Feast Day: March 17th
I want to ask you to read this article less as a story, and more as a meditation. Perhaps find some quiet time to reflect on the moment described in the Gospel passages below when Joseph of Arimathea comes close to Jesus for the first time.
Mark 15: 42And, it being already evening, since it was preparation day, that is, the day before Sabbath, 43Joseph from Arimathea having come (a respected council member who was also himself awaiting the kingdom of God), having taken courage, came in before Pilate and requested the body of Jesus. 44But Pilate was amazed that he had already died; and having called over the centurion, he questioned him if he was dead for some time. 45And having come to know from the centurion, he granted the corpse to Joseph. 46And having bought a linen cloth, having taken him down, with the linen cloth he tied up and put him away in a burial place that was hewn out of rock; and he rolled over a stone against the door of the tomb.
Matthew 27: 57But it being evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea whose name was Joseph, who had also himself been a disciple of Jesus. 58This man, having come before Pilate, requested the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered (it) to be given up. 59And having taken the body, Joseph wrapped it up in a clean white linen cloth 60and placed him in his new tomb which he had hewn in the rock; and having rolled a large stone to the door of the tomb, he went away.
Luke 23: 50And behold a man, Joseph by name, being a member of the council, a good and just man—51he was not in agreement with their decision and course of action—from Arimathea, a city of the Jews, who was awaiting the kingdom of God. 52This man, having come before Pilate, requested the body of Jesus. 53And having taken (it) down, he wrapped it up with a linen cloth and placed him in a rock-hewn burial place where no one was yet laid. 54And it was preparation day, and Sabbath was dawning.
John 19: 38aBut after these things Joseph from Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus but hidden because of fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate permitted (it). 38bSo he came and took away his body. 39But there came also Nicodemus, the one who had first come to him at night, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds. 40So they took the body of Jesus; and they bound it with cloths together with spices, as is the custom among the Jews for burying. 41But there was in the place where he was crucified a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had ever yet been placed. 42So there, on account of the preparation day of the Jews, because the tomb was near, they placed Jesus.
These are translations from a famous Catholic biblical scholar, Raymond Brown, who carefully compares the details from each Passion Account in his (comprehensive) book, “The Death of the Messiah.”
First, simply notice the details that each Gospel-writer focuses us on. Mark, the vivid storyteller, surprises us when from the least likely place – the Sanhedrin, that council of Jewish leaders who worked to put Jesus to death – comes a man, respected, courageous, seeking the Kingdom, who asks for Jesus’ body. Notice that Joseph is not yet described as a disciple or follower of Jesus. Yet somehow, he is moved amidst all the ridicule and hatred being flung at Jesus, to still be faithful to the Jewish law and seek a proper burial for this misunderstood man.
Matthew, the tax collector, himself having experienced Jesus’ mercy for those with many possessions, emphasizes that Joseph was rich. We find that he gives Jesus his own tomb, painstakingly hewn from the rock, and the simple linen shroud is additionally described as “clean” and “white”, and the scene shows Joseph carefully wrapping Jesus’ body in it. Luke adds that Joseph was “good and just”, not in agreement with all that the Sanhedrin had done, placing greater emphasis than Mark on Joseph’s “awaiting the Kingdom of God”. And John, with his greater spiritual insight, sees in Joseph’s heart already the heart of a disciple, and recognizes amid the bleak tomb a garden, where man was first created, and will soon be re-created.
– Fr. Dominic once had the opportunity to visit Jerusalem, including the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, where under one enormous vault-roof, you can visit the hill of Calvary, the stone on which Jesus’ body was anointed, and the nearby location of His tomb, each enshrined with altars or lanterns, each a quiet witness to the blood God shed for me. When we are given Jesus’ Body – risen! – at Mass, does it reconfigure our hearts, reorder our priorities, like it did for Joseph of Arimathea? Do I stop waiting for God’s Kingdom and start living it? Do I take courage to risk ridicule or rejection to hold fast to Jesus? Do I put all my own riches, even my own mortality, at Christ’s service? Can I see in my own darkness a garden where God will bring resurrection?