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way, he was buried in the Jewish way. In fact the human race
offered Jesus a manger at his birth and a tomb at his death.
Regarding the funeral of Jesus, Jesus being surrounded by a
multitude around him on many occasions, ironically, we find
a stranger like Joseph and secret disciple Nicodemos and a few
women to perform the last rites. The body of Jesus had to be
begged and was at the disposal of a human authority. Like his
trial, the funeral also was performed in haste. There are two
explanations to this haste. One is sanitation, according Roman
law. The other being defilement according to the Jewish law.
As the day was a preparatory day, ie, the day before Sabbath,
for a strictly observing Jew, a body on the cross would defile
the Sabbath. According to the Jewish law, even the body of a
criminal should not be hanging all night, rather had to be
buried that day itself.(Deut.21;22,23) further it is particularly
compulsory when the following day is a Sabbath.

Joseph the Human being
The intervention of Joseph of Arimathea is significant
on many grounds. According to the Roman law, relatives of
criminals can claim the body, and if there is no relative to claim,
it is ‘simply left to rot until the scavenger dogs dealt with it’. In
Jesus’ case, a relative to claim the body and to have a tomb in
the city were impossible. In such a context, Joseph’s role was
very important. Probably he knew that if not get involved, the
body would otherwise be thrown in to a common grave. His
intervention prevented such a disgrace to the body of Jesus.

Joseph the Jew

In the Gospel narration, Joseph is presented as a Jew
from the Jewish town, living in fear of Jews. His actions show
his awareness of Jewish commandments on keeping Sabbath
pure (Deut.21: 22, 23).That could be the reason for bringing the
body down before Sabbath begins. But there was the Levitical
command on purity, that touching the corpse defiles a person.

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Lenten Meditations Re - Imaging People