Government authorities demolished a church belonging to the "Orang Asli" tribe of indigenous Christians in Kuala Lumpur, on June 8. The authorities claimed that the church was built without state permission.[1]
INJUSTICE. Just the sound of the word makes us cringe. Few of us have experienced the injustice and persecution described by The Voice of the Martyrs. When we hear of the inequality experience by others, regardless of how big or small, we wish there was something we could do to make things right.
- [50] Now there was a man named Joseph, a member of the Council, a good and upright man, [51] who had not consented to their decision and action. He came from the Judean town of Arimathea and he was waiting for the kingdom of God.
Luke 23:50-51 (NIV)
I find the description made about Joseph of Arimathea interesting. Both Luke and Mark make the same point about him; Joseph, a member of the Council, was “waiting for the kingdom of God.”
Like other Jews Joseph was looking for the coming of God’s promised Messiah. The anger of the other religious leaders toward Jesus, the attempts to trap Jesus in the things He would say, the false witnesses who lied, the stirring up of crowd to ask for Barabbas to be set free and Jesus crucified, watching Jesus die. Could it be that when Joseph saw the injustice poured out on Jesus he finally had seen enough?
Is it possible that in that moment he connected the dots and thought they had just murdered the Messiah? The least they could do now was to give Jesus a proper burial. For Joseph to take Jesus dead body from the cross would make him unclean and unable to participate in the celebrations of this Passover Sabbath. A small price to pay for the injustice he witnessed. What do you think?
[1] The Voice of the Martyrs, Persecution and Prayer Alert; June20, 2007. http://www.persecution.net/
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