“Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Council, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. Joseph bought some linen cloth, took down the body, wrapped it in the linen, and placed it in a tomb cut out of rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb.” (Mark 15:43,46)

All four Gospels record the same story about Joseph of Arimathea. Wanting to know more about this man I decided to read again the historical novel THE THORN OF ARIMATHEA by Frank G. Slaughter, published in 1959. Dr. Slaughter served in the U.S. Medical Corp in the Pacific during World War II. After the war he retired from medical practice to pursue his first love, writing fiction. He became a best-selling author of historical, biblical and medical novels, some of which were adapted to feature films. He lived in Jacksonville, Florida from 1935 and died there in 2001. I attended his funeral at Riverside Presbyterian Church and his estate sale at his home. I collected as many of his books as I could find and especially enjoyed his depiction of biblical characters such as Luke, Ruth and others.

In his novel about Joseph of Arimathea he used material from the apocryphal books of the Acts of Pilate and the Gospel of Nicodemus from the fourth century. In these Pilate appears more sympathetic to Jesus and the trial assumes a lengthened and highly dramatic form. There are miraculous attestations of Jesus’ dignity in the Roman standards bowing down to him as he passes with honor into the judgment hall. Persons whose healings are narrated in the Gospels step forward and bear witness to his power. The roles of Joseph and Nicodemus are elaborated and there are eyewitnesses to the Ascension after which the chief priests and rabbis believe.

Dr. Slaughter uses the story of Veronica who wiped Jesus’ head as he was carrying the cross and her veil thereafter captured an image of his face and proved to heal many people on whom it was laid. He uses the novel to trace the subsequent biography of Pontius Pilate and his death near Vienne in Gaul. Joseph travels to Britannia where legend has it that he founded the church at Glastonbury upon the Isle of Avalon made famous by Tennyson. Most moving of all is the legend of the winter thorn at Glastonbury, said to have been planted on his grave, blooming ever after at Christmastime as a living symbol of the Resurrection.

Interestingly, Ken Westbrook, a retired Jacksonville pastor, has recently published another novel of Joseph of Arimathea.

The act of taking down the body of Christ from the cross is known as the deposition or the descent from the cross. It is the subject of many paintings and sculptures including by Michelangelo whose cartoon for it I once viewed at the National Gallery in London. His sculpture was intended for his family tomb and is displayed in a museum in Florence.

Joseph of Arimathea is described as good and upright man whose courage and love is displayed in taking care of the body of Jesus and giving him the use of his tomb. Little did he know that his actions would be remembered and commemorated by millions of believers over the centuries. His example inspires us to take care of the body of Christ by loving others as he did when it was dangerous to do so.