Conversations on the way to the Cross 6: The Burial

Joseph of Arimathea asks Pilate for the body of Jesus

"Joseph of Arimathea to see you, sir."

"Oh yes? And what do you want?"

"I apologize for disturbing you, sir. I request your permission to remove and bury the body of Jesus of Nazareth, crucified at Golgotha this morning."

"Jesus of Nazareth? Don't be a fool, man! He's hardly been up there nine hours. There's no way he can be dead yet!"

"I have reason to believe that he is, sir."

"Oh, you do, do you? Let me get to the bottom of this. Sestus! Sestus! Get me the centurion on crucifixion duty at Golgotha this morning! And you, Mr Joseph, stay right there. I'm not releasing any body until I know a bit more."

"Centurion Flavius of the Ninth Cohort, Mr Governor, sir!"

"Centurion Flavius. You were on crucifixion duty today?"

"Yessir. Three prisoners executed, sir."

"The one known as Jesus of Nazareth - is he dead yet?"

"Dead as a doornail, sir. Stabbed him in the side with my own sword, sir."

"Remarkably quick, wasn't it? You're certain?"

"These ain't my first crucifixions, Mr Pilate, sir. I make sure they're dead, sir."

"Well, Mr Joseph, looks like you were correct. Thank you, centur..."

"You were his friend, Mr Joseph? You knew this Jesus guy? I've gotta tell you, I ain't never seen one go the way he did. That was something else, that was. Were you there? That creepy darkness, and the stillness, like the whole world was holding its breath... felt like I couldn't hardly breathe meself, watching him. The calm on his face! He were in agony, just like the rest, you could tell, but he had such a look on him, just like he was doing exactly what he meant to. And then that final breath - you could almost see the spirit leaving him, fluttering off like a bird or summat... I said to myself, I said, 'This ain't no regular criminal, Flavius. This is like... I dunno, the son of God himself!'"

Mark 15: 33-47

Other Conversations from the Cross
1: The Donkey
2: The Commotion
3: The Authority
4: The Anointing
5: The Betrayal

7: The Precaution
8: The Resurrection

Comments

Mr White Watson of Bakewell

Once upon a time, back in 1795 or so, lived a man who was always asking questions. The kind of questions like, "Why is glass transparent?" or "Why do fruit trees grow better in that place than in this place?" or "What does the earth look like underneath the surface?" This last question was one that he was particularly interested in, and he went so far as to work out what the rock layers looked like where he lived, and draw little pictures of them. Now he was a marble sculptor by trade (as well as fossil hunter, mineral seller, and a few other things) so he thought it would be even better to make his little pictures in stone. That way he could represent the layers using the actual rocks they were composed of. Over the course of his lifetime he made almost 100 of these tablets, as he called them. Then he died. And no one else was quite as interested in all those rocks and minerals as he was. His collection was sold off, bit by bit, and the table...

Birmingham: Temples to many things

Birmingham's cathedral is overshadowed by more modern temples: the mirrored swirls of New Street train station; the dotted bulge of the Selfridges store; the lacy blocks of the library; the pillars and pediments of the museum and art gallery. Museum and town hall Next to all these, Birmingham Cathedral, in its square of dusty grass, isolated from the main flow of shopping and travel, seems less like a dominant building and more like a minor chapel. It turns out the unpretentiousness is deliberate. St Philip's Church was built in 1715 when the worshipping population of Birmingham had outgrown the medieval constraints of St Martin in the Bullring . Birmingham remained part of the Diocese of Worcester until 1905, when Charles Gore pushed for the creation of a new diocese and became its first bishop. Seeing the depth of need in the city, he decided to convert St Philip's to a cathedral rather than spend money on a grand new building. Birmingham Cathedral had to be restored afte...

Southwell Minster, Newark-on-Trent, and a pilgrim cellist

You may remember that I recently mentioned people doing weird and wonderful things. Well, I found another one. Last year, Kenneth Wilson visited all 42 English cathedrals. On a bike. With a cello. It was a cargo bike; the whole setup, cello and all, weighed about 50 kg; and he mostly managed a rate of one cathedral per day, with occasional rest days and train journeys where absolutely necessary. That's a lot of cycling. Of course, he wrote a book about it, and when I found out he was on the schedule at Newark Book Festival, I had to go. It also provided the perfect excuse to visit Southwell Minster. Newark-on-Trent feels like it is in the depths of the Nottinghamshire countryside, but it isn't actually hard to get to, I thought as I buzzed along the dual carriageways of the A50, A453, A52 and A46 on a sunny Sunday morning. All along the route, the grass stood bleached and crispy, scorched by the summer heat. Newark Castle with crispy grass The author event was at the National...

Martha's Marvellous Munchies

Search This Blog