Joseph of Arimathea: a Missionary Model
Updated: Sep 2
All of the Evangelists, with no exception, mention in their sacred writings the fact of the resurrection of Jesus, who died on purpose and for a limited time. Consequently, they bring out two wonderful figures, Joseph and Nicodemus, shedding light on their charitable, God-loving and merciful deeds, in gratitude and exemplary love – which “casts out fear” (John 4:18) – for their Master and God. In a careful study of the verses devoted to the Lord’s restoration and burial, we observe each Evangelist sketching certain special features of Joseph’s personality, while revealing various information about his social and private life.
"Joseph was a native of Arimathea, a Jewish town in the Ephraim region
The town is traditionally identified with the modern site of Ramathaim-Zophim, located approximately five miles north of Jerusalem. This identification is based on historical and geographical considerations, although the exact location remains a subject of scholarly debate. The identification of Arimathea with Ramathaim-Zophim is supported by its mention in the Old Testament as the birthplace of the prophet Samuel (1 Samuel 1:1). This connection suggests a continuity of settlement and significance in the region. The town's proximity to Jerusalem made it a plausible location for a member of the Sanhedrin to reside, allowing Joseph to be actively involved in the religious and political life of the Jewish community."
He was wealthy according to Matthew and more specifically “an ekklesiastic deputy” (Mark 15:42). The office of “deputy” placed him among the members of the Great Council of the Jews, while the designation “ekklesiastic” indicates a pious and prudent man. Luke calls him a man “good and righteous” (Luke 23:50), traits demonstrated by his attitude; when the Congress of the Jews unjustly condemned Jesus, “he did not consent to their counsel and deed” (Luke 23:51). He was a “hidden” disciple of the Nazarene, according to John, “for fear of the Jews” (John 19:38). St. Chrysostom speculates that he belonged to the group of seventy (John Chrysostomos, Sermon, S.P.E., vol. 14, ed. “Gregorios Palamas”, Thessaloniki 1981, p. 678). We can even speculate that he was among the fervent disciples, since “he also prayed for the kingdom of God” (Luke 23:51).
As long as the Savior’s sufferings lasted, he discreetly stood by his Master with pain of soul and filial love. Every scourging Jesus endured tore His own being, the vinegar He was drenched in bittered His own lips as well. The emotion, the holy indignation that rose up in his soul because of the unspeakable injustice against his spiritual Father, the sorrow that overcame him at the sight of the Passion, as well as the events “the signs” which followed after Christ's death led Joseph without any inhibition, without any fainting, to the brave decision; “he dared to introduce himself to Pilate, and he took the body of Jesus” (Mark. 15:43). Going deeper into his movement, St. Chrysostom comments:
“This is Joseph who was previously in hiding. But now after the death of Christ he showed great boldness. For he was neither insignificant, nor of those who remain unnoticed, but one of the members of the Congress and very illustrious. From this indeed his valour is clearly shown. For he condemned himself to death when he proclaimed his abhorrence of all with his sympathy for Jesus, and dared to ask for His body, and did not depart until he had accomplished what he wanted.”
(Ioannou Chrysostomou, Sermon PH, H.P.E., vol. 12, “Gregorios Palamas”, Thessaloniki 1981, p. 353). Pilate consents to his request and gives him what he desires. Joseph carries the long-suffering Sacred Body, prompting St. Epiphanius to exclaim:
“I bless your hands, Joseph, which served and felt the God-given hands and feet of Jesus, which were still dripping blood. I bless your hands, who touched the bleeding side of God before the faithful – unbelieving Thomas who had commendable curiosity. I bless your mouth that filled voraciously and embraced the mouth of Jesus and from there filled with the Holy Spirit. I bless your eyes that joined with the eyes of Jesus, and from there they received true light. I bless your face that drew near to the face of God. I bless your shoulders that lifted up the One who bears all. I bless your head that Jesus, the head of all, touched. I bless your hands in which you have placed the One who bears all things. I bless Joseph and Nicodemus, because they became Cherubim before the Cherubim by lifting up and carrying God upon them.”
