Stress Test Devotional May 4
May 04, 2024
JOHN 19:38-42 | After these things, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, though a secret one because of his fear of the Jews, asked Pilate to let him take away the body of Jesus. Pilate gave him permission; so he came and removed his body. Nicodemus, who had at first come to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds. They took the body of Jesus and wrapped it with the spices in linen cloths, according to the burial custom of the Jews. Now there was a garden in the place where he was crucified, and in the garden there was a new tomb in which no one had ever been laid. And so, because it was the Jewish day of Preparation, and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.
The Nicodemus who came to Jesus by night and defended him with self-preserving caution went public with his devotion after his death. It was Joseph of Arimathea, another man afraid of public commitment, and Nicodemus, who took the irreversible and public act of asking Pilate for the body of Jesus and burying him. The leadership had condemned and crucified him and the movement seemed to be over and Jesus’ messiahship disqualified. What could be gained by disavowing the Roman sentence and the action of the Jewish accusers? Yet Nicodemus did.
He had more faith in the hardest moment then the disciples. Caution had been overcome.
Is there a caution in your outlook that must be overcome?
