Rise To The Occasion - Joseph Of Arimathea

Now there was a good and righteous man named Joseph. He was a member of the Jewish high council, but he had not agreed with the decision and actions of the other religious leaders. . . . He went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body.

Luke 23:50-52

“Think about your heart!” Denise Cammarata called out to her husband as he headed out their front door in New York one freezing morning in December 2004.

John Cammarata had recently undergone angioplasty, but when he heard the screams coming from the burning house across the street, he had to do something, heart condition notwithstanding.

Cammarata called 911, pulled on his sweats, and ran over to the burning house. He charged into the house three times to pull everyone to safety, then ran door to door waking his neighbors and warning them to get out of their homes.

John Cammarata was an ordinary man who, in his neighbors’ moment of need, rose to the occasion and did the extraordinary.

Joseph of Arimathea also rose to the occasion.

Luke’s Gospel says that Joseph was a member of the Jewish high council. He was a “good and righteous man” who followed Jesus, but he kept his discipleship a secret out of fear of his fellow council members, according to John’s Gospel.

Joseph’s fellow high council members had condemned Jesus to die, but somehow he had the courage to approach Pilate, Judea’s Roman governor, and get permission to remove Jesus’ body from the cross so that he could be buried.

Joseph then assumed family responsibilities in caring for the body and providing a tomb. He and Nicodemus, a fellow high council member, made final preparations for the burial. Then Joseph rolled a large stone against the tomb to protect Jesus’ body from vandals and grave robbers.

A fearful Joseph had failed to stand up for Jesus in his life, but a newly emboldened Joseph extended to Christ the honor due to him in death.

You may never be the kind of hero John Cammarata was, but there may be times in your life of faith when God will call on you to rise to the occasion. Are you ready and willing?