John 19:38

We have here an account of the burial of the blessed body of our Lord Jesus. The solemn funerals of great men are usually looked at with curiosity; the mournful funerals of dear friends are attended with concern. Come and see an extraordinary funeral; never was the like! Come and see a burial that conquered the grave, and buried it, a burial that beautified the grave and softened it for all believers. Let us turn aside now, and see this great sight. Here is,

I. The body begged, Joh 19:38. This was done by the interest of Joseph of Ramah, or Arimathea, of whom no mention is made in all the New Testament story, but only in the narrative which each of the evangelists gives us of Christ's burial, wherein he was chiefly concerned. Observe, 1. The character of this Joseph. He was a disciple of Christ incognito - in secret, a better friend to Christ than he would willingly be known to be. It was his honour that he was a disciple of Christ; and some such there are, that are themselves great men, and unavoidably linked with bad men. But it was his weakness that he was so secretly, when he should have confessed Christ before men, yea, though he had lost his preferment by it. Disciples should openly own themselves, yet Christ may have many that are his disciples sincerely, though secretly; better secretly than not at all, especially if, like Joseph here, they grow stronger and stronger. Some who in less trials have been timorous, yet in greater have been very courageous; so Joseph here. He concealed his affection to Christ for fear of the Jews, lest they should put him out of the synagogue, at least out of the sanhedrim, which was all they could do. To Pilate the governor he went boldly, and yet feared the Jews. The impotent malice of those that can but censure, and revile, and clamour, is sometimes more formidable even to wise and good men than one would think. 2. The part he bore in this affair. He, having by his place access to Pilate, desired leave of him to dispose of the body. His mother and dear relations had neither spirit nor interest to attempt such a thing. His disciples were gone; if nobody appeared, the Jews or soldiers would bury him with the thieves; therefore God raised up this gentleman to interpose in it, that the scripture might be fulfilled, and the decorum owing to his approaching resurrection maintained. Note, When God has work to do he can find out such as are proper to do it, and embolden them for it. Observe it as an instance of the humiliation of Christ, that his dead body lay at the mercy of a heathen judge, and must be begged before it could be buried, and also that Joseph would not take the body of Christ till he had asked and obtained leave of the governor; for in those things wherein the power of the magistrate is concerned we must ever pay a deference to that power, and peaceably submit to it.

II. The embalming prepared, Joh 19:39. This was done by Nicodemus, another person of quality, and in a public post. He brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, which some think were bitter ingredients, to preserve the body, others fragrant ones, to perfume it. Here is. 1. The character of Nicodemus, which is much the same with that of Joseph; he was a secret friend to Christ, though not his constant follower. He at first came to Jesus by night, but now owned him publicly, as before, Joh 7:50, Joh 7:51. That grace which at first is like a bruised reed may afterwards become like a strong cedar, and the trembling lamb bold as a lion. See Rom 14:4. It is a wonder that Joseph and Nicodemus, men of such interest, did not appear sooner, and solicit Pilate not to condemn Christ, especially seeing him so loth to do it. Begging his life would have been a nobler piece of service than begging his body. But Christ would have none of his friends to endeavour to prevent his death when his hour was come. While his persecutors were forwarding the accomplishment of the scriptures, his followers must not obstruct it. 2. The kindness of Nicodemus, which was considerable, though of a different nature. Joseph served Christ with his interest, Nicodemus with his purse. Probably, they agreed it between them, that, while one was procuring the grant, the other should be preparing the spices; and this for expedition, because they were straitened in time. But why did they make this ado about Christ's dead body? (1.) Some think we may see in it the weakness of their faith. A firm belief of the resurrection of Christ on the third day would have saved them this care and cost, and have been more acceptable than all spices. Those bodies indeed to whom the grave is a long home need to be clad accordingly; but what need of such furniture of the grave for one that, like a way-faring man, did but turn aside into it, to tarry for a night or two? (2.) However, we may plainly see in it the strength of their love. Hereby they showed the value they had for his person and doctrine, and that it was not lessened by the reproach of the cross. Those that had been so industrious to profane his crown, and lay his honour in the dust, might already see that they had imagined a vain thing; for, as God had done him honour in his sufferings, so did men too, even great men. They showed not only the charitable respect of committing his body to the earth, but the honourable respect shown to great men. This they might do, and yet believe and look for his resurrection; nay, this they might do in the belief and expectation of it. Since God designed honour for this body, they would put honour upon it. However, we must do our duty according as the present day and opportunity are, and leave it to God to fulfil his promises in his own way and time.

III. The body got ready, Joh 19:40. They took it into some house adjoining, and, having washed it from blood and dust, wound it in linen clothes very decently, with the spices melted down, it is likely, into an ointment, as the manner of the Jews is to bury, or to embalm (so Dr. Hammond), as we sear dead bodies. 1. Here was care taken of Christ's body: It was wound in linen clothes. Among clothing that belongs to us, Christ put on even the grave-clothes, to make them easy to us, and to enable us to call them our wedding-clothes. They wound the body with the spices, for all his garments, his grave-clothes not excepted, smell of myrrh and aloes (the spices here mentioned) out of the ivory palaces (Psa 45:8), and an ivory palace the sepulchre hewn out of a rock was to Christ. Dead bodies and graves are noisome and offensive; hence sin is compared to a body of death and an open sepulchre; but Christ's sacrifice, being to God as a sweet-smelling savour, hath taken away our pollution. No ointment or perfume can rejoice the heart so as the grave of our Redeemer does, where there is faith to perceive the fragrant odours of it. 2. In conformity to this example, we ought to have regard to the dead bodies of Christians; not to enshrine and adore their relics, no, not those of the most eminent saints and martyrs (nothing like that was done to the dead body of Christ himself), but carefully to deposit them, the dust in the dust, as those who believe that the dead bodies of the saints are still united to Christ and designed for glory and immortality at the last day. The resurrection of the saints will be in virtue of Christ's resurrection, and therefore in burying them we should have an eye to Christ's burial, for he, being dead, thus speaketh. Thy dead men shall live, Isa 26:19. In burying our dead it is not necessary that in all circumstances we imitate the burial of Christ, as if we must be buried in linen, and in a garden, and be embalmed as he was; but his being buried after the manner of the Jews teaches us that in things of this nature we should conform to the usages of the country where we live, except in those that are superstitious.

IV. The grave pitched upon, in a garden which belonged to Joseph of Arimathea, very near the place where he was crucified. There was a sepulchre, or vault, prepared for the first occasion, but not yet used. Observe,

1. That Christ was buried without the city, for thus the manner of the Jews was to bury, not in their cities, much less in their synagogues, which some have thought better than our way of burying: yet there was then a peculiar reason for it, which does not hold now, because the touching of a grave contracted a ceremonial pollution: but now that the resurrection of Christ has altered the property of the grave, and done away its pollution for all believers, we need not keep at such a distance from it; nor is it incapable of a good improvement, to have the congregation of the dead in the church-yard, encompassing the congregation of the living in the church, since they also are dying, and in the midst of life we are in death. Those that would not superstitiously, but by faith, visit the holy sepulchre, must go forth out of the noise of this world.

2. That Christ was buried in a garden. Observe, (1.) That Joseph had his sepulchre in his garden; so he contrived it, that it might be a memento, [1.] To himself while living; when he was taking the pleasure of his garden, and reaping the products of it, let him think of dying, and be quickened to prepare for it. The garden is a proper place for meditation, and a sepulchre there may furnish us with a proper subject for meditation, and such a one as we are loth to admit in the midst of our pleasures. [2.] To his heirs and successors when he was gone. It is good to acquaint ourselves with the place of our fathers' sepulchres; and perhaps we might make our own less formidable if we made theirs more familiar. (2.) That in a sepulchre in a garden Christ's body was laid. In the garden of Eden death and the grave first received their power, and now in a garden they are conquered, disarmed, and triumphed over. In a garden Christ began his passion, and from a garden he would rise, and begin his exaltation. Christ fell to the ground as a corn of wheat (Joh 12:24), and therefore was sown in a garden among the seeds, for his dew is as the dew of herbs, Isa 26:19. He is the fountain of gardens, Sol 4:15.

3. That he was buried in a new sepulchre. This was so ordered (1.) For the honour of Christ; he was not a common person, and therefore must not mix with common dust He that was born from a virgin-womb must rise from a virgin-tomb. (2.) For the confirming of the truth of his resurrection, that it might not be suggested that it was not he, but some other that rose now, when many bodies of saints arose; or, that he rose by the power of some other, as the man that was raised by the touch of Elisha's bones, and not by his own power. He that has made all things new has new-made the grave for us.

V. The funeral solemnized (Joh 19:42): There laid they Jesus, that is, the dead body of Jesus. Some think the calling of this Jesus intimates the inseparable union between the divine and human nature. Even this dead body was Jesus - a Saviour, for his death is our life; Jesus is still the same, Heb 13:8. There they laid him because it was the preparation day.

1. Observe here the deference which the Jews paid to the sabbath, and to the day of preparation. Before the passover-sabbath they had a solemn day of preparation. This day had been ill kept by the chief priests, who called themselves the church, but was well kept by the disciples of Christ, who were branded as dangerous to the church; and it is often so. (1.) They would not put off the funeral till the sabbath day, because the sabbath is to be a day of holy rest and joy, with which the business and sorrow of a funeral do not well agree. (2.) They would not drive it too late on the day of preparation for the sabbath. What is to be done the evening before the sabbath should be so contrived that it may neither intrench upon sabbath time, nor indispose us for sabbath work.

2. Observe the convenience they took of an adjoining sepulchre; the sepulchre they made use of was nigh at hand. Perhaps, if they had had time, they would have carried him to Bethany, and buried him among his friends there. And I am sure he had more right to have been buried in the chief of the sepulchres of the sons of David than any of the kings of Judah had; but it was so ordered that he should be laid in a sepulchre nigh at hand, (1.) Because he was to lie there but awhile, as in an inn, and therefore he took the first that offered itself. (2.) Because this was a new sepulchre. Those that prepared it little thought who should handsel it; but the wisdom of God has reaches infinitely beyond ours, and he makes what use he pleases of us and all we have. (3.) We are hereby taught not to be over-curious in the place of our burial. Where the tree falls, why should it not lie? For Christ was buried in the sepulchre that was next at hand. It was faith in the promise of Canaan that directed the Patriarch's desires to be carried thither for a burying-place; but now, since that promise is superseded by a better, that care is over.

Thus without pomp or solemnity is the body of Jesus laid in the cold and silent grave. Here lies our surety under arrest for our debts, so that if he be released his discharge will be ours. Here is the Sun of righteousness set for awhile, to rise again in greater glory, and set no more. Here lies a seeming captive to death, but a real conqueror over death; for here lies death itself slain, and the grave conquered. Thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

(38) For the burial (Joh_19:38-42), comp. generally Notes on Mat_27:57-61; Mar_15:42-47; Luk_23:50-56.

But secretly for fear of the Jews.—This is the only additional fact which St. John supplies with regard to Joseph. He places him in these verses side by side with Nicodemus, and ascribes the same trait of character to both.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joh_19:38-42

And after this, Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews

A threefold power

I.

THE POWER OF WORLDLINESS. Both of these men had opportunities of being convinced of Christs Messiah-ship, and both were in sympathy with Him, yet neither made a public avowal of discipleship. There were perhaps, three elements of worldliness that influenced them in the matter.

1. The love of wealth. Confession of Christ meant excommunication and the spoiling of goods. Hence Christ reminded His hearers of the sacrifices they would have to make, but neither Joseph nor Nicodemus had the moral courage to make them.

2. The desire for popularity. They occupied high positions and had the honour of the populace. Had they followed Christ they would have lost both, and loving the praise of men more than of God, had not the moral strength to make the sacrifice. There are three classes of men:

(1) Those who have no moral convictions--the largest class.

(2) Those who have moral convictions, but not enough courage to avow them. There are many such in parliament and the pulpit.

(3) Those who have moral convictions and carry them out regardless of the frowns of men. These are the heroes, reformers and saviours of the world; and also the smallest class.

3. The power of caste. They were members of the highest class of Jewish society--a class which, as a whole, was malignantly hostile to Christ. Because none of the rulers believed on Him, these men were too weak to pronounce for Him. These three elements are as strong here as there, now as then.

II. THE POWER OF THE CROSS. There was something about Christs death which roused these men to manly exertion, and two wonders connected with the Crucifixion were calculated to produce this effect.

1. The material. The rending of the veil, the earthquake, &c., must have produced some impression on the most sceptical, much more on those in whom lurked a secret love.

2. The moral. His moral Majesty, His prayer, His last words--in all these there was a still small, soul-penetrating voice, which must have affected these men. As they now handled the mangled frame, self-reproachful tears would fall. Thus the power of the Cross overcame, and is the only power to overcome the power of the world.

