Boldness

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

BOLDNESS

John 19:38-42

38 Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jews. With Pilate's permission, he came and took the body away. 39 He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds.   40 Taking Jesus' body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs. 41 At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. 42 Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.

NIV

Where were the disciples? Why didn’t they ask for the body of Jesus? Why did it take two secret followers of Jesus to do this? Why did two secret followers now have should boldness to go to Pilate and ask for the body of Jesus? Certainly as the law of Moses stated that no one could hang from a tree until the setting of the sun Jesus and the two criminals would have to be removed from those crosses. It is were up  to the Romans, or the other Jews the three would be taken down and thrown in to a common grave. But now with the boldness never before demonstrated Joseph and of all people Nicodemus, a man who certainly was born again, secured the body of Jesus for a proper Jewish burial. What caused these two to be so bold now, when before they were afraid of what the other Jews would do or think of them for being followers of Jesus? Certainly the Holy Spirit had not poured out on the disciples yet as the day of Pentecost was yet to come, but still Jesus was no longer in his body, so he was in the presence of the Lord, and he said that he must go in order so he could send the Holy Spirit. Granted he had not ascended into heaven in the bodily form, as we will not ascend in bodily form until the day of the Rapture of the Church. Yet if we are not in the body, if we are absent from the body, then we are, as he is, present with the Lord. Jesus surely sent the Holy Spirit who gives boldness where boldness was not before, as when Peter and John prayed for boldness and the place was shaken and they were filled with the Spirit. This is our life lesson for today. We cannot be effective; we cannot be bold in our testimony about Jesus unless we are filled with the Spirit. Intelligence may have some sound finding words, but they are just that. Those filled with intelligence might be able to communicate the gospel message in ways which are impressive, but if they are not filled with the Spirit, they are but empty words. It but only takes the filling of the Spirit for any believer to be able to speak the truth with boldness. This is our destiny, to be filled with the Spirit, to be bold where we were once not. Our boldness is for the purpose of speaking the truth about Jesus, not about denominationalism, but about Jesus. We need to allow the Spirit to give us that boldness.