Tuesday, March 17, 2026

It is the 17th of March 2026. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org; I’m Dan van Voorhis.

 

Yes, it is St Patrick’s Day- no, today’s show is not about him. Go to the unofficial transcript of this show, and I’ll give you the link (https://www.1517.org/podcast-overview/2023-03-17). I will remind you, however, that he didn’t teach the trinity to Irish pagans by using the three-leaf shamrock. Also, it might seem cute, but it breaks down the Godhead into something more like Voltron- pieces parts coming together instead of three coequal persons that are fully God in and of themselves, too!

 

But what happens when, over time, a saint becomes a big deal? What happens to the others on the calendar, remembered, but perhaps with legacies that pale in comparison?

 

This is the story of our man today- almost incapable of taking center stage by himself, he is nonetheless one of the more crucial characters in the Gospels. He was Joseph of Arimathea- the man recorded in all four gospels as the man who helped to prepare the body of Jesus and the owner of the yet unused tomb that Jesus would be laid to rest in before the resurrection.

 

With the rise of Patrick, some church bodies have moved Joseph’s feast day and often pair him with Nicodemus, another secret disciple of Jesus. The four gospels picture him as a rich man, a prominent member of the council (likely the Sanhedrin), and he courageously asked Pilate to remove the body of Jesus from the cross. We read that he was righteous, he was “awaiting the Kingdom of God,” but that he also had to be secretive for fear of the religious leaders.

 

As for his origins, he was from Arimathea. Be careful out there- I’ve seen some wildly reckless theories about what Arimathea might have been or meant.

 

I can straighten it out with a quick story. It seems that the location of Arimathea was a headache for the church from the 2nd century AD. As the Romans intruded, they changed the names of places to help erase the strong Jewish cultural and religious ties in the land. Attempting to straighten out the locations of places, the early church Historian Eusebius published his “Onomasticon”- or “place names” specifically of Scripture. Eusebius places Arimathea at Ramathaim, the birthplace of Samuel.

 

And in this Lenten season, you might hear from Isaiah- the “suffering Servant” passages, such as chapter 53, starting in verse 9:

 

He was assigned a grave with the wicked,

and with the rich in his death,

though he had done no violence,

nor was any deceit in his mouth.

 

Historically, this has been identified as Joseph of Arimathea- the rich man who prepared Jesus’ body and let him use his grave- a tomb hewn out of the side of a rock.

 

Because he shows up in 4 gospels and he was crucial to the death and resurrection narrative, you can imagine that a good deal of extra writing has been done on him. He has long been considered to be in the first extended group of disciples who would spread the Gospel to the ends of the earth.

 

But we have no credible historical records of Joseph and his possible exploration. There are no “credible” historical records, but we have a lot! According to tradition, he was sent out from the Mediterranean and went to Great Britain. William of Malmesbury wrote the history of the church at Glastonbury and called it the oldest in Britain. And so the story went that it was founded by Joseph of Arimathea when he supposedly came in the 60s AD.

 

With such an origin story, why not go one step further? Because he was present at the crucifixion, it was said that he was the one who used the cup, the grail, etc, to catch drops of Jesus blood. And so we have the blood, the grail, and England, and so Glastonbury and Joseph become key figures in the Arthurian legends and in subsequent British history. Joseph of Arimathea is thus the first of the so-called “Keepers of the Grail” (made famous in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade).

 

So, wear your green if you wish- but remember the man with the temerity to ask Pilate for the body and to use his own pre-purchased tomb for the period between Jesus’ death and resurrection. The patron saint of undertakers, Joseph of Arimathea, lives between New Testament studies, church history, and a fair bit of legend. We remember him on one of these feast days, the 17th of March.

 

 

 

The Last word for today comes from the daily lectionary and from Colossians 1:

9 And so, from the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 to lead a life worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. 11 May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. 13 He has delivered us from the dominion of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

 

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 17th of March 2026, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by a man wondering what Joseph has to do with the Music festival- he is Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by a man who, when I was little, I didn’t get that “Paul Bearer” was a pun because he worked with the Undertaker- I’m Dan van Voorhis.

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.