The Bible in a Year
“Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus.” — John 19:38
Joseph of Arimathea presents us with an uncomfortable picture: a genuine disciple whose allegiance to Jesus remained hidden. John does not say that Joseph merely admired Christ. He calls him a mathētēs, a disciple or learner. Yet fear had confined his discipleship to the shadows.
Joseph had much to lose. Matthew identifies him as wealthy, while Mark calls him an honorable member of the council who was waiting for God’s kingdom. Luke adds that Joseph had not consented to the council’s decision against Jesus. He apparently disagreed with Christ’s condemnation, but Scripture records no public protest from him. His convictions were sincere, yet fear kept them silent when his voice might have mattered.
That is the first danger of secret discipleship: the telling problem. Jesus said, “Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 10:32). The Greek word homologeō, translated “confess,” means to acknowledge openly or say the same thing. Confessing Christ means bringing our public words into agreement with what we believe about Him privately.
Faith hidden continually eventually begins to resemble faith denied. We may never verbally reject Jesus, yet we can arrange our lives so carefully that no one discovers we belong to Him. Alistair Begg offers a penetrating warning: “Either your secrecy will destroy your discipleship, or your discipleship will destroy your secrecy.” His reflection on Jesus’ burial reminds us that genuine faith eventually presses toward visible identification with Christ.
Joseph also faced a timidity problem. John explains that he remained secret “for fear of the Jews,” meaning the religious authorities who could damage his position, reputation, and relationships. This was not imaginary danger. John 9:22 tells us that anyone confessing Jesus as Messiah could be expelled from the synagogue. Joseph’s position could disappear, and the respect he had spent years building could collapse.
We should not ridicule his fear too quickly. Many believers know what it is to become quiet when confessing Christ may cost acceptance, advancement, or friendship. Courage is not the absence of fear; it is obedience that becomes more important than fear. The question is not whether I ever feel afraid, but whether fear is permitted to decide what faithfulness will look like.
Joseph’s story also contains a timing problem. He acted only after Jesus had died. He could no longer defend Christ before the council, provide Him shelter, or stand beside Him during His trial. A burial, however generous, could not replace the support withheld while Jesus lived. There are moments when delayed courage cannot recover an opportunity that has passed.
This confronts us whenever we remain silent until a righteous cause has been defeated, a faithful servant has been wounded, or a vulnerable person no longer needs our defense. Sympathy expressed afterward may be sincere, but it cannot perform the work courage neglected when the outcome was still undecided. Faithfulness must speak while its witness can still serve the living, not merely honor what has already been lost.
Yet the Gospel does not leave Joseph permanently imprisoned in failure. Mark 15:43 says that he “went in boldly unto Pilate” and requested Jesus’ body. The word translated “boldly,” tolmaō, carries the sense of daring to act despite danger. Asking Pilate for the body publicly identified Joseph with a man Rome had executed and the council had condemned. Paul Tripp observes, “At this moment, Joseph comes public,” describing his approach to Pilate as an act requiring remarkable courage. Tripp’s study of John 19 also notes that Joseph’s tomb fulfilled Isaiah 53:9, which foretold that the suffering Servant would be “with the rich in his death.”
Joseph stepped forward late, but he did step forward. Alongside Nicodemus, another previously cautious believer, he cared tenderly for Christ’s body while most of the disciples were absent. His costly action could not rewrite earlier silence, but it demonstrated that fear no longer possessed the final word.
Joseph’s story therefore warns and encourages us. Secret discipleship is spiritually dangerous because Christ calls us to visible allegiance. Nevertheless, past timidity need not determine future obedience. The cross that exposed Joseph’s earlier fear also awakened his courage.
Perhaps you have remained silent where you should have spoken. Do not make peace with concealment, and do not assume it is too late to change. Ask the Lord for the next faithful act and take it openly. Jesus does not call us merely to admire Him privately but to belong to Him visibly.
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