Joseph of Arimethea--A True Friend Of Christ

Hanging in our hallway is a quote from Henry David Thoreau.  It says, 

It is tragic when  people settle for a multitude of congenial acquaintances in place of a handful of true friends.

A true friend. How do they differ from the rest of our friends?

George Washington considered Alexander Hamiliton a true friend, and  J.R.R. Tolkien felt the same way about C.S. Lewis, but on this Easter day, my thoughts turn to Christ.

Who would our savior say he considered a true friend?

Among those he might mention, I am certain would be Joseph of Arimathea.

A member of the Sanhedrin, Joseph doesn't thunder in the pages of the Bible as do Paul and Peter, but he is important enough that he is mentioned in each of the gospels, and in those passages we learn not only what it means to be a disciple of Christ, but also a true friend.

True friends are good people 

In Luke 23: 50 it states, And, behold, there was a man named Joseph, a counselor; and he was a good man, and a just.
I think it’s worth mentioning that one of the first things said about Joseph is that he was good. If we're living so that our goodness is one of the first things people mention about us, we are well on our way to being the kind of people who can be a true friend.

True friends have courage
In Luke 23:52 we learn that [Joseph] went unto Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. And in Mark 15:43 it states that he went in boldly unto Pilate, and craved the body of Jesus.

Begged, boldly, and craved--three words which send the message that Joseph was not going to allow fear or deference for Pilate's office to stop him from obtaining the permission he needed to remove Christ's body from the cross.

We also learn in Mark 15: 44-45 that when Joseph approached Pilate, Pilate marveled if [Christ] were already dead: and calling unto him the centurion, he asked him whether he had been any while dead. And when he knew of it of the centurion, he gave the body to Joseph.

Joseph was so quick to demand Christ's body that Pilate hadn’t yet received word from his servants that Christ was dead.  This meant that he had rushed there before anyone else, thus making sure the body of Christ didn’t fall into enemy hands.

True friends are generous

In Mark 15: 46 it tells us that Joseph bought fine linen, and took [Christ] down, and wrapped him in the linen, and laid him in a sepulcher which was hewn out of a rock, and rolled a stone unto the door of the sepulcher.

I’m not sure how one goes about removing a body that’s nailed to a cross, but I’m sure that it was more than a one or two-person job. Joseph, most likely, had to hire strong men to help him. And as they worked, I can picture him shouting, Careful! Do not lose your grip! Gently now! Certainly, he made sure that our savior’s body came off the cross respectfully and with care, thus playing a part in the fulfilling of the prophecy in Psalms 34:40 He keepeth all his bones; not one of them is broken.

Joseph’s care is also evidenced by the reports we have from those who saw our resurrected Lord and felt the nail marks in his hands. Had Joseph been less careful, those nail marks might have turned to gashes. As a true friend to Christ, Joseph made sure that wasn’t the case.

Another sign of Joseph’s generosity as a friend is the quality of the linen he purchased to wrap Christ’s body for burial. Had he spared the expense and just bought linen, not fine linen, it still would have been a kindness, but Joseph was compelled to do more. Joseph’s generous spirit also led him to give up his own tomb for Christ’s burial.

While Joseph’s generosity led him to spend money, a true friend’s generosity can also be found in something as simple as not withholding a compliment. True friends are happy when we the sun shines upon us, and stand ready with an umbrella when the weather turns stormy.

May we be counted with Joseph as a true friend of Christ--the one who is and will always be our truest friend.