Faith in The Aftermath of The Cross - Mark 15:42-47

0:52When evening had already come, because it was the preparation day, that is, the day before the Sabbath, Joseph of Arimathea came, a prominent member of the council, who himself was waiting for the kingdom of God. And he gathered up courage and went in before Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Pilate wondered if he was dead by this time. And summoning the centurion, he questioned him as to whether he was already dead. And ascertaining this from the centurion, he granted the body to Joseph. Joseph bought a linen cloth, took him down, wrapped him in the linen. Linen cloth and laid him in a tomb which had been hewn out in the rock. And he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph were looking on to see where he was laid. Well, this is the aftermath of the cross. Let me ask you a question. Have you ever suffered such a loss that it completely devastated you? Maybe it was something that somebody did to you.

1:58Maybe it was something that you did, and the overpowering weight of the guilt crushed you. Or maybe it was some overwhelming circumstances beyond this, beyond anything you could conceive or anything you could do. Perhaps it was someone let you down. But have you ever been there in a circumstance that just devastated you? And then it becomes a theological question, does it not? God, how did you allow this to happen? God, why did this? God, I thought you would do X, Y, and Z. Instead, you did A, B, and C.

2:43God, where are you? Well, welcome to the aftermath of the cross. Because I can assure you, all these emotions and certainly more were experienced by those followers of Christ. And the God of God. Record is very clear. The cross paralyzed the disciples. Not only did the cross bring complete devastation to the body of Jesus, but it brought complete devastation to the followers of Jesus. They were paralyzed by fear, paralyzed by disappointment, by sadness, remorse, regret, you name it, self-loathing, dismay, crushed hopes, all of it paralyzed.

3:29Complete devastation. And that's where we find ourselves this morning in the passage. But there is also a bright spot. And his name is Joseph of Arimathea. The faith of Joseph of Arimathea stands out in this otherwise bleak and dark scene. Here comes Joseph of Arimathea. And we want to look at his life and his faith here. But before we get to that, I just want to walk through this passage, and then afterwards, I want to reflect upon this passage and draw out seven principles of faith. So let's just walk through this passage. First, I want you to see the distant women. Verse 40. There were also some women looking on from a distance, among whom were Mary of Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the less, and Joseph, and Salome. And when he was in Galilee, They used to follow him and minister to him, and there were many other women who came up with him to Jerusalem. So, who were these women? Well, there were some women. It's not stated how many, but among them, three specifically are named. There's Mary of Magdalene, the woman of Magdala. Then there's Mary, the mother of James the Less and Joseph. Now, who is this Mary? Maybe she's a completely new Mary inserted into the story. Maybe the mother of James the Less, which would be a reference to James the son of Alpha, a rather obscure disciple. Or could this be the mother of Jesus? Not fully sure. But it is interesting to note in Mark chapter 6, verses 3, when Jesus was in Nazareth, in his hometown, that those who were offended against him said these words, Is this not the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James and Joseph? And so that has caused some to think that this may be a reference to Jesus' mother, and perhaps it is. But then there's a third woman, Salome, and that she is the wife of Zebedee. She is the mother of James and John. The main point here is that here are three identifiable people who witnessed the burial site and witnessed the resurrection. Historical names attached to the history of the Historical event who could be eyewitnesses to the events that took place.

6:06And as verse 41 makes it clear, they were followers. They were lady disciples. Same term is used. They were followers. And also, they were ministers. That is, they were his attendants that took care of Jesus' day-to-day needs. And if the tense of the verb is that they were there throughout his Galilean ministry. So these are disciples, lady disciples, lady ministers to Jesus. In fact, only angels and women are said to have ministered to Jesus. But they are seen at a distance. They are seen at being at a distance. Look at verse 40. I mean, they are watching from a distance. And then in verse 47, you know, as a narrative, as they're laying Jesus in the tomb, they are watching from a distance. And so there is this sort of parallelism where Mark is picturing the women, onlookers, at the beginning and the end of this narrative, and right in the middle is this Joseph of Arimathea. But they are seen at a distance. Certainly, they outperform the men. The men are absent. They're not in the narrative. But the women are there. So they outperform those guys, but they are still seen as a distance. Mark is not putting. Them in the favorable light. In fact, they are at a distance. In fact, they are seen as being faithless. In verse 18 of 8, of verse 16, after they had witnessed the empty tomb and heard the words to go and tell his disciples, verse 8, they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had gripped them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid. They were disobedient to the command, and they were paralyzed by fear. And this, if you go back to Mark chapter 4, you remember when the disciples were out there on the boat, and this great storm came up, and he was asleep, and the disciples were, Jesus, wake up.

