OPEN SECRET (JOHN 19:38-42)
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Fourth century church theologian Augustine told of a Victorinus (a renowned philosopher and teacher in Rome who was even honored with a statue in the Roman forum) who was converted to Christianity in his old age. He came to Simplicius, one eminent at the time for his piety, whispering in his ear softly, these words: “I am a Christian.” The godly man answered, “I will not believe it, nor count thee so, till I see you among the Christians in the church.”
Victorinus laughed and said, “Cannot I be such, unless I openly proclaim it, and let the world know the same?” On another occasion, he says, “Is it the walls of a church, then, that make people Christians?” This he said for fear, being yet a young convert, though an old man.
A while after, when he was confirmed in the faith, he changed his note, and came to Simplicius saying, “Let us go to the church, I will in no wise earnest be a Christian.” When Victorinus was baptized, the presbyters of the church told him that he could make the profession privately, because of his age and dignity but he chose to do it openly, saying, “I had openly professed rhetoric, which was not a matter of salvation, and should I be afraid to own the word of God in the congregation of the faithful?” (The Book of Illustrations, Henry George Slater, page 98).
When Jesus was crucified, all the disciples forsook him, and fled (Matt 26:56,
Mark 14:50). In Luke’s version the women stood helplessly from a distance watching the events unfolding (Luke 23:49, Mark 15:40, Matt 27:55). Everyone feared for the worst for Jesus’ body.
But a surprising and spectacular thing happened. Two unlikely men the disciples hardly knew obtained the body of Jesus and buried Jesus in the garden. The ladies followed the men, and saw the tomb and how His body was laid. They then returned and prepared spices and perfumes. (Luke 23:55-56)
What kind of a disciple are you when faced with adversity or adversaries? How have you demonstrated your faithfulness to God and others? Why is it important for us to be unashamed of the Lord and the gospel?
Conjure the Courage (The Person, with your mouth)
38 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.
Two young men came to New York City from the country on a visit. They went to the same boarding-house to stay and took a room together. Well, when they came to go to bed each felt ashamed to go down on his knees before his companion first. So they sat watching each other. In fact, to express the situation in one word, they were both cowards—yes, cowards! But at last one of them mustered up a little courage, and with burning blushes, as if he were about to do something wrong and wicked, he sunk down on his knees to say his prayers. As soon as the second saw that, he also knelt. And then, after they had said their prayers, each waited for the other to get up. When they did manage to get up one said to the other: “I really am glad to see that you knelt; I was afraid of you.” “Well,” said the other, “and I was afraid of you.”
The Church of Jerusalem and the Christians of the Holy Land commemorate Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus each year on 31 August. The Romans could deny the families of criminals the right to bury their dead, allowing them to decompose for several days on the cross as an example to other “law breakers”. http://worshippingchristian.org/burial_of_jesus.html
Also, the bodies of those who are punished for high treason are singled out for the worst treatment. Avaricious governors sometimes sold this privilege …For the bodies of the beheaded shall be thrown to the beasts. If this is grievous to parents, they may buy the liberty of burial” (Vincent, Marvin R. DD. “Commentary on John 19:38,” Vincent's Word Studies in the New Testament).
Joseph had everything in life going for him. He was rich (Matt 27:57), honorable (Mark 15:43), a good and just man (Luke 23:50), who waited for the kingdom of God. (Mark 15:43, Luke 23:51), and most of all, a disciple (Matt 27:57, v 38). He was also a counselor, or a member of the Sanhedrin (Mark 15:43).
Joseph was a cryptic (krupto), closeted and cowardly disciple. That was the past. In the death of Jesus something stirred in him, which was courage, conviction and commitment. Mark 15:43 used the word “boldly” to describe his actions. This verb occurs five times in the gospels, three times with the negation “none” (oudeis) and once with “not ever after” (ouketi) and once only in the positive (“boldly”) as in Joseph’s case:
And no one dared to ask him any more questions. (Luke 20:40, Matt 22:46, Mark 12:34)
None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. (John 21:12)
The way Joseph “asked” (v 38) for the body of Jesus is contrasted in the three gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke to the people who “asked” for the release of Barabbas (Matt 27:20, Mark 15:8, Luke 23:25).
After hiding his faith for so long, Joseph was no longer a coward, a child, or a chicken, in English slang. He could not hide his identity, his inclination and involvement. He was a believer and not a bystander, a follower and not a fan, a disciple and a doer and a defender of the faith. It was now or never, speak up or shut up, stick your neck out or retreat into your shell.
