knew about it. The crowds that had previously laid their cloaks on the road could not imagine it would end like this. The disciples themselves were stunned and scattered.

This day had been unlike any other. Darkness blanketed the sky from noon to three. Then, a rock-splitting earthquake shook everyone. Finally, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, but from the top down.

Most of all, Jesus of Nazareth was dead.

He publicly breathed his last for all to see. His side was pierced. His chest stopped moving. His head hung down. The Light of the World had gone out. The Lamb of God was slain.

But for one man, the public sacrifice of the Son of God stoked a new fire in him. This was his moment, spoken of long before he was born. He was the gospel patron behind Jesus' burial and his name was Joseph of Arimathea.

Who Was He?

Joseph of Arimathea was the kind of man who could ask for a face-to-face meeting with the Roman Governor and get it. He did not have to wait a day or even a week to be fit into the calendar. Joseph was rich and respectable, a member of the council, and known in the community. 

Unlike Peter, James, and John who left their nets to follow Jesus, Joseph stayed in his position of influence. But it was risky. Many he knew hated Jesus and actively looked for ways to kill him. For a while, Joseph kept his faith private. Scripture says he “was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews.” (John 19:38)

We don’t know how or when Joseph started following Jesus. All four of the gospel writers simply have him appear at this critical hour.

In Matthew's gospel, we're told Joseph was a rich man, “who also was a disciple of Jesus.” (Matthew 27:57)

In Mark, Joseph is described as “looking for the kingdom of God.” (Mark 15:43)

Luke recounts Joseph as “a good and righteous man, who had not consented to their decision and action” to condemn Jesus. (Luke 23:50-51)

John highlights him as a man of action, who “asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus.” (John 19:38)

His Bold Request

Asking for Jesus' corpse was a dangerous play. What if his loyalty to Jesus was exposed to his peers who had just put Jesus to death? Would he be implicated for treason as well?

These fears held Joseph back before, but not anymore. The cross changed him. Something woke up inside him as he watched Jesus die.

The Old Testament law stated that if a man is put to death by being hung on a tree, "his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall bury him the same day." (Deuteronomy 21:22-23) Joseph's hesitation was gone. He immediately sought a meeting with the Roman Governor, Pontius Pilate and made the biggest ask of his life.

I like to imagine their conversation going something like this:

Joseph: Hello, Pilate. I understand you’ve had a long day and I hear your wife hasn’t been sleeping all that well.

Pilate: Yes, that’s true. But are you here for small talk, Joseph? Hurry up, the sun is going down and I’m tired.

Joseph: Well, I’m here to ask you for the body of Jesus of Nazareth.

Pilate: What?! He’s dead already? Guards, get me a centurion.

Joseph: [waiting in silence while Pilate confirms Jesus’ death]

Pilate: Joseph, it’s true. The King of the Jews is dead. What do you want with his body? Oh, never mind. You may have it. At least then I’ll be done with this Nazarene.

Joseph left Pilate and “bought a linen shroud.” (Mark 15:46) He then returned to the cross of Christ. By now the crowds must have left. Where it was once loud with mockings and groanings, all was now strangely quiet. There, Joseph stood, looking at his Lord’s lifeless body. He removed the nails that pinned Jesus to the cross and felt the weight of Jesus’ body crumple into his arms.

Nicodemus showed up to help, “bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight.” (John 19:39) This was no ordinary burial, but one fit for a king.

The two of them washed Jesus’ body, observing every wound: the holes in his hands and feet, his pierced side, his thorn-pressed skull, and his mangled back. It was a messy job. Blood was everywhere. Perhaps, they picked splinters out of Jesus' back and thorns out of his head before wrapping Jesus’ body in white linen and fragrant spices. Jesus was being prepared for burial.

He Gave His Own Tomb

Nearby, Joseph owned a tomb, “which he had cut in the rock.” (Matthew 27:60) It was “a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid.” (John 19:41) The two men carried Jesus’ body into it, laid it down, and then rolled a great stone against the entrance of the tomb to guard it.

After this, Joseph disappears off the pages of history, never to be heard from again. We don’t read of him in the upper room at Pentecost or going on missionary journeys with Paul. His name is not mentioned in Scripture again.

But God knew who he was and had raised him up for the most important week of history, not as a preacher or a missionary, but as a gospel patron. 700 years before Joseph was born, his unique part to play was recorded in Scripture. Joseph was given riches and influence to bury Jesus with honor and thus fulfill Isaiah's prophecy:  

“And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death ...” (Isaiah 53:9)

I wonder if Joseph even knew he was fulfilling Isaiah’s prophecy. I also wonder what Joseph thought on Easter morning when his tomb was empty. I’ll ask him one day, but for now, Joseph’s legacy is that God had prepared a part for him to play in the story of Jesus and he obeyed. He was called to give to Jesus, even in death, and set the stage for Easter Sunday.

Not all of us will be preachers or missionaries, but we all have a part to play in God's kingdom. Joseph of Arimathea was the man God used between the crucifixion and resurrection. May we follow his example of faith-filled courage and generosity to be the men and women God will use between the resurrection and Jesus’ return!