The Gospels
tell us (M 27:57-61; P 15:42-47; L 23:50-56; J 19:38-42) that after the death
of Jesus, Joseph of Arimathaea, wealthy, a member of the Council, asked Pilate
for the body of Jesus, and buried it with honor in the tomb he had intended for
himself. This is our only information about him from writers of his own
century.
Later tradition
has embellished this account. (If not interested in folklore, skip to the
closing prayer.) It is said that Joseph was a distant relative of the family of
Jesus; that he derived his wealth from tin mines in Cornwall, which he visited
from time to time; and that Jesus as a teen-ager accompanied Joseph on one such
visit. This is the background of the poem "Jerusalem," by William
Blake, which begins:
And did those feet in ancient
time
Walk upon England's
mountains green?
And was the holy Lamb of God
On England's pleasant
pastures seen?
And did the countenance divine
Shine forth upon our clouded
hills?
And was Jerusalem builded here
Among those dark satanic
mills?
Bring me my bow of burning
gold!
Bring me my arrows of
desire!
Bring me my spear! O clouds,
unfold!
Bring me my chariot of fire!
I will not cease from mental
fight,
Nor shall my sword sleep in
my hand,
Till we have built Jerusalem
In England's green and
pleasant land.
-- William
Blake (1757-1827)
After the
Crucifixion, we are told, Joseph returned to Cornwall, bringing the chalice of
the Last Supper, known as the Holy Grail. Reaching Glastonbury, he planted his
staff, which took root and blossomed into a thorn tree. The Grail was hidden,
and part of the great national epic ("the matter of Britain") deals
with the unsuccessful quest of the knights of King Arthur to find the Grail.
The Thorn Tree remained at Glastonbury, flowering every year on Christmas day,
and King Charles I baited the Roman Catholic chaplain of his queen by pointing
out that, although Pope Gregory had proclaimed a reform of the calendar, the Glastonbury
Thorn ignored the Pope's decree and continued to blossom on Christmas Day
according to the Old Calendar. The Thorn was cut down by one of Cromwell's
soldiers on the grounds that it was a relic of superstition, and it is said
that as it fell, its thorns blinded the axeman in one eye. A tree allegedly
grown from a cutting from the original Thorn survives today in Glastonbury (and
trees propagated from it stand on the grounds of the Cathedral in Washington,
DC, and presumably elsewhere) and leaves from it are sold in all the tourist
shops in Glastonbury.
Has the
Glastonbury legend any basis at all in history? Two facts and some speculations
follow:
Tin, an
essential ingrediant of bronze, was highly valued in ancient times, and
Phoenician ships imported tin from Cornwall. It is a pretty safe guess that in
the first century the investors who owned shares in the Cornwall tin trade
included at least a few Jewish Christians.
Christianity
gained a foothold in Britain very early, probably earlier than in Gaul. It may
have been brought there by the traffic of the Cornwall tin trade. If so, then
the early British Christians would have a tradition that they had been
evangelised by a wealthy Jewish Christian. If they had forgotten his name, it
would be natural to consult the Scriptures to see what mention was made of
early wealthy Jewish converts. Joseph and Barnabas are almost the only ones
named, and much of the life of Barnabas is already accounted for by the book of
Acts, which makes him an unsatisfactory candidate. Hence, those who do not like
to be vague would say, not, "We were evangelised by some wealthy Jewish
Christian whose name we have forgotten," but, "We were evangelised by
Joseph of Arimathaea."
Why spend time
on any of the above? Because the folk-tales of a community are part of the
heritage of a community. Someone wishing to understand the United States will
be well advised to familiarize himself with the stories of George Washington's
cherry tree and Paul Revere's ride, although he ought not to confuse them with
history.
