Joseph of Arimathea

“ Pilate almost set Him free, holding Him to be a mere enthusiast who placed His hopes only in the Divine intervention. Joseph of Arimathea, however, succeeded in averting this danger. "Even on the cross lesus seems to have continued to hope for the Divine intervention, as is evidenced by the cry, 'My God! My God! why hast thou forsaken me?'" Joseph of Arimathea provided for His burial.
The belief in His resurrection rests upon the visions of the disciples, which are to be explained by their intense desire for the Parousia, of which He had given them the promise. ”

“ Others make him to have preached the gospel in what is now France, and that St. Joseph was one of his companions. A better supported tradition has it that St. Joseph, with St. Lazarus and his two holy sisters, Martha and Mary, landed at Marseilles from Judea. Anyhow, here comes St. Joseph of Arimathea to Britain, with a faithful band of eleven disciples. He has reached the distant region of tin-mines which the old Phoenicians had discovered and worked in Cornwall, Scilly, and, perhaps, the Mendip Hills. He is come not for precious metals, but to bring the priceless word of life. ”

“ A voice orders out of the room him who has not been a companion of the Quest, and straightway King Pelles and Eliezer and the damsel depart. From heaven comes a man clad like a Bishop and borne in a chair by four [32] angels, who place him before the table upon which stands the Holy Grail. Upon his forehead is written that he was Joseph (son of Joseph of Arimathea) first Bishop of of Christendom, whereat they wonder, as they know that man lived three hundred years before. ”

“ There were seventy of those men, but we have very good reason to believe that there were two of them that, like Caleb and Joshua of old, had the courage to stand up for Jesus Christ—these were Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus: neither of them gave their consent to the death of Christ. But I am afraid Joseph did not come out and say that he was a disciple—for we do not find a word said about his being one until after the crucifixion.
I am afraid there are
MANY JOSEPHS TODAY, men of position, of whom it could be said they are secret disciples. ”

“ A man known as Joseph of Arimathea, who was at heart a disciple of Christ, but who had hesitated to openly confess his conversion through fear of the Jews, desired to give the Lord's body a decent and honorable interment. But for some such divinely directed intervention, the body of Jesus might have been cast into the common grave of executed criminals. ”

“ One of these is called “Joseph of Arimathea.” We know nothing about him before this. His name was never mentioned before, and after this it is never mentioned again in the Scriptures. What we are told about him is, that he was a rich man—an honorable counsellor, or a member of the Jewish Sanhedrim: he was a just and good man—a disciple of Jesus—but had kept his thoughts and feelings on this subject to himself, because he was afraid of the Jews. And with him came Nicodemus—of whom we read in the third chapter of St. ”

“ And they reported to the elders and the priests and the Levites: We have gone round to every district of Israel, and have not found Jesus; but Joseph we have found in Arimathea. And hearing about Joseph they were glad and gave glory to the God of Israel. And the rulers of the synagogue, and the priests and the Levites, having held a council as to the manner in which they should meet with Joseph, took a piece of paper and wrote to Joseph as follows:
Peace to thee! We know that we have sinned against God, and against thee ”

“ The sun won't give way an hour to the moon nor the moon an hour to the sun because thou'rt going to Arimathea. And methinks, Joseph, that to some the morrow is always better than to-day, and yesterday better than either,—a remark that puzzled Joseph and kept him from his rest. Didst never hear, Joseph, that it is a clever chicken that crows in the egg? the old woman continued, and who knows but Azariah will forget to come for thee! He won't forget, Granny, Joseph uttered in so doleful a tone that Rachel repented and promised Joseph she would wake him in time ”

“ Perhaps the phrase “noble councillor” is intended to imply merely a man of wealth and position. Again Matthew says that Joseph was a disciple, while Mark implies that he was not yet among the definite adherents of Christ, and John describes him as an adherent “secretly for fear of the Jews.” Most likely he was a disciple, but belonged only to the wider circle of adherents. The account given in the Fourth Gospel suggests that the writer, faced with these various difficulties, assumed a double tradition: (1) that Joseph of Arimathaea, a wealthy disciple, buried the body of Christ ”

“ In the progress of the mind in wisdom, one must serve before he can rule, and he must be tried before he can be confirmed in goodness. Of this, Joseph, when in Egypt, had his full share. Our Lord Himself, we have seen, passed through severe trial and temptation, and these were so great that those which Joseph endured but faintly represented them. In some of the prophecies our Lord's sufferings are described symbolically by the very things that Joseph suffered. In the 53rd of Isaiah, where the Lord's great trials are described, it is said, "He was taken from prison and from judgment." ”

“ According to Roger of Wendover in his Flores historiarum under the year 1228, an Armenian archbishop, then visiting England, was asked by the monks of St Albans about the well-known Joseph of Arimathaea, who had spoken to Jesus and was said to be still alive. ”

“ But Joseph not only explained the dream, and thus gave from God premonition that was of the greatest value, not for the benefit of Egypt only, but of all surrounding countries, but he advised Pharaoh to turn the dream to good account, by saving during the seven plenteous years, to meet the necessities of the seven years of scarcity. He counselled him to look out a man discreet and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt, and appoint officers under him, to gather the fifth part of the food of the plenteous years, and lay up corn and keep food in the cities against the seven years of famine. ”

“ And they said unto him: "Nay, my lord, but to buy food are thy servants come. We are all one man's sons; we are true men, thy servants are no spies." And he said unto them: "Nay, but to see the nakedness of the land ye are come." And they said: "Thy servants are twelve brethren, sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and, behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is not." And Joseph said unto them: "That is it that I spake unto you, saying, 'Ye are spies:' hereby ye shall be proved: by the life of Pharaoh ye shall not go forth hence, except your youngest brother come hither. ”

