March 21, 2019

Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Council, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body.… So Joseph bought some linen cloth, took down the body, wrapped it in the linen, and placed it in a tomb cut out of rock.
—Mark 15:43, 46

The time had come when he must boldly act as Christ’s disciple.50
I do not suppose that he fully understood the design of our Lord’s death. He had some knowledge of it but not such a knowledge as we have now that the Spirit of God has appeared in all his fullness and taught us the meaning of the Cross.
Oh, listen, you that are not on his side openly, you who have never worn his livery nor manifestly entered his service. He died for you! Those wounds were all for you. That bloody sweat, of which you still may see the marks on the countenance of the Crucified, was all for you; for you the thirst and fever, for you the bowing of the head and breathing his last. Can you be ashamed to own him? Will you not endure rebuke and scorn for his dear sake who bore all this for you? Now speak from your soul and say, “He loved me and gave himself for me.” If you cannot say that, you cannot be happy. But if you can, then what follows? Must you not love him and give yourself for him?
The Cross is a wondrous magnet, drawing to Jesus everyone of the true metal. It is as a banner lifted on high to which all who are loyal must rally. This fiery Cross, carried through all lands, will rouse the valiant and speed them to the field. Can you see your Lord suffering to the death for you—and then turn your back? If the Cross does not bring a person out, what will? If the spectacle of dying love does not quicken us into courageous affection for him, what can?
—C. H. Spurgeon