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Joseph of Arimathea

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Saint

Joseph of Arimathea
14th century Byzantine Icon of theDescent from the Crossfrom the Church ofSaint Marinain Kalopanagiotis,Cyprus.Saint Joseph of Arimathea is the figure standing in the center, in blue-green robes holding the Body of Christ.
Secret Disciple of Jesus
Venerated in
CanonizedPre-Congregation
MajorshrineSyriac OrthodoxChapel ofHoly Sepulchre
Feast
PatronageFuneral directors and undertakers[2]

Joseph of Arimathea(Ancient Greek:Ἰωσὴφ ὁ ἀπὸ Ἀριμαθαίας) is a Biblical figure who assumed responsibility for theburial of Jesusafterhis crucifixion.Three of the fourcanonical Gospelsidentify him as a member of theSanhedrin,while theGospel of Matthewidentifies him as a rich disciple ofJesus.The historical location ofArimatheais uncertain, although it has been identified with several towns. A number of stories about him developed during theMiddle Ages.

Gospel narratives[edit]

Matthew 27describes him[a]simply as a rich man and disciple ofJesus,but according toMark 15,Joseph of Arimathea was "a respected member of thecouncil,who was also himself looking for the kingdom of God ".[b]Luke 23adds that he "had not consented to their decision and action".[c]

According toJohn 19,upon hearing ofJesus' death,this secretdiscipleof Jesus "askedPilatethat he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission. "[d]Joseph immediately purchased a linen shroud[e]and proceeded toGolgothato takethe body of Jesus down from the cross.There, Joseph andNicodemustook the body and bound it in linen cloths with the spices (myrrhandaloes) that Nicodemus had brought.[f]Luke 23:55-56 states that the women "who had come with him from Galilee" prepared the spices and ointments.

The disciples then conveyed the prepared corpse to a man-made cave hewn from rock in a garden nearby. The Gospel of Matthew alone suggests that this was Joseph's owntomb.[g]The burial was undertaken speedily, "for the Sabbath was drawing on".

Veneration[edit]

Joseph of ArimatheabyPietro Perugino,detail fromLamentation over the Dead Christ.

Joseph of Arimathea is venerated as asaintby theCatholicandEastern Orthodox Churches,and in someProtestanttraditions. The traditional Roman calendar marked his feast day on 17 March, but he is now listed, along with Saint Nicodemus, on 31 August in theMartyrologium Romanum.Eastern Orthodox churches commemorate him on theThird Sunday ofPascha(i.e., the second Sunday after Easter) and on 31 July, a date shared byLutheran churches.[3]He is included in theMyrrhbearers.[4]

Although a series of legends developed during theMiddle Ages(perhaps elaborations of earlyNew Testament apocrypha) tied this Joseph toBritainas well as the Holy Grail, he is not currently on the abbreviated liturgical calendar of theChurch of England,although he is on the calendars of some churches of theAnglican Communion,such as theEpiscopal Church,which commemorates him on 1 August.[5]

Old Testament prophecy[edit]

Purportedtomb of Jesus(provided by Joseph) in theChurch of the Holy Sepulchre

Many Christians[6]interpret Joseph's role as fulfillingIsaiah's prediction that the grave of the "Suffering Servant" would be with a rich man (Isaiah53:9), assuming that Isaiah was referring to theMessiah.The prophecy inIsaiah chapter 53is known as the "Man of Sorrows"passage:

He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.

The GreekSeptuaginttext:

And I will give the wicked for his burial, and the rich for his death; for he practiced no iniquity, nor craft with his mouth.