III. THE POWER OF PENITENCE. Now Christ is dead their consciences are stirred to their centre. Is it not always so with those who have neglected a true friend when he is gone?

1. It forced them to a compensatory effort, Nothing too good for Him now. Conscience will sooner or later drive a man to his duty.

2. The compensatory effort came too late. Of what use was the costly embalmment now! How often this is the case now! (D. Thomas, D. D.)

Christs funeral

There are six remarkable particulars about this funeral.

1. The preparations that were made for it.

(1) His body could not be buried till, by begging, his friends had obtained it as a favour from Pilate.

(2) And when they had gotten it, they wind it in fine linen with spices. But what need of spices? His own love was perfume enough to keep it sweet in remembrance of His people to all generations. However, by this they will manifest the dear affection they have for Him.

2. The bearers--Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus. None could imagine that ever they would have gone boldly to manifest their love to Christ, when dead, who were afraid to come to Him (except by night) when He was living, when those that made open confessions of Him are gone.

3. The attendants who followed the hearse--the women that followed Him out of Galilee.

4. The sepulchre.

(1) It was anothers. As He lived in other mens houses, so He lay in another mans tomb.

(2) It was a new tomb; for had any other been laid there before Him, it might have been averred that it was some former body, and not the Lords, that rose.

5. The disposition of the body. There is no mention made of the tears, yet we may well presume they were not wanting in plentiful expressions of their sorrow (Luk_23:48).

I. WHY HAD CHRIST ANY FUNERAL AT ALL, since He was to rise again?

1. To ascertain His death, else it might have been looked upon as a cheat. Now, since our eternal life is wrapt up in Christs death, it can never be too firmly established.

2. To fulfil the types and prophecies that went before (Mat_12:40; Isa_53:9).

3. To complete His humiliation. Lower He could not be laid.

4. That He might conquer death in its own dominion; which victory furnisheth the saints with that triumphant song (1Co_15:55).

II. WHAT MANNER OF FUNERAL CHRIST HAD.

1. It was very obscure and private. Here was no external pomp. Christ affected it not in His life, and it was no way suitable to the ends and manner of His death.

(1) The dead body of the Lord was not brought from His own house as other mens commonly are, but from the tree. Had they not obtained this favour from Pilate, it must have been tumbled into a pit under the cross.

(2) It was attended with a very poor train; a few sorrowful women. Other men are accompanied to their graves by their relations and friends. The disciples were afraid to own Him dying, and dead.

(3) It was done in great haste. Time was short; they take the next sepulchre they can get, and hurry Him away that evening into it. Thus was the Prince of the kings of earth, who hath the keys of death and hell, laid into His grave.

2. Yet though men could bestow little honour upon it, the heavens bestowed several marks of honour upon it.

(1) A miraculous eclipse put the heavens and earth into mourning.

(2) The rending in twain of the veil showed that all ceremonies were now accomplished and abolished.

(3) The opening of the graves showed the design and end of Christs going into it.

III. COROLLARIES.

1. Was Christ buried in this manner? Then a decent and mournful funeral (where it can be had) is very laudable among Christians.

2. Did Joseph and Nicodemus so boldly appear, at a time of so much danger, to beg the body and give it a funeral? Let it be for ever a caution to strong Christians not to despise or glory over the weak.

3. Hence we may be assisted in discerning the depths of Christs humiliation for us, and see from what to what this love brought Him.

4. From this funeral of Christ results the purest and strongest consolation and encouragement to believers against the fears of death and the grave.

(1) The grave received, but could not destroy, Jesus Christ; and as it fared with Christs body personal, so it shall with Christs body mystical (1Co_15:20).

(2) As the union betwixt the body of Christ and the Divine nature was not dissolved, so the union between Christ and believers cannot be when their bodies shall be laid in their graves.

(3) As Christs body did there rest in hope, so it shall fare with the dead bodies of the saints (Psa_16:9-11).

(4) Christs lying in the grave hath changed the nature of the grave, so that it is not what it was. It was once a part of the curse, but now it is no prison but a bed of rest; yea, and a perfumed bed (Isa_57:2; Psa_23:4).

5. Since Christ was laid in His grave, and His people reap such privileges by it, as ever you expect rest or comfort in your graves, see that you get union with Christ now.

(1) The covenant of God holds firmly with our very dust (Mat_22:31-32; Rom_14:7-9). That dust is still the Lords.

(2) As Gods covenant with our very bodies is indissolvable, so Gods love to our very dust is inseparable (Rom_8:33).

(3) As Gods love will be with you in the grave, so Gods providence shall take order when it shall be digged for you; not till you are fit to be put into Job_5:26; Act_13:36).

(4) When ever you come to your graves, you shall find the enmity of the grave slain by Christ (1Co_3:21-22).

(5) Christ keeps the keys of all the chambers of death, and as He unlocks the door of death, when He lets you in so He will open it again for you when you awake, to let you out; He Himself wakes and watches by you while you sleep there (Rev_1:18). (J. Flavel.)

The burial of Christ

Of all the scenes of common life, there is none so affecting and instructive as the funeral of a friend. When heroes or a beloved monarch go to their last home, thousands gather round the tomb. Shall the great Saviour and King of men have no one among us to lament His death?

I. THE CIRCUMSTANCES ATTENDING HIS BURIAL.

1. The persons who are bearing the blessed Jesus to His tomb. And who are they? The disciples? These all forsook Him and fled; and now He is dead, they leave His body to be mourned over and buried by others. But though, in the hour of need, they desert us who ought to be the first to minister to our necessities, yet the Lord will provide.

2. The time in which Jesus was interred. The Jews preparation day, and the people were now attending the service of the Temple; but Joseph and Nicodemus were not among them. They offered to God a more acceptable service than prayers and sacrifice; but having buried the Saviour, all their love for Him could not bring them to His tomb till the Sabbath was ended. Thus did they manifest the ardour of their affection, and at the same time admonish us to suppress the noblest feelings of our nature, rather than violate the command of God.

3. The place where the Lord was interred.

(1) A garden on the very hill on which He was crucified. It was right that the place where He suffered the greatest ignominy should be the first scene of His glory.

(2) His sepulchre was hewn out in a rock. A body could not hastily be removed from such a sepulchre by a subterraneous passage, nor could the disciples enter unperceived.

II. WHY WAS HE THUS BURIED?

1. That the prophecies concerning the Messiah should be fulfilled.

2. To prove the reality of His death.

3. To comfort His people in the prospect of death.

III. THE EFFECTS WHICH A CONTEMPLATION OF THE SAVIOURS TOMB SHOULD PRODUCE ON US.

1. A penitential sorrow for all the injuries we have done Him, and all the pain we have given Him.

2. Joy that His sufferings are past and His happiness begun.

3. An earnest desire to be where He is and to behold His glory.

4. The deepest anxiety to be prepared for our own latter end. (C. Bradley, M. A.)

The burial of Jesus

I. THE DESCENT FROM THE CROSS (Joh_19:38):

1. By whom effected. Joseph, assisted by Nicodemus, John, and the women.

(1) A native of Ramathaim in Ephraim, the birthplace of Samuel.

(2) A rich man, which rendered his service a signal display of courage, a true token of inherent nobility, a striking companion-picture to the Magi at Christs birth, and a beginning of fulfilment for Isaiahs oracle concerning His death (Isa_53:9).

(3) A member of the Sanhedrim, though probably not present when Christ was pronounced guilty of death (cf. Luk_23:50, with Mt Mar_14:64)

.

(4) A good man; one of the few who kept Gods commandments, and waited for the consolation of Israel (Luk_1:6; Luk_1:24).

(5) A secret disciple--like others of the rulers (Joh_12:42); e.g., Nicodemus, whose faith waxed stronger as Christs cause grew darker.

2. When attempted. After Christs death, which happened about 3 p.m. Obtaining leave from Pilate, he would then concert with Nicodemus about purchasing the linen cloth, &c. It would then be approaching even.

3. How carried out. The Evangelist is silent; but from the performers, we may conclude, with reverence, tenderness, and tears.

II. THE EMBALMMENT (verse 39, 40). Nicodemus now steps into the foreground.

1. His person identified. The same mentioned in chap. 3.

2. His courage emphasized--in contrast with that interview.

3. His love proclaimed. With no straitened hand he carries out his hearts design.

4. His reverence recorded. Along with the others he proceeds to embalm the corpse. First they lay the body on the white winding-sheet. Next the women, it may be supposed, take the smaller cloths from Nicodemus, and, filling them with aromatic powder, wrap them around its members. After this Joseph folds around it his great white sheet, and the work is complete.

III. THE INTERMENT (verses 41, 42).

1. The place of sepulture.

(1) A garden grave. In a garden death achieved its first victory. It was fitting that in a garden that victory should be reversed.

(2) A strange grave. In another grave He is laid, who died for anothers guilt.

(3) An honourable grave. He who died on a cross between malefactors is laid in a just mans tomb.

(4) A new grave. It was congruous that He who was a new Man (sinless), born in a new way (of a virgin), who had died a new death (for sin not His own), and who was to rise unto a new life (of glory and immortality) should rest in a new tomb.

(5) A near grave. Close to Jerusalem as ours is to the heavenly city.

2. The funeral procession. Contrast it with that of the great, even the wicked great. Lessons:

1. The overruling providence of God in the fulfilment of Scripture.

2. The guarantee that the sinners debt has been paid.

3. The transformation of the grave. (T. Whitelaw, D. D.)

Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus at the burial of Jesus

At first, it may disturb your sense of proportion to see the names of two mere men in such a connection; thinking that no name but His own should be mentioned. You care to know nothing about them, and have eyes, ears, heart for nothing but one solemnity. We shall, however, not be out of order, nor break any canon of Christian good taste by taking emphatic notice of them.

I. BEFORE THE DEATH OF JESUS THESE TWO RULERS had been His secret disciples.

1. Foremost in the transaction we see Joseph. When we are told that fear kept him from avowing his discipleship, we are tempted at once to pass sentence upon him. But it may have been a fear natural to a mental sensitive plant, shrinking from every rough wind and every random touch--a fear fostered by an atmosphere of reverence, and heightened by anexquisite, pain at the thought of difference between himself and other men. The companion of Joseph was Nicodemus, a man like himself in station, in wealth, and in being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly.

2. These men were no worse than multitudes are now who pass as irreproachable. Many an undergraduate, many a man fighting his way through the earlier stages of a profession, having in his heart some good thing toward the Lord God of Israel, holds it secretly, out of the fear inspired by his social surroundings. Many a Christian, now loud in profession, great in repute, had he lived in the days of the Incarnation would have received no nobler notice than this--a disciple of Jesus, but secretly. How would it have been with you? How is it with you now? Let him who is without fault among you cast the first stone.

II. THE DEATH OF JESUS ROUSED THE TWO SECRET DISCIPLES TO DECLARE THEMSELVES.

1. It is remarkable that the first fact recorded in Christian history after the death of Christ is one that warns us against being merely secret disciples. Grace is not a treasure to be hid in the earth in the midst of the tent. Faith will not stay shut up in the heart any more than a seed will stay shut up in the soil. Sometimes, indeed, a seed may be dropped in some deep furrow where the clods harden over it, until a tearing storm fetches it out into light. Sometimes a Christian may be like that seed, and a storm of trouble may be needed to reveal him. At the Crucifixion such a storm burst upon these two disciples.

2. Look at Joseph. No one had suspected a stain on this white flower of the Hebrew aristocracy; no one had dreamt of anything on this soul of honour that could fear the world or shun the daylight; and perhaps, owing to the hearts deceitfulness, he had hardly thought of it himself; but when at length the Saviour in whom he had secretly trusted was put to death, the shock woke him up. Then, with pangs of burning shame, he would say, What a terrible coward I have been! Besides his sorrow on this account, he must have been sorry on his own--how much he had lost! The instructions, comforts, helps that open disciples had enjoyed. Never once had he said, Jesus, I love Thee; never once had he heard Jesus say, Go in peace!

3. The heroism of faith is almost always kindled by desperate circumstances. The heroism of Joseph began in Christs hour of darkness. When the only voice lifted up for Him all that day had been the voice of a dying thief--then it was that he openly declared himself. He had waited for the kingdom; and perhaps this poor mans prayer made him resolve to identify himself with the King. Boldly is the fit word for describing his errand to Pilate. Such a request, in later days, has cost men their lives. But the brave deed was successful. At the same time it helped to kindle similar courage in the heart of Nicodemus. They had often met in the high places of life, each knowing the other had faith in Christ that he was afraid to profess; they now met at the cross as at the altar of decision. (C. Stanford, D. D.)

Joseph of Arimathea

In this and parallel passages we have all that is recorded about the burial of Christ. Two things of importance were secured by Josephs interposition here.

