A very special thing happens at the foot of the cross after Jesus' death. Two men who have secretly begun to believe Jesus' teaching come out of hiding.
The first man John mentions is Joseph of Arimathea. The only place this man is mentioned is at the burial of Jesus. He is a rich council member who has kept his admiration of Jesus a secret until after the cross. He has been afraid of being thrown out of the synagogue. But now he exposes his faith by coming to Pilate and asking permission to take down Jesus' body.
The second man is Nicodemus. We read about him in the third chapter of John when he came to Jesus by the cover of night to ask questions. We have seen him gradually become bolder when we read about him confronting the council at the first plan to arrest Jesus at the end of chapter seven. Now Nicodemus is ready to publicly show his devotion by helping take Jesus down off the cross (John 19:38-42).
The cross has way of making our decision about Jesus public.
