Two men, two believers, each needing the support and encouragement from the other–that’s Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea. If you remember the story from John 3 you know Nicodemus came to Jesus at night. He was a Pharisee and probably didn’t want any of them to know where he was going. He remains obscure for a long period of time. Joseph of Arimathea was also an official with the Sanhedrin (a disciple of Jesus, secretly John 19). But after Jesus died on the cross, it was these two men who took the body down and placed him in a tomb owned by Joseph. Neither of these men were any longer afraid or ashamed to be associated with Jesus. I think they just needed each other’s faith to spur them on. Sometimes we can have similar feelings and are afraid to speak up for Jesus when the times arise. Perhaps we need a friend’s support and encouragement to do so. We need to remind each other of the truth of Ps. 27:1 “The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid? I’d like to believe that these two men continued to encourage and support one another as the years went by. We need to do the same with our friends.
