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“The Characters of Lent: Joseph of Arimathea & Mary Magdalene
Mark 15:39-47

 

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Pastor Kevin Vogts
Trinity Lutheran Church
Paola, Kansas

Lent Service VI—March 25, 2015

Up to the point of Jesus’ death, Joseph of Arimathea had been a secret disciple of Jesus.  That is because Joseph had a lot to lose if it became known that he was a follower of Jesus of Nazareth.  For, Joseph was a wealthy man and a prominent member of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish ruling council.  But, it was the Sanhedrin that voted to kill Jesus, although Joseph “had not consented to their decision or action.” 

The Gospel of John reports, “Already the Jews had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Christ would be put out of the synagogue. . . Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But . . . they would not confess their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue.”

Anyone found to be a follower of Jesus was threatened with excommunication.  If Joseph of Arimathea made his discipleship known, he might lose it all: his powerful position on the Sanhedrin; the honor, respect and recognition this position brought him; and his wealth, because he would be shunned and no one would do business with him anymore.  And so, John reports, “Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jews.”

It seems the death of Jesus on the cross should have made Joseph even more fearful, even more afraid of making known his faith in Jesus.  And, yet, it is the death of Jesus that finally moves Joseph into action.  Mark says he “went boldly to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body.”  It was not unusual for the loved ones of crucifixion victims to request their bodies for a proper burial.  But, how very surprised Pontius Pilate must have been that the loved one requesting Jesus’ body for burial is none other than Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the very Sanhedrin that demanded Jesus’ death! 

Joseph bought the linen cloth for burial, and Nicodemus, another secret disciple of Jesus on the Sanhedrin, furnished an extravagant, expensive amount of myrrh and aloes, myrrh to perfume the corpse, and aloes as a balm for its horrible wounds.  Together they wrap Jesus’ body in strips of linen, with the myrrh and aloes, and lay it in Joseph of Arimathea’s own unused new tomb nearby.

Martin Luther says this about the fact that Jesus had a borrowed tomb: “The reason he has no grave of his own is that he will not remain in death and the grave.  So we, too, will be raised up from the grave at the last day, and through his resurrection we will live with him in eternity.”

Paul says in 2nd Corinthians, “He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for him, who died for them and rose again.”  Just as the death of Jesus moved Joseph of Arimathea to show himself as Jesus’ disciple and to lovingly serve Jesus by so beautifully caring for his body, in the same way Jesus’ death on the cross to pay for your sins will move you, out of gratitude to God, to show yourself as his disciple, and to live no longer for yourself but for him, who died for you and rose again.

That is the lesson of the Lenten story of Joseph of Arimathea.  Amen.

Matthew reports that, after Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, “Then all the disciples deserted him and fled.”  The head disciple, Peter, actually disgracefully denied his Master three times.

But, of the female followers of Jesus, the Gospels report them faithfully accompanying Jesus at every step, through his suffering, death, and burial:

As he was led out to be crucified, “A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him”;

“Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene”;

“Many women were there, watching from a distance. They had followed Jesus from Galilee to care for his needs”;

“In Galilee these women had followed him and cared for his needs. Many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem were also there”;

“Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb”;

“The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it.  Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes.”

And finally, it was these same women who discovered the empty tomb on Easter morn. 

One of these women was Mary, from the town of Magdala.  Luke tells us, “Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with him, and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases, including Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out.”  Mary had been cured by Jesus, and out of gratitude she gave her life over to serving Jesus.

Paul says in 1st Corinthians, “Be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord.”  In contrast to the bad example of Peter and other disciples, who denied Jesus and deserted him and fled, Mary Magdalene and these other women are an example for us of steadfast devotion and faithful service to the Lord. 

That is the lesson of the Lenten story of Mary Magdalene.  Amen.

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