Neville Goddard on Luke 23:50-54 - Mystical Bible Interpretation

Read Luke 23 in context

Scripture Focus

50And, behold, there was a man named Joseph, a counsellor; and he was a good man, and a just:

51(The same had not consented to the counsel and deed of them;) he was of Arimathaea, a city of the Jews: who also himself waited for the kingdom of God.

52This man went unto Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus.

53And he took it down, and wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a sepulchre that was hewn in stone, wherein never man before was laid.

54And that day was the preparation, and the sabbath drew on.

Luke 23:50-54

Biblical Context

Joseph of Arimathea, a righteous member, waited for the kingdom of God, asked Pilate for Jesus' body, and laid it in a new tomb. The scene highlights a reverent, decisive act of honoring the life within.

Neville's Inner Vision

Luke records a good and just man who waited for the kingdom of God. Read as Neville would, Joseph is a state of consciousness—an inner disposition that is reliable, just, and waiting for the kingdom that is already within. To go to Pilate and beg the body is to acknowledge that the living idea (Jesus) must take form in your life. Pilate embodies outward authority and appearance; yet the inner I AM steps forward to authorize appearance by its consent. Wrapping the body in linen and laying it in a tomb are symbolic acts of burying old thought-forms and giving the divine idea a resting place in form until its resurrection. The preparation day and the coming sabbath signal a period of inner rest, during which you do not resist but acknowledge what already is. Your task is simple: assume the end. Feel the truth of your desired life as if it already exists, and let your consciousness do the rest.

Practice This Now

Assume the end now: feel the Kingdom as already real in your life. Imagine yourself calmly approaching the outward order (Pilate) and consenting to the appearance of your true idea (the body) into form, then rest in a linen tomb of quiet belief until resurrection in experience.