8:20Aren't you, don't you care that we are perishing? And Jesus wakes up, calms the sea, and he says these words, Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith? Very same picture here that Mark used to describe the disciples in the boat. He describes these women here at the close of his gospel. Now, in this passage, the positive light is not shined upon the women, but upon Joseph of Arimathea. Verses 43. Who was Joseph of Arimathea? Well, look at verse 43. We'll just start working through who he was. He was from Arimathea. Arimathea. Not sure where Arimathea is or was. Multiple locations have been suggested, but one thing's for sure: it was a place where everybody in that day was familiar with.

9:15And it identified Joseph, which was a very common name, the one from Arimathea, from all the other Josephs. And he was a well-known figure. All four Gospels write about him, which is rare when the four Gospels all write about the same event. They all wrote about Joseph of Arimathea. But look at verse 43. He was also a prominent member of the council. He was a leading member of the Jewish Sanhedrin. Now, remember, who just started this whole thing and put him to death? It was the Sanhedrin. He was not just a member of the Sanhedrin, but a prominent member of the Sanhedrin. The very council that put Jesus to death, or condemned him to death, and handed him over to be put to death. So, was he a chief priest? Don't know. Was he a scribe? Don't know. He was an elder. Don't know, whatever. He was a very prominent figure, a very prominent figure in the group that was responsible for putting Jesus on the cross. And Luke says he was a good and righteous man in chapter 23. And he says in verse 51 that he had not consented to their plan of action. So he was a good and righteous man, this Joseph of Arimathea, and he did not consent to their plan, so he must not have been there in that early morning kangaroo court that was called where they established their quorum to put Jesus to death. So apparently he was not there. Matthew adds the detail that he was rich and he was a disciple of Jesus. And John adds the detail in chapter 19:38 that he was a disciple, but he was a secret disciple because of fear of the Jews, specifically the Sanhedrin, on which he was a prominent member of. So that's who he was. Next, I want you to see what he longed for. Look back at verse 43. Who himself was waiting for the kingdom of God? Remember Simeon in Luke chapter 2? My eyes have seen your salvation. He is referred to as a man who is looking for the consolation of Israel, like Anna also in Luke chapter 2, the early chapters of Luke. She is the widow of 84, never left the temple, and she was looking for the redemption of Jerusalem. And so Joseph of Arimathea is put in there in league with Simeon and Anna.

11:56Well, Joseph lived like the disciples, or like Jesus. Told his followers to live, be dressed in readiness, be like men who are waiting for their master. That's the way Joseph lived. He was himself waiting for the kingdom of God. Next, I want you to see what he did. Look at what he did. Verse 43. He gathered up courage. The very opposite of being afraid, he gathered up courage. He went in before Pilate. Look back at verse 43. He asked for the body of Jesus. Verse 43. He needed courage because he went in to Pilate to ask him for the body of Jesus. And it took courage to go against the grain of the Sanhedrin at this point. Here comes this secret disciple. Well, you can no longer be a secret disciple, and there comes a point in your life when you cannot be a secret disciple either. And here comes Joseph of Arimathea.

12:55Took courage because he went against the grain of the Sanhedrin. And John 19 makes it clear that what took place just before Joseph of Arimathea went in is that the other Jewish leaders went in and they asked that Pilate would go and break the legs of every person of all three people on the cross so that they would die before the sun went down so that they could get them off the cross, throw them into the valley of Gehenna so that they would not defile their Passover celebration. And so they came to the first two, broke their legs. And that would have had the effect of dropping them down from the cross and probably dying of suffocation. But when they came to Jesus, he was already dead. He was already dead. And it's right after this that Joseph of Arimathea, right after these events, after Joseph of Arimathea goes in to Pilate. But it also took courage to appear before Pilate. Remember, keep in mind, Jesus was crucified as an enemy of Rome. And Pilate really didn't have much of a stomach for the Jews. It had been a long day for him. He was worn, and he didn't much care for these Jewies.

