Jesus Was Buried by a Pharisee and Members of the Sanhedrin

The Burial of Jesus

"Afterward Joseph of Arimathea, who had been a secret disciple of Jesus (because he feared the Jewish leaders), asked Pilate for permission to take down Jesus’ body. When Pilate gave permission, Joseph came and took the body away. With him came Nicodemus, the man who had come to Jesus at night. He brought about seventy-five pounds of perfumed ointment made from myrrh and aloes. Following Jewish burial custom, they wrapped Jesus’ body with the spices in long sheets of linen cloth. The place of crucifixion was near a garden, where there was a new tomb, never used before. And so, because it was the day of preparation for the Jewish Passover and since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there." John 19:38-41

Secret agent believers (followers), have been around since Jesus started His ministry.

Fear

Their reasons were varied but mostly it is fear, although this have not stopped many of them from continuing to believe and even doing something for the Lord.

These two Jewish religious leaders, Joseph and Nicodemus were the original double 0 agents of Christ, if not the most well known of their kind, during their time, (we can call them double O 1 and double O 2).

What many of the secret followers of Jesus fear the most was lost of reputation, status, power, influence and money. And these two have a whole lot to lose if they were found out. But as we have read above, inspite of being careful to hide their beliefs, they still did not fear doing something for the cause of Christ.

Scriptures were silent about what happened next for these two secret agents. But just like any other believer, secret or otherwise, I don't believe they could just keep quiet and do nothing for the Lord.

Of course a great persecution of believers happened in the First Century which drove most believers underground not just for any fear, but for the ultimate fear of losing their lives. And sadly, this kind of persecution still exists today, in various kinds and degrees all over the world. There is even a strong culture of persecution in the online world and social media.

But just like these original secret believers, all the secret agents after them will have their names added to the records of those who have believed and have followed Christ.