Joseph of Arimathea—The Stuff Of Legends

When last we heard of Joseph of Arimathea he and his companions had come ashore on the southwestern coast of the Island of the Britons, near the town of Glastonbury. His staff, made from the same thorn bush used to create Christ's crown of thorns and driven into the earth, now began to grow and bloom but twice a year, at Christmas and at Easter.

On his journey Joseph also brought the chalice Christ used at the Last supper. In it he had collected the sweat of Christ on the cross and some of the blood that flowed from Christ's side  when the Roman soldier drove a spear into it. This was the famous Holy Grail. Joseph hid it at Glastonbury at the bottom of a deep well, still called today the Chalice Well. From there a long and mysterious legend developed around the Grail.

Indiana Jones with the Holy Grail—from The Last Crusade

But the story is just getting going.

Joseph had often been to Glastonbury. Upon now returning he met Caratacus, king of the Catuvellauni. It is the time of the Roman invasion in AD 43 under the Roman commander, Aulus Plautius. Caratacus and his brother Guilderius were the sons of King Cunobelinus. After their father's death the two brothers led a campaign to resist the Roman invasion for nearly nine years. Ultimately the Romans were victorious. Caratacus was captured and taken to Rome where he spent the rest of his life.

Meanwhile Joseph and his family remained keepers of the Holy Grail.

Now the story gets really strange.

Some maintain that Joseph of Arimathea was really Joseph ben Mathias. Arimathea was a word play and not an historical reference to a town. That means that Joseph of Arimathea was really the well-known Flavius Josephus, Jewish historian and onetime governor of Galilee. After joining the fight against Rome, Joseph was captured by the Romans and imprisoned. From prison he sent a message to Vespasian, informing him that God told him Vespasian would become emperor of Rome. When Nero was assassinated and Vespasian did become emperor, Josephus was freed and henceforth traveled in Vespasian's entourage, recording Roman history, history widely read to the present.

The rest of the story of Joseph of Arimathea is even more legendary and connected to the Arthurian legends of Britain in a variety of ways. Its best that I leave all this to historians and
people interested in King Arthur. If you are interested in further legends and stories, here are some sources to explore:

• Chronicles of William of Malmesbury
• Chronicles of Geoffrey of Manmouth
• Uncle of God—The Voyages of Joseph of Arimathea
• Tacitus: Annals of Imperial Roman
• Encyclopedia Judaica, 1971
• Bede's Ecclesiastical History
• Gospel of Nicodemus or Acts of Pilate
• History of Heroditus 
• Complete Works of Flavius Josephus 

So what do we make of all this? Simple. The hand of God guided all things concerning Jesus, His birth, life, death and resurrection. That Joseph should provide a tomb for our Lord Jesus was predicted hundreds of years before by the prophet Isaiah.  

And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.—Isa.53:9

The Apostle Paul wrote, "that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures . . . (1 Cor.15:4). This is why the story of Joseph of Arimathea was preserved in the Gospels. To speculate and discuss legends about Joseph beyond what is in Scripture is indeed entertaining and may even be useful to a certain extent. But the stories remain legends. And a legend is definitely something the Bible is not. Through it God continues to speak His Word to warn, guide and encourage us all.

One final note. Movie makers have gotten hold of the legend of Joseph of Arimathea. Watch for the film to start playing sometime toward the end of this year 2012. It is to be called Glastonbury: Isle of Light.

Beware of Relics and Legends

There are legends connected with the spear of the soldier that pierced Jesus' side—and some very frightening historical connections. 

³¹Since it was the day of Preparation, and so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away. ³²So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with him.³³But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. ³⁴But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. ³⁵ He who saw it has borne witness— his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth— that you also may believe. ³⁶ For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: "Not one of his bones will be broken." ³⁷And again another Scripture says, "They will look on him whom they have pierced"(John 18:31-37).

The spear is known as the Spear of Destiny, the Holy Spear, the Lance of Longinus or the Spear of Christ.  The soldier who drove the spear into Jesus' side is, according to tradition, Longinus. According to the questionable Gospel of Nicodemus that soldier was a centurion who converted to Christianity after the Crucifixion and is venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions. The name is very likely a Latinized version of the Greek word for spear used in John 18, logche. Longinus is venerated as a martyr.

