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Mark 15:42-47
Intro:
In the fourth-century there lived a Christian named Telemachus.
He lived in a remote village, tending his garden and spending much of his time in prayer.
One day he thought he heard the voice of God telling him to go to Rome, so he obeyed, setting out on foot.
Weary weeks later, he arrived in the city at the time of a great festival.
The little monk followed the crowd surging down the streets into the Coliseum.
He saw the gladiators stand before the emperor and say, “We who are about to die salute you.”
Then he realized these men were going to fight to the death for the entertainment of the crowd.
He cried out, “In the name of Christ, stop!”
As the games began, he pushed his way through the crowd, climbed over the wall, and dropped to the floor of the arena.
When the crowd saw this tiny figure rushing to the gladiators and saying, “In the name of Christ, stop!” they thought it was part of the show and began laughing.
When they realized it wasn’t, the laughter turned to anger.
As he was pleading with the gladiators to stop, one of them plunged a sword into his body.
He fell to the sand.
As he was dying, his last words were, “In the name of Christ, stop!”
Then a strange thing happened.
The gladiators stood looking at the tiny figure lying there.
A hush fell over the Coliseum.
Way up in the upper rows, a man stood and made his way to the exit.
Others began to follow.
In dead silence, everyone left the Coliseum.
The year was 391 BC, and that was the last battle to the death between gladiators in the Roman Coliseum.
Never again in the great stadium did men kill each other for the entertainment of the crowd, all because of one tiny voice that could hardly be heard above the tumult.
One voice—one life—that spoke the truth in God’s name.[i]
That story illustrates the power one person can have when they courageously take their stand for the Lord.
We see the same sort of courage in the passage before us today.
The bravery of Joseph of Arimathaea stands as a challenge to believers in all ages.
His heroic deeds call to us and demand that we take our stand with Jesus as well.
I. JOSEPH’S CHARACTER
All four of the Gospel writers tell us about this man named Joseph.
Their descriptions reveal a man of character and integrity.
Joseph has a character worth studying.
Ø He was from a place called Arimathaea – In Old Testament times, the city was called Ramah, or Ramahthainzophim.
It was located 20 miles northwest of Jerusalem and was the hometown of the prophet Samuel, 1 Sam.
1:1.
Ø He was a wealthy man – Matt.
27:5 - His ability to purchase an expensive garden tomb near the city of Jerusalem bears this out.
Ø He is called a“good” and a“just” man– Luke 23:50 – The word “good” means “to be ready”.
Joseph was man who could be counted on.
He was a man of integrity.
The word “just” means that he was “upright”.
He was a man who honored the Word of God to the best of his ability.
Joseph possessed a good moral character and set an excellent religious example.
Ø He is called an “honorable counselor” – Mark 15:43 – The word “counselor” tells us that Joseph was a member of the Sanhedrin.
This seventy member body was the supreme ruling body of the Jews.
They possessed ultimate power in all matters of the Jewish religion and social life.
They were immensely powerful men.
This was the very body that condemned Jesus to death.
The word “honorable” means he was “in good standing; he was an influential and respected” member of that body of men.
Literally, Joseph was a leader among the leaders.
He would have been well-known and well-respected by the Pharisees, the Sadducees and the Scribes.
Ø He “waited for the kingdom of God”– This means that Joseph, like Simeon and Anna, who confessed their faith in Jesus in the Temple when He was a baby, Luke 2:22-28, was a man with genuine faith in God.
Joseph was more than just a religious Jew.
His faith was real and he looked for, and longed to see, the Messiah.
· Joseph of Arimathaea possessed many qualities that caused him to stand out.
He is the kind of person who would have made a great church member and a great friend.
He also possessed some characteristics that should be true of every person in this room today.
No one here is from the town of Arimathaea.
No one here will ever be a member of the Jewish Sanhedrin.
Most of us will never be wealthy.
We can all strive to possess the same kind of moral and spiritual qualities that Joseph demonstrated in his life.
We can all be “good” and “just”– We can never be good in the sense of being perfectly righteous, but we can be like Joseph, available and ready to serve the Lord at all times.
We can never be “just” within ourselves, but we can like Joseph and be people of integrity, who live clean lives to the glory of God.
We can all be like Joseph by possessing a genuine faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
What made Joseph different was his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
That is what separated him from the dead religionists that lived around him.
All they had were their rituals, their rules and their self-righteousness.
Joseph, on the other hand possessed a living faith that changed his life.
Just so you remember today, religion and good works will never save your soul.
Salvation does not come through works of righteousness, Eph.
2:8-9 Titus 3:5
Salvation comes solely through faith in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Ø Salvation occurs when a lost sinner is drawn to Jesus by the Holy Spirit, John 6:44.
Ø That sinner is made awakened to his condition.
He is made to see his sinfulness, Rom.
3:23.
Ø He is also made aware of the holiness of God and of the price God demands because of sin, Rom.
6:23.
Ø Then, that sinner is drawn to Calvary.
He sees the price Jesus paid for his sins on the cross.
He sees the Savior broken, bleeding, suffering and dying for sin, Mark 10:45.
Ø He sees the Savior buried in the tomb.
Ø He sees His rising in power and victory three days later-
Ø The sinners these things and is made to understand that Jesus Christ alone is the way of salvation.
Ø The lost sinner looks by faith, believing these things and that sinner is instantly, and eternally saved, John 6:37; Rom.
10:13; Acts 16:31.
That is biblical salvation!
While we can never be Joseph, we can be like him in the ways that matter most.
We can possess the good traits of His character in our lives.
We can be saved by grace, and we can serve the Lord!
I. Joseph’s Character
II.
JOSEPH’S CONCEALMENT
· Joseph of Arimathaea was a Jewish leader, but he was also a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Joseph had come to embrace the truth that Jesus was the long awaited Messiah that was to come and save Israel.
· We do not know exactly how Joseph came to his faith in Jesus Christ, but we can be sure that he had many opportunities to see and hear Jesus Christ in person.
· While Joseph was a believer, he kept his faith a secret.
John 19:38 says, “And after this Joseph of Arimathaea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus.”
Joseph was a believer, but he was afraid of what would happen to him if the other Jews found out.
· We don’t know how long Joseph believed in Jesus, but we do know that he opposed the efforts of the Sanhedrin to condemn Jesus to death, Luke 23:51
But he was not willing to pay the price of identifying himself with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Sadly, there are many believers who fit the same profile of Joseph of Arimathaea.
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