“ The first thing that must strike every one on reading this mysterious language is, that Joseph was a type of the Lord Jesus; who is truly the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel. Jesus is He of whom every child learns to say, "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want: He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me by the still waters: He restoreth my soul. He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake." Jesus Himself said, "I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep." ”

“ What has been said of the overruling power of God, whereby he converts the venom of lying tongues into a healing medicine, will more fully appear from the following instances. Joseph would never have been exalted to the dignity of ruler over the land of Egypt, had he not fallen under the malicious lashes of a wanton tongue, and thereby been condemned to prison. Gen. 39:17; 41:40. Had Moses not been persecuted by the violent accusations of his enemies, and obliged to flee from the face of Pharaoh (Exod. 2:15) , he had never seen the Lord in the bush, after having led Jethro's flock to Horeb. ”

“ Over this fertile, favored, and civilized nation Joseph reigned,--with delegated power indeed, but with power that was absolute,--when his starving brothers came to Egypt to buy corn, for the famine extended probably over western Asia. He is to be viewed, not as a prophet, or preacher, or reformer, or even a warrior like Moses, but as a merely executive ruler. As the son-in-law of the high-priest of Hieropolis, and delegated governor of the land, in the highest favor with the King, and himself a priest, it is probable that Joseph was initiated into the esoteric wisdom of the priesthood. ”

“ We have, indeed, many and great advantages over those who lived in Joseph's times. Not only have we the Gospel, but we have the example, of our blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; and we have Him present with us always, to strengthen and lead us to do as He Himself did. If, then, Joseph was willing and able to resist a strong temptation to commit a great sin, how much more should we resist who have the sword of the Spirit of Jesus, and the shield of His faith! ”

“ His eyes beam with a light, calm and pure, as if shining from interior holy thoughts, and they rest upon you, when he speaks, with a tenderness that is like the dewy light of the young mother's gaze, when she bends in silent happiness and tears over the face of her first-born. His face is one soft sunshine of smiling rays, [Pg 13] tempered in an indescribable manner with a settled look of sadness, an almost imperceptible shade of permanent sorrow, that seems to foreshadow a life of trial and suffering.'
"'He must be another prophet,' said Joseph, with deep earnestness. ”

“ The present course and sufferings of Joseph were the means by which Providence was to work out a higher place and name than he had enjoyed in the house of Potiphar, captain of the guard.
Again abandoned and cast into the lowest depths of misery, even for his virtues' sake, Joseph is not left without succour. He, without whom a sparrow falls not to the ground, allows not this faithful one to fall without a purpose, nor to suffer without His care. "The Lord was with Joseph, and shewed him mercy, and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison." ”

“ Joseph was more of a prophet than a politician, else he would have kept this to himself, when he could not but know that his brethren did already hate him, and that this would but the more exasperate them. But if he told it in his simplicity, yet God directed it for the mortification of his brethren. Observe, Joseph dreamed of his preferment, but did not dream of his imprisonment. Thus many young people, when they are setting out in the world, think of nothing but prosperity and pleasure, and never dream of trouble. ”

“ Moreover he was a strict professor of the sect of the Pharisees, which of all others amongst the Jews, was the severest and most magisterial; and the professors thereof, generally great applauders of themselves for their sanctity, despising and censuring all others as reprobates, and unworthy of their society, and presuming (as Josephus writes) to govern even princes themselves. With the fiery genius of this sect, our apostle was too deeply infected, which made him a most zealous persecuter of the Saints ”

“ The Wisdom of Divine Providence is clearly to be seen in this story of Joseph’s abasement and exaltation. What were Almighty God’s intentions about Joseph ? He had signified by the dreams which Joseph had dreamt as a boy, that he would one day be a great lord, and that his brethren would bow down before him. Man did everything possible to hinder this exaltation. His brothers sold him as a slave on account of those very dreams. The merchants took him far away; Putiphar had him cast into prison like a criminal ”

“ It is clear that Joseph's arrival did not fall, like Abraham's, into the period of the Old Empire, since under Joseph horses and chariots are in use, as well as wagons or carts, all of which were unknown till after the Hyksôs invasion. It is also more natural that Joseph, a foreigner, should have been advanced by a foreign king than by a native one, and the favour shown to his brethren, who were shepherds (Gen. xlvi. 32) , is consonant at any rate with the tradition that it was a "Shepherd King" who held the throne at the time of their arrival. ”

“ Joseph, son of David, fear not to take Mary as thy wife: for she has conceived of the Holy Spirit; and she will bring forth a son, whose name shall be called Jesus. He it is who shall rule all nations with a rod of iron. Having thus spoken, the angel departed from him. And Joseph rose from his sleep, and did as the angel of the Lord had said to him; and Mary abode with him. ”

“ In the beautiful child lies the germ of the future greatness and god-like nature of the Redeemer: as yet it slumbers dimly, but is wonderfully expressed in the prophetic beaming of the eye. Joseph appears a plain simple man, in the full vigour of middle age, betraying dignity of character though not of station:—the landscape is wild and original, and cherubs’ heads peep sweetly forth out of the dark clouds. ”

“ After Joseph, like his intelligent fellow-mortals, had been consigned to his "narrow house," a young man, in the parish of Orton, composed the following elegy to his memory:—
"Beneath this lowly, grass-encircled spot,
Lie the remains of Joseph of the Knot.
Death, grisly tyrant, no distinction shows
'Twixt him who all, and him who nothing knows.
Yes, ye! ye mighty sons of boasted wit!
All—all, like Joseph, must to death submit. ”