In modern times the legend of Saint Longinus was told in the 1939 film The Great Commandment. The basic plot is a love story set against a background of Zealots resisting the Romans in biblical times. Longinus is the commanding officer of a Roman army company that accompanies a tax collector about Judea and ultimately converts to Christianity. John Wayne played a cameo role portraying Longinus in The Greatest Story Ever Told. 

Personally, I find the legend of the Holy Spear itself to be of more interest. It was a relic venerated throughout the Middle Ages. The You Tube accounts of the spear's history are fascinating and mixed. The spear was claimed by Hitler when he marched into Austria. Supposedly it was to give him and the Third Reich invincible power. I wrote a blog about it some time back: Destiny And The Holy Lance.

The lesson for us all: stay with the Word of God and beware of unfounded legends that lead to the false worship of images, so-called relics and objects with magical, mystical powers. We worship the Christ who died and rose again. On this day we humbly give thanks that when he completed His great work on the cross, He rested in His Father's arm until raised again on the Third day. Hallelujah!

Watch Out For Wolves

For a pastor who no longer serves in full-time parish work, I have a fairly busy preaching schedule from now through Christmas. I'm filling Sunday pulpits twice and midweek Advent pulpits three times. Not that I'm complaining. Those who know me, also know that I consider opportunities to proclaim God's Word from the pulpit to be a great privilege.

But what shall I proclaim? In answer to that I have considered what I would have left to say if I did not believe in the God-inspired authority of Holy Scriptures and their witness to the coming of the long awaited Messiah in the person of the man Jesus from Nazareth. If I believed that these are only myths, legends and stories created by prophets and priests of the ancient past for a variety of reasons, what could I proclaim? If I didn't accept the testimony of the Bible that Jesus is God's Son, the Covenant God of the Old Testament come to us in flesh and blood what could I say? If I did not accept the prophecies that foretold the place and circumstances of Jesus' birth and the manner of His death hundreds of years before it happened, what would be my message?

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I suppose I could say that there seems to be a universal Spirit at work behind the events of the universe and that this all-encompassing Spirit is benevolent, even though it often appears he/she/it is not. Whether this Spirit is personally involved in these events has always been a subject of debate. 

However, we know that men and women of all ages and places have longed to know that things will work out in the long run. And that, my fellow travelers through space and time, is what I have discovered through my meditation upon the stories and legends these earlier peoples created. They didn't have the sophistication and science we have in our day. They were limited in their understanding and vision. So they used these stories to express their dreams and hopes. Thus we have evolved to the present. 

People like Jesus of Nazareth and his followers taught us to look beyond our petty disagreements and believe that through the process of creative dialogue we too can come together to new understandings of the mysteries of this universe—which may be but one of many universes. And even though we personally pass out of existence, the memories of our struggles and the contributions of our lives will live on. And that, we can be certain, will give hope and comfort to our children and their children. 

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Wow! If you ever heard me proclaim from the pulpit such utter drivel, please bring a few stones to throw at me. Drag me by the collar and throw me headlong out the front door. As my body bounces off the pavement, shout that you never want to hear from nor see me ever again.

Thanks be to God, we preachers have a real message. Know with utter certainty that in the fullness of time, God sent forth His Son to redeem all of us who are under judgment because of our sins. This Son is Jesus of Nazareth, born of a woman, born under the law, to free those of us who are condemned to death. Celebrate again with me the events of His coming at Christmas and look forward with me to His promised return. When He comes again He will raise up our mortal bodies and give us immortality and life in the new heavens and new earth He has prepared for those who love Him. I know this to be of absolute certainty, because He Himself rose from the dead and now lives and reigns forever.

If you hear anything other than this from your neighborhood pulpit, run for your life, because a wolf is chasing you. He may appear to be a sheep or even a shepherd, but he or she is a wolf nevertheless and your eternal destiny is in extreme danger.