A finger pointed, and my eyes did turn and look. I saw the faithful, loving The Faithful. My heart, it did pound in my chest, at the thought of them tending to their love, who is, Love.
“And after this Joseph of Arimathaea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus: and Pilate gave him leave. He came therefore, and took the body of Jesus” (John 19:38).
“And there came also Nicodemus, which at first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight. They took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury” (John 19:39-40).
Joseph was a secret disciple before the crucifixion. Nicodemus was a priestly professional who visited Jesus in the night… both men had fear of reprisal prior to the death of Christ. This stunning account of these men taking extraordinary measures to bury Jesus took my breath away and had my mind reeling. Imagine if it had been you dear one, tending to The Dear One…
Joseph sees Jesus hanging limp and lifeless on the cross. He cannot bare the sight and goes to the enemy of his people, the one that gave permission to murder and the only one that can give permission to release the body: he goes to Pilate. This man, this secret disciple, did not have the courage to admit his allegiance to Jesus while he was in his midst, but something had changed in him. Think on this a moment with me: he had everything to lose and seemingly nothing to gain by taking action to bury Jesus.
Next we have Nicodemus, who snuck out of his home to find Jesus in the night. He did not want to risk his reputation by seeking Jesus during the day when all could see. His loyalty to his own well being kept him from being an obvious admirer of Jesus: something changed in him too: he not only aided in the burial of Jesus, he brought a significant and costly gift with him, using his wealth to honour a man that his colluding colleagues conspired to kill.
Now let us go to our Saviour, on the cross
Imagine the limp and lifeless form, hanging on the cross. How long did it take for Joseph to go to Pilate and return to Christ? Now see him wondering desperately how he will do this, how he will lower the man he loved. Did Nicodemus suddenly appear, just as he contemplated the daunting task? When their eyes met, did they silently, sorrowfully weep?
Now the cross, they have managed to bring it to the ground and they cannot fathom removing the nails… how do they do this without inflicting more pain? They cannot reconcile Life with being dead. They tenderly handle their Jesus but must use manly force to remove deeply embedded nails. Tears drench their faces as they work silently to complete a gruesome task that somehow reunites them with The Author of Life. He is so very still… freed from the cross, they prepare his body with the myrrh and aloes and wrap him in linen: they place him in an unused tomb
“Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid” (John 19:41).
I did not witness this
I did not witness this
This is a dumfounding reel of reality dear reader, one I had not considered until yesterday, when my pastor Jon Korkidakis played out the scene for us during our Good Friday service. Jesus dying on the cross for the sins of the world is mind bogglingly beautiful. I did not witness this and I love him deeply. These men though dear reader, they were there; they saw they heard they touched: they knew HIM! At the risk of social, political, religious, and economic status decimation, these men who secretly loved Jesus before his crucifixion, publicly declared their allegiance to the King without the possibility of reward and not caring a wit about promised persecution following their bold burial of The Christ, the promised Messiah.
The nails that pierced Jesus
The nails that pierced Jesus
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| For God so loved the world… |
They knew who he was the day he died on that cross and it changed the trajectory of their earthly lives and ultimately, their forever; their eternity. Now dear reader, this is all well and good and I am so glad to have travelled this historic path with you thus far but it all means nothing, nothing at all, if the nails that pierced Jesus’ body don’t pierce you, pierce your heart? He died for you, for me, for Joseph and Nicodemus and and and… dear one, are you a secret disciple, one that visits him in the night and denies him in the light of day?
The question is, can you
Joseph and Nicodemus could not deny deity, even after handling the lifeless body of Jesus. They could not. The question is, can you? Do you deny deity, even the risen God? Tomorrow, he is risen but today, you can pledge your allegiance to the King… won’t you do this, now?