Development of legends[edit]

Since the 2nd century, a mass of legendary detail has accumulated around the figure of Joseph of Arimathea in addition to the New Testament references. Joseph is referenced in apocryphal and non-canonical accounts such as the Acts of Pilate and the medievalGospel of Nicodemus.Joseph is mentioned in the works of early church historians such asIrenaeus,Hippolytus,Tertullian,andEusebius,who added details not found in the canonical accounts.Francis Gigot,writing in theCatholic Encyclopedia,states that "the additional details which are found concerning him in the apocryphalActa Pilati( "Acts of Pilate" ), are unworthy of credence. "[7]The Narrative of Joseph of Arimathea,a medieval work, is even purportedly written by him directly, although it adds more details on the robbers at Jesus's crucifixion than Joseph himself.[8]He also appears in the ancientnon-canonicaltext theGospel of Peter.[9]

Hilary of Poitiers(4th century) enriched the legend, andJohn Chrysostom,thePatriarch of Constantinoplefrom 397 to 403, was the first to write that Joseph was one of theSeventy Apostlesappointed in Luke 10.[10][better source needed]

During the late 12th century, Joseph became connected withArthurian legend,appearing in them as the first keeper of the Holy Grail. This idea first appears inRobert de Boron'sJoseph d'Arimathie[fr],in which Joseph receives the Grail from an apparition of Jesus and sends it with his followers to Britain. This theme is elaborated upon in Boron's sequels and in subsequent Arthurian works penned by others. Later retellings of the story contend that Joseph of Arimathea travelled to Britain and became the first Christian bishop in the Isles, a claim Gigot characterizes as a fable.[7][11]

Gospel of Nicodemus[edit]

The Gospel of Nicodemus, a text appended to the Acts of Pilate, provides additional details about Joseph. For instance, after Joseph asked Pilate for the body of the Christ and prepared the body with Nicodemus' help, Christ's body was delivered to a new tomb that Joseph had built for himself. In the Gospel of Nicodemus, the Jewish elders express anger at Joseph for burying the body of Christ, saying:

And likewise Joseph also stepped out and said to them: Why are you angry against me because I begged the body of Jesus? Behold, I have put him in my new tomb, wrapping in clean linen; and I have rolled a stone to the door of the tomb. And you have acted not well against the just man, because you have not repented of crucifying him, but also have pierced him with a spear.

— Gospel of Nicodemus.Translated by Alexander Walker.

The Jewish elders then captured Joseph, imprisoned him, and placed a seal on the door to his cell after first posting a guard. Joseph warned the elders, "The Son of God whom you hanged upon the cross, is able to deliver me out of your hands. All your wickedness will return upon you."

Once the elders returned to the cell, the seal was still in place, but Joseph was gone. The elders later discover that Joseph had returned to Arimathea. Having a change in heart, the elders desired to have a more civil conversation with Joseph about his actions and sent a letter of apology to him by means of seven of his friends. Joseph travelled back from Arimathea to Jerusalem to meet with the elders, where they questioned him about his escape. He told them this story:

On the day of the Preparation, about the tenth hour, you shut me in, and I remained there the whole Sabbath in full. And when midnight came, as I was standing and praying, the house where you shut me in was hung up by the four corners, and there was a flashing of light in mine eyes. And I fell to the ground trembling. Then some one lifted me up from the place where I had fallen, and poured over me an abundance of water from the head even to the feet, and put round my nostrils the odour of a wonderful ointment, and rubbed my face with the water itself, as if washing me, and kissed me, and said to me, Joseph, fear not; but open thine eyes, and see who it is that speaks to thee. And looking, I saw Jesus; and being terrified, I thought it was a phantom. And with prayer and the commandments I spoke to him, and he spoke with me. And I said to him: Art thou Rabbi Elias? And he said to me: I am not Elias. And I said: Who art thou, my Lord? And he said to me: I am Jesus, whose body thou didst beg from Pilate, and wrap in clean linen; and thou didst lay a napkin on my face, and didst lay me in thy new tomb, and roll a stone to the door of the tomb. Then I said to him that was speaking to me: Show me, Lord, where I laid thee. And he led me, and showed me the place where I laid him, and the linen which I had put on him, and the napkin which I had wrapped upon his face; and I knew that it was Jesus. And he took hold of me with his hand, and put me in the midst of my house though the gates were shut, and put me in my bed, and said to me: Peace to thee! And he kissed me, and said to me: For forty days go not out of thy house; for, lo, I go to my brethren into Galilee.

