St. Joseph of Arimathea

St. Joseph of Arimathea is familiar from the Gospels as “a respected member of the council, who was also himself waiting expectantly for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus” after Our Lord’s Crucifixion (Mark 15:43).

Yet is there more to know about him? What might have happened to him after he did this? Did he join the apostles? What happened to him with the Pharisees? Did he leave Israel? Both the Bible, private revelation and a bit of history fill out the details of this saint who, along with St. Nicodemus, has a memorial on Aug. 31.

First, look at what we know for certain from the Bible. He was from Arimathea, a city of Judea that some scholars now identify as Ramatha where Samuel was born, and others with Ramleh. Matthew notes he was not poor: “When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea named Joseph, who was himself a disciple of Jesus” (27:57). Luke gives details that he “was a good and righteous man named Joseph, who, though a member of the council, had not agreed to their plan and action” (23:50-51). So he was also a member of the Sanhedrin and “a disciple of Jesus, though a secret one because of his fear of the Jews” (John 19:38). But not so from the Crucifixion onward, beginning with Pilate because he went and asked “boldly” for the body of Jesus.

With Pilate, all went without difficulty. But reading between the lines, things were not going to go easily for him with the Sanhedrin. Danger was around the corner. First, though, he and Nicodemus would take Jesus down from the cross and bury him in his own new tomb, thus fulfilling a prophecy made by Isaiah (53:9).