14:13You can see it in the derision in the title that he placed above Jesus' head. And so it took courage to appear before Pilate, but there he goes. There goes Joseph of Arimathea. And in a narrative where fear had paralyzed every person, or just about every person on the scene, here comes Joseph of Arimathea, a man that would overcome the fear. And he asked for the body, but Pilate didn't think Jesus was dead at this point. Look at verse 44. So Pilate inquires or performs an inquisition of the centurion. Verse 44, Pilate wondered if he was dead by this time, amazed that he was dead at this time, and summoning the centurion, He questioned him as to whether or not he was already dead. So Pilate summoned him, interrogated him, and the centurion confirmed Jesus' death. Verse 45, and ascertaining this from the centurion, he granted the body to Joseph. You see, there are some that like to make the suggestion that Jesus really didn't die. He just swooned, that he just fainted, and they put him in the cold tomb, and that kind of revived him. And that's how we account for the resurrection. Problem with that is it doesn't square with the text at all. Pilate confirmed his death. The centurion confirmed his death. Joseph confirmed his death. They sealed the tomb. All this testifies to the fact that Jesus was really dead. I mean, these Romans knew how to kill. And crucifixion was a death sentence, and they didn't botch it. In fact, in all of history, I mean, Romans had crucified hundreds of thousands. They knew how to kill people, and there is not one incident where we know somebody survived a crucifixion. In fact, many don't even make it to the cross because the flogging is so bad. No, they knew death, and they knew how to kill, and that was the sentence upon Jesus. So he asked for the body of Jesus, and guess what? He got it. Look in verse 46.

16:30Bought a linen cloth. So Jesus died somewhere around 3 o'clock, right at 3. And sometimes shortly after that, before sunset, Joseph went out and bought a linen cloth. And he took him down. Verse 46. Now, this is a sad scene. Because, you know, oftentimes when a person was crucified, a criminal was crucified, they would have a family. And the family members would oftentimes go in and petition. the Roman authorities to let them have the body so that they could go give them a decent burial. Because what happened to criminals is they were taken down and they were thrown into Gehenna, which is like a dump, a burning dump, and their bodies destroyed there in the fire. No proper burial. And it's a sad scene because there isn't anybody, after all of the followers, after all that Jesus had done, there isn't anyone of his number that is out there petitioning his body. It's Joseph of Arimathea. Wow, where did he come from? So he took him down. Now think about this scene.

17:40He took Jesus off the cross. That would have been a bloody mess. And think about having to get the feet off of the nails. Was it Joseph that would have to rip the feet off of the nails, the hands, lower him down, get blood all over himself? And by the way, this would have made Joseph ceremonially unclean during the Passover and the week following. For Numbers 19, 11 is very clear: whoever touches the corpse of any person shall be unclean for seven days. So here's Joseph of Arimathea. It's a beautiful scene, taking down the bloody body of Christ.

18:22And so being uncleaned. But he wraps him in a linen cloth. Then he placed him in the tomb, verse 46, a tomb in which had been hewn out of a rock. Mishnah states that these tombs were six feet by nine feet vaults, and there'd be a room, and then there'd be another room where the dead body was laid. And the way it would work is you would put the dead body in there, the body would decompose, and then later, after the complete decomposition of the body, of the flesh, you'd go in, collect the bones, and put them in a box, save the box, and then the tomb would be ready for another person. And so oftentimes, entire families would use the same tomb or tombs. Well, Matthew records that the tomb was Joseph's tomb. It was his own new tomb. John adds a detail that it was a tomb that had never been used.

19:23And in verse 46, he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. This is Joseph. The stone effectively sealed the tomb from robbers, but also from varmints. Get in there, little critters. So, why did he do all this? Why does this prominent council member of the very council that put Jesus to death, or sentenced him to death, why did he do all this? Well, we could say, number one, yeah, he had sympathy and compassion for Jesus. True, but so did the others. Even Pilate, you get the sense, had that, but this didn't move any of them to go and do this.

