The Bible is a very complex book. Actually, the Bible is many books written over many centuries in multiple languages by many authors. No wonder it’s so complex!

I was facilitating a study of my latest book, Spelunking Scripture: The Passion of Christ in the Synoptic Gospels. The focus of one session was on Chapter 20, “The Burial of Jesus,” based on Matthew 27:57-61 and Mark 15:42-47 and Luke 23:50-56. All three Gospels tell how Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of the crucified Jesus and buried the body in his own rock-hewn tomb. Beyond that basic account, each Gospel writer provides unique details. Matthew says that Joseph was “rich” and “was also a disciple of Jesus.” Mark says that Joseph was “a respected member of the council.” Luke says that Joseph was “a good and righteous man.” Thus, by studying the Gospels together, we gain a more complete picture of who Joseph was and what he did.

All three Gospels tell us that Joseph was from Arimathea, but they don’t tell us where Arimathea was or anything about his place of origin. So, I went to the HarperCollins Bible Dictionary to look up “Arimathea.” The Bible dictionary identifies Arimathea as Joseph’s hometown, but then it gives three possible locations. Not much help.

I also went to the Bible dictionary to find out about Mary the mother of Joses, who saw were the body was laid, according to Mark’s Gospel. In Matthew she is called “the other Mary,” and in Luke she is one of “the women who had come with him from Galilee.” According to the Bible dictionary there were multiple women in the New Testament who were named Mary, and several explanations on who Mary the mother of Joses may have been. I looked up “Joses” in the Bible dictionary and again found several possible explanations on who he may have been. Complex, indeed.

Because the Bible is so complex, we need resources such as Bible dictionaries and commentaries to help us understand what the Bible teaches. That’s part of the reason why I have written the Spelunking Scripture series of Bible study books. The basic idea is to go beneath the surface level of the texts to explore some important passages of the Bible. I’ve called my methodology, “what?/so what?” My method is to explore “what” the text says, and then to move deeper into the “so what” question, that is, to explore what the text means for us.

The bottom line for me about Joseph of Arimathea is his bravery. It was risky business to follow Jesus. It still is. Although we live in a country that seems to give preferential treatment to Christians (such as Sunday being a day off for most people), truly following Jesus is not always risk-free.

Sometimes our Christian values conflict with the culture of the time. We read and study the complex Bible in order to determine what those Christian values should be.