Musings on the Daily Lectionary

In today's gospel reading, we find Luke's account of Jesus' death on the cross. Following his death we read, "Now there was a good and righteous man named Joseph, who, though a member of the council, had not agreed to their plan and action. He came from the Jewish town of Arimathea, and he was waiting expectantly for the kingdom of God. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then he took it down, wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid it in a rock-hewn tomb where no one had ever been laid."

I've sometimes wondered why Luke feels the need to tell us about Joseph of Arimathea. Joseph is mentioned in Mark and Matthew as well, but only Luke adds that Joseph, a council member, had been against the plan to have Jesus executed. We really don't need to know about Joseph. Knowing that Jesus has been taken down from the cross and laid in a tomb would be enough to set the stage for the events of Easter morn. But Luke tells us about Joseph's objection the killing of Jesus and his donation of an expensive, pristine tomb.

Surely Joseph cannot have anticipated the resurrection. To this man who was "waiting expectantly for the kingdom," things must have seemed in terrible disarray. His attempts to help Jesus on the council had failed. If he had hoped that Jesus was bringing the kingdom, those hopes had been dashed. And so his actions in today's reading must have seemed pointless to some. Why care for the body of a condemned criminal? Why give him such an expensive tomb? There was nothing to gain from these actions, no points to be made, no rewards to be earned.

I suppose that Joseph acts as he does simply because he is "good and righteous." And perhaps his prominent place in Luke's gospel is a reminder to us that being good and righteous and expecting the kingdom are not about goals and objectives or achievable outcomes. They are not about measuring whether our actions will bring about some desired good. Sometimes we people of faith need to do the right thing simply because it is the right thing, and leave it to God what unexpected part we might play in revealing God's kingdom.

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