As evening approached, Joseph, a rich man from Arimathea who had become a follower of Jesus, went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. And Pilate issued an order to release it to him. Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a long sheet of clean linen cloth. He placed it in his own new tomb, which had been carved out of the rock. Then he rolled a great stone across the entrance and left. Both Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting across from the tomb and watching. (Matthew 27:57-61)
I’m trying to imagine the questions at a news conference for Joseph of Arimathea, asked of him by foreign and domestic journalists. Perhaps the session with those inquiring minds would have gone something like this:
“Joseph!
“Why did you ask for the body of Jesus?”
“What did you think your chances were of them giving it to you?”
“Did you, being a rich man from Arimathea, have anything to do with the permission granted?”
“Did you know someone (who knew someone?) or did you make your request through the normal channels?”
“How difficult was it to get the release?”
“Did you get ridiculed when you asked?”
“Joseph, a question from over here on this side of the room: Were you identified as one of his followers if and when they asked you how you were connected to him?”
“When did you become a follower, and how?”
“Is it normal to give away the bodies of the crucified ones to anyone who asked?”
“Was it usual for a family member to ask?”
“Did Mary ask, and that info is just not recorded (and the implication is that her request was turned down)?”
“Did the desire to ask for the body happen all of a sudden, or had you planned it once you had heard of the Nazarene?”
“Had anyone else asked, and you were the only one granted permission?”
“Did the soliders take the body down from the cross or did you have to somehow maneuver all that?”
“When they gave the body to you, was it still a bloody mess, or had they cleaned it up?”
“What was the first thing that struck you about Jesus’ body when you held it?”
“Had you been there at the crucifixion and witnessed the events, or were you busy making money on that Good Friday?”
“Because you had a new tomb, did that play a huge part in your decision to ask (like it was being saved for “someone special”), or was that information incidental?”
“Had you ever been at any of the other ‘Gospel stories’, and your presence was just not recorded by the author-observers? That is, were you just one of the multitude in the stories that are recorded, but only in this particular event did you come front and center?”
“When you got to the tomb, did you notice Mary Magdalene and the other Mary sitting there and watching, or were you so busy you just went about your business?”
“Had they stayed within eyesight of the body the whole time, from the time he breathed his last, or had they left and somehow got news from you or someone else where you were going to place him?”
“Did you roll the rock in front of your tomb, or did someone else?”
And then Joseph might have held up his hand, stopped the proceedings, and pointed to a member of the press corps from The Damascus Daily or The Beirut Bulletin and said, “I’ve got time for one just one more. Yes, in the front row:
“Joseph, after you placed him in the new tomb, and you rolled the large rock over the opening, and you turned to leave, what was your last thought about Jesus’ body?”
“Father, thank you for Joseph, who cared for Jesus’ body, and who was privileged to physically position him for the resurrection.”
Freddy Boswell 