Another Example of Courage.

"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."

~Mark 15:43

As I think about the emotions of the people in the Easter story, including this dude, Joseph of Arimathea, who's often looked over, I am struck by how he "gathered up courage" to ask Pilate for the body of Jesus.

He was a member of the Council- the Sanhedrin - he was part of the Jewish leaders who did not believe in the resurrection of the dead, and who were the ones who put Jesus to death. So, for him to 1) believe in the Resurrection himself and 2) come and want to give Jesus a proper burial, took so much courage.

He turned his back on what he was supposed to believe to honor a man who just died a criminal's death and who claimed to be the Son of God. The other members of the Sanhedrin had mocked Jesus to His face, so for Joseph of Arimathea to want to stand up for Jesus, must have been a huge step of courage.

He must have been ostracized from his community, especially in an honor/shame culture - to want to honor the man with a proper burial which his Council had put to death.

While even Jesus' disciples had fled from the authorities, and did not defend Jesus, this man - Joseph of Arimathea, stood up for Jesus' honor, even when Jesus was dead. Of course, no one knew what was coming - the Resurrection - but thinking about this one snapshot, this one glimpse into the story - Joseph of Arimathea demonstrated a great amount of courage.

And so the question I ask myself is:

"Would I stand up for Jesus, follow Him, and His honor, even if no one else believed me, even if I get ostracized from my community?"