3) In Memoriam:
An Unforgotten Tomb
Joseph of Arimathea surveyed the finished tomb. Set in a garden just outside the gates of Jerusalem, no Jewish elder could ask for more. Perhaps the proximity of Golgotha, the site for Roman crucifixions, could be seen as a blemish by some but he knew the history of the place. He knew that this was where Abraham had come to in deepest anguish to sacrifice his son to El Elyon but had been turned back by one of El Elyon's angels and this lenormally have chided Aaron but the torment on his face was plain enough.
"Master, master, they have arrested Yeshua3. The Sanhedrin is called. You must come, you must come," the words tumbled out of Aaron's mouth.
On the steps leading to the meeting place of the Sanhedrin he found another elder, Jacob. Anxious for information, Joseph questioned him.
"That man Yeshua was arrested last night. Handed over by one of his own followers. Annas and Caiaph, they have arrested Yeshua3. The Sanhedrin is called. You must come, you must come," the words tumbled out of Aaron's mouth.
On the steps leading to the meeting place of the Sanhedrin he found another elder, Jacob. Anxious for information, Joseph questioned him.
"That man Yeshua was arrested last night. Handed over by one of his own followers. Annas and Caiaphas have been interrogating him all night and this morning we have to reach a decision. I am sure no-one doubts what that will be," Jacob informed him.
"But surely we need evidence – something to show the Romans. They aren't going to crucify a man because we ask them to," Joseph responded, barely holding his emotions in check.
"They'll find something. Annas's and Caiaphas's agents have spent all night purchasing witnesses and stirring up the masses. They are already turning against him," Jacob assured him, indicating the surging crowds in the arena outside the Sanhedrin.
Inside the building Joseph found the bought witnesses already giving testimony. The frustration etched on the faces of his colleagues receded as finally two men came forward with a plausible accusation.
"This fellow said, 'I am able to destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days," they told the Sanhedrin.
Joseph could feel excitement stirring among the elders. Caiaphas descended towards the silent accused. Caiaphas circled him, goading him, endlessly searching for an incriminating response. Joseph clenched his fists willing Yeshua to remain silent.
"Tell us, are you the son of the living God?" Caiaphas demanded.
"I am," answered Yeshua.
As the elders seized on this triumphantly, Joseph longed to stand up. He longed to stride forward and stop this madness but the crazed eyes of his colleagues frightened him.
Much later he found himself at Golgotha. Most of the crowd had melted away when darkness had engulfed the land during the day. Only a few remained to mock the Messiah dying upon the cross.
The eyes of the dying man opened.
Then he raised his tired eyes to the heavens and called out, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit."
As he said this, the earth rumbled and those left around the cross trembled and disappeared.
Joseph mounted the hill and looked up at the man hanging there lifeless. As he stared into that barely recognizable face crusted over with dried blood, a great boldness seized him.
"I did nothing for you in life. But there is something I can do for you in death. I am not afraid anymore."
As a prominent member of the Jewish council, Joseph gained entrance to Pilate's palace easily.
"What? Dead so soon!" Pilate summoned a centurion who confirmed the death.
"Very well then, you may have the body," Pilate acquiesced.
On the steps of the palace a member of the Jewish ruling council, Nicodemus, was waiting. Joseph had not wanted to defend his actions so soon but he was no longer afraid to.
"Nicodemus, I am going to do this," Joseph declared.
"Yes, and I am going to help you," Nicodemus asserted, his eyes reflecting Joseph's courage.
A few hours later the two men withdrew from the tomb in the garden near Golgotha. Caring for the battered body according to Jewish funeral customs had taken much longer than usual. Releasing the wrists and ankles nailed to the cross, tending the back deeply gorged by Roman whips, extracting the crown of thorns impaled in his forehead, binding the side broken by a Roman spear - each of these had wrung the men of every tear they possessed.
A year later Joseph of Arimathea returned. He studied the tomb that he had given up. Although Yeshua had not needed it for long, Joseph's decision to dedicate it to Yeshua's memory had not been popular. No longer was he a wealthy man at home in the highest echelons of Jewish society. Now he was a fugitive running from Rabbi Saul with the rest of the Followers of the Way. He gazed up at the tomb and his heart sang.