On August 31st, we celebrate[d] two feasts honoring saints whose lives intersected during the time of Christ: Saint Joseph of Arimathea and Saint Nicodemus. Both men stepped beyond the expectations of society to honor Christ in burial after the crucifixion. In the Gospel of John, we read about Joseph of Arimathea retrieving the body of Jesus from the Romans, and we read of Nicodemus bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes for anointing Christ's body before burial. A Vatican News meditation on this shared feast day sums up the journey that brought both men to this point of courageous action:
"Both men had once been afraid to confess that they were disciples, or afraid to be seen questioning the Lord. But in this labor of love, their hands confess more than words ever could. Their hearts are broken open. These learned teachers of Israel have become like children born anew. Silently, they anoint, shroud, bury and bless the body of the Son of God, from whom, for them and for the world, a new kind of knowledge has come."
The Gospel of John says Joseph of Arimathea was "a disciple of Jesus, but secretly." The Gospel of Matthew describes him as "a rich man," and the Gospel of Mark states that he was a "respected member of the council," which refers to his role with the Sanhedrin. So it's easy to understand why he was afraid to reveal that he was a follower of Christ, as so many powerful forces in society began to line up against Jesus.
As for Nicodemus, the Gospel of John describes him as a Pharisee who approaches Jesus at night for a private conversation and declares his faith in the truth of His words and actions. When Jesus explains the need to be born anew to fully understand His teachings, Nicodemus asks for a clarification. Jesus responds, "The wind blows where it wills, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know whence it comes or whither it goes; so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit."
Of course, Christ is speaking here of the inspiration of God that comes to us through the Holy Spirit, and we see this inspiration at work in the lives of Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea. Regarding Nicodemus, the Vatican meditation states that he "left that night with something in his heart like a crack in his great edifice of learning, but it was a fissure of light."
Eventually moved beyond mere secretive admiration for Jesus, Nicodemus challenges the conspiracy brewing among his colleagues, saying, "Does our law judge a man before giving him a hearing?"
The Spirit moved Nicodemus to pursue the truth beyond the letter of the law and beyond a manipulation of that law. In this same way, we know it must have been the Spirit that moved Joseph of Arimathea to request the Christ's body after the crucifixion. It was a risk to his status because it meant he was honoring a man who the authorities scorned.
The bold actions of Saints Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea brought them both to a point of placing the things of the world on the line to follow the workings of the Spirit. Awakened to the new knowledge brought into the world by Christ, they moved forward in faith, with great risk to themselves but with confidence in the eternal reward that called them to honor the Son of God.
This essay is a recent "Light One Candle"
column, written by Fr. Edward Dougherty, M.M, of The Christophers' Board of Directors; it is one of a series of
weekly columns that deal with a variety of topics and current
events.)
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