Matthew 27:57-60a – “When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who also was a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud and laid it in his own new tomb which he had cut in the rock.”
Every week we celebrate the body and blood of Jesus Christ in a sacrament called “communion” or “the Lord’s supper.” This ceremony of remembering Jesus’ death on the cross has been celebrated by Christians for over 2,000 years in a variety of ways. This meal of remembrance started as an actual meal called the Passover meal and there is evidence that in the early church this tradition continued (I Corinthians 11:20-22) as a fellowship meal that eventually came to be known in the church as “love feasts” (Jude 1:12). Over the years, most Christian traditions started including it as a part of the corporate worship experience with a variety of ways to partake.
Some use real bread and a common cup. Others dip bread into the cup (this is called “intinction” which has nothing to do with this chapter, but I like the word). Still others pass trays with anything from broken pie crust, to matza crackers (since they are unleavened like the Passover bread would have been) or whatever form of bread is most convenient. Our church’s tradition now celebrates this important rite with tiny cracker squares and small cups of grape juice that every member can easily hold. In fact, a few years back we made the passing of the emblems a little easier by stacking two tiny cups – one with the small cracker and the other with the juice. As the trays are passed, each Christ follower can easily take the cups and hold them until we take communion together as a church family. Normally, I remove the cracker to hold in my hand and this practice led to a very unique communion experience that will get us to our verse for today.
One particular Sunday, I tipped the cup to retrieve the cracker, but it was stuck to the bottom of the cup. Somehow, the juice from the top cup had spilled into the bread cup, making it just soggy enough to adhere to the cup. I stuck my finger in the cup and that’s when I noticed something that made communion very real for me. Without being gross, I noticed that the consistency, feel, and look of the soggy, square piece of cracker in my hand seemed like a piece of skin. In that moment, the bread that clung to my finger like a callous or a blister made the body of Christ come alive to me in a way that I had never experienced. It was as if I was actually getting ready to partake of the body of Christ that was broken for me on a cross all those years ago. And as I meditated on the reality of our Lord’s sacrifice, my mind drifted to the man in our scripture from today, Joseph.
As far as I can tell, there are only two people who actually held the broken body of Jesus following his grisly crucifixion. There are famous paintings and movie scenes that picture Jesus’ mother, Mary, holding Jesus’ dead body beneath the cross as only a mother would do, but there is no biblical evidence that this took place. However, all the gospels mention a man named Joseph of Arimathea who requested the dead body of Jesus from the governor, Pontius Pilate. Most often, the bodies of criminals who were crucified by Rome were thrown into a common grave—piled onto the bodies of those previously executed. But history tells us of this man, unknown until this point of the Jesus story, who was granted permission to take possession of the deceased Jesus. He and his friend Nicodemus actually handled and cared for the broken body of Jesus.
I would encourage you to read all the gospel accounts of Jesus’ burial to learn more about this obscure man named Joseph. Along with today’s verses, you can find Joseph’s story in Mark 15:42-46, Luke 23:50-54, and John 19:38-42. Though we never hear of him again in Scripture, we can put together a pretty complete picture of this man through these accounts. He was from an as-yet undiscovered town of Arimathea. Up to this point, he was a secret follower of Jesus because he was a member of the ruling Jewish council known as the Sanhedrin. Luke tells us that he was a good and righteous man. John tells us that his fellow Pharisee Nicodemus (you remember him from John 3) helped him prepare the body for burial. And we know that Joseph placed Jesus in his own, brand-new tomb that was in a garden not far from the scene of the cross.
All of this was risky in three ways for a man like Joseph. The first risk was in requesting Jesus’ body from the Roman governor. Most of Jesus’ followers had scattered when he was arrested, fearing that association with Jesus would mean death for them as well. But Joseph boldly reveals his allegiance to Jesus with his request. The second risk for this man was his reputation among the other Jewish leaders who had condemned Jesus to death. In essence, Joseph put his religious position in peril in order to minister to Jesus as he did. The third risk was being ceremonially unclean because of his contact with a dead body. This disqualified him from all Passover festival participation. Joseph traded the celebration of the year for the menial work of burying the Savior.
As severe as these penalties were, Joseph valued Jesus over the potential consequences and sacrifices. This is an example of someone who willingly used his wealth and position to serve Christ. This obscure Bible character is an example for us and is someone that we should prayerfully emulate today. What would you willingly risk because you value Jesus more? Unfortunately, this one act of devotion is the only thing we know about Joseph. He is never mentioned in Scripture again. But we can imagine that he was there on the first day of the church in Acts 2 and joyfully celebrated many communion meals with his fellow believers. And while others remembered Christ by holding the bread in their hands, Joseph remembered what the body of Christ actually felt like as he tenderly prepared him and placed him in the tomb. It was a valuable experience that he would never forget.