The cross has become a crossroads for Joseph. That crisis. point. Between secret Christianity and courageous Christianity. For him.
The cross becomes his defining Moment. I love what John Phillips, the British expositor, wrote on this. He provoked my thinking when he wrote: God the Father used a man named Joseph. to guard the birth of the Messiah. He now uses another man named Joseph to guard the burial.
of the Messiah. Would you risk everything for Jesus? Welcome to Wisdom for the Heart with Stephen Davey. Today, Stephen begins a series called This Changes Everything. Joseph of Arimathea was a powerful Wealthy and highly respected member of Israel's Supreme Court.
But for years he kept his faith in Christ a secret. When Jesus was crucified, Joseph faced a choice. Stay silent. or step forward. His decision changed everything.
Stay tuned as we uncover the moment Joseph moved from secrecy to boldness. This is a message Stephen called. The secret disciple. Let's get started. It occurs to me that we place our faith.
today in a resurrected Savior, the thief placed his faith in a dying Savior, the centurion placed his faith in a dead Savior, and We're about to watch another remarkable twist in this drama as a man steps forward who will now place his faith in a buried. Savior. And when he does, it's going to make headlines. He comes from within the ranks of the Supreme Court of Israel, the Sanhedrin. He's going to announce His allegiance.
to Christ His name is Joseph. He's from a little town called Arimathea, about 20 miles northwest of Jerusalem. He comes out of nowhere. He's been spiritually hiding. as it were Nobody knew it.
Nobody could have seen it coming. But Joseph is about to cross this point of of no return. It's going to change everything for him. Luke introduces him to us. If you have your Bibles, chapter 23 of Luke's Gospel.
He writes. At verse fifty now there was a man named Joseph from the Jewish town of Arimathea. He was a member of the council, a good and righteous man. Matthew's account adds that he was a wealthy man. wealthy enough to make note of it.
Matthew 27, 57.
So here you have this religiously devout. Man committed to integrity, committed to righteous living, committed to the law. Wanting to honor God. And he's a rich man on top of everything. He's so well connected that he's going to be able to get a private audience with Pilate, the governor, in this region without too much trouble.
Yes or no? A well-respected Reputation. And Luke kind of pulls out a couple of things for us to introduce us to this surprising convert. The first is that he had this prominent position. on the council.
This is the Sanhedrin. often translated rulers. Of the people in the New Testament. Matthew's gospel tells us that. Joseph wasn't just any member of the seventy.
He writes that he was a respected member. Of the council. You could translate that. prominent. When he spoke People Listened.
When he gave his opinion in the great hall of judgment where the Sanhedrin met. His words would have been carefully noted in the minutes. Get great influence. And that no doubt to me adds to his regret. That he's now living after living with after the death of Jesus.
He had never. Never spoken. to his defense. We were never told why he would keep it a secret. Except for a brief phrase here or there, and I'll point it out.
What author wrote Just think of how it would have lifted the heart of Jesus. It would have changed the plan. Jesus is going to die, he's going to help them put him on the cross. the plan But wouldn't it have lifted his heart? If in that hateful assembly, Wanted Lone voice.
had spoken. for him. But Joseph had remained silent.
Now Luke adds in verse 51 that he had not consented. to their decision. and action. That is, he didn't agree with the decision to kill Jesus. He had Perhaps.
Refused to vote, or more than likely, he was absent when this quickly convened illegally, so as we've studied. council. They met early Thursday morning to condemn The Lord was Joseph back in his hometown? Was he hurrying to Jerusalem and get a flat tire in his cart? We don't.
No. What we do know is that he was not in agreement with the killing of Jesus.
Now, that doesn't mean. He publicly defended him. He might have been there in that great hall. and simply abstained from voting.
Now, John gives us some insight into a growing division. It's interesting. That's. Bubbling. inside the Sanhedrin.
We discovered that Joseph wasn't the only member. of the Sanhedrin who had in Secret. Professed faith. in the Messiah Jesus. John reveals the tragedy of this silent minority.
In chapter 12 and verse 42, John writes, Many even of the rulers, that's code for Sanhedrin. believed in him. But for fear of the Pharisees, they did not confess it. They didn't confess it. Come out with it.
So that they would not be put out of the synagogue, for they love the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God. In other words, they didn't want to lose their. Their position, their seat in the synagogue, their status in society. They didn't want, you know, Jesus to. mess up their career.
