The Guys Who Saved Easter // John 19:38-42

Pastor Doug Glynn

“The entire Christian faith hinges on one single event: the resurrection.” Without resurrection, Jesus would have been another would-be Messiah, a forgotten figure in Jewish history. The disciples would have remained afraid, likely writing off their years with Jesus as something like an interesting mistake.

But that’s not what happened. Jesus was resurrected. And the courageous actions of two unlikely heroes, Nick and Joe (Nicodemus the Pharisee and Joseph of Arimathea), lent credibility to the reality of the Messiah overcoming even the power of Death. Jesus was not simply mostly dead (like a common rebuttal to the resurrection suggests), as a mostly dead person could not survive the process of embalming and burial after being crucified! These men may have played a small role in the overall story of Easter, but it is one worth remembering, and their boldness and courage is even worth imitating.