3rd of 3 GOOD FRIDAY Devotions for April 14, 2006

To Jerusalem with the ComPassionate Christ
Day 44 – 3:00 P.M.

 

‘At Even’, When Sun was Set

 

It was Preparation Day (that is, the day before the Sabbath). So as evening approached,  Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Council, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for Jesus' body.  Pilate was surprised to hear that he was already dead. Summoning the centurion, he asked him if Jesus had already died.  When he learned from the centurion that it was so, he gave the body to Joseph.  Mark 15: 42-45

 

It was the evening of the day before the Sabbath, a special Sabbath, the Passover, and so it was necessary for those who loved Jesus to prepare His body quickly for the tomb, before the day of rest should come. An unlikely ally entered the scene, risking the abuse of his colleagues, to claim the body of our Lord, and to bury Him decently. Though he could not protect Him in life, He could at least prevent His body from being thrown to the dogs. That ally was Joseph of Arimathea, a member of that same Sanhedrin that had condemned Jesus. We can only imagine that Joseph, and other supporters like Nicodemus, had been kept in the dark about those extraordinary proceedings.

 

Joseph, a wealthy man, as well as an honorable one, is described as ‘waiting for the kingdom of God.’ He was a student of prophecy and had seen, in the extraordinary events of the last days and hours, overwhelming evidence that God was at work. His understanding of the coming reign of God’s Messiah may have been incomplete; he may have retained some notions of an earthly kingdom, but nevertheless, he saw in Jesus the fulfillment of all of his dreams. Or, at least he had, until his own people took the preacher and hung Him on a Cross. Who knows what Joseph thought as he saw the object of all of his hopes with the life wrung out of Him. Perhaps, like the disciples, he didn’t really know what to think. At least he had the decency to petition Pilate for the body.

 

The Roman expressed surprise that Jesus was already dead, forgetting that his latest statistic was a preacher, not a battle hardened zealot. But once he was sure that Jesus was dead he had no objections. It was all over now, SO THEY THOUGHT!

 

Prayer
Lord, help me always to see that in the darkest of moments, at the times of greatest distress, there is always a future ahead.  It may be hidden from me at the time, but faith causes me to continue to act in obedience, with the assurance of what is to come.  Amen

 

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