— Gospel of Nicodemus.Translated by Alexander Walker

According to the Gospel of Nicodemus, Joseph testified to the Jewish elders, and specifically to chief priestsCaiaphasandAnnasthat Jesus had risen from the dead and ascended to heaven, and he indicated that others were raised from the dead at the resurrection of Christ (repeatingMatt 27:52–53). He specifically identified the two sons of the high-priest Simeon (again in Luke 2:25–35). The elders Annas, Caiaphas, Nicodemus, and Joseph himself, along withGamalielunder whomPaul of Tarsusstudied, travelled to Arimathea to interview Simeon's sons Charinus and Lenthius.

Other medieval texts[edit]

Medieval interest in Joseph centered on two themes, that of Joseph as the founder ofBritish Christianity(even before it had taken hold in Rome), and that of Joseph as the original guardian of the Holy Grail.

Britain[edit]

See also:Early centers of Christianity § Roman Britain
William Blake's IllustrationJoseph of Arimathea Among the Rocks of Albionin its second state after Blake's 1773 original, engraved circa 1809

Many legends about the arrival of Christianity in Britain abounded during the Middle Ages. Early writers do not connect Joseph to this activity, however.Tertullianwrote inAdversus Judaeosthat Britain had already received and accepted the Gospel in his lifetime, writing, "all the limits of the Spains, and the diverse nations of the Gauls, and the haunts of the Britons—inaccessible to the Romans, but subjugated to Christ."[12]

Tertullian does not say how the Gospel came to Britain before AD 222. However,Eusebius of Caesaria,one of the earliest and most comprehensive of church historians, wrote of Christ's disciples inDemonstratio Evangelica,saying that "some have crossed the Ocean and reached the Isles of Britain."[13]Hilary of Poitiersalso wrote that the Apostles had built churches and that the Gospel had passed into Britain.[14]The writings of Pseudo-Hippolytus include a list of the seventy disciples whom Jesus sent forth in Luke 10, one of which isAristobulusof Romans 16:10, called "bishop of Britain".[15]

In none of these earliest references to Christianity's arrival in Britain is Joseph of Arimathea mentioned.William of Malmesbury'sDe Antiquitate Glastoniensis Ecclesiae('On the Antiquity of theChurch of Glastonbury', circa 1125) has not survived in its original edition, and the stories involving Joseph of Arimathea are contained in subsequent editions that abound in interpolations placed by the Glastonbury monks "in order to increase the Abbey's prestige – and thus its pilgrim trade and prosperity"[16]In hisGesta Regum Anglorum(History of The Kings of England,finished in 1125), William of Malmesbury wrote that Glastonbury Abbey was built by preachers sent byPope Eleuterusto Britain, however also adding: "Moreover there are documents of no small credit, which have been discovered in certain places to the following effect: 'No other hands than those of the disciples of Christ erected the church of Glastonbury'", but here William did not explicitly link Glastonbury with Joseph of Arimathea, but instead emphasizes the possible role ofPhilip the Apostle:"if Philip, the Apostle, preached to the Gauls, as Freculphus relates in the fourth chapter of his second book, it may be believed that he also planted the word on this side of the channel also.".[17]The first appearance of Joseph in the Glastonbury records can be pinpointed with surprising accuracy to 1247, when the story of his voyage was added as a margin-note to Malmesbury's chronicle.[18]