What did Joseph intend to do? His purpose was to take (v 38) the body of Jesus by himself, not have others do it. He had run out of help because of the fear of the Jews. The noun “fear of the Jews” looks large in John’s gospel, occurring three times in John (John 7:13, 19:38, 20:19), a phrase not found in other gospels. Before Jesus’ death, no man spoke openly of him for fear of the Jews (John 7:13), and after His death the disciples met behind closed doors for fear of the Jews (John 20:19). People were afraid of the Jews before and after Jesus’ death.
How did the Jews threaten, terrorize and treat Jesus and seekers? The three things most associated with the Jews was they persecuted Jesus, and sought to slay him (John 5:16, 18, 7:1), kicked believers out of the synagogue ( John 9:22) and to stone Jesus (John 10:31, 33). It is not an easy faith to follow. The verb is not just take (v 38), but take away or take up (John 5:8, 11:39) elsewhere in John (KJV), with all its responsibilities, risks and results. Joseph knew better than to involve other people when dealing with Pilate, a mean, murderous, cruel, bloodthirsty politician who had mingled Galileans with their sacrifices (Luke 13:1).
Count the Cost (The Price, with your money)
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. 40 Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs.
William Barclay once said that a man cannot be a secret disciple for long either the secrecy destroys the discipleship or the discipleship will destroy the secrecy.
A Quaker had a bundle of hides stolen from his warehouse. He wondered what steps he should take to prevent a repetition of such an act. Instead of putting the machinery of the law in motion, he placed the following ad in the newspapers: “Whoever stole a quantity of hides on the 5th of this month is hereby informed that the owner has a sincere wish to be his friend. If poverty tempted him to take this step, the owner will keep the whole transaction secret and will gladly help him to obtain money by means more likely to bring him peace of mind.”
A few nights later, when the family was about to retire to rest, a man knocked at the door of the Quaker's house, carrying with him a bundle of skins. “I have brought them back,” he said. “It is the first time I ever stole anything, and I have felt very bad about it.” “Let it be the last, friend.” said the Quaker. “The secret still lies between ourselves.” He spoke to the man faithfully and affectionately about the folly of dishonesty and of the claims of the gospel. He also took him into his employment, and the man became a changed character, living an exemplary life from then on. (from Illustrations of Bible Truths # 338)
The courage of Joseph of Arimathaea is legendary in all four gospels (Matt 27:57, Mark 15:43, Luke 23:51, John 19:38), but I chose John’s gospel because Joseph could not have got the job done without the unsung hero Nicodemus. Another person we get to know after Jesus’ death is Nicodemus. His showing up is better late than never. Nicodemus’ name appears five times in the Bible, but three times with the qualification that he “came to Jesus by night” (John 3:2, 7:50, 19:39). What does that mean? Fear of being seen calling on Jesus, conversing with Jesus and courting his advice. It could mean secretly, silently, suspiciously, shrewdly and sinisterly. In a sense he had more to lose than Joseph and lots to lose in the day. Nicodemus was a Pharisee and a ruler of the Jews (John 3:1), not the ruler of the Jews. Ruler can be translated as prince (Matt 9:34), chief (Luke 11:15) and magistrate (Luke 12:58). Joseph was the unknown outsider but Nicodemus was the ultimate insider. Who had more to lose? In fact, lots to lose. Nicodemus’ loss was reputation and riches. Unlike Joseph who was rich (Matt 27:57), Nicodemus was not necessarily rich nor have extra money, but he did his part. In John’s gospel no man is considered rich, unlike in the books of Matthew, Mark and Luke.
How long did Nicodemus hide his identity? He first appeared in John 3 before John the Baptist was imprisoned and executed (John 3:24), before Jesus launched his public ministry (Mark 1:14), around three years. Anyone’s been a believer for three years without colleagues, relatives and neighbors knowing about it, not gone to church or fellowship? Something woke in Nicodemus. Nicodemus was different than Joseph because he was never mentioned as a disciple of Jesus, so he could blur his involvement, but he could not remain neutral, nominal, nonchalant and nonpartisan now. He was a Pharisee (John 3:1) and a teacher or a master of Israel (John 3:10). His transformation, thoughtfulness and testimony were complete. Previously he spoke with Jesus, then he spoke for Jesus against other Pharisees (John 7:50-51), and now he served the Lord. Notice the Synoptics never mentioned Joseph cleaning and embalming Jesus’ body (Matt 27:59, Mark 15:46, Luke 23:53), so it was up to Nicodemus to do the harder job. Joseph wrapped the body, but Nicodemus washed the body. Joseph ensured the cloth was clean (Matt 27:59), but Nicodemus ensured the body was clean.
