Wealth
and influence can be a positive thing, when it is used to serve others. But so
often these two commodities are used for selfish ends. Oh how I do admire
someone who gets it right, who serves others with their wealth and influence.
They are connectors, connecting people with needs with people with extra resources.
One of the greatest testimonies a person could have as a wealthy person is that
they died poor, having purposely enriched many others. They didn’t act as the reservoir
of wealth, but as a conduit of wealth. They owned the wealth. The wealth didn’t
own them.
Joseph
was both a wealthy individual and someone with influence at the highest levels.
We know he had wealth for a couple of reasons. First, he served on the Jewish
ruling council. This is the same group from which Nicodemus came. Members of
this group had to have a vast knowledge of the Scriptures. They were often
prominent business people with family connections that went back generations.
You had to ‘be someone’ in order to serve on the council. Membership was
closed.
But
Joseph also had enough money to have a tomb cut out of the rock for burial use.
This was a common practice in those days. A family with money would have a tomb
carved in the rock to house the family remains. His was fairly new wealth,
since the tomb had never been used prior to Jesus’ body. Tombs were often used
for generations. Separate shelves could be carved in the sides of the cave like
structure for different individuals. Often after the body had decomposed, the
bones would be gathered and placed in a special burial jar and placed in the
floor or in a spot cut in the walls. This gathering of bones freed the space to
be used by the next generation of occupants.
But
Joseph also had influence, at least enough influence to be able to approach
Pilate on short notice and get permission to receive the body of Jesus from
them. Jesus’ body was the property of Rome at that point. They had to release
the body for burial. If Joseph had not stepped up and asked for the body, Jesus’
remains would have been disposed of in an unmarked grave, along with other
criminals whose bodies remained unclaimed.
And
then the tomb is sealed, the normal practice. You didn’t want animals coming to
eat the body prior to its decomposition. The tomb would often be left sealed
for a year to allow decomposition to take place.
And
since this was a hasty burial, the women follow and see exactly where Jesus is
laid so that they can finish the body preparation after the Sabbath. A proper
Jewish burial required that the body be washed and prepared. They didn’t have
time to do this on that afternoon. They would pay their respects on Sunday
morning.
In
Glasgow, Scotland is the most wonder Necropolis, graveyard. It is filled with
thousands of impressive grave markers, everything from simple plaques to large,
roomed monuments. On the highest point of the hill is a memorial to John Knox,
the man who founded the Presbyterian Church in Scotland. He is not buried there,
but probably under a parking lot. But His marker stands at the highest point of
this hill.