There were significant issues to look at, and we don't want to look down on them or look past them. But I want you to notice that God the Spirit describes them. They were more interested in the glory that comes from man than the glory that comes from God. He didn't pull any punches. They wanted The applause of society.
They wanted the approval of their their culture. They wanted to be appreciated by their Nine. Have they confessed faith in Christ? Christ, they would have been excommunicated. from the very center of life.
They would have been reviled, they would have been ridiculed at best, really. Perhaps at worst, called into court and charged as co-blasphemers, maybe even threatened. With death. Are they going to risk all of that? They're not confessing it.
The language indicates they're shrinking away. As time goes on, From confessing their belief in Christ, even though as time goes along, they're becoming more convinced. Of it. This challenge is to me, the church today. Are we becoming quieter?
about the gospel. Or more. Courageous. I mean the church is becoming more vocal. about its political views.
Becoming vocal, as it ought to be, about its stand for moral truth. But what about the gospel? You could be a moral person and go straight to hell after you die. Is the church delivering the truth of Christ? to the world.
Or are we shrinking? From it. John gives us a little insight there in chapter 19 and verse 38. Joseph of Arimathea was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly forgotten. For fear.
of the Jews.
So he's become a secret disciple. Although a follower. of what Christ is teaching and who he claims to be. Evidently, Joseph had heard him teach, no doubt about that. He knew enough.
He'd witnessed one attempt after Another failed attempt. of the Jewish leaders to trip Jesus off. He knew that the high priest's primary motive had nothing to do with Blasphemy. It had everything to do with Envy. I mean, even Pilot knew that.
Mark chapter 14, verse 1. Jesus was stealing the high priest's Approval ratings. His popularity. is job security. Joseph knew about the resurrection of Lazarus.
In fact, the Sanhedrin all knew about that stunning miracle that only God could perform. Demonstrating power over the grave. And Joseph knew the Sanhedrin was meeting, planning to kill Lazarus. John chapter 12 verse 10.
So Joseph realizes that the Sanhedrin has no interest at all. Yeah. In doing anything other than ignoring the evidence. In fact, they've reached a point where they want to destroy. The evidence.
They want to kill Lazarus too. But all these miracles, all this Teaching, everything he's seen and heard, all of them validating the signs of the true Messiah, the Anointed One. Eventually, Joseph came to believe. That only someone with God's authority could do that. could say that.
Jesus had to be The long prophesied Anointed one and Joseph somewhere in secret. Makes up his mind. Jesus is. The Messiah. But now you can't sleep at night.
It's ruining his appetite. What's he going to do? Loses position. loses reputation. loses status.
His life Should he come forward and announce? His faith. Should he do it at a meeting of the Sanhedrin? He evidently decides to keep quiet. A little longer.
Timing's not right. And he waits too long. It would seem Because Jesus is suddenly Shockingly. within hours. Dead.
But don't miss the fact that to come forward now Is going to take more courage than ever because now. He's obviously Jesus is a failed Messiah. He obviously is cursed by God. He's hung on a tree, a cross. It's obvious that he's a blasphemer.
Now It's dangerous. In fact, think about this, beloved. We're the Lord's disciples. at this moment. His most devout followers.
They're hiding too. John writes in chapter 20 that they are behind locked doors. Doors. For fear of the Jews. That's the exact same phrase.
We're given about Jo Joseph. None of them came forward. None of them even came to get his body. Down off the cross. They're in hiding.
So We need to be a little compassionate. We give Peter and Andrew and James and John a free pass here. Let's not be too quick to lower the hammer. As one of the most prominent members of the Supreme Court, he's got a lot more to lose. than a bunch of fishermen.
You can go back to their jobs. We're not only told that Joseph was holding a prominent position, secondly. We're told that Joseph is living with kingdom anticipation. I want you to notice the following descriptive phrase Luke writes at the end of verse 51: He was waiting for the kingdom of God. He's waiting for the kingdom of God.
He's literally longing for that time of spiritual renewal and national repentance and the rule and reign of God's anointed. He's looking forward to that. Luke wants us to know that Joseph is living with an expectation that Jesus Christ is going to fulfill. The messianic expectation, he's going to overthrow. The world rulers, he's going to establish His kingdom On Earth.