But Joseph’s philanthropy does not end here. He gives the tomb, his own, the carved, uninhabited, new tomb, to Jesus. He buries Him with all the solemnity of Jewish tradition, wraps Him in new shrouds and anoints Him with expensive perfumes offered by Nicodemus (John 19:39). What is incomprehensible – and yet miraculous – is that he takes all these actions in the certainty that he is tending a dead man who will not rise – his Master, whom he certainly loved, but whom he “deceived”. He promised him that he would rise from the dead and now he lies dead in his arms, having suffered the most ignominious death. Dead are Joseph’s hopes, as well as those of the rest of the disappointed and frightened disciples. But his exemplary devotion rises to a level comparable to that of the brave myrrh-bearers. He risks wealth, career, perhaps even his own life to pay a few hours’ honour to his dead Master, to minister to the One to whom he devoted all the fire of his heart. And his Risen Lord of Hearts willed, in spite of his unbelief, to record four times this leap of Joseph’s love in His inspired book, that it might not be forgotten for ages. After Christ’s glorious resurrection, St. Joseph “spent” the rest of his life, like the rest of His disciples, preaching the Gospel to the Gentiles. According to tradition – without being absolutely certain – the Saint headed for England, where he worked as a missionary until his peaceful death. His memory is commemorated on 31 July each year and on Myrrh Sunday, two weeks after Easter.
Wealth and Mission
From the incident of Jesus’ restoration and burial, Joseph’s attitude leads us to instructive conclusions about mission. According to St. Chrysostom, “Rich is not he who is bound with much money and clothed with many things, but he who has need of nothing.”
Such was Joseph; he had riches, but he was free from any kind of attachment to them. Thus, when his conscience cried out about the gross injustice suffered by his Master, he was diligent and loving, and acted as a minister to the Crucified One, even though he risked being deprived of his riches by revealing his devotion to Him. In addition, the Holy Father points out: ‘Rich is not the man who has acquired much, but the man who teaches much’.
"Joseph dared, took risks… and probably lost money, property and offices, but he exchanged them for eternity… The poet (Andreas Kalvos) says: “Freedom needs virtue and courage”. And he is right! To paraphrase the phrase a little, we exclaim: Yes! Ω! Yes! Freedom in Christ, freedom in Christ, life in Christ, the missionary way of life, requires virtue and courage! Joseph was not free when he thought about his possessions, his social profile and the world; he moved under “the fear of the Jews”. But when he dared, he was set free… He had virtue, he was good and righteous. He had boldness. In these things we fall short today as we interrupt the work of the mission. Many have the qualities and virtue, but sadly they fall short in boldness, courage, spirit of sacrifice and Christian courage. Others who dare, fall short in virtue, in practice and in life in Christ."
The Gospel of Nicodemus
In the Gospel of Nicodemus ( a gospel that can be read only at home because of its nature), a text appended to the Acts of Pilate, provides additional details about Joseph. For instance, after Joseph asked Pilate for the body of the Christ and prepared the body with Nicodemus's help, Jesus's body was delivered to a new tomb that Joseph had built for himself. In the Gospel of Nicodemus, the Jewish elders express anger at Joseph for burying the body of Jesus, saying:
"And likewise Joseph also stepped out and said to them: Why are you angry against me because I begged the body of Jesus? Behold, I have put him in my new tomb, wrapping in clean linen; and I have rolled a stone to the door of the tomb. And you have acted not well against the just man, because you have not repented of crucifying him, but also have pierced him with a spear."
— Gospel of Nicodemus. Translated by Alexander Walker.
The Jewish elders then captured Joseph, imprisoned him, and placed a seal on the door to his cell after first posting a guard. Joseph warned the elders, "The Son of God whom you hanged upon the cross, is able to deliver me out of your hands. All your wickedness will return upon you."
