Matthew 27:55-61
The women who followed Jesus loved him dearly. The Scriptures tell us that they cared for him and met his needs. And even here, in the hour of their great despair, their attention is still focused on caring for him.
The faith of the women and Joseph is worthy of imitation. Surface evidences gave them no reason to continue believing that Jesus was the Messiah. They had watched him die. They had held his body, placed him in a tomb and watched the stone rolled over the entrance. They had watched Jesus’ enemies capture and kill him. It would have been so easy for their minds to doubt. It would have been so easy to walk away and let the soldiers dispose of his body.
But even against the anxiety and confusion they cared for his needs, even at the moment their faith was severely tested they stayed with him.
The women and Joseph stayed because they clearly loved him. They had grown to love Jesus as a brother and a true friend. Though they doubted that he was the Messiah (as evidenced by the emotional chaos that followed on Resurrection Sunday) they still desired to serve him out of love.
In love, Joseph buried Jesus in his own tomb, and not just out of reverence and respect. He had not consented to the circus court his peers had hurriedly called to convict Jesus. He believed Jesus was innocent of their charges of blasphemy. And Joseph had clearly been touched by Jesus’ wisdom and miracles.
So Joseph risked public humiliation by going to Pilate to ask for the body of Jesus. It was no small expense to bury Jesus in a tomb. Tombs in this day were valuable and rare, and yet Joseph selflessly gave up his possession to bury a man the religious and political authorities despised, but one that he dearly loved and admired – even in the face of hopelessness.
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