(1) Through him we obtain an official attestation of Christs death, which was hardly to be expected at so early a stage.

(2) Through him the body of our Lord was saved from further indignity. We have here the illustration of

I. THE SLOW PROCESS BY WHICH SOME ARE BROUGHT TO A KNOWLEDGE OF THE TRUTH.

1. Joseph was one of that class to which belonged Simeon and Nathanael. After Christs ministry began, he became a secret disciple, convinced that Jesus was the Messiah. Did not confess, but kept from complicity in the conspiracy of the rulers. Deterred by dread of singularity and love of caste.

The last stage, that of open sympathy with Christ, was reached and revealed by this act.

2. There are some Christians who cannot recall the time when they did not love and follow Christ. Others, once avowed enemies, have reached almost at a bound the position of open confessors; while others have attained only after long hesitation, and through many difficulties.

II. HOW THE VERY EXTREMITY OF A CAUSE BRINGS FRESH ADHERENTS FROM UNEXPECTED QUARTERS. Who would have thought that members of the Sanhedrim would be the first to identify themselves? Neither the enthusiasm of the people nor the malice of the rulers sufficed to bring matters to a crisis with Joseph. But now, when Christ is dead, and, seemingly, his cause too, hesitation is changed to decision.

1. Something similar has often happened in struggles for national liberty. When things have come almost to a hopeless extremity dormant patriotism has been roused.

2. So in persecution for Christs sake; as martyrs have laid down their lives others have taken their places.

3. So in the spiritual; so long as men only admire in Jesus the perfect character, &c., they may not be prepared to sacrifice much; but let them apprehend Him dying for sin, and they will be ready to brave all obloquy for His sake.

III. HOW THE TRUE CHARACTER OF A MAN MAY BE MANIFESTED IN A SINGLE ACT. Josephs intercourse with the counsellers did not reveal all that he was; only at the cross were disclosed his nobility, courage, faith. How many pass a quiet life among their fellows, who little know what spirit they are of. Revealing epochs occur in most lives. Sometimes brought about by sudden affliction, or change in circumstances, or temptation. (M. Hutchison.)

Joseph of Arimathea

is not mentioned in Scripture except in connection with the part which he acted in the burial of Christ; and his conduct in that transaction was so worthy of a disciple that his praise will always remain in the Churches of God. Indeed, as if Scripture had not said enough of him, legend has supplied the defect. It is fabled that he came over to England and founded the first English abbey--that of Glastonbury; and some remains of an ancient building still bear the name of the Chapel of Saint Joseph. Tradition further reports that Joseph, when resting on his journey at this place, struck his staff into the ground, which took root and became the famous Glastonbury thorn, which blossomed every Christmas, and being the frequent resort of pilgrims, brought much gain to the crafty inventors of the story. Such vanities a sounder faith has taught us to reject; and refusing the additions of men to hold fast the acknowledged truth of God. Joseph of Arimathea was a rich man, an honourable counsellor, a member of the Sanhedrim, but one who consented not to the deed of his colleagues. He was a good man and a just. He had been timorous when the rest were bold; and now he becomes bold when they yield to fear. (J. Fawcett, M. A.)

One Joseph is appointed to take charge of Jesus in His infancy, and another is raised up to provide for His burial. (W. H. Van Doren.)

Secret discipleship

I. WHY MANY BELIEVERS PREFER SECRET ATTACHMENT TO OPEN DISCIPLESHIP. Possibly it is

1. The stringency of His requirements.

2. Shame at association with one of so lowly an origin, or so radical a reformer. Joseph would feel the force of these difficulties.

3. Fear of

(1) Being accounted presumptuous for attempting to lead instead of to follow.

(2) Being accounted righteous overmuch.

(3) Not being able to maintain consistency. They cannot trust Gods grace to keep them from bringing disgrace on the Church.

4. Because of wrong ideas about Christianity.

5. Because of the inconsistency of professors.

6. Because they do not see the need of open discipleship.

7. Because there is no fervency of love to Christ.

II. HOW FAR CHRIST RECOGNIZES SECRET DISCIPLESHIP. Let us see if we find any hint in the affirmative.

1. In the subsequent history of Joseph. We know little about him except that he gave to Christ, who had had the death of a malefactor, the burial of a king; but in this he seems to have had no hope in the Resurrection. No mention is made of Christs appearance to Joseph. If the tradition that he founded Glastonbury Abbey be credited, it only shows that he had shaken off his secret discipleship. Had his secret discipleship been intentional to help Christ as Hushai helped David, or Blonde de Nesle Coeur de Lion, there might possibly be some hope of recognition. But it is an absurd idea that Christ wishes us to appear worldly, and hide our religion, to advance his course.

2. There is no suggestion of the recognition of secret discipleship in any of Christs utterances. He claims open attachment--Follow Me, Whosoever shall be ashamed of Me, &c.

3. In the nature of things it is improbable that Christ should recognize it. Suppose Christianity is weak we ought to side with it because it is right. Sympathy with, and appreciation of, Christ demand it. (F. Hastings.)

A secret disciple

A native gentleman, a writer in the Missionary News relates, was taken seriously ill, and requested one of the Orissa missionaries to visit him. In the course of conversation the missionary offered to lend him any book in his library that would be likely to interest and profit him. I have a large number of books with which to instruct and exercise the intellect, but, added he, with emphasis, When I want food for my soul I go to the Bible; there only, pointing to a copy of the English Bible which lay on the table, I get something to warm my heart. When pressing on him the importance and necessity of making a public profession of his attachment to Christ, he said with tears, God, who searcheth the heart, knoweth that I am a heathen but in name; that my trust, my heart, are fixed on Him to whom I offer my daily prayer, and in whose mercy alone I trust. And it is my hope and intention, by the help of God, one day to make a public avowal of this my faith. (J. L. Nye.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joh 19:38-39. Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly — Because he durst not openly profess his faith in him; for fear of the Jews — And their rulers, who were so strongly prejudiced against him. This man, acknowledging Christ even when his chosen disciples forsook him, besought Pilate that he might take away the body — To preserve it from future insults, and to bury it in a decent and respectful manner. And Pilate gave him leave — As soon as he was assured by the centurion who guarded the execution that Jesus was actually dead. He came, therefore — Being thus authorized by Pilate; and took the body of Jesus — That is, took it down from the cross, with proper assistance. And there came also Nicodemus — Another member of the sanhedrim, of whom repeated mention has been made in the preceding narrative; who at the first — At the beginning of Christ’s public ministry; came to Jesus by night — See Joh 3:1-2; and being now grown more courageous than before, and to testify his great regard for Jesus, he brought with him a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds weight — According to Josephus, great quantities of spices were wont to be used by the Jews for embalming a dead body, when they intended to show marks of respect to the deceased. Eighty pounds of spices were used at the funeral of Gamaliel the elder. See notes on Mat 27:57-60; Mar 15:42-46.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The friends of Jesus, and his entombment, Joh_19:38-42.

38. After this Joseph of Arimathea—The foes have gone into the background, and Jesus is now with his friends for evermore. No apostle appears present at the embalmment or entombment; but one whose name is hitherto unmentioned, and would be forever unmentioned, but for this act, steps forward. So for the just man Providence ever raises new friends. And so may the weakest faith grow strong and take its proper post at the required hour. See note on Mat_27:57-61.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

John

JOSEPH AND NICODEMUS

Joh 19:38 - Joh 19:39.

While Christ lived, these two men had been unfaithful to their convictions; but His death, which terrified and paralysed and scattered His avowed disciples, seems to have shamed and stung them into courage. They came now, when they must have known that it was too late, to lavish honour and tears on the corpse of the Master whom they had been too cowardly to acknowledge, whilst acknowledgment might yet have availed. How keen an arrow of self-condemnation must have pierced their hearts as they moved in their offices of love, which they thought that He could never know, round His dead corpse!

They were both members of the Sanhedrim; the same motives, no doubt, had withheld each of them from confessing Christ; the same impulses united them in this too late confession of discipleship. Nicodemus had had the conviction, at the beginning of Christ’s ministry, that He was at least a miraculously attested and God-sent Teacher. But the fear which made him steal to Jesus by night-the unenviable distinction which the Evangelist pitilessly reiterates at each mention of him-arrested his growth and kept him dumb when silence was treason. Joseph of Arimathea is described by two of the Evangelists as ‘a disciple’; by the other two as a devout Israelite, like Simeon and Anna, ‘waiting for the Kingdom of God.’ Luke informs us that he had not concurred in the condemnation of Jesus, but leads us to believe that his dissent had been merely silent. Perhaps he was more fully convinced than Nicodemus, and at the same time even more timid in avowing his convictions.

We may take these two contrite cowards as they try to atone for their unfaithfulness to their living Master by their ministrations to Him dead, as examples of secret disciples, and see here the causes, the misery, and the cure of such.

I. Let us look at them as illustrations of secret discipleship and its causes.

They were restrained from the avowal of the Messiahship of Jesus by fear. There is nothing in the organisation of society at this day to make any man afraid of avowing the ordinary kind of Christianity which satisfies the most of us; rather it is the proper thing with the bulk of us middle-class people, to say that in some sense or other we are Christians. But when it comes to a real avowal, a real carrying out of a true discipleship, there are as many and as formidable, though very different, impediments in the way to-day, from those which blocked the path of these two cowards in our text. In all regions of life it is hard to work out into practice any moral conviction whatever. How many of us are there who have beliefs about social and moral questions which we are ashamed to avow in certain companies for fear of the finger of ridicule being pointed at us? It is not only in the Church, and in reference to purely religious belief, that we find the curse of secret discipleship, but it is everywhere. Wherever there are moral questions which are yet the subject of controversy, and have not been enthroned with the hallelujahs of all men, you get people that carry their convictions shut up in their own breasts, and lock their lips in silence, when there is most need of frank avowal. The political, social, and moral conflicts of this day have their ‘secret disciples,’ who will only come out of their holes when the battle is over, and will then shout with the loudest.

But to turn to the more immediate subject before us, how many men and women, I wonder, are there who ought to be and are not, distinctly and openly united with the Christian community?

I do not mean to say-God forbid that I should-that connection with any existing church is the same as a connection with Jesus Christ, or that the neglect to be so associated is tantamount to secret discipleship; I know there are plenty of other ways of acknowledging Him than that, but I am quite sure that this is one department in which a large number of men, in all our congregations-and there are not a few in this congregation-need a very plain word of earnest remonstrance. It is one way of manifesting whose you are, that you should unite yourselves openly with those who belong to Him, and who try to serve Him. I do not dwell upon this matter, because I do not wish to be misunderstood, as if I supposed that union to a church is equivalent to union with Him; or that a connection with a church is the only, or even the principal way of making an open avowal of Christian principle; but I am certain that amongst us in this day there is a laxity in this matter which is doing harm both to the Church and to some of you. Therefore I say to you, dear friends, suffer the word of exhortation as to the duty of openly uniting yourselves with the Christian community.

But far higher and more important than that-do you ever say anyhow that you belong to Jesus Christ? In a society like ours, in which the influence of Christian morality affects a great many people who have no personal connection with Him, it is not always enough that the life should preach, because over a very large field of ordinary daily life the underground influence, so to speak, of Christian ethics has infiltrated and penetrated, so that many a tree bears a greener leaf because of the water that has found its way to it from the river, though it be planted far from its banks. Even those who are not Christians live outward lives largely regulated by Christian principle. The whole level of morality has been heaved up, as the coastline has sometimes been by hidden fires slowly working, by the imperceptible, gradual influence of the gospel.

So it needs sometimes that you should say ‘I am a Christian,’ as well as that you should live like one. Ask yourselves, dear friends! whether you have buttoned your greatcoat over your uniform that nobody may know whose soldier you are. Ask yourselves whether you have sometimes held your tongues because you knew that if you spoke people would find out where you came from and what country you belonged to. Ask yourselves, Have you ever accompanied the witness of your lives with the commentary of your confession? Did you ever, anywhere but in a church, stand up and say, ‘I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, my Lord’?

And then ask yourselves another question: Have you ever dared to be singular? We are all of us in this world often thrust into circumstances in which it is needful that we should say, ‘So do not I because of the fear of the Lord.’ Boys go to school; they used always to kneel down at their bedsides and say their prayers when they were at home. They do not like to do it with all those critical and cruel eyes-and there are no eyes more critical and more cruel than young eyes-fixed upon them, and so they give up prayer. A young man comes to Manchester, goes into a warehouse, pure of life, and with a tongue that has not blossomed into rank fruit of obscenity and blasphemy. And he hears, at the next desk there, words that first of all bring a blush to his cheek, and he is tempted into conduct that he knows to be a denial of his Master. And he covers up his principles, and goes with the tempters into the evil. I might sketch a dozen other cases, but I need not. In one form or other, we have all to go through the same ordeal. We have sometimes to dare to be in a minority of one, if we will not be untrue to our Master and to ourselves.