And like many Jews in his day, and even to this day, he didn't understand the difference between his first coming to suffer, Isaiah 53, and his second coming as sovereign to reign. But Joseph is is planning no doubt All along, he's anticipating this moment to come forward. As one of Christ's disciples, and perhaps in his mind he's decided he'll do it then. when Jesus establishes his kingdom. Perhaps every morning he got up and looked in the mirror.
and debated. One day soon now. I'm going to make my faith in Jesus public. I'm going to expose the corruption of the Sanhedrin. I'm going to follow him openly.
I'm going to tell the truth. I'm going to be one of his most faithful disciples. But It isn't the right time now. These are dangerous times. I'm going to let things settle down.
A little bit. Just wait a little longer. What might you be waiting for? Do your classmates know? Dear co-workers, No.
Who you're following. Are you a secret? Disciple. As the old saying goes, silence isn't always golden, sometimes it's only yellow. This is challenging.
Convicting. But for Joseph, everything has changed now. The cross has become a crossroads for Joseph, that crisis point. Between secret Christianity And courageous Christianity. For him, If you can believe it, would be at this moment.
The cross becomes his defining moment. Moment. The most Noble. Moment. has arrived.
And what he faces I have mentioned to you before about Lord Kenneth Clark from England. was the internationally known host of uh docusaries called Civilization. In the 1960s it aired. It's still considered one of the most influential. docuseries, He Viewed Religion Christianity especially as repressive limiting of personal expression.
We know what that means. He viewed the Protestant Reformation as destructive. He writes, about visiting a cathedral in Europe. And he says, strangely, he was overcome with this sense of. Joy that he knew was validating what it represented.
But he wrote In his autobiography, if he pursued it, If he allowed himself to be influenced by it, if he took it any further than that moment, His family, his associates, his friends might think he'd lost his mind. And so he writes these tragic words in his autobiography. I was too deeply embedded in the world. Course.
Well, let me tell you, Joseph is about to change the entire course of his life, and yes, his friends, his associates are going to think he's lost his mind.
So here's what happens. Luke 23, verse 52. He went to Pilate. and asked for the body of Jesus. And then he took it down, and wrapped it in a linen shroud, and laid him in a tomb.
Matthew says it's his tomb. Cut in stone. where no one had ever yet been. Lay. More on That event in another study.
But Mark's Gospel adds that Joseph, he put it this way, gathered up courage. I like that. gathered up courage. and went to Pilate. He took a deep breath, he counted the cost.
He considered the consequences and he said, I'm going to do it. Um I'm done with secrecy. I'm going to ask. For the body This is unheard of. for the body of a crucified victim.
Roman law found Forbade. Burial. for a crucified victim. You didn't do that, Tacitus. tells us why.
He was a first century Roman historian who wrote that. to be denied burial. Was universally regarded as the most humiliating indignity that could be done to the deceased. Because it meant that the corpse would either be left to rot on the cross or left to be devoured by wild animals, and birds of prey. That was typical.
In fact, one author wrote that Gaugatha, you know, that's Calvary The skull, skull hill. had earned that nickname. Because he was already and was Littered. With Skulls from previous crucifixions. This is Skull Hill.
You don't ask for this. Why would you do this? Except to honor the the deceased. amazingly agrees to give Joseph the body. of Jesus And that alone, by the way, is a mark that God is fulfilling prophecy He's going to be buried with a rich man, that is in a rich man's tomb.
Well these soldiers Confirm, they're not new to this scene. They know Jesus is. Dead, but they better make sure it's unusual to have died so soon. Six hours.
So they took a spear and thrust it up under his ribs and into his heart. Heart.
So in a matter of minutes A converted thief is walking with Jesus in the garden of the king. as promised.
Now, the Jewish leaders had their way. It was their custom. They would take the body of a Jew, in this case, Jesus, to the nearby valley of Hinnom. It was a garbage dump where fires were perpetually burning. Trash.
Also corpses of Unknown Slaves, criminal corpses. It was nicknamed the Valley of Corpses. Jesus will use that valley and that fire as a picture of hell. in his preaching.
So we really can't imagine. The stunning news that a member of the Sanhedrin is taking the body of Jesus and burying him with honor and dignity and respect, placing him in his own family tomb.
So when Joseph gets Jesus' body, The news is racing through Jerusalem. This is front page news. I've imagined what they would be. Chief Justice follows False Messiah. Turncoat.
In the Supreme Court. No longer a secret. No turning back for Joseph. Secrecy has been shattered by this public act. See, Joseph is not going to allow Jesus to be burned.