Joseph of ArimathaeabyPieter Coecke van Aelst,ca. 1535

In 1989, folklore scholar A. W. Smith critically examined the accretion of legends around Joseph of Arimathea. Often associated withWilliam Blake's poem "And did those feet in ancient time"and its musical setting, widely known as the hymn" Jerusalem ", the legend is commonly held as" an almost secret yet passionately held article of faith among certain otherwise quite orthodox Christians "and Smith concluded" that there was little reason to believe that an oral tradition concerning a visit made by Jesus to Britain existed before the early part of the twentieth century ".[19]Sabine Baring-Gouldrecounted a Cornish story how "Joseph of Arimathea came in a boat toCornwall,and brought the child Jesus with him, and the latter taught him how to extract the tin and purge it of itswolfram.This story possibly grew out of the fact that the Jews under the Angevin kings farmed the tin of Cornwall. "[20]In its most developed version, Joseph, a tin merchant, visited Cornwall, accompanied by his nephew, the boy Jesus. Reverend C.C. Dobson (1879–1960) made a case for the authenticity of the Glastonburylegenda.[21]The case was argued more recently by the Church of Scotland ministerGordon Strachan(1934–2010)[22]and by the former archaeologist Dennis Price.[23]

Holy Grail[edit]

The legend that Joseph was given the responsibility of keeping the Holy Grail was the product ofRobert de Boron,who essentially expanded upon stories fromActs of Pilate.In Boron'sJoseph d'Arimathie[fr],Joseph is imprisoned much as in theActs of Pilate,but it is the Grail that sustains him during his captivity. Upon his release he founds his company of followers, who take the Grail to the "Vale of Avaron" (identified withAvalon), though Joseph does not go. The origin of the association between Joseph and Britain, where Avalon is presumed to be located, is not entirely clear, though in subsequent romances such asPerlesvaus,Joseph travels to Britain, bringing relics with him. In theLancelot-Grailcycle, a vast Arthurian composition that took much from Robert, it is not Joseph but his sonJosephuswho is considered the primary holy man of Britain.

Later authors sometimes mistakenly or deliberately treated the Grail story as truth. Such stories were inspired by the account ofJohn of Glastonbury,who assembled a chronicle of the history of Glastonbury Abbey around 1350 and who wrote that Joseph, when he came to Britain, brought with him vessels containing the blood and sweat of Christ (without using the word Grail).[24]This account inspired the future claims of the Grail, including the claim involving theNanteos Cupon display in the museum inAberystwyth.There is no reference to this tradition in ancient or medieval text. John of Glastonbury further claims that King Arthur was descended from Joseph, listing the following imaginative pedigree through King Arthur's mother:

Helaius, Nepos Joseph, Genuit Josus, Josue Genuit Aminadab, Aminadab Genuit Filium, qui Genuit Ygernam, de qua Rex Pen-Dragon, Genuit Nobilem et Famosum Regum Arthurum, per Quod Patet, Quod Rex Arthurus de Stirpe Joseph descendit.

Joseph's alleged early arrival in Britain was used for political point-scoring by English theologians and diplomats during the late Middle Ages, andRichard Beere,Abbot of Glastonbury from 1493 to 1524, put the cult of Joseph at the heart of the abbey's legendary traditions. He was probably responsible for the drastic remodelling of the Lady Chapel atGlastonbury Abbey.A series of miraculous cures took place in 1502 which were attributed to the saint, and in 1520 the printerRichard Pynsonpublished aLyfe of Joseph of Armathia,in which theGlastonbury Thornis mentioned for the first time.[25]Joseph's importance increased exponentially with theEnglish Reformation,since his alleged early arrival far predated the Catholic conversion of AD 597. In the new post-Catholic world, Joseph stood for Christianity pure and Protestant. In 1546,John Bale,a prominent Protestant writer, claimed that the early date of Joseph's mission meant that original British Christianity was purer than that of Rome, an idea which was understandably popular with English Protestants, notably Queen Elizabeth Iherself, who cited Joseph's missionary work in England when she told Roman Catholic bishops that the Church of England pre-dated the Roman Church in England.[26][27]

Other legends[edit]

