The Stewards of Easter

Each year at Easter it is good, and right, for us to thoughtfully reflect on Christ’s death at Calvary. As we focus on that scene we begin to grasp the seriousness of our sin and the enormity of what Jesus did. This Easter, I ask you to pause on the events at the end of that day, to widen your view, and to focus on two people at Calvary who acted as faithful stewards.

Two unlikely stewards

Two men fulfilled an important stewardship that day.  The actions of Joseph of Arimathea are recorded in all four gospels. While I refer to each narrative in this post, I am placing John’s account here for us to read because he also includes Nicodemus’ involvement.

John 19:38-42
(New American Standard Bible)
³⁸ Now after these things Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus,
but a secret one for fear of the Jews, requested of Pilate that he might
take away the body of Jesus; and Pilate granted permission. So he came
and took away His body.
³⁹ Nicodemus, who had first come to Him by night, also came, bringing
a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred litras weight.
⁴⁰ So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen wrappings with
the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews.
⁴¹ Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in
the garden was a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid.
⁴² Therefore because of the Jewish day of preparation, since the tomb
was nearby, they laid Jesus there.

A day that would never end

For Christ’s followers, this must have been the longest day of their lives. Unexpected. A day that kept getting worse. A day that drained them of hope. The Messiah they followed was arrested, beaten, and found worthy of death by the Jewish council, the Sanhedrin.

This council leveraged the ruling Roman authorities to enact their desire for blood. The Roman governor, Pilate, reluctantly entertained and facilitated this bloodlust, and allowed his soldiers to torture and crucify the Son of God.

His soldiers enacted their gruesome duty with proficient brutality. The “criminal” whose life was theirs to end was nailed to a cross. Left to suffocate to death. Their duty was complete.

But, the council intervened again. They didn’t want the bodies on the cross any longer. The upcoming Sabbath was a “high day” (John 19:31). Pilate was petitioned again, this time to have his men speed up the death process. He approved their request.

As the soldiers came to Jesus, after breaking the legs of the other two men, they found that he was already dead. To confirm, they drove a spear deep into his chest cavity. Blood and water flowed from the wound, and they were satisfied he had died. It is now that Joseph takes action.

Gentleness replaces brutality

Was Pilate irritated that another member of the council was back to see him again? Curiosity maybe replaced annoyance at finding a single man asking permission for the body of the crucified Jew. Pilate grants his permission and Joseph returned to Calvary to claim his charge.

Back at the site of a horrific execution, gentle hands went to work. Nails were pried from wood, and loosed from hands and feet. The lifeless body of his Messiah was lowered to the ground. The thorny crown, beaten onto Jesus’ head in mockery, gently removed.

How very different his actions were from those who took the other men down and threw their bodies in the public grave. Jesus would not be discarded. Instead he was lovingly, and carefully transported to a nearby garden.

Here, with the help of Nicodemus, Joseph wrapped his body in spices and linen cloths. Nicodemus had also been busy while Jospeh was with Pilate and at Calvary. He came prepared with the spices needed to suppress the stench of death and decay which would come. He served his Messiah that day too.

When the body was prepared, they placed him inside the tomb. Instead of being carried into that tomb as a corpse, Joseph walked in carrying the body of his Rabbi, and laid him to rest. He and Nicodemus rolled a stone over the entrance, and retreated back to their homes. Honour was shown on a day when shame and disgrace abounded.

The Stewards of Easter

That day in Jerusalem, Joseph and Nicodemus became stewards of the Lord Jesus’ body for a short period of time. They cared for him at a time when no one else would, or even could. As we consider our own stewardship, there are four things I want to highlight for our consideration.

1. Stewardship may be thrust on us when we least expect it

Reading the gospel accounts I often wonder if Joseph and Nicodemus expected to be doing what they did as they started that day. Nicodemus was a Pharisee. Jospeh, a rich man from Arimathea. Both sat on the Sanhedrin. Neither would be the obvious choice for this activity. I doubt either of them had done anything like it before. Menial and unclean tasks in daily life would have been conducted by servants.

While unlikely choices, there was probably no one else who could have done what they did. Mary and John would not have obtained an audience with Pilate. It is unlikely that any other disciple or the women at the cross had a tomb where Jesus could be laid. Would any of them have had quick access to, or the means to buy the spices that evening that Nicodemus had?

There are times where we may see a need for stewardship that no one else is filling, and we must be ready to act. We may try to rationalize our way out of it, and convince ourselves we are not the best for the task, but we have to act. The timing may not be perfect, and it may ask more of us than we have been asked before. But will we act? Will be demonstrate faithfulness to the one who is asking for our service?

Joseph and Nicodemus stepped up at a time when no one else did. Without their actions, Jesus’ body would have ended up in the common grave which was little better than a garbage dump outside the Jerusalem city wall.

2. Stewardship requires we do our best with what we have

Time was against them. Joseph had to obtain permission to bury the Lord’s body before he was just thrown away. The start of Sabbath loomed as they prepared his body for burial. I see them reverently hurrying in their task, wishing that they could do more.

The return of the women returned with additional spices gives the impression that they were unable to do all they wanted. Whether or not that is the case, both men showed more reverence and respect to the Lord in his death than the other men crucified that day received.

The outcome of our stewardship is not the perfect execution of a task. It is not reaching maximum levels of productivity. The expectation of every steward is that they be faithful in the task they are complete. We may wish we could have done more, but our focus should instead be, ‘was I faithful with what I had?’

3. Stewardship requires courage

Until now, Joseph was a secret disciple of Jesus. (John 19:38) He disagreed with the council’s decision to condemn Jesus (Luke 23:50-51,) but had to watch as his dissension made no difference to their decision. But there was something that he could make a different in.

In Mark’s account of the crucifixion, it states that Jospeh “…gathered up courage and went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.” (Mark 15:43) He suppressed his fear in light of what he needed to do.

Joseph had feared the Jews’ response to his association with Jesus. He also reminds the reader in v39 that he was joined by a man who first came to Jesus at a time when no one would see his association. This day though, their allegiance with Jesus was evident for any who saw. But it took courage.

To stand with Jesus and to live according to God’s Word takes courage from all of us. Previous fears must be overcome, and courage found. If these two men could do it on that day, can we no be courageous and live in association with him today.

4. Stewardship comes with a cost

The decision both these men made would cost them dearly. There was the material cost of purchasing spices and linen cloth. There was the opportunity cost of giving up a tomb that was intended for another purpose. And, there was the cost of association.

Word would get back to the council about what they had done. Their seats on that body would likely be forfeit as a result. Nicodemus’ ability to continue in the sect of the Pharisees would be in doubt. What would the impact on their social and family lives be? It cost them a great deal.

In the immediate, they would be considered unclean because of touching a dead body. The law prevented them from observing the Sabbath because of this and they were unable to re-enter society for a set period of time too.

The cost was significant on so many levels. But they considered it worth it. Their devotion to the Lord and service to him was greater than all that it might cost.

Our association with Jesus and our actions as stewards of his property, gifts, and resources will cost us all something. The question we must ask ourselves is whether we are prepared to pay that cost for the sake of following him?

I do not want this article to detract in any way from the significance of Easter to a Christian. I hope that it has given you reason to pause and consider some of the wider scene painted in the gospels, and to consider how faithful Jospeh and Nicodemus were in their stewardship of the Lord that day.