Who was Joseph of Arimathea?

"Now when even was come a rich man of Arimathea, his name Joseph, who also himself was a disciple of Jesus. He going to Pilate begged the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be given up. And Joseph having got the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his new tomb which he had hewn in the rock; and having rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb, went away. But Mary of Magdala was there, and the other Mary, sitting opposite the sepulchre" (verses 57-61).

Who was this Joseph of Arimathea? A wealthy man of the Jews and a secret disciple of the Lord Jesus. He was an honorable councillor, belonging to the Sanhedrin, who also himself was awaiting the kingdom of God (Mark 15:43). He was a good man and just. When the Sanhedrin had come together to condemn the Holy One Joseph of Arimathea had not assented to their counsel and deed (Luke 23:51). Fear of the Jews had kept his discipleship in the background, but now when the Lord had expired on the cross, and after the mighty events, which had taken place, he comes boldly to the front. His fear became a holy boldness. During the earthly life of the Lord, though he knew Him and believed on Him, fear kept him back from avowing openly his discipleship; but now as His Lord had died He makes His great confession of Him before the Jews, the Sanhedrin and the Gentiles as well. He went right to Pilate. This person had the authority to dispose of the bodies of the crucified. Generally they were, after all dishonor had been done to them, thrown in the malefactors' graves. He then begged for the body of Jesus, and Pilate consented readily and gave his permission. The death of Christ had made a deep impression upon the Roman governor. That Jesus should have died so soon was a great amazement to Pilate. He called for the centurion to get the details from him and perhaps that official gave him his conviction that the crucified One was Son of God (Mark 15:44). And now to the astonishment of Pilate the well known, prominent and wealthy Joseph comes and begs for the body to do Him honor. How it must have disturbed the coward and troubled his conscience. But another one was there, too. That One helped in the hasty preparation for the burial. "And Nicodemus also, who at first came to Jesus by night, came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds weight. They took, therefore, the body of Jesus and bound it up in linen with the spices, as it is the custom with the Jews to prepare for burial" (John 19:39-40). Nicodemus was a very timid man by nature. How he came to the Lord by night for fear of the Jews is well known. From His own lips he heard the blessed truth, the words of life. The precious seed had been sown in his heart. Did it spring up? He also belonged to the council. When the officers returned, having been sent to capture the Lord and they gave their report, Nicodemus, the great acknowledged teacher in Israel ventured a weak defense of the Lord (John 7:50-53). It showed the seed working. But the death of Christ brought him and Joseph of Arimathea deliverance from the fear of men; light and liberty flashed in their souls as the result of the death of Christ. The Lord had said to Nicodemus: "As Moses lifted up a serpent in the wilderness so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believes on Him should not perish but have everlasting life." He had been lifted up and Nicodemus believing, confessed Him.

Joseph of Arimathaea now appears at the precise moment when he can serve the purpose of God. He is mentioned in each of the Gospels, and each supplies us with some special detail concerning him. Matthew tells us that he was rich and a disciple. Mark calls him an honourable counsellor who waited for the kingdom of God. Luke says he was a good man and a just and that he had not consented to the counsel and deed of the great majority of the Sanhedrim in putting Jesus to death. John admits that he was a disciple, but a secret one for fear of the Jews. So apparently he had been in a position akin to that of the Pharisees, who are mentioned in John 12:42-43. Yet, wonderful to say, in this the darkest hour, when everything seemed hopelessly lost — as witness the attitude of the two disciples going to Emmaus (Luke 24) — Joseph found his courage and went to Pilate with his request to have possession of the body of Jesus. Mark it is, who tells us that he went in boldly to Pilate, and the decision of the Governor was overruled of God. Isaiah had declared that He should be "with the rich in His death," though His grave was appointed to Him with the wicked. The Jews would have desired nothing better than that He should be flung under a heap of stones with the bodies of the malefactors. But God fulfilled His own word, firstly through the sudden boldness of Joseph, and then through Pilate's disposition to thwart the Jews by reason of his irritation with them. God everywhere has sway and all things serve His might.

Joseph of Arimathaea, an honourable counsellor, and a rich man. He was a secret disciple of Jesus, and had not consented to the action of the Sanhedrim in condemning the Lord. He boldly asked for the body of Jesus, and interred it in his own new tomb, thus fulfilling Isa. 53:9; Matt. 27:57, 59; Mark 15:43; Luke 23:50; John 19:38.

The city of Joseph, the 'honourable counsellor,' who was permitted by Pilate to take down the body of the Lord and bury it in his own new to tomb. Matt. 27:57; Mark 15:43; Luke 23:51; John 19:38. It has not been identified, but has been supposed to be the same as Ramah, the birth-place of Samuel.

The burial now followed; it was a matter of interest to but few of all who had stood before the cross. And who was to undertake the office of placing the body in a grave? One of the Sanhedrim, a rich man of Judea (Luke 23:51), Joseph by name, a disciple of the Lord Jesus, went to Pilate and asked for the body. Had he expired so soon? The thieves were still alive. Death by crucifixion, though cruel, was generally slow. Pilate marveled if He were already dead. He knew not that in the counsel of God our Lord would lay down His life Himself, no man taking it from Him (John 10:18). Calling for the centurion, as Mark alone has noticed, he inquired if He had been anywhile dead, and granted the body to Joseph.

