Arimathea

“‘I am innocent of this man’s blood,’ he said. ‘It is your responsibility!’” (Matthew 27:24).

Joseph of Arimathea Supporting the Dead (ROgier van der Weyden)

The Experience of Joseph of Arimathea is such a significant one.  Joseph of Arimathea was a secret disciple of Christ.  And yet – in the end – it was Josph of Arimathea who took the Body of God down from the Cross, DEAD…

What did that mean?

That meant that Joseph of Arimathea needed to climb a ladder and prise the nails from the hands and feet of the Beloved Christ.  He might had had trouble balancing on the ladder as he worked against the nails with all his strength.  He had to bash over and over against the Wood of the Cross.  Perhaps with each ponding of the metal and wood the blood of the Christ splashed against Him?  Perhaps he could feel the anguish of the Saviour’s Mother as she stood beneath him, listening to the pounding of flesh and wood and metal?  Perhaps there were tears streaming down his face?  Did he pray as he worked to free the Precious Body of Our Lord?

And – more than this – touching a dead body meant that Joseph of Arimathea was ritually unclean for seven days.  He was therefore unable to participate in the Passover for that year.  He could not join his family or friends and pray.  He was well-known in the Sanhedrin.  He would be noticed for this.  He had given up his place at prayer to do some service to this Man who had been killed.  He did it anyway.

And it was not a single step.  He first had to approach Pilate.  He could not just climb up and remove the Body.  First, he had to seek permission.  And he sought permission from one who had condemned that Man unjustly.  Someone who had sentenced Christ to death even knowing that Christ was an innocent man, ‘When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. “I am innocent of this man’s blood,’ he said. ‘It is your responsibility!’” (Matthew 27:24).

In other words, Joseph of Arimathea needed courage.  For the injustice turned against Christ could just as easily turn against him.  And still, he did it.  And when Pilate granted him permission to remove the Body of Christ from the Cross, he then had to USE that permission to actually get it done…

He had to walk to the hill.  He had to look at that death.  He had to smell it.  Then, he had to climb and pull and move.  His hands and face would have been covered in Blood.  His nose would have been filled with it.  His tunic doused in blood.  And then, he had to carry the weight of the Body of God in his arms and lower Christ gently to the floor.  He could not throw Him down – not with his love and not with His Mother standing there waiting…

It was messy and it was difficult.

And Joseph of Arimathea did it anyway.  And I look to his example today, because this is what I am called to do…

For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.