Good and Upright

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

GOOD AND UPRIGHT

Luke 23:50-56

50 Now there was a man named Joseph, a member of the Council, a good and upright man, 51 who had not consented to their decision and action. He came from the Judean town of Arimathea and he was waiting for the kingdom of God. 52 Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus' body. 53 Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen cloth and placed it in a tomb cut in the rock, one in which no one had yet been laid. 54 It was Preparation Day, and the Sabbath was about to begin. 55 The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it. 56 Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment.

NIV

Here we have Joseph of Arimathea, a member of the Council. This would be the Sanhedrin. The region he came from Arimathea was an area the tribe of Benjamin had settled yet because he was on the Council he most likely lived in Jerusalem, and from all the other gospel accounts, as well as this statement Luke makes about him waiting for the kingdom of God, we see he had become a disciple of Jesus. What happened to the others? Why had they not gone to ask for the body? But here we are, a good and upright man who had a great deal of respectability among the Jews, going to Pilate to ask if he could take the body of Jesus down off the cross. What seems to stand out here is that Joseph did not wait for the others, he stepped up to do the right thing. This act on his part surely separated him from the action of the Council, which he had openly opposed from the beginning. Yet he was a member of the Council and by his actions now he would have in some way declared his allegiance to Christ. Our lesson is in his heart. It does not matter what the crowd thinks is right and what it does, we need to stand on what is truly right, not consenting to the actions of the crowd. This applies to the way the world thinks and acts as well as to how the church thinks and acts. Both are subject to crowd mentality. The world tries its best to push its views of right and wrong upon us. Many of the ways of the world are driven by what we call progressive or liberal agendas designed to allow us to do just about anything including things that lack any moral or upright values. We could spent volumes enumerating all their decisions and actions which we cannot consent to. As far as the church is concerned the list of decisions and actions we should not consent to is far smaller, yet some of the church is still based on a crowd mentality that is focused on man rather than Christ. This is not a condemnation of the church for much of it is focused on Christ and is doing that which God desires. But we need to see the truth, and consent to only that which is good and upright. When the church assimilates the ways of the world into its designs and styles of worship, it has strayed from the good and upright and we cannot consent to such decisions and actions. No matter what the voice of the crowd is, just because the majority voice their approval it does not mean their decisions or actions are good and upright, such as we have seen with the Sanhedrin here and the descent of Joseph, a good and upright man. Being a disciple of Jesus we need to be that good and upright man. We also see these women who followed to see where Jesus would be laid to rest, and began to prepare to finish his burial in accustom to their ways. Also it is the women who do such things, they serve in such beautiful ways out of a heart of love and devotion. This is a lesson for all of us.