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Reading Mark 15:21-47

A Man Who Was There

It is the first Good Friday and the day is already well on.

Jesus is dead.

He had been nailed to the cross at 9am and had hung there suffering the ongoing torments of His detractors until 3pm. It was an awful time and there had been an unusual darkness over the land from noon onwards. The greatest suffering for our Lord was not however physical but spiritual. He hung on the cross taking the place of sinners and suffering in their stead what every unpardoned sinner has coming to him – the wrath of God.

But now Jesus is dead with His work completed and accomplished. He has left Calvary in triumph committing His spirit into His Father's hands. It is just His corpse that remains nailed to the tree.

Now we pick up Mark's narrative account as he explains what happened next. The body must be taken down from the cross and placed in a tomb. Joseph of Arimathea is the one who now steps forward onto the scene and this morning I want us to consider who he was, what he did and why.

May the Lord God speak to us and teach us the lessons we must learn as we observe how this man came forward to nail his colours to the mast for Jesus Christ!

A few preliminary remarks are in order to set the scene properly.

We have to do with a real historical event as we consider the crucifixion of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. We are not dealing with fictional tales and we are not dreaming dreams. The section we are considering this morning does not begin with the classic introduction to a child's fairy story "Once upon a time…" But there is a very specific time and date reference: it was when the evening had come; it was the day before the Sabbath and that particular Sabbath was an highly important one – the climax of the Passover week one of the major Jewish festivals when every adult Jewish male was expected to be present in Jerusalem.

It was some time shortly after 3pm (the Jews counted two evenings – the first began around three and the second some three hours later when the light failed).

If we could travel in a Time Machine we could go back to that day because it really occurred, the hours really unfolded, and the happenings that are recorded really did come about.

Mark has already made it plain to us that Jesus by this time had died. The centurion has been brought forward as Mark's first witness. The women have shared their testimony. Now Mark is concerned once again to make it absolutely clear that Jesus had actually died. Joseph will ask Pilate for the body but before Pilate will release the body he will take care to ascertain that it really is a corpse. Only when this confirmation is brought does he release the body for the burial that speedily follows.

Good Friday centres upon the death of the Lord Jesus Christ and that for a reason: Jesus came into this world with the express purpose of dying and that He did!

When we look at the four gospel accounts each of them speak of this man Joseph and each of them only mention him.

He was a Jew who came from the Jewish town of Arimathea. Thus the man is clearly identified and early readers of the gospels could have made their way there and checked it out. The gospel writers were not making things up as they went along and time after time added verifiable details.

In comparing the gospel accounts we find the following to be true of this man Joseph:

1.       He was rich – how many people in our country today would love to be in the position that Joseph was in. They'll try all sorts of things to be rich - in years gone by they played the pools but now they play the lottery and they scratch this or that card, or they have a flutter on the horses. Others turn themselves into workaholics always wanting more yet never being satisfied. Joseph was rich, the description of the tomb in which he laid Jesus' body backs that up and it was the tomb he was planning to use as his own!

But riches hadn't solved all of life's problems for Joseph. Even though his life as a rich man would have been comfortable and easy he knew there was more to life than this! He was looking for the Kingdom of God!

2.       He was respected – what it is to win friends and influence people! Joseph was a member of the Jewish Sanhedrin – the major Jewish parliament and the supreme court of the Jewish people. And not only was he a member of this august body he was a prominent member of it. He was a man of authority and influence. When he spoke others took note and listened.

But all this influence and respect had not enabled Joseph to transform society and to bring about heaven on earth – politics never can do that! With all his influence and authority Joseph knew that there was yet something better in store – he was eagerly looking for the Kingdom of God – something that God what do and not the fruit of a mere man's labours.

3.       He was righteous – here was a politician who was not tarnished by the squalid and murky dealings that often corrupt men who exercise power. Joseph was known as a good and a righteous man. Honour used to be greatly valued in times past in this country though it does not seem to be nearly so much valued in our day. My school motto was written in Latin but it meant "Death rather than dishonour". Dishonour and shame do still matter greatly to some cultures even today – maybe you wouldn't want to be treated as a dishonourable person, or an unrighteous person. Joseph had the reputation and not reputation alone of being good and righteous.

But being good and righteous was not sufficient for him, it wasn't enough for him. Religion to him was about far more than morality he was longing for the Kingdom of God to appear.

4.       He had been reticent to declare himself openly for Jesus prior to this momentous day. Joseph was a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ but until now a rather imperfect one. Although we are told that he hadn't consented to the Sanhedrin's condemnation of this man Jesus we read nothing about him trying to do anything about it. Perhaps he wasn't present when the council met, we can be charitable to him perhaps and assume his absence. But here was an influential man, a highly respected man, who had been cowed by just what others might think.

John writes in his gospel:

Jn.19:38 "Joseph of Arimathea… was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews"

Official Jewish hostility to Jesus was well known – exclusion from the synagogue was threatened to any who might support Jesus in too public a manner. So to avoid trouble and difficulty Joseph had allowed his appreciation of Jesus to remain hidden.

