Jesus & Joseph of Arimathea

There are a myriad of myths and legends that connect Jesus and Joseph of Arimathea to Glastonbury.

The New Testament tells us that Joseph of Arimathea was a wealthy member of the high Jewish council called the Sanhedrin and also a disciple of Jesus.
Also that he travelled to Britain on several occasions to source tin and lead as a merchant.
It has been said that Joseph was the uncle of the Virgin Mary and therefore of Jesus, and that Jesus accompanied Joseph on one of these visits to Britain. 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?
------- William Blake (1757 -1827)

On the day of Jesus’ crucifixion, Joseph went and asked Pontius Pilate for permission to take Jesus’ body to prepare it for burial. He also provided the tomb where Jesus lay until the resurrection.
During the persecution of the church in Jerusalem, when St Stephen was martyred, and its members scattered, St. Philip the Apostle, went to France where he converted many to the new faith. He then chose twelve followers and appointed his dearest friend Joseph of Arimathea as their leader to go and evangelise Britain (A.D.63)
The king at that time, Arviragus, presented them with a portion of land, known as the Twelve Hides A Druid, Aviragus never converted to Christianity, but was sympathetic towards Joseph and his followers.
By ‘divine direction,’ they built a church of wattle which was to be the first Christian church in Britain and dedicated to Mary, mother of Jesus. Joseph and his followers remained and taught here for the rest of their lives.

Legend also tells us that when Joseph and his followers first arrived at Glastonbury, he planted his staff on Wearyall Hill, below the Tor and like Aaron’s rod it miraculously budded. This is the origin of the ‘Glastonbury Thorn’.
During the time of Cromwell 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. Descendents of the Thorn still survive to this day in Glastonbury.

An account relating to the end of Joseph’s life is said to be taken from a work of a British bard named Melkinus, who lived about the 6th century and states that Joseph of Arimathea was “buried in the Isle of Avalon, in a marble tomb, to the south of the church dedicated to the blessed Virgin, and that in the tomb there were also “two cruets”, white and silver, filled with the blood and sweat of the prophet Jesus.”
It is this that is usually quoted in support of a general belief that Joseph was buried in the monks’ cemetery.

Certain representations of St. Joseph of Arimathea survive, notably in the 15th century glass of the east window of Langport church and also at St. John’s church in the High Street, in which he is depicted carrying the symbolic cruets.

Dee Flanagan

Thanks to Christopher Santer for permission to use his painting of Josph and Jesus. See more of his work at: Link