|
Joseph of Arimathea was a wealthy disciple of Jesus. According
to Matthew 27:57-60, he sought Jesus' crucified body from
Pontius Pilate to prepare it for burial.
After
Jesus was taken down from the Cross, his body was placed in a tomb
Joseph owned. There the grief-stricken women took care of the body, till
the soldiers sealed the tomb with a large boulder.
According to other apocryphal legends, Joseph was a wealthy man and a
soldier, who was trusted by Pilate because he was in some way connected
to the Roman military or government. Joseph received the Cup of the Last
Supper from Pilate, but was later put into prison. While inside, he lost
the Cup.
All that is known for certain concerning
him is derived from the canonical Gospels. He was born at Arimathea,
hence his surname, "a city of Judea" (Luke 23:51), which is very likely
identical with Ramatha, the birthplace of the Prophet Samuel, although
several scholars prefer to identify it with the town of Ramleh. He was a
wealthy Israelite (Matthew 27:57), "a good and a just man" (Luke 23:50),
"who was also himself looking for the kingdom of God" (Mark 15:43). He
is also called by St. Mark and by St. Luke a bouleutes,
literally, "a senator", whereby is meant a member of the Sanhedrin or
supreme council of the Jews. He was a disciple of Jesus, probably ever
since Christ's first preaching in Judea (John 2:23), but he did not
declare himself as such "for fear of the Jews" (John 19:38). On account
of this secret allegiance to Jesus, he did not consent to His
condemnation by the Sanhedrin (Luke 23:51), and was most likely absent
from the meeting which sentenced Jesus to death (cf. Mark 14:64).
The Crucifixion of the Master quickened Joseph's faith and love, and
suggested to him that he should provide for Christ's burial before the
Sabbath began. Unmindful therefore of all personal danger, a danger
which was indeed considerable under the circumstances, he boldly
requested from Pilate the Body of Jesus, and was successful in his
request (Mark 15:43-45).
Once in possession of this sacred
treasure, he, together with Nicodemus, whom his courage had likewise
emboldened, and who brought abundant spices, wrapped up Christ's Body in
fine linen and grave bands, laid it in his own tomb, new and yet unused,
and hewn out of a rock in a neighbouring garden, and withdrew after
rolling a great stone to the opening of the sepulchre (Matthew 27:59,
60; Mark 15:46; Luke 23:53; John 19:38-42). Thus was fulfilled Isaiah's
prediction that the grave of the Messias would be with a rich man
(Isaiah 53:9).
The Greek Church celebrates the feast of
Joseph of Arimathea on 31 July, and the Roman Church on 17 March. The
additional details which are found concerning him in the apocryphal "Acta
Pilati", are unworthy of credence. Likewise fabulous is the legend which
tells of his coming to Gaul A.D. 63, and thence to Great Britain, where
he is supposed to have founded the earliest Christian oratory at
Glastonbury. 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.
After the Resurrection, Jesus appeared to Joseph in his cell,
and gave him the Cup. After the fall of Jerusalem to Vespasian's army,
Joseph was freed, and with his sister Enygeus and her husband, Hebron or
Bron, went into exile with a small group of fellow Christians.
William of Malmesbury's, in his History of Glastonbury, said
that Joseph ended up in southern France, in or near Marseilles, where he lived with St
Philip, Lazarus and Mary Magdalene were preaching to the Gauls. St Philip sent Joseph away
with eleven disciples to preach in a new land that had not heard the
Gospel.
Carrying the Cup of the Last
 Supper, which bore the sweat, tears
and blood of Jesus, they travelled in an oarless boat, until he and his
fellow travellers ended up on the shores of
Glastonbury.
The year was 63AD or, possibly even as early as 37AD.
It was said that Joseph achieved his
wealth in the metals trade, and in the course of conducting his
business, he probably became acquainted with Britain, at least the
south-western parts of it. Cornwall was a chief mining district and
well-known in the Roman empire for its tin. Somerset was reknowned
for its high quality lead. There were also ancient mines under the
Mendip Hills in Somerset around the villages of Charterhouse and
Priddy.
 It
was only natural, then, that Joseph should have been chosen for the
first mission to Britain, and appropriate that he should come first to
Glastonbury, that religious center for legendary activity in the
West Country. Local legend has it that Joseph sailed around Land's End
and headed for his old lead mining haunts. Here his boat ran ashore in
the Glastonbury Marshes and, together with his followers, he climbed a
onto
nearby hill to survey the surrounding land.
At the foot of
Glastonbury Tor, Joseph bade his
friends to bow down to pay and give thanks. Having brought with him a
staff grown from Christ's Holy Crown of Thorns, he stopped and announced
that he and his twelve companions were 'Weary All'. Standing up, Joseph
thrust his staff into the sod of
Wearyall Hill.
 Miraculously, the
staff took root and budded. He was planting the Gospel in England.
Today descendents of the original
Glastonbury Thorn still bear fruit
at each and every Christmas.
After Joseph arrived, he and his followers met a favourable response from
the local chief, king Arviragus. Arviragus gave him some land,
known as the 'twelve
hides' at Glastonbury, and Joseph and his fellows stayed to preach to
the local people.
 At the foot of the Tor, Joseph built a wattle church, called the Vetusta Ecclesia. He decreed that twelve monks should always be in the
church to pray. Jesus, appearing to Joseph and his friends, blessed them
and their work. In honour of his Mother, Joseph dedicated the church to
Mary.
Several years later, Joseph died, and he was buried next to the
wall of the little wattle church. According to legends, he buried the
Cup or preserved it in or near the
Chalice Well.
When
two papal envoys arrived in about 180AD, they found that the Vetusta
Ecclesia was almost in ruin. They had the building repaired. Worship
began in earnest. According to the ancient Welsh Triads, Glastonbury
held one of the three perpetual choirs of Britain, in which one hundred
monks worshipped and sang the liturgy and Psalms all day and all night.
A separate story has Joseph bringing the boy Jesus and
his mother Mary to Cornwall.
The party were coming to Britain to purchase
lead from the Mendips in
Somerset.
The area they visited was around the
villages of Priddy in Somerset. This is the legend behind
William Blake's Jerusalem.
'And did those feet
in ancient time, Walk upon England's mountains green?
And was the Lamb
of God on England's pleasant pastures seen?'
|
|
