Light in the dark

"He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth." Isaiah 53.9

700 years before Jesus walked the earth, the prophet Isaiah made the pronouncement that God's Messiah would be associated with wicked and rich people in his death. No one could have made sense of that curious juxtaposition at the time. Only in their natural course would events resolve the mystery: Jesus was crucified between two criminals and buried in a tomb provided by Joseph of Arimathea, a rich man and a (presumably) secret believer, who took responsibility for Jesus' body after his death.

What was in it for Joseph? On the face of it nothing, other than compassion for a man he had admired, albeit from a distance. At the time it would have seemed like a futile - even dangerous - gesture, to associate with a discredited leader who was condemned as an enemy of both Jewish and Roman states. Yet something - or someone - told Jospeh that it was time to come off the fence and do the right thing, regardless of the damage to his reputation and safety. Is Good Friday the day for you to state more explicitly your loyalty to Jesus?