Somewhere between the trial before the Sanhedrin and Jesus’ crucifixion, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus made a decision to take their private faith public with an extraordinary gesture. Perhaps exhausted by the long days, disillusioned by their fellow Pharisees’ embrace of injustice, or grieving over the loss of the one upon whom they’d rested their messianic hopes, they decided to give Jesus in his death what Israel refused to give him in his life: acknowledgement as King. So Joseph requested permission from Pilate, the Roman governor, to take the body of Jesus off the cross. The bodies of all three who died by crucifixion that night—Jesus and the two insurrectionists who died alongside him—would be removed, because Jewish leaders requested that the bodies not hang on the crosses overnight in violation of the law. Their deaths were hastened by the breaking of their legs to eliminate their ability to lift themselves up and find breath. Jesus, however, died many hours sooner, and his legs didn’t have to be broken. Instead, they pierced his side, confirming he had succumbed. Read More
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