This all happened on Friday, the day of preparation, the day before the Sabbath. As evening approached, Joseph of Arimathea took a risk and went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. (Joseph was an honored member of the high council, and he was waiting for the Kingdom of God to come.) Pilate couldn’t believe that Jesus was already dead, so he called for the Roman officer and asked if he had died yet. The officer confirmed that Jesus was dead, so Pilate told Joseph he could have the body. Joseph bought a long sheet of linen cloth. Then he took Jesus’ body down from the cross, wrapped it in the cloth, and laid it in a tomb that had been carved out of the rock. Then he rolled a stone in front of the entrance. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph saw where Jesus’ body was laid.
Silly people!They trailed Joseph, these two women. Was it surreptitiously? In plain site? And why? We discover their motive Sunday morning when these women and others make their way through the morning dew in order to anoint Jesus’ body. Surely the Mary’s noted that Joseph and Nicodemus had already properly embalmed the body with myrrh and aloes. But they still wanted to anoint his body themselves. Silly women.
At least we logical types would accuse them of silliness. What’s the point? He’s embalmed. Buried. The decay process has begun. Besides, there’s a stone between them and the body.
Theirs was an illogical action born out of deep affection. Were it not for such folly, however, these women would not have encountered the reality of the resurrected Jesus! And Mary Magdalene would not have heard Jesus speak her name before he spoke to any other living man on earth.
Sometimes, should I say often (?) powerful spiritual encounters come only when the folly of affection prompts illogical action.
In my commitment to the transformation of my mind (Romans 12:1-2) I can forget that my love for Jesus cannot be contained by the mind, however conformed to the mind of Christ. Sometimes love leaps to silly actions that cannot be defended by cold truth, even spiritual truth.
My legitimate aversion to emotional shallowness and a silly pietism, both of which I have witnessed, tend to render me incapable to acting out of deep affection as well as thoughtful faith.
Loving Father, remind me that you are more than Mind. Teach me how to express my affection for you in ways that may not always make sense. Release me from slavery to logic so that I can be both thoughtful and affectionate. - Mike Leamon
Risk TakersRisk takers are marginal people. You either love them or hate them. They live on the edge, in the gray areas of life. If you are in favor of what they are doing they become your leader, if you are opposed, they become your nemesis, a thorn in your side. Risk takers are not afraid to challenge the status quo or to push the boundaries of the comfortable. They thrive in places normal people are scarred to live.
Joseph of Arimathea was such a person. Mark tells us he took a risk in asking for Jesus’ body. After all his reputation was at stake and this would be one move impossible to explain away. None of this stopped Joe from doing what his heart told him he had to do. True faith will at some point make us take a risk for Jesus. You cannot live the life of faith in total obscurity, hidden by the covers of normalcy.
Faith in Jesus is not safe, it is risky. Jesus tells us if we are ashamed of him in this life he will be ashamed of us before God on the Day of Judgment. When faith pushes us out of our comfort zone there is only one response for the Christian: take the risk.
Jesus, you took a greater risk with me than I will ever take for you. You created me with the ability to refuse you, risking your love for me with my willingness to say yes to you. Help me to risk everything for you today as a demonstration of my love for you. - Dan Jones
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