Apparently from the text we are not sure if Nicodemus met Pilate, but we are sure Nicodemus coughed up the money. Seventy five pounds of myrrh and aloe is no laughing matter. He gave plenteously and promptly, not pinching or petty. Pure organic aloe juice can set you back US$15-100 a pound nowadays. Some speculated myrrh in Jesus time would have cost $4,000 per pound. Top draw myrrh costs US$10 for a tiny 5ml bottle on Amazon.com. One pound = 453.59 milliliters of water (ml). Myrrh and aloes together in a verse speak of royalty, gladness (Ps 45:8) and love (Prov 7:17-18, Song 4:14).
Contribute with Care (The Participation, with your ministry)
41 At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. 42 Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.
I remember a story my wife told me when a group of sisters were planning to start a Bible study group for the ladies. My wife was supposed to be the designated study leader until she fell ill. The ladies appointed a day to clean up the meeting place and decided they wanted to clean it up as a group but the richer ladies brought their domestic helpers to do the heavy lifting including, tidying, cooking and cleaning, from top to bottom from the odds to the ends. In the end the group sensibly decided to ban the use of maids.
According to our previous understanding, weren’t the ladies the ones who prepared and brought spices and ointments (Mark 16:1, Luke 23:56-24:1)? Yes, but that was after the Sabbath day when they came brought the species to the tomb on the first day of the week. The ladies could not do it previously not only for fear of Pilate but fear of uncleanness. 'Whoever touches the dead body of anyone will be unclean for seven days (Numbers 19:11). No wonder the two men were not at the tomb when Jesus resurrected. It was the women’s task to prepare a dead body for burial. The body was washed, and hair and nails were cut. Then it was gently wiped with a mixture of spices and wrapped in linen strips of various sizes and widths. While this was happening, prayers from the Scriptures were chanted.
Embalming Jesus was a lot of work for two. There was no time to lose. It was the day of preparation, and the Sabbath was dawning (Luke 23:54). Why did John’s gospel bother to add Nicodemus into the meeting with Pilate? Because without Nicodemus the work is doubled, the stakes are higher and the risk is greater. So they learned to work together for the gospel. John’s gospel was different than the three gospels in that Joseph did not act alone. Joseph did not bring servants. He had Nicodemus to help him. There are things others cannot do for you nor you for others. It’s what we call a personal relationship with Jesus
John gave us food for thought not found in the Synoptics. They had to do the work of wrapping or binding Jesus with the spices, in strips of linen (v 40) by themselves. There are few occasions of doing things for Jesus when he most needed help: at his birth (Matt 2:11) and in his death (v 39). In both cases myrrh was involved. Without Nicodemus or Joseph the work won’t get done, with three hours to go (Mark 15:25) and the stone to roll. There was the garden to clean up as well. There was no time to lose, no time to waste, no time to grieve.
There were no stones unturned when doing it for Jesus. It must be according to the law. Not half-baked. It was a new tomb where no man laid or used before. It was never second-best, substandard, secondary and sparing, but sacrificial, selective, sizable. It must be right timing, place and attitude, aim and arrangement. Washing, embalming, wrapping and interring the body before the Sabbath began. Josephus records that forty pounds of spices were used at the funeral of the highly respected elder R. Gamaliel (Antiquities of the Jews, Book 17c.8, s.3). http://www.bibleresearch.org/observancebook5/b5w79.html
Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean or pure linen cloth (Matt 27:59). The material was fine linen (Mark 15:46). The tomb was wherein never man before was laid (Luke 23:53). The tomb was hewn out of a rock (Mark 15:46). It was rich man Joseph’s own tomb and it was brand new (v 41, Matt 27:60). The Greek version is never ever (oudepo oudeis), its only occurrence. There was no time to waste. Jesus died at the ninth hour or 3 p.m. (Mark 15:34, Luke 23:44) and Sabbath begins when the sun sets. The new tomb was not devised or designed for Jesus or demanded by Jesus, but it was designated, deeded and deferred devoted to Jesus. A person asked on the internet: How long does it take to completely embalm a corpse? The best answer was, “It generally takes about 2 hours.” https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20060903213925AAB5wNl
Conclusion: What do people around you know and say about you? Are you weak and timid in faith? Terrified of the loss in acknowledging Jesus? Are you a secret, anonymous, undercover Christian afraid to call Him Savior and Lord or be identified with fellow believers?
