Joseph Of Arimathea
Bridgeway Bible Dictionary [1]
Among the members of the Jewish Council that condemned Jesus to death were at least two who disagreed with the decision. One was Nicodemus (cf. John 7:50-51), the other a man named Joseph who came from the Judean village of Arimathea ( Luke 23:50-51; John 19:38-39).
Joseph was a just and righteous man, well respected, wealthy, and a follower of Jesus ( Matthew 27:57; Mark 15:43; Luke 23:50). Though he feared the Jews, he was bold enough to ask Pilate for the body of Jesus so that he might give Jesus an honourable burial. With Nicodemus he took the body down from the cross, anointed it with spices, wrapped it in linen and placed it in the tomb that he had prepared for himself ( Matthew 27:58-60; John 19:38-42).
Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature [2]
The name Arimathea denotes probably the place where Joseph was born, not that where he resided [ARIMATHEA].
Joseph was a secret disciple of Jesus—'an honorable counselor, who waited for the kingdom of God' , and who, on learning the death of our Lord, 'came and went in boldly unto Pilate, and craved the body of Jesus.' Pilate having learned from the centurion, who commanded at the execution, that Jesus 'was actually dead,' gave the body to Joseph, who took it down and wrapped his deceased Lord in fine linen which he had purchased for the purpose; after which he laid the corpse in a sepulcher which was hewn out of a rock, and rolled a stone unto the door of the sepulcher ( sq.). From the parallel passages in Matthew ( sq.), Luke ( seq.) and John ( seq.), it appears that the body was previously embalmed at the cost of another secret disciple, Nicodemus, and that the sepulcher was new, 'wherein never man before was laid;' also that it lay in a garden, and was the property of Joseph himself. This garden was 'in the place where Jesus was crucified.' Luke describes the character of Joseph as 'a good man and a just,' adding, that 'he had not consented to the counsel and deed of them,' i.e. of the Jewish authorities. From this remark it is clear that Joseph was a member of the Sanhedrim: a conclusion which is corroborated by the epithet 'counselor,' applied to him by both Luke and Mark. Tradition represents Joseph as having been one of the Seventy, and as having first preached the Gospel in our own country.
