Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent council member, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, coming and taking courage, went in to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus

 There were also women looking on from afar, among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the Less and of Joses, and Salome, who also followed Him and ministered to Him when He was in Galilee, and many other women who came up with Him to Jerusalem. 

Now when evening had come, because it was the Preparation Day, that is, the day before the Sabbath, Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent council member, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, coming and taking courage, went in to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.  Pilate marveled that He was already dead; and summoning the centurion, he asked him if He had been dead for some time.  So when he found out from the centurion, he granted the body to Joseph.  Then he brought fine linen, took Him down, and wrapped Him in the linen.  And he laid Him in a tomb which had been hewn out of the rock, and rolled a stone against the door of the tomb.  And Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses observed where He was laid.

- Mark 15:40-47

On Saturday we read that when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.  And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachtani?" which is translated, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?"  Some of those who stood by, when they heard that, said, "Look, He is calling for Elijah!"  Then someone ran and filled a sponge full of sour wine, put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink, saying, "Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to take Him down."  And Jesus cried out with a loud voice, and breathed His last.  Then the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.  So when the centurion, who stood opposite Him, saw that He cried out like this and breathed His last, he said, "Truly this Man was the Son of God!"

 There were also women looking on from afar, among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the Less and of Joses, and Salome, who also followed Him and ministered to Him when He was in Galilee, and many other women who came up with Him to Jerusalem.    My study bible comments that the faithfulness of these women shows that in Christ, divine order is being restored to the fallen world.  In the Old Testament, Eve was created in order to complete Adam (Genesis 2:18), but rather led him to sin (Genesis 3:6).  But now it is the women disciples who remain faithful, while the men flee and hide.  It's the women who bring the message of the Resurrection to the men (16:9-11; Luke 24:9-11), and thereby restore that which had been broken through sin.

Now when evening had come, because it was the Preparation Day, that is, the day before the Sabbath, Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent council member, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, coming and taking courage, went in to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.  Pilate marveled that He was already dead; and summoning the centurion, he asked him if He had been dead for some time.  So when he found out from the centurion, he granted the body to Joseph.  Then he brought fine linen, took Him down, and wrapped Him in the linen.  And he laid Him in a tomb which had been hewn out of the rock, and rolled a stone against the door of the tomb.  We note the courage of Joseph of Arimathea. who went to Pilate the governor, and asked for the body of Jesus.   My study bible comments that if the apostles had buried Christ, doubters could claim that His body was simply hidden away.  But Joseph, being a prominent council member, refutes any possibility that Christ's body was deceptively hidden by the apostles.    Let us note that Joseph is a not only a prominent council member and righteous man waiting for the kingdom of God, but that this tomb is hewn out of the rock.  Luke's Gospel tells us also that it was a tomb in which no one had lain before (Luke 23:53).  This all points to the highly costly sacrifice on the part of Joseph; it is a tomb fit for the Christ, and an open gesture of faith for One executed among the worst of criminals.  

 

Mark's Gospel gives us an important teaching:  that those who are faithful to Christ come from all walks of life, all categories, classes, groups, and peoples.  There are no bars to faith, or to those, like Joseph of Arimathea, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God.   Here is a man who is not simply a council member, part of the ruling members of the temple, and among the religious leaders, but he is also a very wealthy man as well.  Righteousness does not depend upon circumstances.  It is not limited to one type of person or another.  It is a question of the heart.  Neither can we take from the Gospels a firm stand against this people or that, for among the members of the ruling council which condemned Jesus are also those who disagreed, like Joseph of Arimathea and also Nicodemus (see John 7:45-52).  What we take, then, from the Gospels is a sense in which Jesus reaches to all, that there are no real barriers to this faith save those which we allow to stop us.  Indeed, Jesus Himself said to His disciples, "Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God!  It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."  When asked by disciples, "Who then can be saved?" He replied, "With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible." In yesterday's reading, above, we read that even the centurion, apparently supervising the scene, came to faith in Christ through witnessing Christ's death.  St. Paul writes, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28).  It is very easy for us to generalize about who can be saved, but there are no real generalizations in our faith.  The author Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn has written, "Gradually it was disclosed to me that the line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either -- but right through every human heart -- and through all human hearts" (The Gulag Archipelago 1918-1956).  Throughout His ministry, Christ's emphasis has been continually on the heart and its condition.  He has noted the heart as the center of all things that come out of a person, good or evil (Matthew 12:35, 15:19-20).  He has consistently taught His disciples they must be prepared to discard things the heart harbors that cause bad behavior between oneself and others, and in particular, hardship or abuse or exploitation of the "little ones," the less powerful (Matthew 19:6-9) In this wealthy and prominent member of the council, Joseph of Arimathea, we are given an example that teaches us that the pitfalls to a truly righteous life prove no obstacle to a heart that dwells where it needs to, and for a person who makes the difficult choices for faith every time.  Let us remember and follow His example.  His behavior is heroic and courageous, but this, too, begins in with the heart.  In the example of the women, we have those who have ministered to the ministry, so to speak.  Our text tells us that these women followed Him and ministered to Him when He was in Galilee, and many other women who came up with Him to Jerusalem.   They are the faithful, who may not be in positions of nominal leadership as the men who are named apostles and later will be bishops of the Church, but they are nevertheless as influential and essential to the Church.  These are the ones who did not fail and did not flee, and without them we would not have the story of the Resurrection.  These are stories of courage and endurance, the qualities Christ asks of us.  Let us clearly understand the power of faith that may work through all and in all, and reverence that truth the Gospels give to us.