In the normal way the bodies would have been taken down and buried, not in places of honour such as family tombs, but in special tombs set aside for executed criminals. (1) We can imagine the distress of Our Lord’s mother and his disciples as they contemplated the prospect of his receiving a dishonoured grave.

And this would have happened had not two secret disciples intervened.  They were Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, both members of the Sanhedrin, the Supreme Jewish Council, but as disciples of Jesus they had so far not really succeeded in matching their convictions with their courage.  For example, when Nicodemus had protested to his fellow councillors two years before that it was unjust to condemn Jesus on hearsay they had no difficulty in snubbing him into silence (John 7:50-52).

St Luke tells us that though Joseph of Arimathea was a member of the Council, he “had not agreed to their plan and action” (NRSV, Luke, 23:50,51).  We do not know whether Joseph was absent from the Council meeting that condemned Jesus to death, or whether he lacked the moral courage to oppose the verdict and instead abstained from voting.  But one thing seems plain – Joseph, like Nicodemus, was a somewhat timid disciple.