What little we know about Joseph must primarily be gleaned from this very passage. These four accounts of his part in burying Jesus are all the mention he gets in Scripture. And surely, that mention is more than enough! How highly he is honored, that our Lord should see fit to make his name known down through all ages as the one who saw fit to honor the Lord as He hung dead on the cross. The Evangelists, for their part, are rightly focused on Jesus. It is for this reason that we do not get a great deal of biography for Joseph. Nor, for all that, do we get much biography on any of the people involved. We are left to piece together what we can from the few remarks that are made.

First, his introduction would seem to indicate that he was not somebody the Church would be particularly familiar with. Make of that what you will. For those to whom Mark and Luke were writing, it’s hardly surprising that they would not be aware of the people of Jerusalem by name. Even if he were well-to-do, that hardly makes him a household name in Rome. As for Matthew, I suppose it would depend on where the group he was writing for were located. Joseph being a man of the Council, one would expect him to have some name recognition, at least for those around Jerusalem. But, perhaps not. How many in our own day know the names of their Representative or Senator? What about your City Councilor? At any rate, they all seem to find him a man that needs introduction.

This is fortunate, because it provides us with a collection of facts about Joseph we would not otherwise have. He is a rich man from out of town. He is a member of the Council, as was already noted. But, we might say in spite of this, he was a good and righteous man who was seeking the Kingdom. Then, the single greatest detail of his life is noted by not one, but two of the accounts: He was a disciple of Jesus. He had, John tells us, kept this quiet for fear of his fellow Counselors. Certainly, he had good cause to be concerned about adverse reaction from that quarter. But, he was a disciple, and he had assuredly not gone along with the plans and actions the Council had been setting in place against Jesus. How could he? He was a disciple!

This is the most important thing to note about him. He is a disciple, an ematheeteuthee. He is not just an admirer from afar, even if he has been keeping his distance somewhat. He is not just a student, nor one who has an appreciation for the nature of what Jesus has been teaching. That word signifies much more. He is attached to this Teacher. A disciple could be thought of as something nearer an apprentice. But even this is too weak a term. The apprentice is, to be sure, a close observer of all his master does, seeking, as he is, to learn the skills of the master. But, the disciple is going farther. Yes, he wants to know what his teacher knows, to develop the skills his teacher has. But, it goes deeper. The disciple has found his teacher to be so profound an example as to seek diligently to model the very conduct of his life after that teacher.

It is to this end that we find the twelve having effectively taken up residence with Jesus, even though He Himself had no residence. They are with Him day and night, marinating in His teaching and His example, observing everything about Him, and seeking in their muddled way to do and be those things they see in Him. When Jesus speaks of His own relationship to the Father, His description is that of a disciple, albeit a far more successful one. He speaks only what He has heard the Father say. He does only as He sees the Father doing, and He does whatever He sees that the Father does. But, He also does only what the Father has given Him to do. He is building Himself upon the model observed in the Father, His own Teacher, if you will. He is also demonstrating the disciple’s obedience in bounding Himself around with the Father’s direct instruction. He never lags behind. He never gets out ahead. He is right where He ought to be at all times.

There is the disciple’s model of life. He never lags behind Jesus. He never gets out ahead of Jesus. He is right where he ought to be at all times. If Jesus says wait, he waits. If Jesus says go, he goes. If Jesus says nothing? He has the word and example of Jesus deeply etched on his soul to guide him. He has long years of practice, having closely observed all that Jesus is and does. He has the spiritual equivalent of muscle memory to serve him. That is, after all, what it is to have made this One the model for conducting one’s life.

A bit of an aside: One of my coworkers was asking for the means to perform a particular bit of editing wizardry in the emacs editor we both use. Now, that editor is exceedingly powerful. But, it’s also a matter of many control sequences or escape sequences or even escape-control sequences. In other words, it’s all about keystrokes. The particular function he wanted to perform is one I do all the time. But, ask me the keystrokes to accomplish it? I don’t know. My fingers know. I’ve been using the tool for so many years that most of the keystroke combinations are matters of auto-pilot for me. In fact, if I stop to think about it, I’ll probably get it wrong.