Now the reasons for this unfaithfulness to conviction and to Christ, are put by the Apostle here in a very blunt fashion-’For fear of the Jews.’ That is not what we say to ourselves; some of us say, ‘Oh! I have got beyond outward organisations. I find it enough to be united to Christ. The Christian communities are very imperfect. There is not any of them that I quite see eye to eye with. So I stand apart, contemplating all, and happy in my unsectarianism.’ Yes, I quite admit the faults, and suppose that as long as men think at all they will not find any Church which is entirely to their mind; and I rejoice to think that some day we shall all outgrow visible organisations-when we get there where the seer ‘saw no temple therein.’ Admitting all that, I also know that isolation is always weakness, and that if a man stand apart from the wholesome friction of his brethren, he will get to be a great diseased mass of oddities, of very little use either to himself, or to men, or to God. It is not a good thing, on the whole, that people should fight for their own hands, and the wisest thing any of us can do is, preserving our freedom of opinion, to link ourselves with some body of Christian people, and to find in them our shelter and our home.

But these two in our text were moved by ‘fear.’ They dreaded ridicule, the loss of position, the expulsion from Sanhedrim and synagogue, social ostracism, and all the armoury of offensive weapons which would have been used against them by their colleagues. So, ignobly they kept their thumb on their convictions, and the two of them sat dumb in the council when the scornful question was asked, ‘Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on Him?’ when they ought to have started to their feet and said ‘Yes, we have!’ And when Nicodemus ventured a feeble remonstrance, which he carefully divested of all appearance of personal sympathy, and put upon the mere abstract ground of fair play-’Doth our law judge any man before it hear him?’-one contemptuous question was enough to reduce him to silence. ‘Art thou also of Galilee?’ was enough to cow him into dropping his timid plea for Him whom in his heart he believed to be the Messiah.

So with us, the fear of loss of position comes into play. I have heard of people who settled the congregation which they should honour by their presence from the consideration of the social advantages which it offered. I have heard of their saying, ‘Oh! we cannot attach ourselves to such and such a community; there is no society for the children.’ Then many of us are very much afraid of being laughed at. Ridicule, I think, to sensitive people in a generation like ours, is pretty nearly as bad as the old rack and the physical torments of martyrdom. We have all got so nervous and high-strung nowadays, and depend so much upon other people’s good opinion, that it is a dreadful thing to be ridiculed. Timid people do not come to the front and say what they believe, and take up unpopular causes, because they cannot bear to be pointed at and pelted with the abundant epithets of disparagement, which are always flung at earnest people who will not worship at the appointed shrines, and have sturdy convictions of their own.

Ridicule breaks no bones. It has no power if you make up your mind that it shall not have. Face it, and it will only be unpleasant for a moment at first. When a child goes into the sea to bathe, he is uncomfortable till his head has been fairly under water, and then after that he is all right. So it is with the ridicule which out-and-out Christian faithfulness may bring on us. It only hurts at the beginning, and people very soon get tired. Face your fears and they will pass away. It is not perhaps a good advice to give unconditionally, but it is a very good one in regard of all moral questions-always do what you are afraid to do. In nine cases out of ten it will be the right thing to do. If people would only discount ‘the fear of men which bringeth a snare’ by making up their minds to neglect it, there would be fewer ‘dumb dogs’ and ‘secret disciples’ haunting and weakening the Church of Christ.

II. I have spent too much time upon this part of my subject, and I must deal briefly with the following. Let me say a word about the illustrations that we have in this text of the miseries of this secret discipleship.

How much these two men lost-all those three years of communion with the Master; all His teaching, all the stimulus of His example, all the joy of fellowship with Him! They might have had a treasure in their memories that would have enriched them for all their days, and they had flung it all away because they were afraid of the curled lip of a long-bearded Pharisee or two.

And so it always is; the secret disciple diminishes his communion with his Master. It is the valleys which lay their bosoms open to the sun that rejoice in the light and warmth; the narrow clefts in the rocks that shut themselves grudgingly up against the light, are all dank and dark and dismal. And it is the men that come and avow their discipleship that will have the truest communion with their Lord. Any neglected duty puts a film between a man and his Saviour; any conscious neglect of duty piles up a wall between you and Christ. Be sure of this, that if from cowardly or from selfish regard to position and advantages, or any other motive, we stand apart from Him, and have our lips locked when we ought to speak, there will steal over our hearts a coldness, His face will be averted from us, and our eyes will not dare to seek, with the same confidence and joy, the light of His countenance.

What you lose by unfaithful wrapping of your convictions in a napkin and burying them in the ground is the joyful use of the convictions, the deeper hold of the truth by which you live, and before which you bow, and the true fellowship with the Master whom you acknowledge and confess. And when these men came for Christ’s corpse and bore it away, what a sharp pang went through their hearts! They woke at last to know what cowardly traitors they had been. If you are a disciple at all, and a secret one, you will awake to know what you have been doing, and the pang will be a sharp one. If you do not awake in this life, then the distance between you and your Lord will become greater and greater; if you do, then it will be a sad reflection that there are years of treason lying behind you. Nicodemus and Joseph had the veil torn away by the contemplation of their dead Master. You may have the veil torn away from your eyes by the sight of the throned Lord; and when you pass into the heavens may even there have some sharp pang of condemnation when you reflect how unfaithful you have been.

Blessed be His name! The assurance is firm that if a man be a disciple he shall be saved; but the warning is sure that if he be an unfaithful and a secret disciple there will be a life-long unfaithfulness to a beloved Master to be purged away ‘so as by fire.’

III. And so, lastly, let me point you to the cure.

These men learned to be ashamed of their cowardice, and their dumb lips learned to speak, and their shy, hidden love forced for itself a channel by which it could flow out into the light; because of Christ’s death. And in another fashion that same death and Cross are for us, too, the cure of all cowardice and selfish silence. The sight of Christ’s Cross makes the coward brave. It was no small piece of courage for Joseph to go to Pilate and avow his sympathy with a condemned criminal. The love must have been very true which was forced to speak by disaster and death. And to us the strongest motive for stiffening our vacillating timidity into an iron fortitude, and fortifying us strongly against the fear of what man can do to us, is to be found in gazing upon His dying love who met and conquered all evils and terrors for our sakes.

That Cross will kindle a love which will not rest concealed, but will be ‘like the ointment of the right hand which bewrayeth itself.’ I can fancy men to whom Christ is only what He was to Nicodemus at first, ‘a Teacher sent from God,’ occupying Nicodemus’ position of hidden belief in His teaching without feeling any need to avow themselves His followers; but if once into our souls there has come the constraining and the melting influence of that great and wondrous love which died for us, then, dear brethren, it is unnatural that we should be silent. If those ‘for whom Christ has died’ should hold their peace, ‘the stones would immediately cry out.’ That death, wondrous, mysterious, terrible, but radiant, and glorious with hope, with pardon, with holiness for us and for all the world-that death smites on the chords of our hearts, if I may so speak, and brings out music from them all. The love that died for me will force me to express my love, ‘Then shall the tongue of the dumb sing,’ and silence will be impossible.

The sight of the Cross not only leads to courage, and kindles a love which demands expression, but it impels to joyful surrender. Joseph gave a place in his own new tomb, where he hoped that one day his bones should be laid by the side of the Master against whom he had sinned-for he had no thought of a resurrection. Nicodemus brought a lavish, almost an extravagant, amount of costly spices, as if by honour to the dead he could atone for treason to the living. And both the one and the other teach us that if once we gain the true vision of that great and wondrous love that died on the Cross for us, then the natural language of the loving heart is-

‘Here, Lord! I give myself away; ‘Tis all that I can do.’

If following Him openly involves sacrifices, the sacrifices will be sweet, so long as our hearts look to His dying love. All love delights in expression, and most of all in expression by surrender of precious things, which are most precious because they give love materials which it may lay at the beloved’s feet. What are position, possessions, reputation, capacities, perils, losses, self, but the ‘sweet spices’ which we are blessed enough to be able to lay upon the altar which glorifies the Giver and the gift? The contemplation of Christ’s sacrifice-and that alone-will so overcome our natural selfishness as to make sacrifice for His dear sake most blessed.

I beseech you, then, look ever to Him dying on the Cross for each of us. It will kindle our courage, it will make our hearts glow with love, it will turn our silence into melody and music of praise; it will lead us to heights of consecration and joys of confession; and so it will bring us at last into the possession of that wondrous honour which He promised when He said, ‘He that confesseth Me before men, him will I also confess; and he that denieth Me before men, him will I also deny.’

Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

19:38 According to Luke, Joseph of Arimathea was a courageous man who was waiting for the Kingdom of God (Luke 23:50-51). He was a wealthy (Matt 27:57) and influential leader in Jerusalem and a member of the high council (Mark 15:43) who disagreed with the decision to kill Jesus. He asked Pilate for the favor of burying Jesus in his personal tomb. • Joseph was a secret disciple (cp. John 12:42-43), but his bold deed brought out his public support of Jesus.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Joh 19:38. Μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα, moreover [but] after these things) Nothing was done in tumultuous haste.—κεκρυμμένος, hidden [‘secretly’]) So the LXX. Eze 12:6-7; Eze 12:12, κεκρυμμένος (ἐξελεύσῃ). Neither Joseph, nor Nicodemus, remained a hidden disciple: Joh 19:39.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joh_19:38-39. Μετὰ ταῦτα] Joh_19:32-34. The request of Joseph of Arimathaea (see on Mat_27:57), that he might take away (ᾄρῃ) the corpse, does not conflict with Joh_19:31. For let it be noted that the expression in Joh_19:31 is passive, not stating the subject who takes away. The Jews, who make the request, presume that it would be the soldiers. Pilate had granted the request in Joh_19:31, and had charged the soldiers with its execution, consequently with the breaking of the legs, and removal. The breaking of the legs they have in fact executed on the two who were crucified with Him, and omit it in the case of Jesus; and as Joseph requests from the procurator that he may take away the body of Jesus, and obtains permission, the order for removal given to the soldiers was now recalled in reference to Jesus, and they had to remove only the other two. It is, however, very conceivable that Joseph had still time, after Joh_19:32; Joh_19:34, for his request, since the soldiers after the crucifragium must certainly first await the complete decease of the shattered bodies, because it was permitted to remove only bodies actually dead from the cross. Thus there is neither here, and in Joh_19:31, a contradiction with Mar_15:44 (Strauss); nor does μετὰ ταῦτα form, as De Wette finds, a great and hitherto unnoticed difficulty; nor are we, with Lücke, to understand ᾄρῃ and ἦρε of the fetching away of the bodies (which the soldiers had removed), with which a groundless departure is made from the definition of the sense given in Joh_19:31, and a variation is made in an unauthorized way from Luk_23:56; Mar_15:46.

τὸ πρῶτον] The first time, Joh_3:2. Comp. Joh_10:40. It does not exactly presuppose a subsequent still more frequent coming (in Joh_7:50 also there is only a retrospective reference to what is related in chap. 3), but may also be said simply with reference to the present public coming to the dead person, so that only the death of Jesus had overcome the previous fear of men on the part of Nicodemus. Myrrh-resin and aloe-wood, these fragrant materials (Psa_45:9) were placed in a pulverized condition between the bandages (Joh_19:40); but the surprising quantity (comp. Joh_12:3) is here explained from the fact that superabundant reverence in its sorrowful excitement does not easily satisfy itself; we may also assume that a portion of the spices was to be designed for the couch of the body in the grave, 2Ch_16:14.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joh 19:38-42 . The entombment .

