The Fourteenth Station: Jesus Is Laid in the Tomb

Presider: We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
All: Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

When it was already evening, since it was the day of prepa­ration, the day before the sabbath, Joseph of Arimathea, a distin­guished member of the council, who was himself awaiting the kingdom of God, came and courageously went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Pilate was amazed that he was already dead. He summoned the centurion and asked him if Jesus had already died. And when he learned of it from the centurion, he gave the ​body to Joseph. Having bought a linen cloth, he took him down, wrapped him in the linen cloth and laid him in a tomb that had been hewn out of the rock. Then he rolled a stone against the en­trance to the tomb. (Mark 15:42-46) 

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JOSEPH OF ARIMATHEA
My name is Joseph. I come from a town called Arimathea. I saw the drama unfold to the bitter end. I was with the council that planned his death, and although I did not support the council's ac­tion, I wonder if I did enough. Could I have stopped them if I had been more learned or more eloquent or more impassioned in my address to them? Was I perhaps afraid of the council, afraid they might .discover that I was a secret disciple? Nicodemus and I were both hidden disciples, both afraid to follow him openly. But after his death, I cared little what the council would think. Jesus warned me about the use of riches for I am indeed a rich man. I was overjoyed when he accepted me as a disciple and allowed me to use my resources to support him. That was a privilege but not the greatest. The real privilege came when I asked Pilate for Jesus' body and buried him in a tomb meant for me. In the end, instead of burying Jesus in a pauper's grave, I had the consolation of serv­ing him in death and unknowingly fulfilling the prophesy of Isaiah which said: "His tomb will be with the rich." I stood by when they closed the tomb. I was there on the day Jesus died for everyone, rich and poor alike. What about you? Were you there on that somber Friday? 
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PRESIDER: Let us pray.
ALL: Jesus, you gave Joseph the strength to break through the fears that bound him. Send upon us the power of your Spirit so that we may overcome all fear and announce the good news of your death and res­urrection. Amen. 
Were you there when they laid him in the tomb?
Were you there when they laid him In the tomb? 
Oh! Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble!
Were you there when they laid him in the tomb? 

Closing Prayer

PRESIDER: Let us pray . . . 
ALL: Jesus, we have journeyed with the characters of your passion and have seen the
​ strengths and weaknesses within the human heart.
We have discovered within us that same human heart, with its light and its shadows. Give us true humility to acknowledge our strengths and our weaknesses and to have a compassionate heart for others, Amen. 

Were you there when he rose and conquered death?
Were you there when he rose and conquered death?
Oh! Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble! 
Were you there when he rose and conquered death? 

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