According to one of England's best-known legends, when Joseph and his followers arrived, weary, on Wearyall Hill outside Glastonbury, he set his walking staff on the ground and it miraculously took root and blossomed as the "Glastonbury Thorn".The fascinating story of how this legend developed is to be found in Adam Stout's ground-breaking 2020 study,Glastonbury Holy Thorn: Story of a LegendGreen & Pleasant PublishingISBN978-1-9162686-1-6.Themythemeof the staff that Joseph of Arimathea set in the ground at Glastonbury, which broke into leaf and flower as theGlastonbury Thornis a common miracle inhagiography.Such a miracle is told of the Anglo-Saxon saintEtheldreda:

Continuing her flight to Ely, Etheldreda halted for some days at Alfham, near Wintringham, where she founded a church; and near this place occurred the "miracle of her staff". Wearied with her journey, she one day slept by the wayside, having fixed her staff in the ground at her head. On waking she found the dry staff had burst into leaf; it became an ash tree, the "greatest tree in all that country;" and the place of her rest, where a church was afterwards built, became known as "Etheldredestow".

— Richard John King, 1862, in:Handbook of the Cathedrals of England; Eastern division: Oxford, Peterborough, Norwich, Ely, Lincoln.[28]

Medieval interest in genealogy raised claims that Joseph was a relative of Jesus; specifically,Mary's uncle, or according to some genealogies, Joseph's uncle. A genealogy for the family of Joseph of Arimathea and the history of his further adventures in the east provide material for theEstoire del Saint Graaland theQueste del Saint Graalof the Lancelot-Grail cycle andPerlesvaus.[29]

Another legend, as recorded inFlores Historiarum,is that Joseph is in fact theWandering Jew,a man cursed by Jesus to walk the Earth until theSecond Coming.[30]

Arimathea[edit]

Main article:Arimathea

Arimatheais not otherwise documented, though it was "a town of Judea" according to Luke 23:51. Arimathea is usually identified with eitherRamlehorRamathaim-Zophim,whereDavidcame toSamuelin the firstBook of Samuel,chapter 19.[h][31]

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

Biblical verses cited[edit]

  1. ^Matthew 27:57
  2. ^Mark 15:43
  3. ^Luke 23:50–56
  4. ^John 19:38
  5. ^Mark 15:46
  6. ^John 19:39–40
  7. ^Matthew 27:60
  8. ^1 Samuel 19

References[edit]

