One Man’s Courage
Notes
Transcript
Now there was a Council member named Joseph, a good and righteous man,
who had not consented to their decision or action. He was from the Judean town of Arimathea, and was waiting for the kingdom of God.
He went to Pilate to ask for the body of Jesus.
Then he took it down, wrapped it in a linen cloth, and placed it in a tomb cut into the rock, where no one had yet been laid.
It was Preparation Day, and the Sabbath was beginning.
The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed, and they saw the tomb and how His body was placed.
Then they returned to prepare spices and perfumes. And they rested on the Sabbath, according to the commandment.
Before we dive into the passage I want to share a short story with you.
“The evangelist Billy Sunday use to tell of a professing Christian who got a job in a lumber camp that had a reputation for being very ungodly.
When the man’s friend heard he had been hired he said to him, ‘If those lumberjacks ever find out you’re a Christian, you’re going to be in for a hard time.’
The man responded, ‘I know, but I need the job!’
The next morning he left for camp.
A year later, he came home for a visit.
While in town, he met his friend who asked, ‘Well, how did it go? Did they give you a hard time because you’re a Christian?’
‘Oh no, not at all,’ the man replied. ‘They didn’t give me a bit of trouble – they never even found out.”
That would be really funny it weren’t so close to home…
One of my favorite questions to ask is this: if you were put on trial for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to support a conviction?
I believe that one of the things most lacking in America today is moral courage, the courage to do right even if you have to stand alone.
Some writers have dubbed this age the “post-Christian era.”
In this age that insists on political correctness, moral relativism, or freedom from morality, at least a portion of the lost world has already written us off as inconsequential.
Robert Kennedy has said, “Few men are willing to brave the disapproval of their fellows, the censure of colleagues, the wrath of their society. Moral courage is a rarer commodity than bravery in battle or great intelligence, yet it is the one essential, vital quality for those who seek to change the world, …. I believe that in this generation those with the courage to enter the moral conflict will find themselves with companions in every corner of the world.”
Today, we meet such a man, Joseph of Arimathea.
He demonstrated courage at a time when it was not easy to do so.
Here was a man with the courage to step-out and be counted for Christ when Jesus’ twelve disciples were too confused and frightened to leave the safety of a locked room.
Joseph stood up when just about everyone else either sat down or ran away.
Turn with me now to the book of Luke, Chapter 23, starting with verse 50.
Now there was a Council member named Joseph, a good and righteous man,
who had not consented to their decision or action. He was from the Judean town of Arimathea, and was waiting for the kingdom of God.
He went to Pilate to ask for the body of Jesus.
Then he took it down, wrapped it in a linen cloth, and placed it in a tomb cut into the rock, where no one had yet been laid.
It was Preparation Day, and the Sabbath was beginning.
Who was this man Joseph of Arimathea?
Its rare that all four Gospel accounts talk about one particular person outside of the 12.
Joseph is one of the exceptions.
All four Gospels (Matt 27:57-60, Mark 15:43-46, John 19:38-42, and here in Luke 23:50-56) tell of this man who stepped forward to bury the body of Jesus.
We are told that he was a council member, that he was a member of the Sanhedrin, the supreme court of the Jewish people if you will.
We are also told that he did not agree with the decision reached by the council concerning Jesus.
This can mean he disagreed by not attending, or that he was there but did not vote, or that the council had not informed him because they knew how he would vote.
This point is not as important as what follows.
We are told that he was a “good and just man” and as Herbert Lockyer says in his book “All the Men of the Bible,” “the Bible never uses words unnecessarily, therefore there must be a distinction between ‘good’ and ‘just’.”
When it says that he was a “good” man it speaks of what he was in himself.
Being a “just” man speaks of what he was to others.
His “just” dealings were just the outward expression of his inner goodness.
But before we examine the courage of Joseph, we need to accept a few basic facts.
According to John’s account (John 19:38) while Joseph of Arimathea, was “a disciple of Jesus,” he was a secretly one, “for fear of the Jews.”
Afterward, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus (but secretly for fear of the Jews), asked Pilate to let him remove the body of Jesus. Pilate gave him permission, so he came and removed His body.
He allowed his fear to keep him from making his decision about Jesus to be made public.
His fear had caused Joseph not to take a bold stand for Christ even though he knew that his heart was telling him to do so.
What he did, was try to live a secret life for Christ and do things for him without anyone knowing.
This didn’t work too well for him, and it will not work well for us.
What kind of fear was this that kept Joseph a secret disciple?
Was it fear for his life?
For his family?
For his position?
It’s not always easy to step up against the authorities. Let me illustrate:
“During his years as premier of the Soviet Union, Nikita Khrushchev, denounced many of the policies and atrocities of his predecessor, Joseph Stalin.