Joseph had been eagerly looking for the Kingdom of God and here was the man who was preaching all about the Kingdom, who was performing the mighty deeds that would characterise the Kingdom, who spoke in a way that no other religious leader he'd ever heard spoke. But he kept his head down! At least he did so until this first Good Friday morning!! All was about to change.

And now Jesus is dead. Joseph decides to step forward. It took courage. We've already noted that the Jewish authorities were exceedingly hostile to those who sided with Jesus – they had even talked about killing Lazarus whom Jesus had raised from the dead because his very existence encouraged others to trust in Christ! For one of their own now to publicly seek to do Jesus good was likely to be poorly viewed – Joseph was taking a risk.

Joseph was also taking a risk in speaking to Pilate. Pilate was not in a good mood. When the Jews complained about the charge written over Jesus' head he had snapped back at them – would he really look favourably upon a request from one of their number that had put him in such a difficult situation when they had forced his hand in condemning Jesus?

And yet Joseph now summons his courage and nails his colours to the mast! He wants to take the responsibility for Jesus' funeral and he will do so at his own cost, using the tomb he had prepared for his own demise.

How odd this is and in a measure how sad!

Have you ever stopped to think about this?

Why does Joseph come forward now at this particular moment in time to identify himself with Jesus when as far as he is aware all his hopes that had been focused in this man had been brought crashing to the ground? Why does he run the risks associated with openly siding with Jesus when Jesus is dead and about to be buried? His outlay of money and the use of his tomb doesn't in the slightest suggest that he was expecting Jesus to rise from the dead. What has brought about this change?

Perhaps he has been challenged and transformed as he has stood by observing the Lord Jesus as He hung upon the cross. The words the Lord spoke, the manner in which he conducted himself as the taunts and the jests continued to shower down upon Him, did these finally convince Joseph that he could no longer remain a secret follower of Christ?

Calvary can and does change people. It can change and transform your life when you come to understand just what was taking place there. Oh that each of you gathered here this morning might be brought into the open as followers of Jesus Christ as you think about the sufferings of our Lord as He hung and suffered and died in order to deal conclusively and finally with our sin and so bring us to God.

What a wonderful thing it would be if this Easter perhaps for the very first time you were to come to understand what Calvary is all about and you too were to become a disciple of Jesus Christ.

But there is also something really quite sad about it all. Why on earth did Joseph leave it so late to declare himself publicly for Jesus Christ? As far as he understood things this was the end and I suppose we might say better late than never but surely he would have done better to have served Christ while He was living rather than waiting for His death!

In the event this wasn't the end of the matter as Jesus was going to rise from the dead on the third day – but Joseph didn't act upon that conviction. Rather it seems as though Joseph was somehow shamed into coming out into the open.

And what about you? When will you decide publicly for Jesus Christ? What a tragedy that so many want to put off and put off serving Christ thinking that a later time will be more suitable! It is only in the here and now that we can serve Jesus on earth and bear witness to Him. Don't keep on putting off serious thinking about Christ think about Him now, put your trust in Him now, call out to Him now for the salvation that you need and which He so freely offers. And do so publicly!

From the very earliest times of the Christian era new believers in Jesus Christ have testified to their faith and trust in Him by responding to Him and by being baptised. Adults, fully grown adults, confessed their trust in Him by being baptised. They did what looked so extreme, so radical, so embarrassing – they were plunged completely in water symbolising the end of their old life and the beginning of their new life in Christ. The plunging into water shouted out their need of cleansing from sin and by it they signified their identification with Jesus Christ – as He was buried in the tomb so the new believer was "buried" in water. Just as He was to rise the third day they too come out of the water to live a new life of faith and trust in Him.

If you understand what it is Christ has done on the cross of Calvary and you want to follow Him don't do so as Joseph in his earlier days, in secret, do so openly. Do as He says, be baptised and openly proclaim your discipleship!

We can have all kinds of fears that hamper us from being obedient to the Lord Jesus Christ. Joseph was frightened but managed to take his courage in both hands and end his life as a secret disciple. He was ready to give his own tomb to the Saviour but quickly discovered that the Lord was only wanting it for the weekend! What joys on the resurrection morning – no embarrassment then for Joseph! He could meet the risen Lord without the regret of "if only" because he had openly followed even when he thought it was over.

My friends don't waste your life as a secret admirer or a secret follower of Jesus Christ. Follow Him wholeheartedly and take Him seriously. Others may mock and others may reject you but the joy of the Lord will be your strength.

Remember that whoever trusts in the Lord Jesus Christ will never be put to shame (Rom.9:33). Remember that our salvation is totally bound up with our response to the Saviour:

Rom.10:9 "if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."

Remember that Jesus said:

Mt.10:32 "everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven,"

But don't forget that the same Jesus went on to say

Mt.10:33 "whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven."

What an immense privilege to be able to call upon the name of the Lord and be saved because He died for our sins! What a privilege to be able to acknowledge Him before men! Let us not hesitate to live our lives as open and honest disciples of the man who was crucified but who didn't stay dead but rose the third day.

May God help us all. Amen.