St. Joseph of Arimathea is one of those Saints who we have very little information about. In fact, all of our information about him comes from the four Gospels, but even this small amount of information shows us just how deep his faith was.
Joseph of Arimathea was a Jewish man who lived at the time Jesus was teaching. We know that he was a rich man who was well respected in society. He lived in or near the town of Jerusalem and probably held a position in the government. Joseph was also a follower of Jesus.
While we do not know if Joseph openly or secretly followed Jesus during Jesus’ life, Joseph’s faith was made visible following the crucifixion. On Good Friday, after Jesus had died on the cross, Joseph went to Pilate to ask permission to remove Jesus’ body from the cross and bury Him. Joseph then wrapped Jesus’ body in a cloth, laid Jesus in a tomb which Joseph owned, and closed the tomb with a stone. This is all we know of Joseph, yet we honor him as a Saint.
Joseph’s brave and selfless choices on this one day, Good Friday, give the Church all we need to know to be assured that he is in Heaven. To understand this, we must look at the events of Good Friday. In the morning, crowds gathered screaming for Jesus to be killed. They watched as the soldiers tortured Jesus, yet said that was not enough punishment, and He had to die. They made fun of Him as He struggled to carry the cross. Most of Jesus’ closest apostles ran away and hid in fear; the people had so much hatred toward Jesus and His followers.
It was in this emotion-filled environment that Joseph chose to stand up and publicly take care of the body of Jesus and bury Him according to Jewish tradition. This act showed that he was a follower of Jesus and was not afraid of the threats of others. He was willing to risk ridicule and even death to take care of the body of Jesus, something not even Peter, who would become the first Pope and die for his faith, would do on that day.
With most Saints, we look at their whole lives to see an example to follow, but St. Joseph of Arimathea only needs this one day to teach us how to live. We will probably find times in our lives when our faith makes us stand out from others and we risk being made fun of. Hopefully none of us fear for our lives in these situations, but we can still look to St. Joseph to help us have the courage to proudly live out our faith in the face of ridicule.