Once, as he reproached Stalin in a public meeting, Khrushchev was interrupted by a shout from a heckler, in the audience who said, “You were one of Stalin’s colleagues. Why didn’t you stop him?”
“Who said that?” roared Khrushchev.
An agonizing silence followed as nobody in the room dared move a muscle.
Then Khrushchev, replied quietly, “Now you know why.”
…
When you hold a position of leadership, there are things you can and can’t say.
Actions that you can perform, and some you would only dream of.
Ohh, you can do and say those things, but it will cost you.
So for a while, Joseph remained a “secret’ disciple.
It is as if he is on the proverbial fence trying to keep a foot on each side.
In Luke 16:13 Jesus had taught,
No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
But who among us not tried to do that very thing? – and we have seen that it does not work out.
If there has ever been a time that you should have taken a stand for Christ but instead just blended in with everyone else, take encouragement from the story of Joseph of Arimathea.
Even if you have given up on Jesus, He has never given up on you.
Even if you have been a secret disciple in the past, God can still use you if you will just recognize a few simple truths.
1st Point:
Faith will demand us to take a stand
Mark, in his account (14:43), emphasizes that Joseph exhibited “great courage” in going before Pilate to request the body of Jesus.
What Joseph did in going to Pilate and requesting the body of Jesus took courage for several reasons:
First, it took courage because under Roman law those condemned to death had lost the right to be buried.
They were either left for the birds to consume or they were taken down and thrown where the city’s garbage was disposed of.
Secondly, it took courage because Pilate was already rather put out with the Jewish religious leadership.
They had brought Jesus to him on trumped up charges and had insisted that he find Jesus guilty and condemn him to death.
When Pilate resisted they all but threatened to complain to Rome saying, John 19:12
From then on, Pilate tried to release Him, but the Jews kept shouting, “If you release this man, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who declares himself a king is defying Caesar.”
Joseph had no right to expect that Pilate would be receptive to his request for the body of Jesus.
He had no right to the body and he had no right to expect any favors from Pilate. But yet he went.
Third, it took courage to request the body of Jesus because in so doing he was declaring that he was a believer in Jesus Christ.
Is it time for you to step up or step out?
Is it time to stand up for Christ in your home, amongst your family, at work, at school, in your social groups, what about the place where you are now sitting?
What is the Holy Spirit revealing to you right now?
…
Where and when in your life have you tried to be a secret Christian?
2nd Point:
Faith will demand that we pay a price
I don’t think that we today can imagine the price that Joseph paid by going to Pilate to ask for the body of Jesus.
Let’s look first at the price to his personal dignity.
It is hard to humble himself to such an extent.
In our text in verse fifty-two when it says he “asked for the body of Jesus” the Greek would is aitao (E-A-Show) and be translated “begged.”
The implication here is that Pilate made Joseph beg and plead for the body of Jesus.
Imagine the humiliation Joseph had to endure to even get permission to obtain the body of Jesus.
What price did he pay to his social status?
Contemplate the price his family and friends had to pay because of his actions.
How is he to explain to Pilate why he wants the body?
How can he, as a member of the group who demanded Jesus’ death, now justify wanting to give him a decent burial without admitting that he was follower of Jesus?
Joseph would have known that the news would spread fast that he had gone to Pilate and it would soon reach the Sanhedrin.
He had every reason to expect that as soon as this was known, he could lose his social standing, his status, in fact he could lose everything he had.
It is not hard to imagine they voted Joseph out of the Council, excluded him from any position of religious or social influence, and did every thing they could to ruin his reputation in Jerusalem.
By this one action he was excluded from social gatherings, no longer invited to go fishing with the guys, probably even had his seat at the temple given to someone else.
What a price to pay!
What I think is even more amazing about this story is that he is making all of these sacrifices for a man who is dead and as far as he knows, will stay that way.
What a remarkable commitment!
What price did he pay to his personal finances?
There was certainly a financial cost to Joseph.
He has given up his personal tomb, a very expensive thing to do.
Remember, he is not expecting it to be vacated in a mere three days.
He could have provided a cheaper tomb outside of the city, but he gave Jesus his best.
He also bought the linens and spices to care for the body of Jesus in the best way possible.
This leads me to a question:
Are you giving your best to Jesus or are you giving the best out of your left overs?
How did Pilate answer this request? Mark 15:44-45
Pilate was surprised to hear that Jesus was already dead, so he summoned the centurion to ask if this was so. When Pilate had confirmed it with the centurion, he granted the body to Joseph.
Crucifixion could go on for days.
So sometimes, to hasten death, they would break the legs of the person on the cross so they would suffocate.
