Jesus' Unlikely Conversion: (Part 3 of 0)

Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus – Part 4

“Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jews. With Pilate’s permission, he came and took the body away. He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it with the spices in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs. At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there” (John 19:38-42).

Let’s consider Joseph of Arimathea first. He was a prominent member of the Sanhedrin council (Mark 15:43). We are told that he “waited for the kingdom of God” (Mark 15:43; Luke 23:51). John adds that he was a disciple “secretly, for fear of the Jews” (John 19:38). Why not openly? There’s much evidence that if he were to have “come out” for Jesus and his claims, he would have lost his position on the Sanhedrin.

So what had happened in the meantime for Joseph to take such a bold step? I suggest that, in all likelihood, he had come to believe that Jesus would rise from the dead. And how had he become convinced of this? Was it the events of Jesus’ so-called “trial”? As a member of the council, Joseph would have witnessed the following (Luke 22:66):

  1. Jesus, when he was forced into speaking, was logical, calm, and eloquent.
  2. In response to the question of his being the Messiah, he admitted, without hesitation, that he was.
  3. Jesus told them that they would witness his kingship when they would see him (the Son of Man) sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and com­ing on the clouds of heaven (Matt. 26:64). In this Jesus cited the familiar Old Testament prophecies of Psalm 110:1 and Daniel 7:13.
  4. The so-called “evidence” of his criminal deeds was manufactured simply to convict him. There had to be a semblance of order at the trial or mob rule would have set in. And who better to speak up for order and justice than Joseph and Nicodemus? (In Luke we are told that Joseph had not consented to their counsel and deed, and that he himself was a good and just man: Luke 23:50,51.)

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In the case of Nicodemus, he was the Teacher of Israel (John 3:10, RV), which probably meant the president of the Sanhedrin. Earlier he had come to Jesus by night to learn from him (John 3). At that point in time, he would not have wanted to do anything to hurt his social standing. If it had become known that he had sought an audience with Jesus, his reputation might have been damaged. How ironic: he, the teacher of Israel, sitting at the feet of an unschooled carpenter!

When we next read of Nicodemus in John 7, he is protesting against the Pharisees’ attempts to bring Jesus in: “Does our Law condemn anyone, without first hearing him to find out what he is doing?” (John 7:51). And the Pharisees’ sharp response is: “Are you from Galilee too? Look into it and you will find that a prophet does not come from Galilee” (v. 52). So the clear implication is that Nicodemus was no longer head of the Sanhedrin and was becoming more of an “outsider”, while still technically being a part of the council. In John 12 we are told that among the chief rulers, “Many believed on him, but because of the Pharisees, they did not confess him lest they be put out of the synagogue. For they loved praise from men more than praise from God” (vv. 42,43). And this, for a time, was Nicodemus and probably Joseph.

Yet now, in regard to both Joseph and Nicodemus, they had found their faith when others had lost theirs. And their conversions were almost complete when they went, side by side, to Pilate to request the body of Jesus. If it were not for Joseph’s wealth and high social position, he likely would not have gotten an audience with Pilate. But he did, and Pilate was more than willing to give them Jesus’ body.

Notice the contrast between Pilate’s willingness to cooperate with Joseph and Nicodemus, and his opposite reaction to the chief priests’ protest of the notice fastened to the cross — “Jesus of Nazareth, the king of the Jews” — “What I have written, I have written” (John 19:22).

Joseph and Nicodemus took the body; washed it; wrapped it in linen, applying myrrh and aloes that Nicodemus brought to the body; and then carefully laid it in Joseph’s tomb.

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Now what is almost undeniable about Joseph and Nicodemus is this: by taking a stand with a crucified Jesus of Nazareth, by going to the side of a man that their own counsel had condemned to death, they could not go back! This meant a dras­tic change in their lifestyles, major sacrifices to become Christians themselves. Nevertheless, I think without a doubt this is what they did. And so again, we have before us two unlikely conversions (from the world’s point of view) — all brought about because of the beauty of Jesus’ character, because of their logic in deciding what they must do, and through their courage and faith to do it.