Joh 19:38 . Μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα , “But after these things”. In Joh 19:31 the Jews asked that the bodies might be removed. Had this request been fulfilled by the soldiers, they would have cast the three bodies together into some pit of refuse, cf. Jos 8:29 ; but before this was done Joseph of Arimathaea a place not yet certainly identified who was a rich man ( cf. Isa 53:9 ) and a member of the Sanhedrim (Mat 27:57 ; Mar 15:43 ; Luk 23:50 ), but also “a disciple of Jesus,” though “a hidden one, κεκρυμμένος , through fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might remove the body of Jesus”. This required some courage on Joseph’s part, and Mark therefore uses the word τολμήσας . Reynolds says that ἠρώτησεν “implies something of claim and confidence on his part. The Synoptists all three use ᾐτήσατο , which rather denotes the position of a supplicant for a favour.” The reason, however, why ᾐτήσατο is used in the Synoptists is that it is followed by an accusative of the object asked for; while ἠρώτησε is used in John because it introduces a request that something may be done. With Joseph’s request Pilate complied. ἦλθεν … Ἰησοῦ . For ἦρε τὸ σῶμα , cf. 1Ki 13:29 . Another member of Sanhedrim countenanced and aided Joseph.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Christ is openly buried, and in a famous place, Pilate writing and suffering it, and that by men which did favor Christ, in such wise, that yet before that day, they never openly followed him: so that by his burial, no man can justly doubt either of his death, or resurrection.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Joseph of Arimathea--"a rich man" (Mat 27:57), thus fulfilling Isa 53:9; "an honorable counsellor," a member of the Sanhedrim, and of good condition, "which also waited for the kingdom of God" (Mar 15:43), a devout expectant of Messiah's kingdom; "a good man and a just, the same had not consented to the counsel and deed of them" (Luk 23:50-51 --he had gone the length, perhaps, of dissenting and protesting in open council against the condemnation of our Lord); "who also himself was Jesus' disciple," (Mat 27:57).

being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly, for fear of the Jews--"He went in boldly unto Pilate" (Mar 15:43) --literally, "having taken courage went in," or "had the boldness to go in." Mark alone, as his manner is, notices the boldness which this required. The act would without doubt identify him for the first time with the disciples of Christ. Marvellous it certainly is, that one who while Jesus was yet alive merely refrained from condemning Him, not having the courage to espouse His cause by one positive act, should, now that He was dead, and His cause apparently dead with Him, summon up courage to go in personally to the Roman governor and ask permission to take down and inter the body. But if this be the first instance, it is not the last, that a seemingly dead Christ has wakened a sympathy which a living one had failed to evoke. The heroism of faith is usually kindled by desperate circumstances, and is not seldom displayed by those who before were the most timid, and scarce known as disciples at all. "And Pilate marvelled if he were already dead" (Mar 15:44) --rather "wondered that he was already dead." "And calling the centurion, he asked him whether He had been any while dead" (Mar 15:44) --Pilate could hardly credit what Joseph had told him, that He had been dead "some time," and, before giving up the body to His friends, would learn how the fact stood from the centurion, whose business it was to oversee the execution. "And when he knew it of the centurion" (Mar 15:45), that it was as Joseph had said, "he gave"--rather "made a gift of"--"the body to Joseph"; struck, possibly, with the rank of the petitioner and the dignified boldness of the petition, in contrast with the spirit of the other party and the low rank to which he had been led to believe all the followers of Christ belonged. Nor would he be unwilling to Show that he was not going to carry this black affair any farther. But, whatever were Pilate's motives, two most blessed objects were thus secured: (1) The reality of our Lords death was attested by the party of all others most competent to decide on it, and certainly free from all bias--the officer in attendance--in full reliance on whose testimony Pilate surrendered the body: (2) The dead Redeemer, thus delivered out of the hands of His enemies, and committed by the supreme political authority to the care of His friends, was thereby protected from all further indignities; a thing most befitting indeed, now that His work was done, but impossible, so far as we can see, if His enemies had been at liberty to do with Him as they pleased. How wonderful are even the minutest features of this matchless History!

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 38. Joseph of Arimathea] See on Mt 27:57-60; and particularly Mr 15:42-43.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

38. Joseph of Arimathea besought Pilate. John now relates by whom, and in what place, and with what magnificence, Christ was buried. He mentions two persons who buried Christ; namely, Joseph and Nicodemus, the former of whom requested Pilate to give him the dead body, which otherwise would have been exposed to the lawless violence of the soldiers. Matthew (Matthew 27:57) says, that he was a rich man, and Luke (Luke 23:50) says, that he was a counsellor; that is, he held the rank of a senator. As to Nicodemus, we have seen, in the Third Chapter of this Gospel, that he held an honorable rank among his own countrymen; and that he was also rich, may be easily inferred from the great expense which he laid out in procuring this mixture.

Till now, therefore, riches had prevented them from professing to be the disciples of Christ, and might afterwards have no less influence in keeping them from making a profession so much hated and abhorred. The Evangelist expressly says, that Joseph has formerly been kept back by this fear from venturing to declare openly that he was a disciple of Christ; and as to Nicodemus, he repeats what we have already seen, that he came to Jesus secretly, and by night, (John 3:2 and John 7:50.) Whence, therefore, do they derive such heroic magnanimity that, when affairs are at the lowest ebb, they fearlessly come forth to public view? I say nothing of the great and evident danger which they must have incurred; but the most important point is, that they did not scruple to place themselves in a state of perpetual warfare with their own nation. It is therefore certain that this was effected by a heavenly impulse, so that they who, through, fear, did not render the honor due to him while he was alive, now run to his dead body, as if they had become new men.

They bring their spices to embalm the body of Christ; but they would never have done so, if they had been perfumed with the sweet sayour of his death. This shows the truth of what Christ had said,

Unless a grain of corn die, it remaineth alone; but when it is dead, it bringeth forth much fruit, (John 12:24.)

For here we have a striking proof that his death was more quickening than his life; and so great was the efficacy of that sweet sayour which the death of Christ conveyed to the minds of those two men, that it quickly extinguished all the passions belonging to the flesh. So long as ambition and the love of money reigned in thenb the grace of Christ had no charms for them; but now they begin to disrelish the whole world.

Besides, let us learn that their example points out to us what we owe to Christ. Those two men, as a testimony of their faith, not only took down Christ from the cross with great hazard, but boldly carried him to the grave. Our slothfulness will be base and shameful if, now that he reigns in the heavenly glory, we withhold from him the confession of our faith. So much the less excusable is the wickedness of those who, though they now deny Christ by base hypocrisy, plead in his behalf the example of Nicodemus. In one thing, I admit, they resemble him, that they endeavor, as far as lies in their power, to bury Christ; but the time for burying is past, since he hath ascended to the right hand of the Father, that he may reign gloriously over angels and men, and that every tongue may proclaim his dominion, (Philippians 2:9, 10.)

Secretly, through fear of the Jews. As this fear is contrasted with the holy boldness which the Spirit of the Lord wrought in the heart of Joseph, there is reason to believe that it was not free from blame. Not that all fear, by which believers guard against tyrants and enemies of the Church, is faulty, but because the weakness of faith is manifested, whenever the confession of faith is withheld through fear. We ought always to consider what the Lord commands, and how far he bids us advance. He who stops in the middle of the course shows that he does not trust in God, and he who sets a higher value on his own life than on the command of God is without excuse.

Who was a disciple of Jesus. When we perceive that the Evangelist bestows on Joseph the honorable designation of a disciple, at a time when he was excessively timid, and did not venture to profess his faith before the world, we learn from it how graciously God acts towards his people, and with what fatherly kindness he forgives their offenses. And yet the false Nicodemites have no right to flatter themselves, who not only keep their faith concealed within their own breast, but, by pretending to give their consent to wicked superstitions, do all that is in their power to deny that they are disciples of Christ.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

38. And after this] More literally, But after these things. The ‘but’ marks a contrast between the hostile petition of the Jews and the friendly petition of Joseph. ‘These things’ as distinct from ‘this’ will shew that no one event is singled out with which what follows is connected: the sequence is indefinite. Comp. Joh_3:22, Joh_6:14. ‘After this’ in Joh_19:28 is right: there the sequence is direct and definite. Comp. Joh_2:12, Joh_11:7; Joh_11:11.

Joseph of Arimathea] See notes on Mat_27:57; Mar_15:43; Luk_23:50. The Synoptists tell us that he was rich, a member of the Sanhedrin, a good and just man who had not consented to the Sanhedrin’s counsel and crime, one who (like Simon and Anna) waited for the kingdom of God, and had become a disciple of Christ.

secretly for fear of the Jews] This forms a coincidence with S. Mark, who says of him (Mar_15:43) that ‘having summoned courage he went in unto Pilate,’ implying that like Nicodemus he was naturally timid. Joseph probably went to Pilate as soon as he knew that Jesus was dead: the vague ‘after these things’ need not mean that he did not act till after the piercing of the side.

took the body] As the friends of the Baptist (Mat_14:12) and of S. Stephen (Act_8:2) did in each case.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And after this,.... That is, after Jesus had given up the ghost, when it was a clear case that he was dead; as it was before the soldiers came to break the legs of the crucified, and before one of them pierced the side of Jesus with his spear, though that confirmed it: but it seems to be before these last things were done, and yet after the death of Christ, that Joseph of Arimathea went to Pilate, and desired leave to take down the body of Jesus. This Joseph was a counsellor, one of the Jewish sanhedrim; though he did not give his consent to the counsel of the court concerning Jesus: he is here described by the place of his birth, Arimathea. This place has been generally thought to be the same with Ramah or Ramathaim Zophim, the birth place of Samuel the prophet; and so I have taken it to be in the note See Gill on Mat 27:57 but there seems to be some reason to doubt about it, since Ramathaim Zophim was in Mount Ephraim, or in the mountainous parts of that tribe, Sa1 1:1 whereas Arimathea is called a city of the Jews, Luk 23:51. But if it was in the tribe of Ephraim, it would rather, as Reland (o) observes, be called a city of the Samaritans, to whom that part of the country belonged; besides, as the same learned writer shows from Jdg 4:5 the mountainous parts of Ephraim were about Bethel, to the north of Jerusalem; whereas Arimathea is mentioned along with Lydda, which lay to the west of it, as it is by Jerom, and others: that ancient writer says (p), that not far from Lydda, now called Diospolis, famous for the raising of Dorcas from the dead, and the healing of Aeneas, is Arimathia, the little village of Joseph, who buried the Lord; though he makes this elsewhere (q) to be the same with Ramathaim Zophim: his words are, Armatha Zophim, the city of Elkanah and Samuel, is in the region of Thamna by Diospolis, (or Lydda,) from whence was Joseph, who, in the Gospels, is said to be of Arimathia; and so in Josephus (r), and in the Apocrypha:

"Wherefore we have ratified unto them the borders of Judea, with the three governments of Apherema and Lydda and Ramathem, that are added unto Judea from the country of Samaria, and all things appertaining unto them, for all such as do sacrifice in Jerusalem, instead of the payments which the king received of them yearly aforetime out of the fruits of the earth and of trees.'' (1 Maccabees 11:34)

Lydda and Ramatha, or, as in the latter, Ramathem, are mentioned together, as added unto Judea from the country of Samaria; which last clause, "from the country of Samaria", seems to bid fair for a reconciliation of this matter, that those two are one and the same place: and as the birth place of Samuel the prophet is called, by the Septuagint, Armathaim, as has been observed see Gill on Mat 27:57 so it is likewise called, "Ramatha", by the Targumist on Hos 5:8 as it is also by Josephus (s). The city of this name, near Lydda, is now called Ramola, and is about thirty six or thirty seven miles from Jerusalem. The Syriac, Arabic, and Persic versions render it, "who was of Rama". Some take this Joseph to be the same with Joseph ben Gorion, the brother of Nicodemus ben Gorion, and who is supposed to be the same Nicodemus mentioned in the next verse. The character the Jews (t) give of Joseph ben Gorion is, that he was a priest, and of the richest and most noble of the priests in Jerusalem; that he was a very wise, just, and upright man; and that three or four years before the destruction of Jerusalem, he was about sixty seven years of age.

Being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly, for fear of the Jews; not one of the twelve, but a private hearer, who had sometimes secretly attended on the ministry of Christ, loved him, and believed in him as the Messiah, but had not courage enough to confess him, and declare for him, for fear of being put out of the synagogue and sanhedrim: but now being inspired with zeal and courage, "went in boldly", as Mark says,

and besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus: from off the cross, that it might not be any more insulted by his enemies, and might not be thrown with the other bodies into the place where the bodies of malefactors were cast, but that it might be decently interred. This Pilate, the Roman governor, had the disposal of, and to him Joseph applies for it; which was a great instance of his affection for Christ, and was a declaring openly for him, and must unavoidably expose him to the malice and resentment of the Jews:

and Pilate gave him leave; having first inquired of the centurion, whether he was dead; of which being satisfied, he readily granted it; not only in complaisance to Joseph, who was a man of note and figure, but on account of the innocence of Jesus, of which he was convinced, and therefore was very willing he should have an honourable burial:

he came therefore; to the cross, with proper servants with him,

and took the body of Jesus; down from the cross, and carried it away. The Alexandrian copy, different from all others, and in language uncommon, reads, "the body of God".

(o) Palestina Ilustrata, l. 3. p. 581. (p) Epitaph Paulae, fol. 59. A. (q) De locis Hebraicis, fol. 88. K. (r) Antiqu. l. 13. c. 4. soot. 9. (s) Ib. l. 5. c. 10. sect. 2. (t) Ganz. Tzemach David, par. 1. fol 25. 1. & 27. 1.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

38 And after this Joseph of Arimathaea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus: and Pilate gave him leave. He came therefore, and took the body of Jesus.

