CRITICAL NOTES
Luke 23:50. A counsellor.—I.e., a member of the Sanhedrim.
Luke 23:51. Had not consented.—I.e., had absented himself, and had taken no part in the action of the council against Jesus. Arimathæa.—Some identify this with Rama in Benjamin, or Rama (Ramathaim) in Ephraim, the birthplace of Samuel (1 Samuel 1:1). The form of the name is more like the latter.
Luke 23:52. Went unto Pilate.—An action needing some courage, especially on the part of one in Joseph’s position, who, up to this, had not avowed the fact that he was a disciple of Jesus.
Luke 23:54. The preparation.—The ordinary designation of Friday, as on that day the Jews prepared for the Sabbath which began at sunset. Drew on.—Lit. “began to dawn”—i.e., the phrase properly used of the natural day is here applied to the conventional day.
Luke 23:56. Returned.—I.e., to the city or to their homes in it. Spices and ointments.—I.e., dry and liquid substances for embalming. The intention of the women was to come, after the Sabbath was over, to complete the embalmment, which had been only partially effected
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.— Luke 23:50-56
The Last Offices of Love.—With the crucifixion of Christ the rage of His enemies was spent; they had done their worst, and retire into the background, while His friends and disciples draw near, to show their love by taking reverent care of His lifeless body. Not only do His known and accredited followers come forward at this hour, but also some from unexpected quarters, who had been disciples secretly, have now the courage of their convictions and manifest openly their affection for Him who had been put to such an ignominious death. One of these was Joseph of Arimathæa, a member of the Sanhedrim itself, a man of wealth, of well-known probity and piety, who had taken no part in the proceedings against Jesus. At the moment when the cause of Christ is at its lowest ebb this hidden friend comes forth, constrained by love of Him, and gives honourable interment to the body of his Master.
I. Love towards Christ gives courage.—Joseph had much to risk by coming forward at this time to confess his love for Christ; he exposed himself to the enmity of the Sanhedrim, and to the penalty of excommunication by the ecclesiastical authorities of his nation—with all that it implied of loss of station, separation from kindred, and from the society of his fellows. The fear of this had already restrained him from confessing himself to be a disciple of Jesus; but now love raises him above fear. It was the violence of the enemies of Christ that urged him to religious decision; it reached a point at which he felt himself bound to make a stand, and openly to identify himself with the hated and persecuted cause. Thus does religious persecution overreach itself; it cows the timid and half-hearted, but it rouses up others to cast in their lot with what they know to be the side of God and truth. He went in boldly to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.
II. This love inspires deeds of devotion.—Joseph did all that love could suggest as possible to be done. He took down the body from the cross, wrapped it in a linen cloth with costly spices, and laid it in his own new tomb. He did not employ his servants to do this work, but did it with his own hands. Love could not be satisfied with less than this. The tomb was one which he had had excavated for himself. Though he belonged to a city at a distance from Jerusalem, he wished, like many of his nation, to be buried in the most sacred spot in the land, and hence had made preparations beforehand against the day of his death. But now he gives up with great generosity, this highly valued property, and consecrates it to be the tomb of Jesus. We note from this that rich men have ways of serving Christ which are inaccessible to their poorer brethren. Joseph’s rank, and dignity, and wealth, doubtless disposed Pilate to listen to his petition. The Roman judge would probably have refused to accede to a like petition, if it had been presented by some poor and obscure disciple. Another might have had all Joseph’s love and devotion to the Master, and yet have been unable to provide an equally suitable place of burial for Him.
III. The love of one towards Christ stirs up the like feeling in others.—We learn from the fourth Gospel that Nicodemus, too, came forward to assist in the work of burial, and brought “a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pound weight,” and here we read that the women which came from Galilee, when they saw what was being done, made preparations for bringing fresh spices and ointments as soon as the Sabbath was past. The example of one loyal, loving disciple prompted others to imitation. They would not be behindhand in honouring the Master. What had been done in the way of anointing was amply sufficient for the purpose; but they would not be satisfied with merely being spectators of the piety of others, they must themselves assist in rendering honour to Him. “To what purpose is this waste?” a cold-hearted, utilitarian world might ask; but every loving heart knows that nothing is wasted which is given out of love to Christ.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON Luke 23:50-56
Luke 23:50. “A good man and a just.”—St. Luke names the more comprehensive quality first; for every good man is also just, while not all just men are good.
“A good man, and a just.”—Each evangelist describes Joseph in his own way. St. Luke’s words correspond to the Greek ideal of character (καλὸς κἀγαθός): St. Mark speaks of him as “an honourable counsellor”—the Roman ideal: St. Matthew as “a rich man”—the Jewish ideal.—Godet.
Luke 23:51. “The counsel and deed.”—I.e., he had not consented to the sentence passed on Jesus, nor to the shameful artifices by which the Roman judge had been urged into ratifying the sentence.
Luke 23:52. Joseph of Arimathæa.
I. Joseph had been a secret disciple of Christ for some time already.
II. Now he throws away his timidity, and comes out boldly as a friend of Jesus.
III. True love for Christ cannot always keep hid.
IV. We must ever be grateful that Joseph gave Jesus such noble burial.
V. Yet, after all, his love blossomed out too late.—He ministered, not to this living, but to the dead Christ. He discipleship was incomplete.—Miller.
Luke 23:53. The Sepulchre.
I. Christ touched life at every point.—He began at infancy and ended at the grave. There is no path on which His holy footprints are not seen. Why should we dread the grave, since Jesus has lain in it?
II. He lay in a borrowed grave.—His friends provided it. Another mark of His deep humiliation.
III. How hopeless the prospect seemed!—Jesus was buried; the disciples were scattered. The grave seemed to be the tomb of all their hopes. And yet it was simply the lowly gateway to honour and glory. So no hopes perish when a Christian is buried—just beyond is glory.—Ibid.
Luke 23:54. “The Sabbath drew on.”—What different feelings would fill the minds
(1) of those who had slain Jesus;
(2) of those who were His disciples, on this day of rest. For Him it was a day of rest and peace indeed.
Luke 23:55. “Beheld the sepulchre.”—I.e., they followed those who carried Jesus to the grave, and took notice of the place, with the intention of returning after the Sabbath was over to complete the embalming which had been hastily begun. Though Christ had foretold His resurrection, yet, as the words of the penitent thief imply, a glorious reappearance of the Saviour after death was expected, at least by some of His followers, but not the rising again of the body which was laid in the tomb.
Luke 23:56. “Rested the Sabbath day.”—These words reveal the pious and humble fidelity of these Jewish women to the law of the Sabbath. It may be said that this Sabbath was the last of the Old Covenant, which came to a close with the death of Christ. It was scrupulously respected by all those who, unconsciously, were about to inaugurate the New.—Godet.