Who Was Joseph of Arimathea?

Tom: We’re continuing with the gospel. We’re in the Gospel of John:19:38And 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.
See All...: “And after this, Joseph of Arimathea, 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.”

Dave, have you got any thoughts about Joseph of Arimathea? Did he really go to Ireland and to the Northeast? People preach and teach that.

Dave: Right. But the Bible doesn’t say so. Could be. Who knows?

Tom: Supposedly, he did some mining there—copper mines, or something like that. That’s how—that was where his wealth came from. Where do people come up with these things?

Dave: Oh, you mean this is before he met Jesus?

Tom: Well, no, this is actually afterwards.

Dave: Because he was a wealthy man…

Tom: Yes, he took Mary with him on the way to Ephesus. There’s a whole scenario out there about the disciples, their life afterwards…

Dave: It’s a whole bunch of nonsense, Tom, and what is the point of even speculating about it? You know, why do people write these stories? They’re not true. You have no way of knowing whether they’re true. So, why even think about it? Forget it! Let’s stick with the Bible.

Tom: Well, I’m sorry I brought it up.

Dave: (Laughing) Yeah.

Tom: (Laughing)

Dave: What was his name? Detective Friday, or whatever? “Just the facts, Ma’am.”

Tom: “Just the biblical facts...”

Dave: Biblical facts. Right. And the biblical teaching.

Well, Joseph of Arimathea—I’m not going to go off into speculation, but obviously, he was from the town of Arimathea. That was a little ways away from Jerusalem, and he had apparently moved to Jerusalem, and that’s why another Gospel says it was a new tomb. As you know, Tom, we’ve been over to Israel a few times, when it says, “He would gather to his fathers,” they had family burial grounds, like the cave of Machpelah that Abraham bought from the Hittite to bury his wife, Sarah. Well, Abraham was buried in it, too. So were Jacob, and Leah, etc. So, they would be gathered to their fathers, and when their bones deteriorated, then they kind of scrape them off into a little hole there, making room for the next burial.

But Joseph had moved from Arimathea to Jerusalem, and he had started a new tomb. No family there, so he would apparently—or his wife, or whatever—would have been the first ones buried in this tomb. It’s a rather interesting picture you get, because the scripture says Jesus—He suffered death for every man. It was a death that no one has yet died. It had to include the second death, the Lake of Fire, where all death and hell would be cast in the Lake of Fire.

So Jesus suffered a death—He was, in a sense, laid into a tomb that no…where no man had ever laid. He suffered a death that no man had ever suffered. So it’s rather an interesting picture, a fulfillment also of Isaiah 53: “He was with the rich in his death,” it says.

Tom: John:19:39And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight.
See All...: “And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pound weight.”

Now, Dave, before we get to that, it’s interesting, Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea were secret disciples. I find that fascinating.

Dave: Yeah, secret up to that point. But, of course…

Tom: Right.

Dave: …now they make it known, because of their love for Christ. And, Tom, again, it’s rather an odd time to make it known. If they were secret believers and now Jesus has been crucified, that’s the end. They don’t understand the resurrection. They don’t know that He will be raised from the dead. You’d think this would be the time when you would abandon…

Tom: Right.

Dave: …abandon your faith.

Tom: Exactly.

Dave: Something held them. I don’t what it was. Or did they suspect He would rise from the dead? They didn’t seem to suspect that, because, look, they take all of these spices, 100 lbs. worth, and they wind His body in these spices, with layer after layer of linen. They think He’s going to be in the grave. They think His body’s going to deteriorate, so it’s rather puzzling that somehow they have some love—a real love for Him—even though, as far as they’re concerned, He couldn’t be the Messiah. They’d been deceived. But they’d been attracted to this man.

Maybe there are people like that today. And they’ve still got Jesus wound in grave clothes. They’re attracted to Him—His life, His teachings, His character. But they don’t really believe He rose from the dead. What was it? The latest poll? Thirty-five percent of those who call themselves “born-again Christians” don’t believe in the resurrection. But the scripture says, Romans:10:9That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
See All...: “If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and you believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, then you’re saved.”

So if you don’t believe in the resurrection, you’re not saved. You have a dead Savior. And at this point, I guess, you could say Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea had a dead Messiah. Well, then how could He be Messiah? Still they were loyal to Him.

And I think, Tom, there are people like that today. They call themselves Christians. They go to church. But they don’t really know the Lord. Are they saved? I don’t believe so. The Bible says they’re not. A dead Savior can’t save you. But of course, Joseph and Nicodemus, they came to believe, and I’m sure they were among those to whom Christ appeared.

Tom: John:19:40Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury.
See All...: “Then took they the body of Jesus and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is, to bury. Now in the place where he was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden, a new sepulcher, wherein was never man yet laid…”

Dave: Okay, that’s Joseph’s burying place that no one has yet been in it.

Tom: “There laid they Jesus because of the Jews’ preparation day, for the sepulcher was nigh at hand.”

Dave: The Jews’ preparation day, it’s quite clear, we’ve talked about it in the past, John:19:14And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King!
See All...: “It was the preparation of the Passover.” They’re killing the lamb. The lambs are being killed, and they’re going to be roast with fire that night, and so the lambs have been slain now, and this high holiday coming up, this is Thursday afternoon before sunset, and from sunset to the next sunset—sunset of Thursday till sunset Friday, it’s a high Sabbath. John:19:31The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.
See All..., remember: “The Jews, therefore, because it was the preparation that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the Sabbath day, for that Sabbath day was a high day.” This wasn’t the regular Friday-Saturday Sabbath. This was a special Sabbath, and it happened to come on Thursday. So you’ve got two Sabbaths coming up, so the women couldn’t get to the grave until Sunday morning. And this is why Jesus was three days and three nights in the grave in fulfillment of the scripture. And we’ve talked about that in the past, but it seems that it’s…we’re being sort of…it certainly is being emphasized by the Holy Spirit. “It’s because of the Jews’ preparation day! Oh, that’s why. Okay. Yeah, we get it now.”

Tom: Dave, is there some duplication here? For example, Nicodemus has the spices and we see that Jesus’ body is being prepared, and so on, and they had to accomplish all of this before sundown, right?

Dave: That’s right.

Tom: Or else they would have been defiled.

Dave: That’s right. And so, apparently, Jesus “gave up the ghost”—He didn’t just expire on the cross. He said, “No man takes my life from me; I lay it down of myself,” and in triumph He cried, “Tetelestai! It is finished! The debt is paid in full!” Then He said, “Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit.” And Jesus did that of His own accord, laid down His life in time for Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea to…apparently they already had the spices. I mean, they knew He was going to be crucified, and they got it all ready, and they begged the body of Jesus from Pilate. He marvels that He’s dead already. “Okay, take it.”

And now, they’re showing their loyalty and their love for Christ, even though He’s dead, as far as they know. And they wind His body in linen with the spices, thinking, “This is the end.” Amazing, Tom, that they would do this under those circumstances. But they did.