20:10Two, he loved Jesus. Well, certainly he loved Jesus. But you know what? So did the disciples. And so did the women looking on. But this didn't compel them to go into Pilate and ask for the body. No, the answer. While both of these are true, the answer, the satisfying answer is because he had faith in Jesus. He believed Jesus' testimony. He didn't take Jesus to be a liar or a lunatic. He doesn't take a liar and then give him your nice tomb and jeopardize so much for somebody you think is a liar or a crazy man.

20:52No, he knew he was from God. And he also knew the political dynamics of the Sanhedrin. And he knew those people. He was a prominent member. 70 of them. He knew them. He knew the ranks, and he also knew of their jealousy. But he was one who was waiting for the kingdom of God, and he understood the Old Testament promise of salvation. He also understood the promise of a righteous kingdom being established. And he believed that Jesus was that king.

21:26So, why does Mark want us to take a long, hard look at Joseph of Arimathea? Is it simply a matter of history that he wants us to make sure we understand? No, there's more than that. Well, then, what aspect of Joseph's story does Mark want us to really pay attention to? Well, the answer is his faith. In the aftermath of the cross, faith sprung up like a rose rising up out of the ashes. There's a picture of faith right in the middle of this narrative. So, I want to shift gears for a minute. And by way of reflection, I want us to look at Mark's emphasis upon faith in this narrative and relate it to some other passages about faith. I want you to see seven principles of faith with the hopes that you will have faith yourself.

22:30Faith in the aftermath of the cross. Seven principles, and they'll go quick. First, I want you to see the author of faith, the author of faith. Hebrews 12:2 says this: Let us fix our eyes upon Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith. Who's the author and perfecter of faith? Who's the one? It's Jesus. Let us fix our eyes upon him because by looking upon him, faith is generated. And not only he doesn't just leave us looking at him there, but also he perfects faith, looking to Jesus for both salvation and sanctification. And there's a central point of the cross. Who, for the joy set before him, endured the cross? It's the cross at the center of this author and perfecter of faith. And as we look and as we get to know Christ and as you're studying your scriptures, always stay close to Christ. Study it all broad. But also, it's always good to stay in the Gospels. Always keep a foot in the Gospels because there is our Lord. And as we look upon Him, our faith is made and perfected. Well, what Hebrews has expressly stated, Mark has shown. He has shown that by looking upon, by believing upon Jesus crucified, that There is the source of faith. Faith comes from no other source. Next thing I want you to see is the unpredictability of faith. I mean, think about it. If you're sitting there at that Passover where Jesus broke the bread and cut the new covenant, and you knew everybody was going to fall away, who would you, if you were just a betting person, who would you bet was going to be there at the end? Okay, you'd probably put some money on Peter, some of the disciples, maybe even a couple of the women. You might say, okay, these are going to be there, right? No, at the end of the day, there's the centurion's confession, and there is this member of the council that put him to death that is there. You never know where faith is going to show up. You never know. And I'll tell you what, as I, Pastor, many times, I meet people and I think, and as I listen to them, and I talk to them, and I get to know one of them, well, here's a shoe in for faith, only to be disappointed after getting to know them much more to find out, no, there's not faith. And then people that I wouldn't even think would be interested in the gospel at all, all of a sudden, faith springs up. It's unpredictable. It's unpredictable. Next, I want you to see the unity of faith. I mean, think about it. Here we've got in the courtyards of Pilate, you've got both the centurion and Joseph. You've got the Roman thug of thugs. I mean, this is the thug leader. I mean, you've got to be a pretty good thug to be the leader of a hundred thugs who would go and do the kind of dirty work that these guys did. And you have to be the best among the thugs to get promoted to this. So here's the centurion thug of the thugs. And then you have this prominent Jewish council member. I mean, what do these two have in common? Well, here they are before Pilate, both sympathetic to the person of Jesus. What did they have in common? I'll tell you this much. They were both part of societies that completely rejected Jesus. They both exhibited faith in Jesus.

