Luke 23:50-56 (ESV)

Now there was a man named Joseph, from the Jewish town of Arimathea. He was a member of the council, a good and righteous man, who had not consented to their decision and action; and he was looking for the kingdom of God. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then he took it down and wrapped it in a linen shroud and laid him in a tomb cut in stone, where no one had ever yet been laid. It was the day of Preparation, and the Sabbath was beginning. The women who had come with him from Galilee followed and saw the tomb and how his body was laid. Then they returned and prepared spices and ointments.

On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.

Other than the accounts of this action, Joseph of Arimathea isn’t mentioned anywhere else in scripture. The portrait of him painted by this passage is fascinating. Since the council vote was unanimous (see Mark 14:64), Joseph must have been absent. This fits with the tense of the verb when it says he “had not consented to their decision and action” rather than “did not consent.”

He’s described as good and righteous (or upright). Given what he did for Jesus, that’s obvious. But it’s the end of verse 51 that tells the story – “and he was looking for the kingdom of God.”

This isn’t some throw-away line; it’s is what separates Joseph from the crowd. The rest of the council was as blind as a bat. They looked right at Jesus and all His miracles and saw nothing, but Joseph saw the Messiah. Why? Because he was looking for the kingdom of God.

But what were the others looking for? Well, obviously not the kingdom of God. We can’t know exactly, but given their selfish actions during the whole process, they must have been thinking about their own “kingdoms.”

Joseph wasn’t and that made all the difference.

As always, we need to watch out for thinking that we are better than the typical fallen people described in the Bible. Consider how we are like the council.

In modern America, there’s a curious connection between being “responsible” and not depending on God. It’s obviously good to pay bills on time, yet in doing so we control our future.

Making life predictable is a good thing. Christian financial advisors recommend having some money in savings because it prevents our being a burden others, which would be wrong. But still, that is the opposite of what the first Christians did.

This spills over into every aspect of life. A person who doesn’t plan is a fool. But how can we balance kingdom priorities with being responsible? I’m not recommending we stop wearing seat-belts, but we should ask God to help us see (and prioritize) the kingdom of heaven. Americans are, to an astonishing extent, control freaks. We’re so used to controlling our lives that letting God drive seems nuts.

Ask God to teach you to see His kingdom perspective.

The weekly study guides, which include discussion questions, are available for download here:

https://www.ailbe.org/resources/itemlist/category/91-deep-studies