John 19:38-42
Suggested further reading: 1 Corinthians 1:26-31
There are some true Christians in the world of whom very little
is known. The case of Joseph of Arimathaea teaches this very
plainly. Here is a man named among the friends of Christ, whose very
name we never find elsewhere in the New Testament and whose
history, both before and after this crisis, is completely withheld from
the church. He comes forward to do honour to Christ when the
apostles had forsaken him and fled. He cares for him and delights to do
him service even when dead — not because of any miracle which
he saw him do, but out of free and gratuitous love. He does not
hesitate to confess himself one of Christ's friends at a time when Jews
and Romans alike had condemned him as a malefactor and put him
to death. Surely the man who could do such things must have
had strong faith! Can we wonder that, wherever the gospel is
preached, throughout the whole world, this pious action of Joseph is told
of as a memorial of him?
Let us hope and believe that there are many Christians in
every age who, like Joseph, are the Lord's hidden servants, unknown
to the church and the world, but well known to God. Even in
Elijah's time there were seven thousand in Israel who had never bowed
the knee to Baal, although the desponding prophet knew nothing of
it. Perhaps, at this very day, there are saints in the back streets
of some of our great towns, or in the lanes of some of our
country parishes, who make no noise in the world and yet love Christ
and are loved by him. Ill-health, or poverty, or the daily cares of
some laborious calling render it impossible for them to come forward
in public, and so they live and die comparatively unknown. Yet
the last day may show an astonished world that some of these
very people, like Joseph, honoured Christ as much as any on earth
and that their names were written in heaven. After all, it is
special circumstances that bring to the surface special Christians. It is
not those who make the greatest show in the church who are
always found the fastest friends of Christ.
For meditation: Most Christians are not famous in this life,
but fame matters far less than faithfulness.
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