Good Friday Community Service
Grace Crossing
April 18, 2025
After these things,
Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, though a secret one because
of his fear of the Jews, asked Pilate to let him take away the body of Jesus.
Pilate gave him permission; so he came and removed his body. Nicodemus, who
had at first come to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and
aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds. They took the body of Jesus and
wrapped it with the spices in linen cloths, according to the burial custom of
the Jews. Now there was a garden in the place where he was crucified, and
in the garden there was a new tomb in which no one had ever been laid. And
so, because it was the Jewish day of Preparation, and the tomb was nearby, they
laid Jesus there.
*************************
I’m not so sure that Jesus saw Nicodemus from the
cross. Maybe he did, maybe he
didn’t. I’m not saying he was or wasn’t
there. I don’t know.
What I do know is that when pain gets bad enough, it
becomes blinding. That’s not just an
expression. I’ve only experienced that
once myself, when I had a kidney stone.
It was one Ash Wednesday and I was trying to preach when the pain became
so sharp that I could only grip the sides of the pulpit and read (somehow) what
was in front of me. I did not look up
because I sensed that if I moved my eyes from the page I would not be able to
find my place again. It’s hard to
describe. The light shining on the white
paper bounced back at my eyes in flashes every time I shifted my weight in any
way. There wasn’t room in my brain for
any other sensation.
If I were to think about Jesus on that horrible day and
what he went through, that’s where I would begin – with blinding pain.
But Nicodemus didn’t want to be seen. He had first gone to Jesus “by night”. John
says that here, and he says it [John 3:2] when he recounts their first
meeting. Nicodemus, a religious leader,
did not want to be seen going to this controversial rabbi, but he had
questions. In that meeting Jesus had
told him in a cryptic kind of way that he expected to be killed, and that his
execution would ultimately be the source of salvation.
“Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in
the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in
him may have eternal life,” [John 3:15]
he said, then continued,
“For God so loved the world that he gave
his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish, but have
eternal life.” [John 3:16]
Nicodemus did not want to
be seen, but he wanted to see and to hear; and he did.
There was another time when he spoke up for Jesus. Some of the officials who had never met him
judged that he was trouble and that the nation would be better off without him,
even if that meant having him killed.
Nicodemus got word of that and stepped in, saying,
“Our law does not judge people without
first giving them a hearing to find out what they are doing, does it?” [John
7:51]
Imagine that: giving
people due process before sending them off to their death. Nicodemus spoke, wanting Jesus to have his
word.
Was Nicodemus at the cross? Would he have been seen by Jesus? Could he have been seen by Jesus? Would he, on his part, have remembered Jesus’
words to him and suddenly have heard them in a whole new way, no longer
cryptic, but painfully and sharply clear?
Had he also in the crowd when Jesus told his followers,
“And I, when I am lifted up from the
earth, will draw all people to myself”? [John 12:32]
Again, we don’t know.
We do know, however, that he who had at first been afraid
to be seen going to Jesus by day, who had later spoken up for him in a
tentative way, was seen at the cross with Joseph of Arimathea, removing Jesus’
body from the place of execution so it would not be left there as a warning to
be eaten by vultures or decay on its own as a warning to the opponents of Rome. His act of simple decency, of plain human
respect, is recorded to this day as an act of courage and (I believe) faith
that God was bringing eternal life to whoever lifts their eyes to his Son.
Was he seen from the cross? I don’t know.
But I have no doubt he was seen from heaven, and blessed.
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