The same sort of thing is quite familiar to musicians and sportsmen. That’s what training is all about, after all. Get the muscles and appendages to the point that they can effectively go on without you. As a musician, I practice scales (when I’m not being exceedingly lazy). Why? Because my fingers need to know how to reach the right notes without me being focused on the mechanics. The proper role for my thinking is to hear the melody I’m seeking to create, to assess and incorporate the rhythmic dynamics as well as the chordal harmonies as well as the melodic theme so as to arrive at a satisfactory and pleasing accompaniment to what everybody else is contributing. If I’m busy with trying to figure out how one fingers a B-flat, or worse, a D-flat, then I have no attention left for all these other matters. Scales train the muscle memory. When that B-flat or D-flat is called for, translation from melodic thought to physical action is automatic.

There is the common factor between apprenticeship to a master and discipleship to a teacher. But, of course, discipleship has deeper significance. Discipleship to Jesus has infinitely deep significance and eternal ramifications. So, then: Joseph was – let us rather say is – a disciple of Jesus. As epitaphs go, that is quite sufficient. That he had a reputation for being a good and righteous man is, depending on one’s perspective, either simple evidence that he was indeed a disciple or just another way of saying the same thing.

Let me suggest this, then: If he is a disciple of Jesus, then as the definition of that term suggests, he is, and was at that time, attached to his Teacher, following Him. That matter of attachment and following may or may not indicate that he had, like the twelve, taken a residency. Actually, it seems pretty clear that he had not. It would be a difficult thing for a prominent Counselor to have taken to living in the rough with this band from Galilee and yet have this fact remain a secret from his peers. But, reports of Jesus and of His teaching were all about. And, it was not unheard of, certainly, for representatives of the Pharisees and even of the Sanhedrin to have been found listening to what He was teaching. Granted, the more typical case was that they were listening in hopes of catching Him out on some point, but to be present at these large gatherings would not be enough to have caused suspicion to fall on him. And, between occasional attendance as events permitted, and what he could learn from talk around town, he had enough to work with, to begin to fashion himself after this Master Whose worth he had clearly recognized.

This is what we can reasonably arrive at concerning Joseph. After that, it all gets pretty hazy. Even the question of whether he lived in Jerusalem, having relocated from Arimathea, or whether he still lived there, and was just come to town this evening, taken aback by the Man he found on the cross, is a question to which we can only guess the answer. Several texts, the ISBE among them, suppose that the fact that he had a tomb here in Jerusalem, and that he served on the Council, indicate that he was now a local. But, over against this there are the many translations which look at Matthew’s and Mark’s introduction and see in it the idea that he was only now arriving at the city. In Mark’s account, that hint of his being newly arrived seems strongest. Evening having come, Joseph came, then gathered up his courage and went to Pilate. And, only after having been granted permission to bury Jesus did he stop to buy some linen cloth to wrap him in. This does not, it would seem, describe a man who had been aware of what was happening. It describes a man who had received rather a deep shock when he reached the city.

We need not suppose that Joseph was unaware of the machinations of the Council on which he served. They had, after all, been plotting for years now. So, when Luke says that he had not consented to their plans or actions, there is a very active component in what he says. There were votes taken, one might presume, as to whether such and such a plan was to be pursued or not. The term Luke uses speaks of casting one’s ballot in the vase together with whomever. But, this is etymology, not necessarily a depiction of practice within the Sanhedrin. It seems far more likely that these were highly animated sessions, and that such votes as took place were by voice or by show of hands, more along the lines of a Town Meeting than an election. To withhold consent, then, would be something observed by others.

I bring this point up because the article in Fausset’s supposes this man timid, and counts that as his failing. But, timidity doesn’t seem to enter into it. A timid man would not vote against the prevailing winds of Council. A timid man would not have found sufficient courage to take this very public step of going to Pilate to get permission to take the body. A timid man would certainly not have taken the next step, and seen that body interred in his own tomb. You know, he could have got away with just seeing to it that the body was taken down and put in some common grave. That was standard practice, and merely demonstrated a concern for the sanctity of the Sabbath. But, this step of taking him to his own tomb? No. He is a marked man among his peers. This will not go un-noted.

