Press the arrow to listen to Chris Tomlin sing “Jesus Messiah” while you read today’s devotion about dirty jobs.

Scripture
Joseph of Arimathea took a risk and went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. (Joseph was an honored member of the high council, and he was waiting for the Kingdom of God to come.) Mark 15:43

Observation
I love “Dirty Jobs”, the messy TV show with Mike Row. If there were a Mike Row in Jesus’ day it would have been Joseph of Arimathea. He did the ultimate dirty job of removing the body of Jesus from the cross and placing in his own, new tomb.

The whole story is remarkable. When a person dies it is the family who identify and claim the body. But Jesus’ family did not show up at the corner’s office. Not a single disciple was seen. Instead, a stranger, Joseph of Arimathea, took the body of Jesus.

In claiming Jesus at the morgue, Joseph embraced the shame that Jesus bore.  That one act severed his relationships with his powerful friends and put him on the side of the despised Christians.

But Jospeh’s action has given us the proof for the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Had Jesus been thrown into some mass grave for executed criminals, where would the convincing evidence be? Yet with a proper burial, a heavy stone and the seal with guards the credibility factor increases that Jesus was raised to life.

Some may be critical that Joseph was a secret disciple, yet when he was most needed he was more public than those who knew and loved Jesus best. His life gives us hope that no matter how many opportunities we may have missed to express our allegiance to Christ, what matters most is the current opportunity.  Joseph’s last action was his best and because of his claiming of the body of Jesus then we have Easter and resurrection hope today.

Application
My past failures do not matter. What does matter is this: am I prepared to do the “dirty jobs” for Jesus now? As Jesus said, it is not the son who promises and does not fulfill who pleases his father, but the son who refuses yet who changes his mind and does the work he was called to do.

Prayer
Father, remind me of the unfinished “dirty jobs” that are before me. I cannot claim the actual body of Christ, but in every human need I can do just that. Amen.