John: Courage in the Shadows

John 19:38-42 

When the apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians, he had many issues to address. But the most important topic was the message of Jesus. Paul wrote, “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received” (1 Cor. 15:3). In essence, Paul was saying, “If you miss everything else I’ve written in this letter, don’t miss this. This is of primary importance.” Paul then went on to explain the key points of the Gospel.

1 Corinthians 15:3-4
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.

In the early church, there was much misunderstanding about the person of Jesus and the purpose of his death. Those who held to Docetism taught that Jesus was God, but not truly man. They believed Jesus only appeared to have a human body.

There were others who did not believe Jesus died when he was on the cross. One theory called the “swoon theory” maintains that Jesus fainted and fell into a coma. He later revived in the tomb and appeared to his disciples.

Any theory or teaching that denies Jesus is fully God and fully man, and that he died for our sins, is heresy. If Jesus did not die as a man, he could not die on behalf of man. And if he didn’t truly die, but simply fainted, then he did not pay the penalty for sin through his sacrificial death. This is why the apostle Paul—and before him, the apostle John—made sure to document that Jesus died and was buried as proof of his death.

Today, let’s consider John’s account of Jesus’ burial.

After Jesus died, two men took his body down from the cross and prepared him for burial. These two men were Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, who, to this point, had been secret disciples of Jesus.

Joseph was a wealthy man from a town northwest of Jerusalem called Arimathea (Matt. 27:57). He was a respected member of the Sanhedrin, or Jewish council, and a secret disciple of Jesus (Mark 15:43). Luke describes him as “a good and righteous man, who had not consented” to the religious leaders’ decision and action to put Jesus to death (Luke 23:50–51). It took great courage for Joseph to go to Pilate and ask for permission to bury Jesus (Mark 15:43).

Joseph secured help to take Jesus’ body down from the cross. This help probably came from the soldiers, who would have had the proper tools to remove the three spikes that fastened Jesus to the cross.

Joseph wrapped Jesus in a linen shroud and transported his body to a nearby garden tomb. In Jesus’ time, bodies were placed in cave-like tombs, usually cut into stone. After about a year, once the body had decomposed, there was a secondary burial in which the bones were collected and placed in a small box called an ossuary. Ossuaries were made of wood or stone and were typically two and a half feet long, two feet wide, and a foot and a half high. The tomb was then reused. However, John notes that Jesus was buried in “a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid” (John 19:41).

At some point, another religious leader joined Joseph in the process. Early in Jesus’ ministry, a man named Nicodemus—a Pharisee and Jewish ruler—came to Jesus at night with some spiritual questions. During their conversation, Jesus explained to Nicodemus what it meant to be born again (John 3:1–21). 

There is no indication that he trusted in Jesus at that point, but later, when the Jewish rulers were seeking to put Jesus to death, Nicodemus spoke up and asked, “Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?” (John 7:51). Nicodemus was rebuked by the other leaders for daring to ask the question, but it shows that he was beginning to take a public risk for Jesus. Now, the secret disciple had gone public.

To speed the decomposition process and suppress the smell of decay, a mixture of spices was placed on the body. Nicodemus brought a “mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight” (John 19:39). John writes:

John 19:40
So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews.

Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus risked their lives to honor Jesus’ body in burial. We cannot overlook the courage it took to approach Pilate and bury Jesus openly, in full view of those who had put him on the cross. And… they had no time to waste. 

The Gospel writer Mark tells us that Jesus was crucified at 9:00 a.m. At noon, “darkness came over the whole land” for three hours, lasting until Jesus died at 3:00 p.m. (Mark 15:25–37). For the Jews, the Sabbath began at 6:00 p.m. on Friday.

In just three short hours, Joseph and Nicodemus had to get Pilate’s approval to take the body, remove it from the cross, and prepare Jesus for burial. For the Jews, everything stopped at 6:00 p.m. on Friday, “the day of preparation” for the Sabbath. In fact, even today, I’ve seen cars parked in the middle of side streets in Jerusalem because that’s where the driver was when the Sabbath began… Everything truly stops at 6:00 p.m.

One can only imagine that they finished their work with little time to spare. John writes:

John 19:42
So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there.

So…there was Good Friday. Silent Saturday. But you know what’s coming next…And what’s coming next changes everything.

PERSONAL TIME WITH GOD
Time in the Word: Read and reflect on John 19:38-42. Focus on the courage of Joseph and Nicodemus to honor Jesus with a proper burial.

Talking to God: What is Jesus calling me to do courageously and quietly?

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