Afraid of Believing

1/27/2010 I was reading the end of John. chapter 19: 38-end and something struck me, two seemingly unlikely people took care of Jesus' body when He was crucified. There had been thousands of believers who had followed Jesus as he taught them. The Bible is full of accounts of passionate conversions and yet where were they? His discples had seen Him calm seas, healed the lame, the deaf, the dumb, tele-transport from a shore to a boat in the middle of a sea, raise others from the dead,where were they? If Jesus ever wanted someone to believe in Him it was when He had fulfilled His own prophecy and died. I don't see His disciples stepping up to claim Jesus, who steps up to claim Jesus?

Jesus is dead, the resurrection has not yet happened, the great miracle giving teacher who had given literal life to literal dead was now Himself dead. Yet who steps up to claim the body of the most controversial person on the face of the earth, in spite of knowing they would probably be shunned or even killed for stepping up to claim the dead body of Jesus? Was it John, or Matthew, or Simon Peter no it was Joseph of Arimathea a secret believer and Nicodemus, the one who came to Him in the darkness and also believed. Two run to the tomb and one waits outside afraid to go in but once he went in he too believed. These are people that God chose to mention by name in the holy scriptures to be remembered and read by all of mankind until He indeed comes again.

I hope to identify better with these guys that are unsure, afraid, and really don't know what to do but some how seem to do the right thing at the toughest times. They risked it all and God rewarded them with faith and Godly adoration. They weren't perfect, they asked tough questions but like me I hope, when it gets to where the rubber-meets-the-road their riding with Jesus... so am I if He'll will take me and He promised me and everyone else that He will accept all, even me. I too ran up to the tomb and looked in, I wanted to believe, I hesitated, I went in and I believed. Thank you Jesus. (By the way, when I went in He let me know that He was alive)