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. 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. Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs. 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. Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there. [John 19:38-42 NIV]
It must have taken considerable courage for Joseph of Arimathea to approach Pilate to request that the body of Jesus be given a proper burial in a sepulchre. After all, Pilate was a powerful Roman governor of Judea and he did not have a great deal of respect for the Jews. Josephus, a Jewish historian recounts that Pilate moved the headquarters of the army from Caesarea to Jerusalem. This provoked an outbreak among the Jews because they regarded this as the holy city. It was too much for many Jews when the Roman soldiers marched into the city with their standards displaying the image of the emperor, Tiberius. This was seen as idolatry and an insult and provoked a massive protest and outrage among the Jews. Pilate's handling of the incident shows indecision and clumsiness - at one stage threatening to execute the protestors who were camped outside his residence and then giving way to public opinion and removing the standards from Jerusalem back to Caesarea. Pilate was unpredictable and had a record of gratuitous cruelty - there is a very telling reference to Pilate recorded in Luke's Gospel when it says that Pilate had mingled the blood of Galileans with their sacrifices. Apparently, Pilate put these Jews to death while they were offering their sacrifices at the synagogue (Luke 13:1). So this is the man that Joseph approaches with a request for a proper burial for the victim of crucifixion.
Furthermore, Pilate has shown his hatred for the Jews by exhibiting a contemptuous sign over the cross - Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews. [See Day Share - entitled "Do not write… 16/07/2021] This man has scourged an innocent man and then executed him by crucifixion in order to keep his position as governor. But Joseph has found tremendous courage at this vital time and he approaches the Roman governor with this request for the battered body of Jesus to be buried in his own private tomb. This is remarkable. Notice that Joseph feared the Jewish leaders (the Sanhedrim, the Jewish religious ruling council) until then and kept his allegiance to Jesus a secret. Probably, Nicodemus was also a secret disciple - after his clandestine visit to Jesus under the cover of darkness. Both of these secret disciples showed the proof of their genuine commitment to Jesus of Nazareth at this desperate time. Remember that this was just after Peter had denied ever knowing Jesus and the other disciples had fled for safety away from the garden of Gethsemane out of the reach of the vengeful Jewish leaders.
We do not know very much about this Joseph apart from his being a wealthy member of the Jewish religious body, the Sanhedrim. This was the council which had taken the decision that Jesus should be handed over to the Romans for crucifixion. Joseph had not voted with the others - he had been a dissenter probably along with Nicodemus (See Matthew 27:57 and Luke 23:50). It is not easy to stand out as different from a powerful group decision like this. It is wonderful that these 'secret disciples' showed their true colours when it really mattered. They used their wealth to provide their Lord with a decent burial. It was not normal to treat a crucified person with any dignity or respect let alone love and affection. Joseph sacrificed his own tomb which had never been used and Nicodemus provided the costly spices and they lovingly took down the blood-spattered body of Jesus from the cross and embalmed the body before burying him according to the Jewish custom. John tells us how much the spices weighed - a mixture of myrrh and aloes which weighed 75 pounds. Unlike the Egyptians who removed vital organs before embalming, the Jews spread the mixture over strips of bandages and wound them round the body in order to preserve it for longer.
It is fascinating that a prophet living who lived from around 740 BC to 680 BC and who had never heard of crucifixion or the brutality of the Roman army provides a detailed description of the death of Jesus and provides us with an unlikely association of events.
He was assigned a grave with the wicked and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence nor was any deceit in his mouth. [Isaiah 53:9 NIV]
It is amazing how this prophecy was fulfilled by the faithfulness of a man who had kept secret for several years the fact that he was a disciple of Jesus. This rich man, aided by another influential Jew, attended to the burial of the Son of God after such a degrading death.
Maybe you have been a secret disciple. You have not found it easy to tell people that you are a Christian. It is not popular or politically correct to be seen as a believer in Jesus. Maybe this story should inspire you to nail your colours to the mast and openly declare your loyalty to Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God.
Picture by Karim Manjra on Unsplash.
Very probable too that John, the author was a close friend of these two religious figures.
It may have been the case, although we cannot know this, that the Myrrh was that which Mary received from Magi at birth, and Jesus had previously given it to Nicodemus at the secret meeting, for this very purpose.