St. Joseph of Arimathea

Joseph of Arimathea appears in the New Testament as a wealthy and respected member of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish council in Jerusalem, though the four Gospels offer only brief glimpses of his background. The name 'Arimathea' has been traditionally identified with the town of Ramathaim-Zophim in the hill country of Ephraim, the birthplace of the prophet Samuel, though the Gospels themselves do not confirm this connection. The evangelists consistently emphasize two things about him: he was a righteous man who had not consented to the council's decision against Jesus, and he was secretly a disciple of Christ. Matthew describes him as a rich man, and John specifies that he was a disciple 'secretly, for fear of the Jews.' Luke adds the further detail that he was 'looking for the kingdom of God.' The moment for which Joseph is remembered above all else comes after the Crucifixion on Good Friday. The Gospels of Mark and Luke note that he 'boldly' went to Pontius Pilate to ask for the body of Jesus, a request that required no small measure of courage given the public nature of the execution and the political tensions swirling around it. Mark also records that Joseph was the one who rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. He and Nicodemus, another secret follower, prepared the body with myrrh and aloes according to Jewish burial customs and laid it in a new rock-cut tomb that Joseph himself owned, fulfilling the prophecy in Isaiah 53:9 that the Messiah would be with the rich in his death. The site is traditionally associated with the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, though other locations have also been proposed. Later Christian tradition, especially the medieval narratives of the Holy Grail, greatly expanded Joseph's story. The Gospel of Nicodemus, a non-canonical apocryphal text, elaborates on his role in the events surrounding the Passion and adds legendary details about his later life. By the medieval period, and especially through the writings of Geoffrey of Monmouth in the twelfth century, a popular legend emerged that Joseph traveled to Britain after the Resurrection and founded the first Christian church at Glastonbury, bringing with him relics of the Passion. While historians consider this journey highly unlikely, the legend became deeply embedded in English Christian imagination and gave rise to the Glastonbury Thorn tradition. Joseph is honored as a saint in the Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican, and Lutheran traditions, and his feast is celebrated on March 17 in the Roman calendar. He is listed among the patron saints of funeral directors and pallbearers, a patronage that flows directly from his careful and reverent burial of Christ's body, and he is also invoked by antiquarians because of the ancient legends surrounding his relics. The iconography of Joseph in Western art typically depicts him presenting the dead Christ to the viewer, often holding the crown of thorns or assisting in the Deposition from the Cross, as in works by Caravaggio, Titian, and Rembrandt. The feast day of March 17 is sometimes shared with St. Patrick in local calendars, which has occasionally led to popular confusion, but the two figures are historically distinct.