  1. ^Domar: the calendrical and liturgical cycle of the Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Church 2003,Armenian Orthodox Theological Research Institute, 2002, p. 531.
  2. ^Thomas Craughwell (2005)."A Patron Saint for Funeral Directors".Catholicherald.com. Archived fromthe originalon 31 March 2016.Retrieved14 September2011.
  3. ^Kinnaman, Scott A. (2010).Lutheranism 101.St. Louis, Missouri:Concordia Publishing House.p. 278.ISBN978-0-7586-2505-2.
  4. ^"Learn about the Orthodox Christian Faith - Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America".
  5. ^Church, The Episcopal (24 January 2023).Lesser Feasts and Fasts 2022.Church Publishing, Incorporated.ISBN978-1-64065-627-7.
  6. ^E.g.Ben Witherington III,John's Wisdom: A Commentary on the Fourth Gospel,1995, andAndreas J. KöstenbergerinCommentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament,2007, on John 19:38–42.
  7. ^ab"Joseph of Arimathea".The Catholic Encyclopedia.Vol. 8. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1910.Retrieved13 December2014.
  8. ^Ehrman, Bart;Pleše, Zlatko (2011).The Apocryphal Gospels: Texts and Translations.Oxford University Press. p. 305–312.ISBN978-0-19-973210-4.
  9. ^Walter Richard(1894).The Gospel According to Peter: A Study.Longmans, Green.p. 8.Retrieved3 April2022.
  10. ^John Chrysostom,Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of John.
  11. ^Finally, the story of the translation of the body of Joseph of Arimathea from Jerusalem to Moyenmonstre (Diocese of Toul) originated late and is unreliable. "
  12. ^"Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. III: An Answer to the Jews".www.tertullian.org.
  13. ^"Eusebius of Caesarea: Demonstratio Evangelica. Tr. W.J. Ferrar (1920) -- Book 3".www.tertullian.org.
  14. ^"NPNF2-09. Hilary of Poitiers, John of Damascus - Christian Classics Ethereal Library".www.ccel.org.
  15. ^"CHURCH FATHERS: On the Apostles and Disciples (Pseudo-Hippolytus)".newadvent.org.
  16. ^Antonia Gransden,Historical Writing in England II, c. 1307 to the Present,page 399. Routledge, 1996; Reprinted 2000.ISBN0-415-15125-2.Antonia Grandsen also citedWilliam Wells Newell,"William of Malmesbury on the Antiquity of Glastonbury" inPublications of the Modern Language Association of America,xviii (1903), pages 459–512; A. Gransden, "The Growth of the Glastonbury Traditions and Legends in the Twelfth Century" inJournal of Ecclesiastical History,xxvii (1976), page 342
  17. ^William of Malmesbury,William of Malmesbury's Chronicle of the Kings of England: From the Earliest Period To The Reign of King Stephen,page 22 (notes and illustrations by J. A. Giles, London: Bell & Daldy, 1866)
  18. ^Stout, Adam (2020)Glastonbury Holy Thorn: Story of a LegendGreen & Pleasant Publishing, p. 14ISBN978-1-9162686-1-6
  19. ^Smith, "'And Did Those Feet...?': The 'Legend' of Christ's Visit to Britain"Folklore100.1 (1989), pp. 63–83.
  20. ^S. Baring-Gould,A Book of The West: Being An Introduction To Devon and Cornwall(2 Volumes,Methuen Publishing,1899);A Book of Cornwall,Second Edition 1902, New Edition, 1906, page 57.
  21. ^Dobson,Did Our Lord Visit Britain as they say in Cornwall and Somerset?(Glastonbury: Avalon Press) 1936.
  22. ^Strachan, Gordon (1998).Jesus, the Master Builder: Druid Mysteries and the Dawn of Christianity.Edinburgh: Floris Books.ISBN9780863152757.
  23. ^Dennis Price,The Missing Years of Jesus: The Greatest Story Never Told(Hay House Publishing, 2009).ISBN9781848500334
  24. ^Edward Donald Kennedy, "Visions of History: Robert de Boron and English Arthurian Chronicles" in,Norris J. Lacy,editor,The Fortunes of King Arthur,page 39 (D. S. Brewer, Cambridge, 2005).ISBN1-84384-061-8
  25. ^Stout, Adam (2020)Glastonbury Holy Thorn: Story of a LegendGreen & Pleasant Publishing, pp. 13-16ISBN978-1-9162686-1-6
  26. ^"Elizabeth's 1559 reply to the Catholic bishops".fordham.edu.Archived fromthe originalon 4 May 2006.Retrieved11 May2006.
  27. ^Stout, Adam (2020)Glastonbury Holy Thorn: Story of a LegendGreen & Pleasant Publishing, pp. 23-24ISBN978-1-9162686-1-6
  28. ^"History of the See of Ely • King's Handbook to the Cathedrals of England".penelope.uchicago.edu.Retrieved27 January2023.
  29. ^C. Scott Littleton, Linda A. Malcor,From Scythia to Camelot: a radical reassessment of the legends of King Arthur, the Knights of the Round Table and the Holy Grail(1994) 2000:310.
  30. ^Percy, Thomas (2001) [1847].Reliques of Ancient English Poetry.Vol. 2. Adamant Media Corporation. p. 246.ISBN1-4021-7380-6.
  31. ^Encyclopedia of Islam, article "al-Ramla".

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