But God used that very day and His grace who was thus put to death to bring out to distinct association with His name a good and righteous man. If Jesus in His life of rejection had not Joseph openly in His train, the death of the cross made him bold while others fled or stood aloof. "And behold, a man named Joseph, being a councillor and a good and righteous man (he had not consented to their counsel and deed), from Arimathea a city of the Jews, who waited for the kingdom of God, himself went to Pilate and begged the body of Jesus; and, having taken down, wrapped in fine linen and placed him in a rock-hewn tomb where no one had ever been laid. And it was preparation day, and sabbath dusk† was drawing on."588; On their affection, not without darkness, a brighter day was soon to dawn. "Him": so Edd., following ℵBCD and most Old Lat. "It" is the reading of AELPXGDLP, all later uncials, and most cursives (33). †It was evening, not morning, though learned men have forgotten Jewish modes of expressing the day no less than the ignorant. Any one who takes the trouble may soon see how this mistake has embroiled the harmonies, especially as to the details of the death and the resurrection of Christ in point of time. (B.T.: Cf. Wellhausen ad loc.)

The great work of the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus being finished, no unholy hands were allowed to touch Him again. God had a man prepared for taking the burial in hand. Joseph was a member of the Jewish Sanhedrim, the council guilty of having plotted the death of the Lord. But Joseph's character was honorable, and he had not consented to the evil purpose of his fellow council members. But the cross brought him out clearly, not only as being not against the Lord, but fully on the side of the One who had been murdered by his own people. Joseph waited for the kingdom of God. It is evident that this expectation was not hindered because of the death of the Lord Jesus: rather, one would say, his faith in a God of resurrection was brought into vital exercise.

Receiving permission from Pilate, he took the body of Jesus from the cross, wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a new tomb hewn out of the rock. John adds that Nicodemus joined him (Jn.19:39), but Joseph took the initiative. So Isaiah 53:9 was -- fulfilled: He was with the rich in His death.

God had already wrought in the heart of a rich man, Joseph of Arimathea, of whom we do not read before, to stir him to request the body of Jesus. Evidently the apostles were so stunned and weakened that the remained no energy of faith in them to do anything. The faith of Joseph is most refreshing, specially since we read in Mark and Luke that he was a member of the Jewish Sanhedrin (Mk.15:43; Lk.23:50), an honorable man who had not consented to the council's condemnation of Christ. Of course he would expose himself to the censure and contempt of the chief priests and elders, for this was a bold step to identify himself with Christ crucified, which would bring him into their permanent disfavor. Nicodemus, who came also, is mentioned only in John. The body, wrapped in a clean linen cloth, is laid in a new tomb prepared for Joseph himself, cut out in the rock. A great stone, evidently also previously prepared, was rolled over the entrance. No mention is made of any of the apostles being near, but two devoted women, both named Mary, were watching near by.

"And after these things Joseph from Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus,354a but a secret one for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus; and Pilate gave leave. He came, therefore, and took His body away. And there came also Nicodemus, that came at first to Him by night, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes about a hundred pound (weight). They took, therefore, the body of Jesus and bound it in linen swathes with the spices, as it is the Jews' custom to prepare for burial.† Now there was in the place where He was crucified a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one was ever yet laid.354b There, then, on account of the preparation of the Jews, because the tomb was near, they put Jesus."355 Tischendorf now [followed by Blass] adopts the plural "they" with ℵpm, etc.; also αὐτὸν, "him," instead of τὸ σῶμα αὐτοῦ as in ℵcorr. BLXΛ, ten cursives, etc. [Treg., W. and H., Weiss], or τ. σ. τοῦ Ἰ. with a dozen uncials and most cursives, etc., and in Text. Rec.; so in verse 39, the best give "to him," the majority "to Jesus." † The word is not θάπτειν but ἐνταφιάζειν, which is used for embalming, or at least preparing for burial as in the case before us.

God uses a perilous time to call forth His own hidden ones. Joseph of Arimathea can be a secret disciple no longer. He was a rich man (Matt. 27) and an honourable counsellor (Mark 15); but wealth and position make the confession of Christ only the harder. Fear of the Jews had hitherto prevailed. The death of Jesus, which caused others to fear, made Joseph bold. He had not consented, indeed, to the counsel and deed of the Jews. Now he goes to Pilate and besought the Lord's body. Nor was he alone: Nicodemus, longer known, but with no happy reputation for moral courage at the first, though afterwards venturing a remonstrance to the haughty yet unjust Pharisees, joins in the last offices of love with an abundant offering of myrrh and aloes. The cross of Christ, so stumbling to unbelief, exercises and manifests his faith; and the twain waxing valiant by grace, fulfil the lack of service of the twelve. They take the body of Jesus and bind it in linen swathes with the spices, in the manner of the Jews to prepare for burial. Egypt had its custom of embalming; so in a measure had the Jews in hope of the resurrection of the just. No prophecy is cited here; but who can forget Isaiah's words: "He made His grave with the wicked (men) and with the rich (man) in His death"? He was "appointed His grave with the lawless, and was with the rich man in His death)" (Isa. 53:9.) — that is, after being slain: a strange combination, yet verified in Him; and who could wonder, seeing that He had done no violence and no deceit was in His mouth? And now we see in Joseph's garden, hard by the fatal scene, a new tomb which had never known an inmate. So had God provided, in honour for the body of His Son and in jealous wisdom for the truth, hewn out in the rock (as Matthew, Mark, and Luke tell us). There the Lord was put meanwhile in view of more formal burial when the Sabbath should pass. So little did the disciples anticipate what the glory of the Father had at heart, though the Lord had so often plainly revealed it, till the Resurrection was a fact in its own predicted time.

Mark (Mark 15:42-47). Mark adds few details to Matthew. Joseph is spoken of as an "honorable counsellor;" that is, a member of the Sanhedrin, who was waiting for the kingdom of God. He went in "boldly" to Pilate, who wonders that the Lord is dead, and first asks the centurion, as would be natural for a Roman, if such is the case.

The fine linen is "bought," which reminds us that Joseph was a rich man. "The other Mary," spoken of in Matthew, is here "the mother of Joses," who with Mary Magdalene beheld the place where the body was laid.