Don’t forget that you had to push up on the nail driven through your foot so your ribcage could expand and allow your lungs to inflate with air.
You would then slump back down as the pain coursed through your body only to have to repeat this process over and over.
Crucifixition is a horrible and painful way to die.
Faith does not always demand that we stand alone
When verse fifty-three says, “He took it down” it cannot mean that Joseph took the body of Jesus down from the cross by himself.
Taking a lifeless body down from a cross is no one-man job.
He had helpers.
At least one of those who helped Joseph seemed to be Nicodemus, another member of the Sanhedrin and another secret disciple John 19:39-42.
Nicodemus, who had previously come to Jesus at night, also brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds.
So they took the body of Jesus and wrapped it in linen cloths with the spices, according to the Jewish burial custom.
Now there was a garden in the place where Jesus was crucified, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid.
And because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and the tomb was nearby, they placed Jesus there.
I want to suggest to you that two hesitant followers of Jesus came together and the result is that they gained the courage to go public with their faith.
Joseph and Nicodemus took the body of Jesus from the cross and prepared it for burial.
John tells us in his account (19:39), brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes weighting about 100 lbs.
The only time that anyone got anointed with 100 lbs of this stuff was when they were royalty.
These two dear men were saying to the world, you may not accept Him as king but He is!
Why did Joseph, and why did Nicodemus for that matter, step forward now?
Why did they finally come “out of the closet” after keeping their beliefs to themselves for so long?
Why, now, after all, Jesus is already dead?
The answer, at least to me, is that faith required it of them in these circumstances.
Is Jesus asking for more of you?
Is he asking you to go beyond just coming to church?
Is he asking you to step outside your comfort zone and be bold?
Faith will demand that we sacrifice our religion for a relationship
Joseph was a good man, a religious man, a man very involved in the work of his religion.
But, in order to bury the body of Jesus, he will defile himself ceremonially by touching a dead body (Numbers 9:6, 19:11-12).
Look at what scriptures say about being unclean:
But there were some men who were unclean due to a dead body, so they could not observe the Passover on that day. And they came before Moses and Aaron that same day
Now in Chapter 19:
Whoever touches any dead body will be unclean for seven days.
He must purify himself with the water on the third day and on the seventh day; then he will be clean. But if he does not purify himself on the third and seventh days, he will not be clean.
On the very eve of the most important religious celebration of the year, this act will make it impossible for him to participate.
Both Joseph and Nicodemus felt that it was more important to give Jesus a proper burial than to remain ceremonially clean so that they could participate in the Passover.
They let go of their rituals and laid hold on Christ who was and is the true Passover Lamb.
I wonder this morning if your religion sits between you and a real relationship with Jesus Christ.
By religion I mean anything you do or don’t do that you think makes you right with God.
Religious people take pride in what they do and don’t do, but they often ignore the sins of the heart such as pride.
They put on a good front at church, but frankly their actions stink.
At home they are angry and hard to get along with, at work they are judgmental and harsh.
My final question is this:
Is it time give up on religious rituals and step up to a relationship?
Conclusion
If in the past you have been a secret disciple let me encourage you today to step out and make yourself known.
1. Come now and ask about receiving Jesus as your personal savior.
2. Come now and speak up; come before these people and acknowledge that you have accepted Christ.
There will be no secret disciples in Heaven.
Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father in heaven.
But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father in heaven.
3. Step Up and be Counted.
“The Prussian king Frederick the Great was widely known as an agnostic. By contrast, General Von Zealand, one of his most trusted officers, was a devout Christian.
Thus it was that during a festive gathering the king began making crude jokes about Christ until everyone was rocking with laughter—all but Von Zealand, that is. Finally, he arose and addressed the king:
“Sire, you know I have not feared death. I have fought and won 38 battles for you.
I am an old man; I shall soon have to go into the presence of One greater than you, the mighty God who saved me from my sin, the Lord Jesus Christ whom you are blaspheming.
I salute you, sire, as an old man who loves his Savior, on the edge of eternity.”
The place went silent, and with a trembling voice the king replied, “General Von Zealand—I beg your pardon! I beg your pardon!” And with that the party quietly ended.”
Today I lay before you a choice.
You either accept the Lord Jesus Christ as your savior, or you reject him.
No more secret Christians.
Perhaps today the Holy Spirit has shown you where you have hid in the past.
Today can mark a pivotal moment in your walk with the Lord.
I want to pray with you today, if you need individual prayer I ask that you come find me.
If you need the strength to no longer be secret in your faith, I implore you come to these alters.
If you need someone to come with you, take them by the hand.
I don’t want anymore secret Christians to live here.
Let’s be bold about our faith.
These altars are open and the decision is yours.