Once the elders returned to the cell, the seal was still in place, but Joseph was gone. The elders later discover that Joseph had returned to Arimathea. Having a change in heart, the elders desired to have a more civil conversation with Joseph about his actions and sent a letter of apology to him by means of seven of his friends. Joseph travelled back from Arimathea to Jerusalem to meet with the elders, where they questioned him about his escape. He told them this story:
"On the day of the Preparation, about the tenth hour, you shut me in, and I remained there the whole Sabbath in full. And when midnight came, as I was standing and praying, the house where you shut me in was hung up by the four corners, and there was a flashing of light in mine eyes. And I fell to the ground trembling. Then some one lifted me up from the place where I had fallen, and poured over me an abundance of water from the head even to the feet, and put round my nostrils the odour of a wonderful ointment, and rubbed my face with the water itself, as if washing me, and kissed me, and said to me, Joseph, fear not; but open thine eyes, and see who it is that speaks to thee. And looking, I saw Jesus; and being terrified, I thought it was a phantom. And with prayer and the commandments I spoke to him, and he spoke with me. And I said to him: Art thou Rabbi Elias? And he said to me: I am not Elias. And I said: Who art thou, my Lord? And he said to me: I am Jesus, whose body thou didst beg from Pilate, and wrap in clean linen; and thou didst lay a napkin on my face, and didst lay me in thy new tomb, and roll a stone to the door of the tomb. Then I said to him that was speaking to me: Show me, Lord, where I laid thee. And he led me, and showed me the place where I laid him, and the linen which I had put on him, and the napkin which I had wrapped upon his face; and I knew that it was Jesus. And he took hold of me with his hand, and put me in the midst of my house though the gates were shut, and put me in my bed, and said to me: Peace to thee! And he kissed me, and said to me: For forty days go not out of thy house; for, lo, I go to my brethren into Galilee."
— Gospel of Nicodemus. Translated by Alexander Walker
According to the Gospel of Nicodemus, Joseph testified to the Jewish elders, and specifically to chief priests Caiaphas and Annas that Jesus had risen from the dead and ascended to heaven, and he indicated that others were raised from the dead at the resurrection of Christ (repeating Matt 27:52–53). He specifically identified the two sons of the high-priest Simeon (again in Luke 2:25–35). The elders Annas, Caiaphas, Nicodemus, and Joseph himself, along with Gamaliel under whom Paul of Tarsus studied, travelled to Arimathea to interview Simeon's sons Charinus and Lenthius.
The Enlightenment of Britain
After the Resurrection, our Lord appeared to him and revealed to him the mystery of His Resurrection. It was after Christ’s ascension that Saint Joseph gave up all fear and boldly confessed his faith in our Lord. Even though his former friends and loved ones opposed him, he could not bear to keep silent and openly preached the mystery of the Resurrection. Finally, he was driven from his home, but he was not grieved. Instead, he took this as a sign that he should travel and enlighten those who had never heard the Holy Faith. The Holy Apostle Philip sent him with twelve followers to the Isles of Briton.
The history of the enlightenment of Britain was well known in the early Church. Tertullian (AD 155-222) wrote that Britain had already received and accepted the Gospel in his life time:
"All the limits of the Spains, and the diverse nations of the Gauls, and the haunts of the Britons–inaccessible to the Romans, but subjugated to Christ."
Hippolytus (AD 170-236), considered to have been one of the most learned Christian historians, identifies the seventy whom Jesus sent in the Gospel of Saint Luke, and includes Saint Aristobulus listed in Romans 16:10 with Saint Joseph and states that he ended up becoming a Shepherd in Britain.
Eusebius, (AD 260-340) Bishop of Caesarea and father of ecclesiastical history wrote:
"The Apostles passed beyond the ocean to the isles called the Britannic Isles."
