Two Secret Disciples
Opening Prayer
Holy Spirit, open me to ever new and deeper meanings in my Savior’s death.
Read JOHN 19:38–42
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
38 Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jewish leaders. With Pilate’s permission, he came and took the body away. 39 He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. 40 Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs. 41 At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. 42 Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.
New International Version (NIV)
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Reflect
“He was assigned a grave with… the rich” (Isa. 53:9).
We would love to know more. All that we know about Joseph of Arimathea is what we are told here and in the parallel passages in the other gospels (Matt. 27:57–60; Mark 15:43–46; Luke 23:50–53). Piecing it together, we know that Joseph was a good and righteous man, wealthy and a respected member of the Sanhedrin, which was a judicial council made up of leading citizens, including the chief priests, elders and scribes, and presided over by the high priest. They were responsible for keeping public order and were answerable to the Romans. Actually, many in the Sanhedrin believed in Jesus but were afraid to come out in the open, because the Pharisees had threatened that any disciple of Jesus would be put out of the synagogue (John 12:42,43). Joseph was one such secret believer and had not gone along with the decision of the council to condemn Jesus.
When all of the disciples had fled, Joseph plucked up his courage. We are surprised and delighted that Nicodemus (whose inconclusive encounter with Jesus we read of in chapter 3) joins him, with a phenomenal quantity of spices. Two wealthy men prepare Jesus for burial—a task which was normally performed by women.
Presumably they had watched Jesus die. Maybe, just maybe, they now understood how in his death Jesus glorified God and they chose his glory over the glory of their status in Jewish society (cf. John 12:40–43). Maybe Nicodemus now understood what Jesus had meant when he talked about being “lifted up” (John 3:14). What would they have made of the discovery of the empty tomb, of the proclamation made by the disciples that Jesus was alive? Were they among the 120 disciples gathered together in Acts 1:15? At Pentecost in Acts 2? We are not told, but it seems likely.
Apply
Why did secret believers Joseph and Nicodemus risk exposure now? Is this a moment for you to come out of secrecy and share your faith openly with someone?
Closing prayer
Keep me Lord, always reachable and pliable in Your hand, a willing captive of Your amazing grace.
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