SCRIPTURE: Mark 15:40-47
OBSERVATION:
Jesus identified with society’s second class citizens – women, children, tax collectors, prostitutes, Samaritans – and they identified with Him, here we see the women who followed Jesus.
”Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Council”, shows the remarkable impact that Jesus had, not just for society’s outcasts. Joseph was a part of the religious elite, he no doubt paid for this action.
”Waiting for the kingdom of God”, probably another way of saying that he had put his hope in Jesus; all Jews were waiting for the kingdom of God, just not the one Jesus came to bring.
An ‘upper class’ tomb, not just a hole in the ground, probably Joseph’s own family tomb.
APPLICATION:
Am I prepared to take unpopular actions/decisions to be a Christ-follower, even if it costs me my ‘prominent’ position in the religious establishment?
I need to explore further what the phrase ”kingdom of God” means, it had such an important place in Jesus’ teaching, yet we hardly speak of it today.
I feel like Joseph, but I also sense that if I were to follow Jesus as He described it, it would jeopardize my place in the religious establishment.
PRAYER:
Lord, help me to understand better what Your kingdom is today, and help me be willing to seek Your kingdom first, even if it means personal sacrifice or loss of position in the eyes of my peers. Amen.
This passage is about the burial of Jesus. Some of the women kept vigil at a distance. Joseph went to Pilate to ask for the body and Pilate gave Joseph the body to do with it whatever he pleased. Some of the women were with him so that they might know where He was buried so after the Sabbath they could anoint the body.
The women had always cared for His needs during His ministry and were still expecting to do the same for His burial. Joseph was waiting for the kingdom of God to happen the kingdom which Jesus Christ had spoken about. God’s kingdom was certainly alive through the actions of these people. The kingdom of God is like . . .
Praise God the story does not end here. He is risen! I serve a risen Saviour, who is Christ the Lord. Use me Lord, as a member of your kingdom today. One day that kingdom will be a full reality. Thy kingdom come.
I serve a risen Saviour, He’s in the world today;
I know that He is living, Whatever men may say;
I see His hand of mercy, I hear His voice of cheer,
And just the time I need Him He’s always near.