Today we are reading Mark 15. In this chapter we read about Jesus’ crucifixion and death. The keyword for this chapter is “tol-ma-o”. The definition is “to dare, to have courage, to be brave enough, “he summoned up courage””. “Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the council, who was also himself looking for the kingdom of God, took courage and went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Pilate was surprised to hear that he should have already died. And summoning the centurion, he asked him whether he was already dead. And when he learned from the centurion that he was dead, he granted the corpse to Joseph. And Joseph bought a linen shroud, and taking him down, wrapped him in the linen shroud and laid him in a tomb that had been cut out of the rock. And he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb.” Mark 15:43-46 ESV Why did Joseph of Arimathea need to summon up courage? He took courage to care for the body of Jesus—an act of love and respect. Remember, it was often the case that the Romans left the bodies on the crosses for a long period of time as a deterrent to others who might imitate the crime. Back to courage—when have you needed to summon up courage to do what is right? May a God embolden you to always do what is right in His sight. Pastor Tim
