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PER361
Joseph of Arimathea asks for the body of Jesus
Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Sanhedrin and a secret disciple of Jesus, courageously asks Pilate to release the body of the Crucified One. Accompanied by Nicodemus, he arranges a dignified burial in his own new tomb, before the Sabbath begins. This episode, attested by all four Gospels, illustrates the passage from discretion to a public act of faith at the very moment when the closest disciples remain in hiding.
Mark 15.42-47 (King James Version) :And now when the even was come, because it was the preparation, that is, the day before the sabbath,Joseph of Arimathaea, an honourable counsellor, which also waited for the kingdom of God, came, and went in boldly unto Pilate, and craved the body of Jesus.And Pilate marvelled if he were already dead: and calling unto him the centurion, he asked him whether he had been any while dead.And when he knew it of the centurion, he gave the body to Joseph.And he bought fine linen, and took him down, and wrapped him in the linen, and laid him in a sepulchre which was hewn out of a rock, and rolled a stone unto the door of the sepulchre.And Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses beheld where he was laid.King James Version (1769), domaine public — texte : eBible.org