Kindness at What Cost?

Text: John 19:38-42

Today our country honors those who gave their lives in military service for our country. If someone in your family are among those being honored, you understand the significance of today more than those who haven’t.

Death to someone close to you can be devastating. The death of Jesus abruptly ended the hopes and dreams of at least 120 people. As we considered this passage in John, the death of Jesus also impacted at least two prominent members of the Sanhedrin. The very council that had just manipulated Pilate into killing Him.
We don’t know when it happened, or how it happened. What we know is something inside Joseph of Arimathea changed. He and fellow Sanhedrin member Nicodemus decided in a matter of hours, possibly minutes, to risk their status, position, and possibly their lives for nothing more than an act of kindness.
Kindness is un-natural. Risking social or economic capital for people who can do nothing for you runs counter to culture these days pretty much everywhere on the planet. Like our growing indifference to days set aside to honor the fallen military, the general lack of kindness is further evidence that the alleged progress of our day has resulted in a much less Godly humanity.

God used this man, Joseph of Arimathea and an act of kindness on his part to fulfill a prophecy validating His Son. An unlikely probability for Jesus once He was crucified and yet, exactly what happened.

As a believer in Jesus, presuming you are a believer, how has what Jesus has done for you impacted your kindness? Grace like kindness. The kind of kindness with absolutely no chance of reciprocity?

Test yourself this week. Ask God to provide you an act of kindness opportunity. The joy you’ll receive for taking any risk that might be associated with doing it will more than outweigh any possible consequences. You’ll never know unless you try.