Now, the very fact that he is taking these steps for a Teacher who is very clearly dead says something about what he understood, I think. Did he understand that Jesus meant what He said about rising again? There is no reason to doubt that he had heard this point. His fellow Counselors certainly had. Did he recognize Messiah? Yes, I think so. The bigger question is whether he understood the significance of Messiah better, perhaps, than the apostles did at this point. Or, perhaps the right question is whether he recognized in this One the Son of God, as Peter had. If so, he might well have been in a position to grasp the implications more fully.

What is striking, I think, is that he acknowledges this One as King. Pilate was indeed correct in the title he caused to hang above Jesus. Here is the King of the Jews. Yes, Pilate, and King of so much more! Joseph knew this much about Messiah, certainly, that He was indeed the King of the Jews. And, as King, He is worthy of honor, even in death. He might not be buried along with David, His forefather, but He would be buried as befit a king, or as near to it as Joseph could manage.

The ISBE also suggests that Joseph, and Nicodemus with him, had forfeited their ability to observe the Passover by taking action to bury Jesus. As I have discussed elsewhere, that seems to me to be a subject of debate. But, let us suppose that the article is correct, and the Sabbath eve that is in view is that which precedes the Passover, not just the latest Saturday. Mosaic Law made provision for cases such as this, setting out an alternate date for those who, for reasons such as this, were unable to observe the feast at its normal time. These two men would surely be aware of the fact. They would also, I suspect, by the training they had from Jesus, be aware that some things are far more important than the schedule. They had their priorities right, in any case. Whether they had to defer their Paschal meal, or whether they only had to skip church the next day, their determination to see God honored in the person of Jesus indicates that they had learned the lesson of the Master.

So, we have exhausted what the texts tell us of Joseph, and then some. What remains is rumor and speculation. There are texts outside of Scripture that mention Joseph. The accuracy of such texts may be suspect, but some of what is offered up about the man may be accurate. There is, for example, the suggestion that Joseph may have been one of the seventy that Jesus sent out. I have to say that this sounds a bit suspect for somebody who was trying to keep his discipleship under wraps. But, it’s not impossible, I suppose. More believable, I think, is the suggestion that Philip commissioned him to go to Great Britain in later years. This becomes the more believable, I think, given that there is a reasonable attempt to date when he made the journey, that being 63 AD. That particular line of thought also indicates where he settled and began to minister as being in Glastonbury. There, it is said, he caused the first Christian church in England to be established.

The focus of that line of thought may have been on the building he caused to be erected, but supposing the matter to be true, it would seem more appropriate to be focusing on those whom he gathered to meet in the building! If he was commissioned by Philip, we can be sure it wasn’t as an architect. He was sent, if he was sent at all, to go and make disciples like himself. There in Glastonbury, it would seem he did just that, and did so with such success as required a meeting place.

I am mindful, in closing out this brief look at Joseph of Arimathea, of the example he sets for me. Let me suppose that the tales of his journey to England are true. His sending is no different than my staying in so far as the mission is concerned. The commission of Christ says to go and make disciples, and this commission is the duty of every believer. Some are sent to distant lands, others remain in the local community. Some may be put in place as planters where others are set up to water. But, whatever the role Jesus has assigned, I would hope to be faithful in pursuing the tasks He gives me. I fear that is not always the case. I know where my temperament leads me to serve, and in what capacities. But, is it my temperament or His command? They are not necessarily synonymous!

More critical still, as a lesson for life, is Joseph’s determination to honor Christ. However great the risk to himself, however deep the humiliation of the Christ he would honor, yet he will see that honor done. He does it not only at risk to himself, but at cost to himself. Jesus warned us to count the cost. Joseph did, and found that the price was not nearly too high. May we do likewise. And, may we not require the sort of shock that Joseph experienced to find his Lord and Teacher dead in order for us to be moved to a more active faith!