“and he was looking for the kingdom of God.” This isn’t some throw-away line; it’s what separates Joseph from the crowd. The rest of the council was as blind as a bat. They looked right at Jesus and all His miracles and saw nothing, but Joseph saw the Messiah. Why? Because he was looking for the kingdom of God. But what were the others looking for?

Luke 23:50–56 (ESV)

Now there was a man named Joseph, from the Jewish town of Arimathea. He was a member of the council, a good and righteous man, who had not consented to their decision and action; and he was looking for the kingdom of God. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then he took it down and wrapped it in a linen shroud and laid him in a tomb cut in stone, where no one had ever yet been laid. It was the day of Preparation, and the Sabbath was beginning. The women who had come with him from Galilee followed and saw the tomb and how his body was laid. Then they returned and prepared spices and ointments.

On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.

Other than the accounts of this action, Joseph of Arimathea isn’t mentioned anywhere else in scripture. The portrait of him painted by this passage is fascinating. Since the council vote was unanimous (see Mark 14:64), Joseph must have been absent. This fits with the tense of the verb when it says he “had not consented to their decision and action” rather than “did not consent.”

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