Luke 23:50

Luke 23:50 says, And, behold, there was a man named Joseph, a counseller; and he was a good man, and a just:  There at Jesus's crucifixion was a good and just man named Simon.  Not everyone there was there to condemn Jesus.  At times, as followers of Christ, we may be in the midst of unbelievers, but we must not allow them to influence how we feel about Jesus.  Verse fifty-three adds, (The same had not consented to the counsel and deed of them;) he was of Arimathaea, a city of the Jews: who also himself waited for the kingdom of God.  This man Joseph was from Arimathaea, a Jewish city, and had not consented to the counsel and deed of those who had condemned Jesus, though he himself was waiting on the kingdom of God.  We should never have our opinion of Jesus swayed by the actions of others.  Verse fifty-two states, This man went unto Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus.  Jesus's closest followers, His disciples, had abandoned Him, but this religious leader went to Pilate and begged Pilate to allow him to take the body of Jesus and bury Him.  Joseph could have put himself in danger by identifying with Jesus, even after He was crucified.   We may place ourselves in danger by identifying with Jesus Christ today, but we need to be like Joseph and do so anyway.  Verse fifty-three adds, And he took it down, and wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a sepulchre that was hewn in stone, wherein never man before was laid.  Joseph took the body of Jesus down from the cross and buried it with respect in a new tomb that had been cut into a stone.  At this point, the body of Jesus was but an empty shell.  Though Joseph was a good man, we see no evidence that he expected Jesus to return from the dead to prove Himself to be the awaited Messiah.  It is not enough to simply view Jesus as  good Man Who didn't deserve to die,  but we must acknowledge Him as the only begotten Son of God, Who died to bring salvation all people.  Of course, even though Jesus died for everyone, unless we accept Him as our personal Savior and Lord, it does us no good.  Verse fifty-four continues, And that day was the preparation, and the sabbath drew on.  Joseph had to hurry in his preparations for and burial of Jesus's body, because the sabbath was getting close.  As a Jew, Joseph would have wanted to follow the laws of the Sabbath, which we pretty much ignore today.  Verse fifty-five says, And the women also, which came with him from Galilee, followed after, and beheld the sepulchre, and how his body was laid.  The women who had followed Jesus followed Joseph to see where He would bury His body.  The disciples were no where to be found anywhere near the body of Jesus at this time.  In their minds, it was over.  If we only see Jesus on the cross or in the tomb, then our hope of salvation is over.  Verse fifty-six adds,  And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the sabbath day according to the commandment.  These women who had followed Jesus from Galilee returned to where they had been staying and got spices and ointments ready to anoint Jesus's body with, but they first had to rest on the Sabbath according to Jewish law.  We should never allow religious traditions to keep us from serving Christ if we are a follower of His.