Joseph of Arimathea 

Joseph’s first attempt to meet Jesus didn’t happen. After hearing about Jesus and being moved by his teachings, Joseph, with his friend Nicodemus, went out to where the Master was camped. The two men were standing before his tent, but then turned and fled in fear. There were, however, several occasions where Joseph, after overcoming his fear, was in the presence of Jesus.

One night during the feast of dedication in December of 29 CE, at the home of Nicodemus, some twenty-five Jewish leaders who believed Jesus’ teaching were gathered. Among this group was Joseph of Arimathea. As a member of the Sanhedrin, it required great bravery to believe in one whom his fellow Sanhedrists had condemned for blasphemy. Later, after resigning from the Sanhedrin, both Joseph and Nicodemus boldly proclaimed their belief in Jesus.On April 4, 30 CE, three days before his crucifixion, eleven of his apostles, Joseph of Arimathea, and certain other disciples, gathered at the Jerusalem temple to hear Jesus’ last public address. The next day, more than twenty Greeks met with Jesus at Joseph’s home.

Joseph was wealthy and influential. After becoming a believer, he allowed his home to be used by Jesus’ followers at various times. After Jesus was arrested, the women evangelists stayed at Joseph’s home while he and some of the men stayed with Nicodemus. Joseph’s daughter, Rebecca, was also a believer. She was specifically appointed by Jesus to be an evangelist in the women's corps.

A crucified person could not be buried in a Jewish cemetery; there was a strict law against it. When word came that Jesus had been crucified, Joseph and Nicodemus went to Pilate, the Roman governor, to ask that the body be turned over to them for proper burial. It was not uncommon for friends of crucified persons to offer bribes to the Roman authorities for the body. Joseph brought a large sum of money in case it became necessary to pay for permission to remove Jesus’ body to his private burial tomb. But payment was refused by Pilate and permission was granted to take possession of the body. Pilate also assigned Roman centurions to accompany them.

When they arrived at Golgotha, they needed protection from irate protesters who wanted to dispense with the body of Jesus in the customary way of dealing with condemned criminals – throwing it into an open pit. But with the help of the centurions, Joseph and Nicodemus were able to claim his body. They had decided to put it in Joseph’s new family tomb located a short distance north of Golgotha. This tomb was a man-made cave in Joseph’s garden. No one had ever lain in this tomb, and Joseph and Nicodemus thought it appropriate that the Master should rest there.Four men, Joseph, Nicodemus, John Zebedee, and a Roman centurion, wrapped the body in linen and carried it to Joseph’s tomb. Joseph and Nicodemus anointed it with aloes and myrrh, laid it on a shelf, then closed the tomb with a heavy rolling stone. Meanwhile, the women believers were sheltering at Joseph’s home. Thus did Joseph of Arimathea play an important role in entombing and securing the body of Jesus. And he provided lodging for the women believers during this trying time of the crucifixion and the weeks that followed.

Joseph really believed that Jesus would rise from the dead, but Nicodemus was very doubtful. These former members of the Sanhedrin had kept their faith in Jesus more or less a secret, although their fellow Sanhedrists had long suspected them, even before they withdrew from the council. After laying Jesus in Joseph’s tomb, they became the most outspoken disciples of Jesus in all Jerusalem.

The morning of the resurrection at Joseph’s home, there lodged more than a score of the leading women believers. Joseph was staying at the home of Nicodemus where a dozen of the prominent male disciples of Jerusalem were gathered. Shortly after six o’clock this Sunday morning, Joseph’s daughter and four women who had seen the risen Jesus went to the home of Nicodemus, where they told Joseph, Nicodemus, David Zebedee, and the other men there assembled that they had seen Jesus. Joseph and David believed the women and hurried out to inspect the tomb and they found everything just as the women had described. Joseph and David were among the very few who believed or understood that Jesus was due to arise from the tomb on the third day.

Jesus appeared nineteen times after his resurrection. The first appearance, early on April 9, 30 CE, was to five women, including Rebecca, Joseph’s daughter. Later, Jesus’ fifth appearance before twenty-five women believers was at Joseph’s home on that same day, at about four o’clock. In the weeks that followed Jesus’ resurrection, Joseph’s residence in Jerusalem was home to the women believers, including Jesus’ mother, Mary. Joseph stayed nearby, with his friend Nicodemus, during this time. On May 5, Jesus made his sixteenth appearance at Nicodemus’ home before fifty of the Jerusalem believers, one of which was Joseph.

Joseph of Arimathea was, according to all four canonical gospels, the man who assumed responsibility for the burial of Jesus after his crucifixion. Matthew 27 describes him simply as a rich man and disciple of Jesus. According to Mark 15, Joseph was "a respected member of the council (Sanhedrin), who was also himself looking for the kingdom of God." Luke 23 adds that he "had not consented to the Sanhedrin’s decision and action" against Jesus.

According to John 19, upon hearing of Jesus' death, this secret disciple of Jesus "asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission." Joseph immediately purchased a linen cloth and proceeded to Golgotha to take the body of Jesus down from the cross. There, according to John 19:39–40, Joseph and Nicodemus took the body and bound it in the cloth with spices (myrrh and aloes) that Nicodemus had brought.According to Matthew 27:57-60, Joseph took the prepared corpse to a man-made cave hewn from rock in a garden nearby. The Gospel of Matthew alone suggests that this was Joseph's own tomb. Both Matthew and Mark state that a great round stone was used to close the tomb.

Joseph of Arimathea is venerated as a saint by the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches, as well as in some Protestant traditions. The traditional Roman calendar marked his feast day, along with Saint Nicodemus, on March 17, but this date was changed to August 31, so as not to interfere with Lent. Eastern Orthodox churches commemorate him on the second Sunday after Easter, and on July 31, a date shared by Lutheran churches. Joseph and Nicodemus are the only men included in a group of faithful women believers called the Myrrhbearers, ones who intended to embalm Jesus’ body.

Although a series of legends developed during the Middle Ages (perhaps elaborations of early New Testament apocrypha) tied Joseph to Britain as well as the Holy Grail. Since the 2nd century, a mass of legendary details has accumulated around him in addition to the New Testament references. Joseph is referenced in apocryphal and non-canonical accounts such as the Acts of Pilate and the medieval Gospel of Nicodemus. He is mentioned in the works of early church historians such as Irenaeus, Hippolytus, Tertullian, and Eusebius, who added details not found in the canonical accounts. He also appears in the ancient non-canonical text, the Gospel of Peter.

The legend that Joseph was given the responsibility of keeping the Holy Grail was the creation of Robert de Boron, who essentially expanded upon stories found in the Acts of Pilate. Later authors sometimes mistakenly or deliberately treated the Grail story as truth. Such stories were inspired by the account of John of Glastonbury, who assembled a chronicle of the history of Glastonbury Abbey around 1350 and who wrote that Joseph, when he came to Britain, brought with him vessels containing the blood and sweat of Christ (without using the word Grail). This account inspired the future claims of the Grail. Elizabeth the First cited Joseph's missionary work in England when she told Roman Catholic bishops that the Church of England pre-dated the Roman Church in England.

Medieval interest in genealogy raised claims that Joseph was a relative of Jesus; specifically, Mary's uncle, or according to some genealogies, Joseph's uncle. Such claims appear, so far, to have no basis in fact.