What happens to the bodies of crucified criminals is not
done with much care. Normally thrown
into a mass grave and burned for sanitary purposes. But before the bonfire, hungry animals, dogs,
etc. come and chew on the loose flesh.
It is horrific. And that is what
is expected for those who die in such a manner.
Joseph of Arimathea begins thinking about it. He has seen the darkness. He has felt the earthquake. He may have even been at the Temple when the
Passover lamb was set free and the curtain tore from top to bottom. These signs can only mean one thing. And while Joseph had longed to see the
Kingdom of God enter this world through the vehicle of the Messiah, and Joseph
knew in his heart that the Messiah was Jesus, Joseph was not going to let the
end of the story of Jesus be one of a mass grave, dog chews, and fire. Joseph carried the same wrong beliefs as
everyone else about the role and expectations of the Messiah. But Joseph loved Jesus, and was not there at
His trial because Joseph would have never agreed with the verdict. And now what Joseph could do, even if was
only for the body of Jesus, Joseph was bound and determined to do, no matter
what it might cost him personally.
Luke reminds us of these events picking up in chapter 23 of
his gospel letter to his friend about what we believe and why starting in verse
50 it begins … “And, behold, there was a man named Joseph, a counseller; and he was a good
man, and a just: [verse 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. [verse 52] This man went unto Pilate, and
begged the body of Jesus.” It is
humility that begins it all. Joseph was
an esteemed member of the Sanhedrin. A
man of rank and esteemed counsel. Except
in the matter of Jesus, for Joseph could not help loving Jesus. The power of the love of God simply
overwhelmed Joseph, and Joseph had chosen not to resist it, but to embrace
it. You could choose that too if you
wanted. Members of the Sanhedrin ruled
the nation as much as Rome would allow.
They were mostly men of wealth and pride. They never humbled themselves no matter
what. But not so for Joseph. Joseph, an older man, prostrates himself on
the marble floors before Pilate weeping and begging for the body of Jesus. Pilate is awestruck. He does not know how to react. Pilate has seen many men beg before, but
never one not on trial, never one who is from the Sanhedrin. It is as if Joseph is poor. It is as if the heart of Joseph is so broken
he could care less what anyone thinks of him.
The story of Joseph in such humility before Pilate is sure to get out
(Pilate will help it if he needs to).
And the whole of Jewish nation will know that even the powerful prideful
Sanhedrin bows before the power and might of Rome. What a miracle. Jesus is dead and now this. Who could have imagined?
Would you have done the same? Can you do it now? Is there someone you refuse to humiliate
yourself before, in order to do for God what you alone might be able to
do? Some of us refuse to be so humbled
as to wash one another’s feet during the ceremony of Communion. Some refuse to be baptized. Some to refuse to pray at meals. Some refuse to ask for help, or for prayer. All of us seem to carry some notion of pride,
of a line we will not cross no matter what, no matter for who, even for
God. But Joseph obliterated all such
lines on behalf of a dead Jesus who would not even know what he was doing. Joseph sent his reputation into the shredder
for a dead Lord. He gave the wealth
intended for himself to a Rabbi from Nazareth now dead on a Roman cross. There was no reward in it. There was no gain to be had. There was only the sting of criticism from
fellow Jews mad that he would submit himself to Rome for any reason, let alone
a dead Carpenter of no account. But that
was not how Joseph loved Jesus. Joseph
loved Jesus like the Son of God He was.
Everything begins with humility.
Luke continues in verse 53 saying … “And 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.”
Pilate granted Joseph’s request.
It did not cost him anything.
Joseph was covering all the costs.
What was that to Pilate? But to
Joseph this apparently meant everything, which of course did not make any sense
at all. Jesus was clearly dead. Joseph raced to the cross now, he and the
others carefully took the body of Jesus down.
They gently removed the nails and spikes from Jesus’ hands and
feet. The Roman had already removed his
spear at the moment he had thrust it in, now was only the wound of it that
remained. Joseph pricks his own fingers
mixing his own blood with the head of Jesus as he must remove the vicious crown
of thorns. For that crown had been
driven deep into the head of Jesus by taunting guards who drove it deeper with
their taunts and tortures. But now it
had to be taken out. They were not
rushing, but they were moving as carefully and swiftly as they could. Each person taking part in this would have to
keep themselves isolated from others as Jewish law was very particular about
touching the dead. Everyone knew
it. But Sabbath was coming, and even
this most important work will not complete before Sabbath arrives.
