Mark 15:42-47; 16

“And he gathered up his courage and went in before Pilate, and asked for the body of Jesus” (v43).  Joseph of Arimathea was “a prominent member of the Council, who himself was waiting for the kingdom of God” (v4).  Joseph discovered God’s Kingdom in Jesus Christ.  He “gathered up his courage,” knowing he would lose the privileges of his position and status, and publicly claimed Jesus’ dead body.  Jesus had been mocked, abused, and killed by Joseph’s colleagues, yet Joseph sided with Jesus even before His resurrection.

Like Paul, Joseph counted his earthly reputation “rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ” (Ph 3:8).