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. 39 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.
John 19:38-39
Many of us have read about the awful - horrific way Jesus died. He was beaten, whipped, publicly humiliated, tortured and finally hung on a cross to die; to die for our sins.
But what is amazing is what happens immediately after his death.
We often see the heartbreaking image of the Pieta - Mary holding Jesus' lifeless body in her arms - but what we don't think much about is those who took his body away. The ones who cared for his body after his death and before his resurrection.
Two men - Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus - asked Pilate for Jesus' body. This was the act of two friends who loved Jesus and wanted to honor his life by caring for his body. They didn't know that Jesus would rise only three days later. They only knew that their grief and their love for Jesus propelled them to face the hatred of their fellow Jewish leaders by caring for their friend.
Jesus had entered Jerusalem only five short days earlier with the heralding of a king and now his body was bloody, tortured and lifeless. These men risked their own personal safety and future security by asking Pilate for Jesus' body and by placing him in this honored tomb.
They couldn't protect their friend in his final hours so they chose to honor him in his death with a proper burial.
They honored the love they had for Jesus by simply giving of themselves with little regard to what others thought of their actions.
How often do we allow others' opinions influence our decisions?
We allow marketing to dictate what soda we like or what gadget we want next.
We allow friends at school or work to determine where we will sit in the cafeteria or what (or about whom) our conversation will be. We so often allow other people's opinions to dictate the courses our lives will take that we can sometimes wonder if we are following our own path or someone else's.
It isn't always easy to go against the crowd.
Only a few of Jesus' closest friends stood by his side through to his death. Joseph of Arimethia and Nicodemus stood in the shadows and allowed Jesus' death to happen with their inability to stand up to the Jewish leadership. But yet, they didn't allow this error in judgement - this betrayal of their friend - to determine the course of their lives. They chose to follow their hearts. They chose a much harder path by honoring Jesus. But they did so knowing it was the right thing to do.
Just because you make a "bad choice" by following the lead of a friend doesn't mean you need to continue to follow those friends down a pathway of bad choices. You have the heart within you to be a person who stands up for justice and for what is right in the light of God's love.
If you have made a bad choice - turn away from that choice and get on God's path to righteousness and love. He will honor your right choices.
Even when you feel like you might be all alone - He will honor those choices by surrounding you with His presence and His love...and He might even send you a friend like he sent Nicodemus to Joseph.
It is always easier to stand tall as two rather than one.
Seek out friends who will help you to make the kind of choices that bring JOY to Jesus rather than sorrow to your Savior.
Scripture
Quote
Wisdom is knowing what to do next; virtue is doing it.
David Star Jordan, The Philosophy of Despair
Question
What choice can you make today - which is a right choice for God?
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