Ver. 38. A disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear] A disciple he was, though a dastard. Infirmities, if disclaimed, discard us not. Uzziah ceased not to be a king, when he began to be a leper. Joshua the high priest, though ill clothed, yet stood before the angel, Zec 3:1; Christ did not abhor his presence, nor reject his service. The Church calleth herself black, Son 1:5, but Christ calls her fair, &c. In peace offerings they might offer leavened bread, to show that God will bear with his people’s infirmities.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

See the notes at Mat 27:57-61.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

See Poole on "Mat 27:57", and following verses to Mat 27:59.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Vers. 38-42. (7) The burial the two friends, Joseph and Nicodemus.

After these things i.e., after all these transactions and impressions, after the crurifragium and the piercing and the proceedings of the soldiers with Pilate"s permission; after, that is, time was left to see the full issue of the previous act, and the awful fact was patent to allJoseph, who is from Arimathaea. This "Joseph" is introduced with the article (o), and a second before apo , implying to the reader that he is now. by reason of thesynoptic narrative, a well-known person. This Arimathsea is probably the Ramathaim of 1Sa_1:1, the birthplace of Samuel, known now as the Nebi Samwil, about two leagues north-west of Jerusalem (Caspari, Hengstenberg thinks the site is Ramleh, eight hours from Jerusalem. The maps of the Palest. Explor. Fund place it about a league to the east of Bethlehem. He was a "rich man" (Mat_27:57) a fact which the First Gospel recalls without quoting the remarkable oracle of Isa_53:9, that Messiah, Servant of Jehovah, was with the "rich in his death." We may judge that Joseph had a residence in Jerusalem, even though he may still be known as belonging to and "from" Arimathaea, because he bad prepared, hard by the metropolis, a sepulcher which as yet had never been used. He was, moreover, a bouleuthv , (Luk_23:50 Mar_15:43) a member of the Sanhedrin, of high character, "good and just.... waiting for, expecting the kingdom of God" (say Mark and Luke), "and by no means consentient to the counsel and deed of his colleagues" (adds Luke). The whole position is briefly put by John: Being a disciple of Jesus, but a hidden one ( kekrummenov), who had been concealed as such up to this crowning climax of his Lord"s humiliation, not daring to confess Christ, by reason of his fear of the Jews. Strange that he and Nicodemus should have cast away their fears at such a moment! Joseph asked of Pilate (hrwthsen); a word that implies something of claim and confidence on his part. The synoptists all three use hthsato , which rather denotes the position of a suppliant for a favor.

That he might take away the body of Jesus: and Pilate gave him leave. This is supposed by some, who are anxious to make difficulties where none exist, that (according to Mar_15:43) Pilate had already given permission for the crurifragium, and yet was astonished that he was dead already. The statement of Mark is perfectly consistent with this and with the arywsin of ver. 31. Joseph, when all the transactions were over, sought for himself the privilege of a friend to take the body and bury it.

Roman law permitted this privilege to friends; as Luthardt says, "The Christian martyrs of Rome were often buried in the catacombs." Not until death was obvious was it lawful to remove a body from the cross. The death had taken place; the Jews were prepared with Pilate"s authorization to remove the corpse to the Valley of the Son of Hinnom. Joseph comes with a permission to take the corpse for honorable burial. He came therefore by reason of the permissionand took the body (of Jesus).

Vers. 38-42. The burial of Jesus.

It was an honorable interment.

I THE DEVOTED MINISTRY OF FRIENDS. "After this Joseph of Arimathaea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus: and Pilate gave him leave.

1. The character and position of Joseph.

(1) He was a member of the Sanhedrin;

(2) a just and honorable man; (Mar_15:43)

(3) a disciple of Jesus, who "waited for the kingdom of God, and did not consent to the counsel of the Sanhedrin against Jesus;

(4) yet a timid disciple, who feared to compromise himself with the Jews.

2. His application to Pilate.

(1) His position as a member of the Sanhedrin would entitle him to the consideration of the governor.

(2) The cross brings out curious contrasts in the conduct and circumstances of those who are related to Christ.

(a) The disciples, who were openly identified with him in life forsake him in his last extremity, and have no share in the honors of his burial.

(b) Two disciples, who had no open relations with him in life, step forward boldly at his death, and give him the last offices of the dead.

(3) Joseph obtains possession of the body of Christ. "He came therefore, and took the body of Jesus." He interred it in his own new sepulcher.

II THE ASSOCIATION OF NICODEMUS WITH JOSEPH IN THE HONOR DONE TO THE DEAD. "And there came also Nicodemus, which, at the first, came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds.

1. The character and position of Nicodemus.

(1) He was a member of the Sanhedrin, who first appears in Scripture history as a secret inquirer (John 3).

(2) He was, like Joseph, afraid of the Jews.

(3) He manifested a growing faith when he pleaded for justice in the council, "Doth our Law judge any man before it hear him, and know what he doeth?

(4) The last stage in his experience is reached when he meets Joseph in presence of the dead body of his Redeemer.

2. The two friends wind the body of Jesus in linen with spices, and then place it in the sepulcher of Joseph.

(1) It was done in haste, "because of the Jews" preparation.

(2) The holy women intended to complete their provisional embalming after the sabbath day.

3. The two friends then disappear from history.

(1) They are never again mentioned in Scripture.

(2) We envy them the sacred privilege they enjoyed.

(3) Their conduct suggests the following lessons.

(a) It is better to be a timid disciple than none at all.

(b) There are drawbacks to secret disciples" life. How much they lost by missing the opportunity of constant association with Christ in life!

(c) Timidity does not save men from annoyance. Joseph and Nicodemus would lose the confidence of those with whom they were still visibly identified, while they would be exposed to the first just reproach of Christ"s open friends.

(d) Let none of us tread the solitary way, but rather openly confess the Lord.

A disciple, but secretly.

Of the man thus described by John we know but little. His birthplace, or family seat, was Arimathaea; his rank among the Jews was of the highest, for he was a member of the national council, or Sanhedrin. His wealth is mentioned, and accounts for his possession of land, and for the provision by him of costly spices to be used in our Lord"s interment. His moral character is summed up in the description of him as "good and just." As he comes before us in connection with the closing scene of our Savior"s humiliation, he combines opposite elements of disposition; for he is represented as timid and standing in dread of the Jews, and yet so bold as to go to Pilate and to beg of the governor the body of the crucified Jesus. The office of committing the body to the tomb was discharged by Nicodemus, also a ruler of the Jews, and also apparently a secret disciple, and by this Joseph, who offered for the purpose the place of sepulture which he owned, and evidently designed for the use of himself and his family. Joseph of Arimathaea may be taken as a representative of the secret disciple. Circumstances vary with times, but the disposition here exemplified still exists.

I THERE ARE VARIOUS CAUSES WHICH ACCOUNT FOR SECRECY IN CHRISTIAN DISCIPLESHIP.

1. It is natural and proper that the beginnings of conscious discipleship should be hidden. When the seed begins to germinate, to put forth the signs and the promise of life, it remains hidden beneath the surface of the soil unseen by any eye. And when a young heart in its yearnings, or a penitent heart in its mingled regrets and hopes, turns to the Lord Jesus, as to a Divine Friend and mighty Savior, the change is unknown, unheeded by the observer. The time comes when the plant appears above the ground; and the time comes when the tokens of spiritual life in a changed character, disposition, and habits are unmistakable. But there is a time for secrecy, and there is a time for publicity.

2. There are those who keep secret their interest in Christian truth, their affection for Christ himself, through a trembling reverence for spiritual and Divine things. Doubtless many are sincere in the public shouts and songs, by which their boisterous natures boast of new-found light and liberty. But many gentle, timid, and refined spirits are equally sincere and devout in their reserve. Men and women there are like her who "kept and treasured these things in her heart." A time there is in Christian experience when feeling is too sacred to be professed.

3. Distrust of self, and an awed sense of responsibility, account for the backwardness of many sincere disciples to avow their faith and love. What if they should profess to be Christ"s, and then afterwards should prove ashamed of him, or should discredit him by any want of loyalty? The very fear lest this should be so leads to reticence and silence.

4. An inferior motive has to be considered, viz. the fear of man. Some, especially among the young, fear the opposition or the ridicule or the reproach of their fellow-men. Such was the case with Joseph, who feared the Jews dreaded lest he should, like Jesus, be persecuted, or lest he should be despised and hated. A member of a distinguished and privileged class is peculiarly sensitive to the coldness, the contempt, or the ridicule of those whose opinion makes the public opinion which has most influence over him.

II THERE IS MISCHIEF WROUGHT BY SECRET DISCIPLESHIP. When those who love Christ, and make it their aim to serve him, conceal their attachment and their pious resolution, whether through timidity or distrust, harm follows.

1. The disciple who withholds or delays his open confession of the Savior, by so doing thwarts his own religious progress and happiness. "With the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." The very attitude of bold and public acknowledgment of faith in the Lord Jesus is a means of spiritual confirmation and improvement. For such an attitude is the natural expression of faith, and attracts the countenance and sympathy of those who are like-minded.

2. The withholding of a confession of Christ is disobedience to Christ and to his Spirit. If we learn of him, we are bound to obey him. And be has bidden us take up our cross and follow him. He has bidden us observe the Lord"s Supper in memory of his death. It is not honoring Christ to delay, without sufficient reason, such an avowal of our faith in him as his own Word justifies, and indeed requires.

3. Secrecy of discipleship is discouraging to the Church of Christ. That Church has many enemies; it has need of all its friends. It weakens the forces of the spiritual host when those who should fall into the ranks stand aloof. There is a sense in which those who are not with Christ are against him.

4. The world is confirmed in error and unbelief when there is a disinclination on the part of Christians openly to avow themselves what they really are. It is natural enough for the world to interpret such conduct as indicating a want of heartiness and thoroughness in discipleship. Men ask whether those who stand outside are not in the same position as those who go up to the door, but do not enter in.

III THERE ARE CONSIDERATIONS WHICH MAY PROTECT AGAINST THE TEMPTATION TO CONCEAL CHRISTIAN DISCIPLESHIP.

1. The greatness of the Master to whom we owe allegiance. Christ is so great that none need feel any shame in belonging to him; such a relation is the highest honor accessible to man. Christ is so great that none need feel any fear in openly avowing loyalty to him. None is so well able as the "Lord of all" to protect and deliver those who adhere to him.

2. It should be remembered by those who are in doubt whether or not to confess Christ, that a day is coming in which the real position of all men with regard to the Divine Redeemer must be made manifest. Of those who are ashamed of him before men the Lord Jesus will be ashamed in the judgment before his Father and the holy angels. T.

Vers. 38-42. The last stage of the Savior"s humiliation.

John, who presents to us the most sublime views of the Divine nature and glory of the Christ, does not shrink from relating in this passage to how deep humiliation that Christ condescended.

I THE HISTORICAL PURPOSE FULFILLED BY CHRIST"S BURIAL. It is observable that all four evangelists record, and with many details, the interment of the Son of man. This is accounted for, not so much by any intrinsic importance belonging to burial, as by its intermediate position between the crucifixion and the resurrection of our Lord.

1. The burial of Jesus is of moment, as establishing the fact of his actual death. It has been absurdly contended by some infidel theorizers, at a loss to know how to deal with the evidence for our Lord"s subsequent appearances, that he did not really die upon the cross, that he merely fell into a swoon, from which, under the care of his friends, he recovered. If such had been the case, the body could not have been laid in the tomb and left there.

2. The narrative is also conclusive as to the reality of our Lord"s resurrection. He could not have risen from the dead unless he had first died. It is not possible to disconnect the several parts of the narrative from one another. As it stands, the record is consistent and credible.

II THE APPLICANT AND THE APPLICATION. It is remarkable that, in the very crisis when the professed and prominent disciples of Jesus were timid and vanished from the scene, two secret disciples came forward and discharged the last offices of friendship for the Lord in his humiliation. Of Joseph we know that he was from Arimathaea, that he was rich and an honored member of the Sanhedrin, that he did not agree to the condemnation passed upon the Prophet of Nazareth; We also know concerning his religious position that he was one of those who were looking for God"s kingdom to be set up, and that he was a disciple of Jesus, though secretly, for fear of the Jews. With Joseph was associated Nicodemus, who seems to have been emboldened by the example of Joseph to come forward, to declare his affection for Jesus, and to take part in the interment of his Master. An illustration of the contagion of a courageous example, which may be commended to those who are hesitating between secret and open discipleship. With respect to Pilate, it is to be observed that, as he had no personal hostility to Jesus, and probably took a pleasure in annoying the Jewish leaders, he was naturally willing enough, apparently without being bribed, to agree to the request of Joseph. He satisfied himself, by the testimony of the centurion, that Jesus was dead, and then suffered the applicant to take the body. Thus neither was the corpse exposed during the Paschal solemnities, nor was it consigned to the indignity of a criminal"s interment.