26:10And remember that ripped curtain? It's like Mark is saying, look, both Jew and Gentile, open one faith, the unity of faith. And I'll tell you what, just as you look through the Gospel of Mark, I mean, what did the woman in chapter 5, the paralytic in chapter 2, Bartimaeus in chapter 10, we can throw in there the thief on the cross, the centurion, Joseph of Arimathea? What did all these guys have in common? One thing, faith in Jesus Christ. What brings us here? I mean, we are people from totally different backgrounds all over the map. And yet, what draws us? The one important thing, Jesus and faith in him, that we are being conformed wherever we've come from in life. We have looked to him and we are being conformed. Into his image. That's the unity of faith. Next, I want you to see the uniqueness of faith. You know, Joseph had his time and his circles to exhibit faith, and so do we. And we're all very unique, though there's a unity of faith. God has positioned each of us in different places and different times that we might glorify him through expressions of faith. And let me tell you, faith is in the heart, and it works its way out into actions. Not telling you to go out and do faithful deeds. I'm telling you to be a faithful person and then go live the way you want, and it'll come out.

27:40Next, I want you to see the opposite of faith. Hebrews has a lot to say about faith. In chapter 6, verse 12, spiritual laziness is the opposite of faith. Impatience is the opposite of faith. Hebrews 10, 22, insincerity, insincerity of heart is the opposite of faith. Lack of confidence is the opposite of faith. And in chapter 10 of Hebrews and verse 38, it is fear. Timidness is also the opposite of faith. One who shrinks back. And I'll tell you, you know what faith is? Faith, according to Hebrews 10, 38, is, my righteous shall live by faith. And that is looking into God's word. And saying, look, God, you have made some incredible promises here. And you know what? By your grace, I intend to take you up fully on every single one of them. That's what faith is. God, you're the one who laid these promises out. You started this whole thing. And now I am going to believe your word. And I intend to live my life fully taking you up on your promises. That's what faith is. And God's saying, yes, that's what I want. I want you to take me up on my promises. That's why I gave them to you.

29:07What's this? Fear. The opposite of faith is fear. And this is what Mark picks up. Fearfulness in the boat in chapter 4. Fearfulness of the women in chapter 16. And yet here is Joseph overcoming his fear. In Hebrews 11:6, it says this: Without faith, it is impossible to believe God. I mean, if you're timid, if you don't believe his word, if you're afraid to go with him and take him up on his word, it's impossible to please God. For he who comes to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of those who seek him. That's what God wants for your life. He wants you seeking him.

29:55And he wants you to find him. Next, I want you to see the liberating power of faith. Faith. Joseph got over his fears. And that's what faith does. It liberates you from those fears and timidness and reluctance and spiritual laziness and insincerity of heart. And it liberates you to go to God through the person of Jesus Christ. Finally, I want you to see the beauty of faith. You know, it's the contrast in this narrative that's so beautiful. Joseph's act of faith is a bright spot against the whole darkness of the cross. See, many today assert that it's conformity to the world that's going to be the way to win people to Christ. The more you can be like them and they can see your similarities, the more you can lead them to Christ. I mean, think how foolish that is in this context.

30:57You think the way that Joseph could be faithful and honor Christ was by being like those in the council? No, it's the contrast that is beautiful. It is the contrast that is the way we glorify Christ. It's the self-control in a nation of self-indulgence. It's the kind and gentle acts in the midst of the ruthless and brutal that says so much about our Savior. It's the tongue that speaks life in the back. Of the lying and deceitful, slanderous tongues of death that so characterize our time. It's the moral purity against the backdrop of the moral filth of our society. That is what is beautiful. It's the kindness against the backdrop of being harmed and wronged and responding in kindness because of the Lord Jesus Christ. That is what is beautiful. It's forgiveness against the backdrop of being severely wronged or even small, minimally wronged. It's justice and order against the backdrop of chaos and lawlessness. It's peace, settled peace in the face of extreme danger. That's what is faithful and beautiful. It's generosity against the backdrop of desperate need. It's compassionate love for someone in the midst of a selfish and indifferent society. That is what is beautiful. It's the love of God's will over the love of self-will at what is so beautiful. That is the beauty of faith. When a soul can get to the point where they say, I love God's will more than anything that I could personally ever dream or think or want in this world, I want what God wants. That is what we see on the cross in the person of Jesus Christ. And I want to say there's a question. Corporate beauty to faith. We all belong to the household of faith. We don't have to get jealous when somebody exercises faith and we don't. We don't have to look at somebody else's faith and be condemned because we don't have faith like that. No, we are all of one household of faith, and we share in this. So when you are faithful, I can honestly rejoice because this is what faith looks like in your time and in your place and in your situation. And we can truly rejoice as a body as we see the faithful acts of the saints over against the backdrop of this sin-laden and sin-darkened world. That is the corporate beauty of faith.

