A reflection on commitment, healing, and remaining faithful in seasons of disappointment
There is a moment in the Gospel narrative that is often overlooked.
Yet it carries deep meaning for discipleship, community, and the Church.
In Mark 15:42–47, we meet Joseph of Arimathea.
He is a respected member of the council.
He steps forward after the death of Jesus.
He asks Pilate for His body.
At first glance, this looks simple.
A burial. A final act of care.
But when we slow down, we see more.
This is a moment of costly identification.
It is embodied devotion.
It reveals something important about discipleship.
Especially when the Body of Christ looks broken.
A Question Beneath the Text
Many believers today love Jesus deeply.
But they feel distant from the Church.
We now have language for this experience:
- personal faith
- private spirituality
- healing from church hurt
These experiences are real.
They deserve care and attention.
But they have also shaped a form of discipleship.
We stay devoted to Jesus.
Yet we disengage from His Body.
The New Testament does not separate these two.
At the center of our faith is not only a Savior to believe in.
It is a Body to belong to.
So Joseph of Arimathea forces us to ask a difficult question:
What does it mean to remain committed to the Body of Christ when it is visibly broken and deeply disappointing?
Who Is Joseph of Arimathea?
TThe Gospels show Joseph as a complex figure.
In Mark, he is a respected council member.
In Luke, he is described as good and just.
He did not agree with their decision.
In John, we learn something else.
He is a secret disciple.
He follows Jesus in hiding, because of fear.
Joseph is not a simple figure.
He is a disciple in tension.
- internally aligned with Jesus
- externally cautious
- close to power, but also close to conviction
Then something shifts.
At the moment of Christ’s death, he moves.
1. The Commitment to Public Identification
Joseph moves from concealment to courage.
John tells us he was a secret disciple.
Mark says he “took courage” and went to Pilate.
This is not a small step.
To approach Pilate is risky.
It means public association with a condemned man.
It means exposure and consequence.
Joseph does not move when it is safe.
He moves when it is costly.
This raises a question for us:
Is our discipleship only visible when it is safe?
It is easy to follow Christ in comfort.
It is harder to stand with Him in suffering.
And it is harder still to stay connected to His Body when it is wounded.
Joseph does not distance himself from the Body.
Even in its lowest moment, he draws near.
Disappointment did not cancel Joseph’s commitment to the Body.
2. The Commitment to a Broken Body
Joseph does not receive a victorious Messiah.
He receives a crucified body.
Beaten.
Disfigured.
Publicly humiliated.
There is no triumph in this moment.
There is only death.
Joseph does not wait for resurrection.
He does not wait for restoration.
He asks for the body as it is.
This is where the text becomes confronting.
The Body he receives is not only broken.
It is also disappointing.
It is not what anyone expected.
It is not what anyone hoped for.
Many believers are here today.
They are not only wrestling with a broken Church.
They are wrestling with a disappointing one.
It did not meet expectations.
It caused pain.
It failed in ways that cut deeply.
So the question becomes:
Do we require the Body to be whole before we receive it?
Or can we remain present with what is wounded, unfinished, and difficult to hold?
Joseph shows us something important.
Fellowship is not based on ideal conditions.
It is faithful presence with real ones.
3. The Commitment that Costs
Joseph’s decision has consequences.
Under Jewish law, contact with a dead body brings ritual impurity.
It disrupts participation in religious life.
Socially, he risks his reputation.
Politically, he risks his position.
This is not symbolic devotion.
This is costly alignment.
It leads to exclusion.
We often want discipleship without cost:
- belonging without tension
- community without pain
- faith without disruption
But real commitment carries weight.
Joseph chooses presence over protection.
Even when it costs him.
4. The Commitment Without Immediate Return
Joseph acts when there is no visible outcome.
From his perspective, Jesus is dead.
The movement looks finished.
There are no miracles left.
No crowds.
No momentum.
And still, Joseph moves forward.
He cares for a body that cannot respond.
It cannot repay him.
It cannot restore him.
This challenges how we often engage community.
We tend to relate through reciprocity:
- I stay where I am fed
- I serve where I am affirmed
- I invest where I benefit
But Joseph does not act transactionally.
He acts devotionally.
He honors what cannot give anything back.
A Moment for Reflection
Where have you distanced yourself from the Body of Christ?
Where has self-protection replaced participation?
Have you conditioned your engagement on what you receive?
What would it look like for you to re-engage in a concrete way?
Conclusion: Discipleship and the Body
Joseph teaches us something essential.
Discipleship is not only proven in how we follow Christ in strength.
It is revealed in how we stay connected to Him in weakness.
And because Christ chooses to be known through His Body,
our relationship with that Body reveals our relationship with Him.
A Call to Re-engage
So the question is no longer only what we see in the text.
It is what we will do in response.
Where disappointment has led to withdrawal,
God invites re-engagement.
Where you have pulled away,
God invites return.
Where you have only consumed,
God invites you to carry.
Faithful discipleship requires renewed commitment:
- to show up
- to remain present
- to serve the Body
- to stay engaged
Even when it is uncomfortable.
Even when it is imperfect.
Even when it disappoints you.
Final Word
To follow Christ faithfully is to remain rightly related to His Body, to go so far as to beg for it.
Even when that Body needs our gentle touch to be wrapped, carried, and laid in a place of care…
we stay.
Not because it is whole, but because our love is.
This is why Rhythms of Repair exists—
to create space for you to process, to heal, and to re-engage
slowly, honestly, and in the presence of God.
We’re gathering June 11–13 🤍
$50 deposits are now open.
Discover more from Dee Hillman
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
