Joseph of Arimathea

He belongs to the world of the Sanhedrin and the respectable, a man whose wealth and standing give him access the Galileans lack. His loyalty to Jesus is real but cautious, expressed in the practical care that others, in their fervor or their fear, cannot provide. In the book's closing movement he becomes the one through whom the story's most intimate act of devotion is carried out, a reminder that faith sometimes wears the face of a well-placed friend.