A.Two persons who will always be linked together are Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, for these two men buried the body of our Lord Jesus.
B.These two men had more in common than just the burial of Jesus, for both men were secret disciples of the Lord.Let us consider them now and glean a few lessons from their stories.
II.JOSEPH AND NICODEMUS
A.Joseph was the unlikely hero who retrieved and buried the body of Jesus.
1.Consider what we know about the person of Joseph.
a.Joseph was from the city of Arimathea.The location of this city is unknown, but some have identified it with modern Rentis, which is twenty miles northwest of Jerusalem.
b.Matthew tells us that Joseph was a rich man and a disciple of Jesus (Matt. 27:57).
c.Mark tells us that Joseph was “a prominent member of the Council, who himself was waiting for the kingdom of God” (Mark 15:43).
i.The “Council” was the Sanhedrin, which was the leadership council of the Jews that had conspired to arrest Jesus, try him unjustly, and send Him to Pilate.
ii.The fact that Joseph was waiting for the kingdom of God indicates his understanding of the Old Testament prophecies that promised the establishment of God’s eternal kingdom (Isa. 2:2-4; Dan. 2:44; etc.).
d.Luke adds that Joseph was “a good and righteous man (he had not consented to [the Council’s] plan and action [against Jesus])” (Luke 23:50-51).
e.John tells us that Joseph was a secret disciple of Jesus “for fear of the Jews” (John 19:38).
2.This secret disciple exposed his faith when he stepped forward to bury the Lord’s body.
a.Mark says that Joseph “gathered up courage and went in before Pilate, and asked for the body of Jesus” (Mark 15:43).
i.Certainly, courage was needed for Joseph to show honor to the Man whom his fellow Council members had just condemned to death.
ii.Courage was also required for Joseph to appear before Pilate, who had just placated to the mob of Jews against Jesus.
b.After ascertaining that Jesus was indeed dead, Pilate granted the body of Jesus to Joseph (Matt. 27:58; Mark 15:44-45; John 19:38).
c.Joseph freely took on the gruesome and difficult task of taking Christ’s body down from the cross (Mark 15:46; Luke 23:53).
d.Joseph bought a new linen cloth, wrapped the Lord’s body in it, placed the body in his own new tomb (it had never been used before), and sealed the tomb with a large stone (Matt.27:59-60;Mark 15:46; Luke 23:53).This tomb was near the site of Christ’s crucifixion (John 19:40-42).
e.It was by the actions of Joseph that the prophecy of Isaiah was fulfilled – “His grave was assigned with wicked men, yet He was with a rich man in His death…” (Isa. 53:9).
B.Nicodemus also emerged from the shadows to help give Jesus a proper burial.
1.The apostle John recorded two incidents involving Nicodemus prior to Christ’s burial.
a.In John 3:1-21, we read of Nicodemus’ nighttime encounter with Jesus.
i.John tells us that Nicodemus was a man of the Pharisees and a ruler of the Jews.
ii.Nicodemus came to Jesus by night presumably to conceal His reverence for the Lord from His fellow Pharisees.He said to Jesus, “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him” (v. 2).
iii.It was at this time that Jesus taught Nicodemus about the new birth by water and the spirit.
b.In John 7:45-53, we read of Nicodemus’ protest against the chief priests and Pharisees.
i.The chief priests and Pharisees sent officers to arrest Jesus (John 7:32), but these officers returned without Him, saying, “Never did a man speak the way this man speaks” (v. 46)
ii.The Pharisees responded by saying, “You have not also been led astray, have you?No one of the rulers or Pharisees has believed in Him, has he?But this multitude which does not know the Law is accursed” (vv. 47-49).
iii.Nicodemus then defended Jesus, the Law, the officers, and the multitude, saying, “Our Law does not judge a man, unless it first hears from him and knows what he is doing, does it?” (v. 51).
2.When Jesus died, Nicodemus assisted Joseph and lavishly anointed the Lord’s body for burial.
a.Nicodemus joined Joseph in taking the body of Jesus for burial (John 19:39-42).
b.Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes that weighed about one hundred pounds, which was a large and expensive amount.
III.A FEW LESSONS
A.Lesson #1: Goodness can come from unlikely sources.
1.It is a mistake to stereotype individuals into classes and groups.
a.The Pharisees and the members of the Sanhedrin were generally corrupted, self-righteous, and wicked, but Joseph and Nicodemus emerged from these groups as examples of goodness and righteousness.
b.We are often too quick to dismiss persons according to their backgrounds and associations rather than assessing them by their individual characteristics.
2.The truth is that there is some good to be found in everyone.
a.The Lord was able to recognize goodness and potential in tax-collectors (Luke 19:1-10), sinners (Luke 7:36-39), Gentiles (Matt. 15:21-28), and other unlikely persons.
b.Are we able to see the good in others, or do we dismiss them according to prejudice?
B.Lesson #2: God remembers good deeds.
1.All four gospel accounts record the good deed of Joseph.We might compare this to what Jesus said about Mary when she anointed Him with perfume – “Truly I say to you, wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in memory of her” (Matt. 26:13).
2.Jesus receives good deeds done for His brethren as if they are done personally for Him (Matt. 25:31-46).Such good deeds will be remembered by the Lord and rewarded in the Judgment Day.
C.Lesson #3: It is better to be in the minority and be right than to be wrong with a large crowd.
1.Both Joseph and Nicodemus concealed their regard for Jesus because of their fear of the Jews.
a.Joseph and Nicodemus were not the only ones, for John wrote, “Nevertheless many even of the rulers believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they were not confessing Him, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God” (John 12:42-43).
b.How might things have been different if these leaders had been willing to stand for what was right rather than conforming to the errors of their peers?
c.How might things be different today if believers would stop cowering in the shadows and start standing up for what is right?
2.After His death, Joseph and Nicodemus apparently realized that it was more important to be right with God than to be popular with men.
a.This lesson was taught by Jesus, who said, “Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matt. 10:28).
b.Secret belief is not effective belief, for secret belief does not lead to salvation.
i.Notice Christ’s words in Matthew 10:32-33 – “Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven.But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.”
ii.Also, consider Romans 10:8-10 – “But what does it say? ‘The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart’--that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.”