Luke continues in verse 54 saying … “And that day was the
preparation, and the sabbath drew on. [verse 55] And the women also, which came with
him from Galilee, followed after, and beheld the sepulchre, and how his body
was laid. [verse 56] And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and
rested the sabbath day according to the commandment.” They managed to get Jesus down, get His body
free of the instruments of Roman torture.
They wrapped Him in some burial linens.
And they took him to a tomb that no one had ever used before. It was likely a tomb Joseph had prepared from
himself, perhaps for his family if he had one.
But Jesus had need of something, and for Joseph only the best would do,
Joseph could always have another tomb carved from the rocks later for
himself. They laid Jesus carefully in
the tomb. Meanwhile the women who had
been there all along went home and started gathering and preparing spices they
could anoint the body of Jesus with now that he was dead. They had seen Jesus laid in the tomb. And the Sabbath had arrived, so there was no
time now to anoint His body. So they
went home and prepared as much as they could before the sun set. Then like every other follower of Jesus, they
rested on the Sabbath day. Joseph would
rest too.
But for those who did not follow Jesus, Sabbath rest was not
to be part of the itinerary. The priests
and scribes responsible for the death of Jesus heard the stories of Joseph
having obtained the body of Jesus. They
were furious. Terror had quickly given
way to anger. Fear will never keep
anyone in the kingdom nor is it a good tool to try to use to get them
there. These wicked priests would have
preferred to see Jesus eaten by the dogs in a mass grave then burned. Instead yet another prophecy was being
fulfilled. So rather than rest upon the
Sabbath, they traveled to Pilate to complain and see what could be done. Now the mind of Satan is much sharper than
the human mind. The followers of Jesus
had forgotten the words of Jesus about being raised to life upon the third
day. But Satan had not forgotten, so
these priests got it into their heads that they must at all costs keep the body
of Jesus in that grave at least for three days.
Friday was nearly gone or gone now with sunset. Saturday was here. What was needed was fear at the grave site of
Jesus. An entire Roman detachment, 100
soldiers, and a centurion. But beyond
that, chains of heavy iron dragged across a huge round stone that would take
many men just to move to the entrance.
And to top it off a great Roman seal that if broken represented death to
any human that would dare.
And who would not keep Sabbath would be these priests and
scribes who thought nothing of having someone else work for them on this holy
day standing guard over Jesus. And the
Romans who had no concept of Sabbath stood watch over Jesus. Frankly the Romans were more uncertain of the
divinity of Jesus than perhaps the priests. They had all seen the darkness, they had all
been cast as dead men to the ground when the earthquake hit. Perhaps for the first time in a long time
they all knew fear. They were all
guilty. And if guarding Jesus kept Jesus
dead that would fine with them all. And
the priests were going to pay for it all, a condition Pilate was likely to
require (Roman tax at its finest). So
while every member of the new religion of Jesus was quietly resting on Sabbath
as their Lord was also doing. Many
leaders of the old religion who claimed to be the right one, thought nothing of
committing murder, breaking the Sabbath, lying about everything, and funding
anything of a criminal nature that needed to be funded.
The difference perhaps of a people who are led by Jesus and
follow His example, and those who claim to be led by Jesus but do what they
think is right in the name of God, just not the will of God, nor that of the example
of Jesus even in these moments. Many of
us are so certain we know what we should do, and how we should do it – only to
find when we examine the life of Jesus, what we are doing is far from what He
did. We worship on other days because we
want to, but do not set aside the time Jesus made holy and asked us to
remember, treating it like those Pharisees of old, doing what we think is
needed for reasons we think are important, while Jesus rests in the tomb on the
seventh day. Many of us think nothing of
employing others to do jobs we think are critical on Sabbath, and in doing
thus, we deny them the blessing of Sabbath they should be enjoying with us. Many of us watch, and fill our minds, with
the same content we could consume any other day, that brings us not one inch
closer to God. We do not need to be dead
to keep Sabbath holy, nor do we need to sleep from one end of it to the other. But to love, we might want to start with
humility, and ask God what He has in mind for us during His special time, and
follow that leading rather than always thinking we know what is best.
I do find it interesting however, that the Christian church
began with an ending of the old, and an ushering in of the new. And the first new day, and first new action
of the Christian church, was the celebration of Sabbath, which Jesus and all
the followers of Jesus kept. The work of
our salvation resumed the next day on the first day of the week. But Christianity did not begin on that day,
it began on Sabbath. That is the leading
I must follow.
No comments:
Post a Comment