Like a criminal He will be buried like a king and That'll also fulfill Prophecy. I love what John Phillips, the British expositor, wrote on this. He provoked my thinking when he wrote: God the Father used a man named Joseph. to guard the birth of the Messiah. He now uses another man named Joseph to guard the burial.
of the Messiah. And on Sunday, That large stone will be there eventually. We're going to watch it, it's going to be rolled away. Literally thrown up and out of its track. Not to let Jesus out, but to let people come in.
And they're going to be lined up. You better believe it. Everybody will have heard whose tomb it was. It was that Chief Justice's tomb. And let's go see.
They've been lined up now for 2,000 years to go see that. Everybody will come. But don't miss what would have Been the story for Joseph, his wife. children if he had any. Required of a Sanhedrinist to be married.
Life for him will never be the same. For one thing, he's come in contact with a corpse. That makes him ceremonial unclean. He can't celebrate the Passover. I'm not sure he would have cared.
He probably had ransacked the Old Testament already. He knew that the Passover was a shadow of. Past traditions, Jesus Christ fulfills that. That's the celebration. That wasn't all he faced.
The Jewish leaders had already made it clear, John told us in chapter 9, that anybody who followed Jesus would be barred from the synagogue. That means the next Saturday a few days. I believe he died on Thursday, as we've studied. They're going to perhaps try to go to the synagogue. We don't know, but they're going to be barred entrance.
They're they are permanently Physically Humiliatingly turned away as the congregation would have stared and people would have whispered and. Childhood friends would have cried. He would have been dismissed from his Supreme Court seat by the high priest as quickly as the news was out. The threats he must have heard. aren't recorded.
But he no longer had a stellar reputation. He would have lost his stand then. One of the wisest Most respected. Men in the land. is a fool.
in their eyes. He's taking a stand, he's identifying with, it's going to come out in the gospel account. that he was a disciple before Jesus died. He's following or failed. Messiah, a dead messiah.
He must have lost his his mind. Wouldn't you like to know what he was thinking? Did he care? When you observe the life of this man, two truths come to my mind from this dramatic change. Maybe the same truths God is provoking in your own heart that need to take.
Place today. Number one, difficult and unexpected events can open the door to gospel opportunities. Be alert. Are you ready for it? It might be meeting.
someone as you sit in the same waiting room in the hospital. God provokes your heart that they may not have hope. What are you going to say? Difficult events become open doors. to point people to Christ.
Secondly, Be encouraged. Silence in the past doesn't mean you can't stand for truth in the present. Don't let the enemy tell you you've kept quiet so long. Don't speak up now. It might appear that Joseph waited Too long.
But with even greater courage, now he speaks. In the providence of God, the timing.
Well, he was just in time. His stage. is set now. It's a tomb. It's a literal place.
People could go and see it. And I can just see lines. Forming There. I can see people looking in. at the grave clothes that had been left behind.
I can see Joseph out there handing out gospel tracts. you know, bottles of water. talking to people. Yeah, I I put him right there. Yep.
I wrap that around him.
So I don't want you to miss that Even before the resurrection. Joseph would have been a changed man. This is changed. everything. The cross.
Pilate's Palace. The tomb. His identification. His courage. It's no longer a seeker.
He came from the sidelines of caution to the front lines. of courage. And everything has changed. We don't know what happened after this scene. in Joseph's life.
He he disappears, by the way. From scripture. But tradition. Dating. Back.
partners him up with Philip. The early church deacon. The evangelist, you may remember. who wins that Ethiopia in the faith. Joseph was trained according to tradition by Philip.
eventually sent as a missionary to modern day England. He eventually settled in Glastonbury, where he served the Lord for the rest of his life. We don't Know that for sure, but we do know that the very church built in England was built in Glastonbury. And they trace the roots of their gospel history to the ministry of Joseph of Arimathea. whom they call this noble Man.
It's never late, never too late. to stand with Jesus Christ. Today's message is called. The secret disciple. This current series, This Changes Everything.
will be our focus this week and most of next week. You can download Stephen's manuscript free of charge and follow along with it as you listen each day. Visit wisdomonline.org. When you're on that website, you can also access all of Stephen's other Bible teaching resources. It's all designed to help you grow in your faith.
Visit wisdomonline.org today, then join us back here next time. on wisdom for the heart.