III THE PLACE AND MANNER OF THE BURIAL. Tender care is manifested in every line of this picture. Affectionate hands wound the body in folds of costly linen. Consecrated wealth placed myrrh and aloes in the folds. Generous fellowship offered the tomb which was designed for the owner"s family, but which was deemed to be honored and sanctified by becoming the temporary abode of the Savior"s form. Strong and willing hands rolled the great stone against the opening to the rock-hewn sepulcher. Reverent and loving women, who had watched the Sufferer when on the cross, now watched the lifeless body consigned to its peaceful resting-place. These are homely incidents, but they are hallowed and glorified by the human love which they reveal. Fancy lingers by the garden which was the scene of these ministrations, and finds it seemly that, as a garden had witnessed the Savior"s agony, a garden also should witness his repose.

IV THE WONDROUS FACT OF CHRIST"S BURIAL. That Jesus, being what he was, the Son of God, the Lord of glory, the King of men, should consent to die and to be buried, is amazing indeed. That such a life a life devoted to benevolent purposes, a life evincing the possession of irresistible power should end in the grave, this appears altogether anomalous. That men should slay their Savior, that he should consent to die, that the Father in heaven should suffer such an end to such a career, this must fill a thoughtful and sensitive observer with wonder akin to fear! Earth was for some hours the sepulcher of the Son of God!

V THE RELIGIOUS SIGNIFICANCE OF THE BURIAL OF CHRIST.

1. We remark Jesus sharing the whole of our lot in its utmost humiliation. He who stooped to the manger at his birth did not disdain the grave after his death. As Son of man, he would shrink from no human experience. It behooved him in all things to be made like his brethren. Thus he qualified himself to be at once our Representative before God, and our eternal Brother a High Priest touched with a feeling of our infirmities.

2. We remark that the end of our Lord"s humiliation was the beginning of his glory and reign. He was made perfect through suffering. Through the grave he passed to the throne. His "precious death and burial" were the means and the introduction to the majesty and dominion which are his of right, and his for ever.

VI THE PRACTICAL LESSONS OF CHRIST"S BURIAL.

1. Our obligation to gratitude and love is brought strikingly before our hearts when we thus learn what our Savior bore for us.

2. Christians are spiritually to share Christ"s death and sepulture. They are buried with Christ, by their baptism unto his death.

3. The grave loses its terrors to those who know that Jesus shares it with his people. As the tomb could not hold him, so the stone which seals his people"s sepulcher shall surely be rolled away. T.

Vers. 38-42. Secret discipleship.

Notice

I THAT JESUS IN EVERY AGE HAS SOME SECRET DISCIPLES. There are two mentioned here Joseph and Nicodemus. Why were they secret?

1. Because of the danger with which they were surrounded. "For fear of the Jews." What were the influences which excited their fear?

(1) The influence of position. They were in a high worldly position, members of the chief council of the nation, and to confess Jesus meant the loss of this.

(2) The influence of caste. Caste feelings were very strong among the Jews; as they are, indeed, specially strong among all nations, Christian as well as heathen. These councilmen would be outcasts from society if they accepted Jesus as their Teacher.

(3) The influence of wealth. They were wealthy men, and their public confession of Jesus would mean the loss of this.

2. Their natural timidity of disposition. We may well assume that the natural disposition of Joseph and Nicodemus was modest, thoughtful, cautious, timid, and retiring; and this naturally influenced their public conduct. Their disposition was the very reverse to Peter"s, and their temptation would lie in an opposite direction. On account of natural disposition it is no effort, and consequently no virtue, in one to be brave and heroic; while in the other it is the difficult task of life.

3. The essential incompleteness of their faith. Faith in Christ at this time, in the best, was weak and imperfect. It was so in the disciples, who had all the advantages of Christ"s ministry and miracles. What must it have been in these more distant and secret disciples? They had not enjoyed the advantages of religious education, and therefore their faith was naturally incomplete.

4. Nevertheless, they were genuine disciples. The fear of the Jews, although it had some influence with them, was not really predominant. Publicity of profession is not a guarantee for sincerity; neither is secrecy a barrier to it. Every true discipleship commences in secret, and has much that is secret throughout its career. The true moral force of man is in the secrecy of his heart.

II THAT GENUINE DISCIPLES, ALTHOUGH SECRET, ONLY REQUIRE SUITABLE CIRCUMSTANCES TO DRAW THEM OUT. These were drawn out; and what drew them?

1. Additional evidence to faith.

(1) The evidence of Christ"s conduct. His meek, patient, submissive, and dignified conduct in the most tried circumstances, and the most excruciating sufferings and provocation, was highly calculated to inspire faith in him.

(2) The false and mad conduct of his enemies. Their perjury, their extreme and mad cruelty in relation to such a character, would naturally tell in his favor, and would recoil upon themselves.

(3) The evidence of Pilate. Whatever the character of that remarkable governor, he most decidedly pronounced judgment against the Jews and for Jesus. He only delivered him up to them at last under a protest. This, to any reflective and well-disposed person, must have been very significant and even convincing.

(4) The evidence of nature. The rending of the veil and rocks, the quakings of the earth, the opening of graves, and the darkening of the sun at noontide when Jesus hung on the cross, spoke mightily to faith in his favor. There was such a concurrence of evidence from beginning to end which would naturally bring faith out wherever it was, and even produce it where it was not.

2. The death of Christ, in itself, was calculated to draw out latent love and courage. Death is a circumstance which has a tendency to lessen man"s faults and magnify his virtues. Of the former Jesus had none, and through the gloom of death the latter shone with Divine brilliancy. In the timid breast they would naturally inspire conscience with regret, and with a desire to make amends, and would fan the smoking flax of love into flame. Only at the death of a dear one we and others come to know how much we loved him in life. Joseph and Nicodemus never knew that they loved Jesus so much till he was crucified and had passed away.

3. Latent love and courage were brought out by example. Joseph came out first, and his example was inspiring. Nicodemus caught the contagion, being the most timid of the two, and he came also; probably he watched the movements of Joseph. He was almost dying to show his respect and love to the crucified One, but felt too weak till he saw the decided action of his stronger brother. This at once decided his course, and he came also. Joseph and Nicodemus doubtless held many a secret converse on the object of their common love, and one encouraged and inspired the other.

III THAT SECRET BUT GENUINE DISCIPLES, DRAWN OUT BY SUITABLE CIRCUMSTANCES, ARE OFTEN VERY HEROIC AND BENEVOLENT. These qualities are manifested here in:

1. A courageous request. Joseph came to Pilate to ask permission to take away the body of Jesus to be buried. This was a bold venture, as expressed by Mark, involving considerable personal risk, and so contrary to his natural temper and past conduct. But he is now his new self and not his old, or his old and real self in its true garb.

2. A courageous and loving deed. Permission was given. His inspired venture proved successful. His eloquent request was granted, and he took away the body. This was a public act, in which he shared and for which he was responsible. His fear of losing position, caste, and wealth is now gone. He is under the sway of the opposite principle of love. It is not the fear of the Jews, but the love of Jesus, sways him now, and he is soon joined by a timid brother.

3. Benevolent gifts.

(1) The gift of Nicodemus. A hundred pounds of costly spices. He came to the funeral neither empty-hearted nor empty-handed, but with a princely gift abundance of spices to embalm the dead but sacred corpse.

(2) The gift of Joseph. The linen and the grave. He was determined that the body of Jesus should not share the fate of ordinary criminals, but that it should have a grave a new grave in his garden, probably intended for himself. Jesus should sleep in his bed. But there would be no inconvenience, as Jesus would leave it early enough; so there was no danger of its being needed by Joseph before it would be left by Jesus. And he left it much improved. A garden was never the depository of such a seed; and a grave was never the resting-place of such a tenant.

(3) These were gifts and acts of devotional love. Theirs was the heroism of unconquerable affection, which could no longer be repressed. The river overflowed its banks and swept all before it. The living Christ was in Joseph"s heart, and his dead body was now in his sacred grave. The hundred pounds of costly spices were the devotions of Nicodemus"s love to the Savior.

4. All this was manifested at the darkest hour.

(1) When his enemies had completed their work. They had accomplished their purposes, and realized their fondest hopes in the crucifixion and death of Jesus. But while the council had crucified him, two of its members buried his body. When hatred had reached its highest mark of triumph, latent and secret love reached a higher mark of public courage.

(2) When his friends had deserted him. Only the women and the beloved disciple were in attendance at his last hour. None of his public followers came to bury him, nor follow his body to the tomb. Then these secret disciples came forward as the reserve force of the King, and courageously and lovingly performed his sacred obsequies.

(3) When his cause was apparently at an end. Nicodemus never came to him on such a dark night as this. The common faith was eclipsed, and hope all but extinguished; but then the faith, hope, and love of these private disciples glowed and shone in the gloom of death.

LESSONS.

1. That general sincerity of character is advantageous to the reception of Jesus. Joseph was a just and honorable man. This was his general character, and to such Jesus must recommend himself.

2. In the most wicked councils generally there are some good men. In the very nest of his murderers Jesus had at least two genuine friends.

3. Genuine principle, however weak, will triumph in the end. Life ultimately will make itself seen and felt. Those who sincerely come to Jesus by night will come to him at last by day, and in the day of greatest need.

4. Jesus has ever some secret disciples, who wilt do for him what others will or cannot. It was intended that he should have a princely burial. If in life he was with the poor, he was with the rich in his death. No one could foresee how this could come to pass; but Jesus had secret friends among the rich, and they buried his body in a rich fashion, very befitting. Others buried him; he rose himself.

5. Christ was more influential in death than in life. In life he had failed to draw Joseph and Nicodemus out publicly; but in death they could not resist the attraction. He said, "If I die, I will draw;" and here is a striking illustration, but not the only one. B.T.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate - And Nicodemus also came - Acknowledging Christ, when even his chosen disciples forsook him. In that extremity Joseph was no longer afraid, Nicodemus no longer ashamed.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

The burial of Jesus:

v. 38. And after this, Joseph of Arimathaea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus; and Pilate gave him leave. He came, therefore, and took the body of Jesus.

v. 39. And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight.

v. 40. Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury.

v. 41. Now, in the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new sepulcher, wherein was never man yet laid.

v. 42. There laid they Jesus, therefore, because of the Jews’ preparation day; for the sepulcher was nigh at hand.

When, in the hour of trial, the apostles failed their Lord, other disciples, up till then almost unknown, boldly professed their allegiance to the hated Nazarene. One of these men was Joseph, a counselor, a member of the Sanhedrin, whose home was in Rama or Arimathaea, the city of Samuel, 1Sa 1:1-19. He had kept his convictions concerning Jesus secret for fear of the Jews. But now he comes forward boldly, goes to Pilate, and requests to be given the body of Jesus. Pilate, having made the necessary inquiries as to the death of the Crucified, granted the permission. So Joseph set out for Calvary to take down the body of his Master. And here he was joined by Nicodemus, of whom the evangelist has spoken in two places, Joh 3:1; Joh 7:50. This man had also come to the knowledge of the truth; he believed in Jesus as his Savior. He came to Calvary well prepared for the last work of love for the Master, bearing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, aromatic spices used for the embalming of the dead, a total of a hundred liters or Jewish pounds, almost seventy pounds avoirdupois. Being a rich man, he was willing to show his devotion for his Lord, the compound of spices which he brought being sufficient to anoint the whole body as well as to saturate the grave-cloths. Having taken the body down from the cross, these two men prepared it for burial, by wrapping it in the burial sheets with the aromatic spices, after the manner of the Jews in preparing bodies for entombment. At the place of crucifixion, adjacent to it or very near it, there was a garden, where Joseph had his own rock grave, which had never been used for a burial and therefore had not been desecrated by the smell of decaying flesh. The main reason for the hasty entombment in the near-by sepulcher was the nearness of the great festival day of the Jews. The day of preparation ended with sunset, after which manual labor of any kind was prohibited. Note: Jesus received, after all the shame and disgrace of His trial and death, at least an honorable burial: He was laid into the grave of a rich man and was buried after the manner of a rich man. All these factors point forward to His approaching glorification. There is nothing terrible about the sepulcher of Jesus; it rather appears as a couch for gentle sleep. Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world, by His burial has sanctified the graves of all His saints, made them places of calm repose, where they wait in peace for the great day of resurrection.

Summary.Jesus, after further mockery, is condemned to death by Pilate, is crucified on Calvary, gives up His life into the hands of His heavenly Father, and is buried by Joseph and Nicodemus, who had been His secret disciples for some time.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

This last paragraph of the chapter gives us an account of our Lord’s honourable burial: such a funeral as never was since graves were first digged.

Where observe, 1. Our Lord’s body must be begged before it could be buried, the dead bodies of malefactors being in the power and at the disposal of the judge: Pilate grants it; and accordingly the dead body is taken dead, wrapped in fine linen, and prepared for the sepulchre.