33:44My growing up years up in northern New Mexico lived in the mountains, and those mountains were no strangers to forest fires. In fact, some completely devastated our homes. I mean plural. But I can remember one particular fire in general, in specific, that wiped out much of the mountain. Beautiful pine trees, beautiful, just devastated. And it was just black charcoal, everything. But you know, if you wait for the rains, the first thing to pop up are those little wildflower seeds. And just the contrast between those beautiful flowers and the blackened earth. Well, that's like acts of faith. Acts of faith are like the beautiful flowers springing up against the backdrop of a world devastated by sin. And that's what you and I are called for: to be zealous to make him known. And this is how you make him known, big and small ways. You know, why was the cross so devastating to the disciples? Well, there's a lot of reasons, but one reason.

34:57God didn't do what they wanted God to do. He told them this was going to happen, but they had their idea of what the Messiah was to be and do as well. You see, it wasn't just the Pharisees and the Sanhedrin that had a misconception of what the Messiah should be. It was also the disciples. They had false and incomplete notions as well that had to be torn down. You see, this is the problem with humanity, and it's the problem with us. We must all come to a point in life where our false image of God must come down. My question is, in the aftermath of such devastation, you're asking, where is God? Why is this? Are you going to see God through the lens of your circumstances? Are you going to see God through the lens of Scripture that says, this is how you are to think about me?

35:53I gave my Son. I am completely committed to my creation. Will be righteousness established in the earth. But you are to trust me even to the point of being crucified on the cross. You are to love my will over your own. The question is: are you going to turn to God, to the God of the Bible, when your image of God starts coming down? Are you going to see it reborn in the image of who God really is? You see, what the Gospel of Mark is, it's the invitation for you to put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the one who will come in the clouds, the one who did die, who did deal with your sin and your failure. It's the invitation. That's what Mark, that's what he's writing about. Come.

36:55We part. And I want to close with this story of such faith against the backstrop of a great devastation. We were talking to a woman, and her testimony has stayed with me for many, many years. She was brought up in a Christian home, went to church. When they made one of those calls, do you want to give your life to Christ? She joyfully went and gave her life to Christ. Then, as years went on, she kind of drifted.

37:30And then at one point, she entered into a marriage, and before long, she had committed adultery, something she thought she was never capable of doing. Devastated by her guilt, her shame, she turned to God. She said, God, you say you want a life. I don't have a life to give you anymore. All I have are shreds and pieces. And God, if this is what you want, I want you. And faith was born. A new creation was started. Her false image that God somehow wants the good life has something that you can offer him. No, he came to save sinners.

38:26And as her image of God came down, her false image, a new image went up, one that squared with the biblical picture. Well, Mark's invitation, look to Jesus, exercise faith in him. One of the most liberating days in my life was when I understood, God, I can choose to believe your word. I'm struggling with some things, but you know what, God? I choose to believe. And I am going to take you up on your promises. And either one of things is going to happen. Either you're going to be proven to be a liar, or I'm going to see you work as you promised. Those are the most liberating days in my life. And that is what Mark is calling you today. Have faith in Jesus. Have faith in Jesus. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for the Word. We thank you for your call for us to exercise faith in you. We thank you for the generosity, the beauty. Father, and we also can get bearings on our own lives. Father, forgive us where we have been impatient, faithless, Lord, because you didn't fit in our box. And so, Father, just forgive us. And may you cause us to look upon you and be conformed into the image of your Son. We ask in Jesus' name. Amen.