S: John 19:39-42
38 Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jewish leaders. With Pilate’s permission, he came and took the body away. 39 He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. 40 Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs. 41 At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. 42 Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.
O: Sometimes we want to follow Jesus, but we are afraid, because of the people around us. We of course hear awesome dramatic testimonies about the people who stood up anyway, and are sometimes martyred for it, for example, the testimony of Nokseng, the Garo tribal man in Assam, India back in the 19th century that was put into a song, often attributed to the 19th Century Indian evangelist Sadhu Sundar Singh, but perhaps more likely it was Garo pastor Simon K. Marak who wrote the original Assamese song. Later, the song was translated into English, and popularised by Billy Graham. You know the song: I have decided to follow Jesus.
But most of us don’t face such dramatic situations. Instead, many of us struggle quietly, like Joseph and Nicodemus. But this doesn’t mean that if you’ve let Jesus down like that, God can never use you again.
God used Joseph and Nicodemus, even in their cowardice. Jesus called Peter to feed his sheep, even after he denied him 3 times, restoring him with a 3-fold question-and-exhortation, “Do you love me? Feed my sheep.”
A: God is a god of second chances. If you’ve let Jesus down before, that’s not the end. Come back and stand up for Jesus!
P: Father, when I am afraid, give me courage to stand for You. In Jesus’ name, amen.
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