Observe, 2. The persons who bestowed this honourable burial upon Christ: Joseph of Arimathea, and Nicodemus; the one provided fine linen, and the other fine spices, and they jointly wound and embalmed his body after the Jewish manner; both of them worthy, though close, disciples; grace doth not always make a public and open show where it is; but as there is much secret treasure unseen in the bowels of the earth, so is there much grace in the hearts of some saints, which the world takes little notice of. We read of none of the apostles at Christ’s funeral; fear had put them to flight; but Joseph and Nicodemus appeared boldly. If God strengthen the weak, and leave the strong to the prevalency of their own fears, the weak shall be as David, and the strong as tow.

Observe, 3. The grave or sepulchre in which our Lord was buried: it was a sepulchre in a garden, to expiate Adam’s sin committed in a garden: as by the sin of the first Adam we were driven out of paradise, the garden of pleasure; so by the sufferings of a second Adam, who lay buried in a garden, we may hope for entrance into the heavenly paradise. And it was in a new sepulchre, wherein never any man was laid, lest his adversaries should say, it was another that was risen, who was buried there before; or, that he arose, as one of the old prophets did, by touching the bones of some other dead person.

Observe, 4. The manner of our Lord’s funeral; it was hasty, public, and decent. It was hasty, by reason of the straitness of time; the sabbath was approaching, and all business is laid aside to prepare for that.

Teaching us, how much it is our duty to despatch our worldly business early on the eve of the Lord’s day; that we may be the better prepared to sanctify that day.

Again, our Lord’s funeral was public, and open; all persons that would, might be spectators, to cut off occasion from any to object, that there was deceit and fraud used in or about our Lord’s burial; yet was he also interred decently, his holy body being wrapt in fine linen, and perfumed with spices, according to the Jewish custom.

Observe, 5. The reasons why our Lord was thus buried, seeing he was to rise again in as short a time as other men lie by the walls: doubtless it was to declare the certainty of his death, and the reality of his resurrection, to fulfil the types and prophecies which went before of him; as Jonah being three days and three nights in the whale’s belly. He was also buried to complete his humiliation, this being the lowest state to which he could descend in his abased state. Finally, he went into the grave, that he might conquer death in its own territories.

Observe lastly, of what use our Lord’s burial is to us his followers. It shews us the amazing depth of his humiliations, from what and to what his love brought him, even from the bosom of his Father to the bosom of the grave. It may also comfort us against the fears of death; the grave could not long keep Christ, it shall not always keep us; it was a loathsome prison before, it is a perfumed bed now: he whose head is in heaven, need not fear to put his feet into the grave. Awake, and sing, thou that dwellest in the dust, for the enmity of the grave is slain by Christ.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

38–42. For notes on the Burial, see Matt. 27:57–66. Compare Mark 15:42–47; Luke 23:50–56.

There came also Nicodemus. This is the third mention of him. See John 3:1 and 7:50. Both he and Joseph were members of the Sanhedrim. Only John mentions that he aided Joseph in the burial.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

Joseph of Arimathea

Arimathea was a small town. AT: "Joseph from the town of Arimathea" (See: How to Translate Names)

for fear of the Jews

Here "Jews" is a synecdoche for the Jewish leaders who opposed Jesus. AT: "for fear of the Jewish leaders" (See: Synecdoche)

if he could take away the body of Jesus

John implies that Joseph of Arimathea wants to bury the body of Jesus. AT: "for permission to take the body of Jesus down from the cross for burial" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

Nicodemus

Nicodemus was one of the Pharisees who believed in Jesus. See how you translated this name in John 3:1.

myrrh and aloes

These are spices that people use to prepare a body for burial.

about one hundred litras in weight

You may convert this to a modern measure. A "litra" is about one third of a kilogram. AT: "about 33 kilograms in weight" or "weighing about thirty-three kilograms" (See: Biblical Weight)

one hundred

"100" (See: Numbers)

translationWords

disciple

Pilate

fear

Jew

myrrh

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

38. Before and after Ἰωσήφ omit ὁ (usual in mentioning a well-known person).

38. μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα. But after these things. The δέ marks a contrast between the hostile petition of the Jews and the friendly petition of Joseph. Ταῦτα as distinct from τοῦτο shews that no one event is singled out with which what follows is connected: the sequence is indefinite (Joh 3:22). Contrast Joh 19:28: there the sequence is direct and definite (Joh 2:12, Joh 11:7; Joh 11:11). For Joseph of Arimathaea see on Mat 27:57; Mar 15:43; Luk 23:50. The Synoptists tell us that he was rich, a member of the Sanhedrin, a good and just man who had not consented to the Sanhedrin’s counsel and crime, one who (like Simeon and Anna) waited for the kingdom of God, and had become a disciple of Christ. Διὰ τ. φόβον forms a coincidence with S. Mark, who says of him (Mar 15:43) that ‘having summoned courage (τολμήσας) he went in unto Pilate,’ implying that like Nicodemus he was naturally timid. Joseph probably went to Pilate as soon as he knew that Jesus was dead: the vague ‘after these things’ need not mean that he did not act till after the piercing of the side. With ἧρεν τ. σῶμα comp. Mat 14:12; Act 8:2.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

38-42.] His Burial.

38.] μετὰ ταῦτα—not, ‘immediately after this’—but ‘soon after.’ The narrative implies, though it does not mention (as Mark and Luke do), that Joseph himself took down the Body from the cross. Lücke thinks the soldiers would have done this: but their duty seems only to have extended to the ascertaining of the fact of death. The ἀρθῶσιν of ver. 31 need not imply, ‘by their hands.’

It was customary to grant the bodies of executed persons to their friends. “Percussos sepeliri carnifex non vetat,” Quintil. Declam. vi.

On Joseph, and the other particulars, see notes on Matt.

ἦλθεν—to Golgotha.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

38. μετὰ ταῦτα is the phrase by which Jn. introduces new sections of the narrative. See Introd., p. cviii.

Ἰωσὴφ ἀπὸ Ἀριμαθαίας. Arimathæa is probably to be identified with the O.T. Ramathaim-Zophim (1Sa 1:1; cf. 1 Macc. 11:34), a place about 13 miles E.N.E. of Lydda, and about 60 miles from Jerusalem. Joseph was a member of the Sanhedrim, εὐσχήμων βουλευτής (Mar 15:43), and rich (according to Mat 27:57), Luk 23:50 adding the information that he was a good and just man, who had not consented to the proceedings of his colleagues in the condemnation of Jesus. He was a disciple of Jesus, in the wider sense of μαθητής (cf. Mat 27:57), although a secret one, κεκρυμμένος δὲ διὰ τὸν φόβον τῶν Ἰουδαίων (cf. 7:13, 9:22). Mk. only says of him that he was “looking for the kingdom of God.” Pseudo-Peter alleges that he was “a friend of Pilate and of the Lord.” But he was not a familiar figure among the disciples of Jesus, for the Galilæan women do not seem to have been acquainted with him: they only watched what he and his servants did at the tomb (Mar 15:47). It was only after the Crucifixion that Joseph and Nicodemus avowed their discipleship by their solicitude for reverent treatment of the body of Jesus. Mk. notes that Joseph went to make his request to Pilate, τολμήσας “having plucked up his courage” (Mar 15:43).

Joseph’s request and his subsequent action are narrated in all the Gospels (Mat 27:57, Mar 15:42, Luk 23:50); in Pseudo-Peter (§ 2) the request is made in advance before the Crucifixion, and is referred to Herod before it is granted.

Turner has suggested1 that Joseph’s petition to Pilate was made at the time when the deputation from the Sanhedrim asked that the death of the crucified persons should be hastened (see above on v. 31); and, although Jn. introduces v. 38 with μετὰ ταῦτα, this is more probable than the alternative that Pilate gave two separate audiences on the subject of the death of Jesus and the subsequent disposal of His body.

At any rate, Pilate acceded to the request of Joseph that the body of Jesus should be given him for burial, and made no difficulty about it. ἐδωρήσατο τὸ πτῶμα is Mk.’s phrase (Mar 15:44): he gave the corpse freely. (Cf. Mar 6:29, Mat 14:12.)

ἦρεν τὸ σῶμα αὐτοῦ. So אcBL; the rec., with DsuppNΓΔΘ, has τὸ σῶμα τοῦ Ἰησοῦ. W has αὐτόν. Jn. uses the word σῶμα only of a dead body (see Introd., p. clxx). Joseph arrived at the Cross before the soldiers had finished their task; cf. ἀρθῶσιν, v. 31.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

A disciple of Jesus. Matt. calls him a rich man; Mark, an honorable counselor, i e., a member of the Sanhedrim; and Luke, a counselor, good and just.

Besought [ηρωτησε] . Better, as Rev., asked. See on 11 22; Joh 16:23. Mark adds that he went in boldly, which is suggestive in view of John's statement of his secret discipleship, a fact which is passed over by the Synoptists.

Gave him leave. According to Roman law. Ulpian, a Roman jurist of the third century, says : "The bodies of those who are capitally punished cannot be denied to their relatives. At this day, however, the bodies of those who are executed are buried only in case permission is asked and granted; and sometimes permission is not given, especially in the cases of those who are punished for high treason. The bodies of the executed are to be given for burial to any one who asks for them." Avaricious governors sometimes sold this privilege. Cicero, in one of his orations against Verres, has a terribly graphic passage describing such extortions. After dwelling upon the tortures inflicted upon the condemned, he says : "Yet death is the end. It shall not be. Can cruelty go further? A way shall be found. 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" (v. 45). Compare Mt 14:12; Act 8:2.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Vv. 38-40. “After this Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, went and asked Pilate that they might take away the body of Jesus; and Pilate gave him leave. He came therefore, and took away the body of Jesus. 39. Nicodemus, who at the first came to Jesus by night, came also, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pound weight. 40. They took therefore the body of Jesus and wrapped it in linen cloths with the spices, according as the Jews are accustomed to bury.”

The request of the Jews, Joh 19:31, refers to the three condemned persons; but, as John has observed, the order of Pilate had only been executed with reference to two of them. Joseph then presents himself before him with an entirely new request, which applies to Jesus only. Baumlein : “Sometimes, especially on occasion of a feast, the bodies of those crucified were given up to relatives. Philo in Flacc., §10.” Mark relates that Pilate, on hearing this request, was astonished that Jesus was already dead—a fact which, according to Strauss, contradicts the permission which he had just given for the breaking of the legs. But this operation did not cause death immediately, as Strauss himself acknowledges; it served only to make it sure. Pilate therefore might be astonished that the death of Jesus was so speedily accomplished. Perhaps also his surprise was caused by the fact which was reported to him, that Jesus was dead even before the performing of this operation. For, as is also attested by Mar 15:44, he caused a detailed account of the way in which the things had taken place to be given him by the centurion who had taken charge of the crucifixion.

Arimathea probably denotes, not the city of Rama, two leagues north of Jerusalem, or the other Rama, now Ramleh, ten leagues north-west of the capital, near to Lydda, but Ramathaim (the noun, with the article represented by the syllable ar), in Ephraim, the birthplace of Samuel (1Sa 1:1).

In any case, Joseph was now settled at Jerusalem with his family, since he possessed here a burial-place, but only recently, because the sepulchre had not yet been used.

By mentioning Joseph and Nicodemus, John brings out, in the case of both, the contrast between their present boldness and the cautiousness of their previous conduct. That which, as it seemed, must completely dishearten them—the ignominious death of Jesus—causes the faith of these members of the Jewish aristocracy to break forth conspicuously, and delivers them from all human fear. No doubt, on seeing the Lord suspended on the cross, Nicodemus recalls to mind the type of the brazen serpent which Jesus had set before him at first (Joh 3:14).— τὸ πρῶτον designates here, as in Joh 10:40, the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. If Nicodemus had been for John, as Reussseems to affirm, merely a fictitious type, how could he make him appear again here as a real and acting person, and this while expressly recalling the scene of ch. 3?

Myrrh is an odoriferous gum; aloes, a sweet-scented wood. After they had been pounded, there was made of them a mixture which was spread over the whole shroud in which the body was wrapped. Probably this cloth was cut into bandages to wrap the limbs separately. The words: “As the Jews are accustomed,” contrast this mode of embalming with that of the Egpytians, who removed the intestines and, by much longer and more complicated processes, secured the preservation of the corporeal covering.

The hundred pounds recall to mind the profusion with which Mary had poured the spikenard over the feet of Jesus, ch. 12; it is a truly royal homage. The Synoptics tell us that the holy women had the intention also, on their part, to complete this provisional embalming, but only after the Sabbath.

Frédéric Louis Godet — Commentaries on Luke, John, Romans, and 1 Corinthians — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1870s–1890s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.