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Secret Friends No Longer, November 17
John 19:38-42
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. 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.
John 19:38, 39
.
Neither Joseph nor Nicodemus had openly accepted the Saviour while He
was living. They knew that such a step would exclude them from the Sanhedrin,
and they hoped to protect Him by their influence in its councils. For a time they
had seemed to succeed; but the wily priests, seeing their favor to Christ, had
thwarted their plans. In their absence Jesus had been condemned and delivered
to be crucified. Now that He was dead, they no longer concealed their attachment
to Him. While the disciples feared to show themselves openly as His followers,
Joseph and Nicodemus came boldly to their aid....
Nicodemus, when he saw Jesus lifted up on the cross, remembered His words
spoken by night in the Mount of Olives: “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the
wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth
in Him should not perish, but have eternal life” (
John 3:14, 15
).
On that Sabbath, when Christ lay in the grave, Nicodemus had opportunity
for reflection. A clearer light now illuminated his mind, and the words which
Jesus had spoken to him were no longer mysterious. He felt that he had lost much
by not connecting himself with the Saviour during His life. Now he recalled the
events of Calvary. The prayer of Christ for His murderers and His answer to
the petition of the dying thief spoke to the heart of the learned councilor. Again
he looked upon the Saviour in His agony; again he heard that last cry, “It is
finished,” spoken like the words of a conqueror. Again he beheld the reeling
earth, the darkened heavens, the rent veil, the shivered rocks, and his faith was
forever established.
The very event that destroyed the hopes of the disciples convinced Joseph and
Nicodemus of the divinity of Jesus. Their fears were overcome by the courage
of a firm and unwavering faith
[328]
38
Ibid., 773-776
.
340