Saint Hilary of Poitiers (AD 300-376) also wrote that the Apostles had built churches and that the Gospel had passed into Britain. The same is said by Saint John Chrysostom (AD 347-407):
"The British Isles which are beyond the sea, and which lie in the ocean, have received virtue of the Word. Churches are there found and altars erected … Though thou shouldst go to the ocean, to the British Isles, there though shouldst hear all men everywhere discoursing matters out of the scriptures, with another voice indeed, but not another faith, with a different tongue, but the same judgment."
Traveling across the perilous marshes of Somerset, the thirteen holy companions crossed the water to Glastonbury, coming at last to a hill which tradition still shows today, called Weary-All. As was the custom, the saint carried a pastoral staff of dry hawthorn. When he stopped to rest, he stuck the staff into the ground where it blossomed as a sign of God’s favour. The miraculous staff soon grew into a great tree, which continues to blossom to this day during Holy Nativity. In fact, official records show that after England adopted the Gregorian Calendar the Glastonbury Thorn continued to blossom on the Church Calendar date for Nativity.
Here at Weary-All Hill the saint’s party was met by a local chieftain, Arviragus, who, being impressed by the piety, gentleness, and meekness of Saint Joseph, donated twelve ‘hides’ of land to the group (approximately 160 acres). Here, on the Twelve Hides of Glastonbury, our holy patron sank the firm roots of Orthodox Christianity, building a church which he dedicated to the Most Holy Theotokos. St Joseph and his companions enlightened many of the Tritons and baptized large numbers of them into the Holy Church. It was here that Saint Joseph of Arimathea, gave up his soul into the hands of our Saviour. Much later in 183 A.D. another group of missionaries came to the holy site where Saint Joseph had reposed, and there occurred many miraculous deeds and mysteries of healings. Christians lived at this site as hermits until the fifth century when our holy father among the saints, Patrick of Ireland, visited Glastonbury and formed a monastery on the site. Shortly after this St David of Wales also visited this venerable place and began the building of a larger Church on the site. Glastonbury became a great place of pilgrimage for the Orthodox people of Britain. Many other saints came and dwelt on the lands where the Holy Apostolic Faith was first preached to the natives of Britain, the lands of Glastonbury, sanctified by Saint Joseph.
St. Joseph of Arimathea Society. A great idea to be imitated.
The St. Joseph of Arimathea Society is an organization of the Italo-Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of the Americas and Canada whose sole purpose is to perform the corporal work of mercy of burying the dead. The work is carried out by the parishes, missions, and congregations of the Italo-Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of the Americas and Canada. The apostolate exists to ensure that every deceased infant, child, and adult is afforded a proper Christian funeral and burial.
Parishes, missions, and congregations of the Archdiocese work closely with local hospitals, medical examiner offices, and morgues to claim and care for unattended, forsaken, and abandoned deceased infants, children, and adults and provide them with proper and full funeral rites and burial, ensuring the dignity due to the human body as a temple of the Holy Spirit.
Our Patron
St. Joseph of Arimathea was a wealthy disciple of Jesus Christ who asked Pontius Pilate for His body after His crucifixion so that he might bury Jesus according to the rites and customs of the Jewish faith (John 19:38). St. Joseph laid the body of Jesus in the tomb he had purchased for himself. Thus, St. Joseph of Arimathea serves as a perfect role model for this corporal work of mercy - to bury the dead - that the Church commands all her children to undertake and carry out.
Asking for the intercessions of St. Joseph of Arimathea and having him as our model, let us cultivate virtue and dare for Christ, never forgetting that… “mission requires virtue and daring!”
Commemorated on July 31
Righteous Joseph of Arimathea - Troparion
Troparion — Tone 2
The Noble Joseph, / when he had taken down Your most pure Body from the tree, / wrapped it in fine linen and anointed it with spices, / and placed it in a new tomb. / But You rose on the third day, O Lord, / granting the world great mercy.
Sources: orthodoxmission.org.gr , konstantinosmetallidis , stjoseph.ws , wikipedia.org
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