"THE BURIAL"
Midweek Lenten Worship V
March 21, 2018
Bethel Evangelical Lutheran Church
Glenshaw, Pennsylvania
TEXT:
After these things Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took away the body. Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight. So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there.
John 19:38-42 (ESV)
The scene before us tonight is a touching one--one that you can easily relate to if you've ever had to make funeral arrangements for a loved one. Joseph and Nicodemus received Pilate's permission to bury the body of their Lord, and now, carefully and lovingly, they prepare the body according to Jewish burial practices of that day. We can only speculate as to their thoughts and feelings as they performed their labor of love. No doubt they had the feeling of loss that all of us experience when we lose a loved one. For them there might have been the added disappointment of losing Someone who they saw as a genuine Agent for good in a corrupt society. Another thing that they were probably feeling as they laid their Lord to rest was guilt. They had received so much from their relationship with Jesus, yet He had received nothing from them. They wouldn't even publicly acknowledge Him or admit that they knew Him, due to fear. Joseph and Nicodemus were pretty influential people among the Jews. They must have wondered if their public acceptance of Jesus would have made a difference in what had transpired that day.
While we can't read the minds of these two, maybe we can gain at least some understand their feelings by looking at their actions. After all, actions supposedly speak louder than words. Let's take a look at this seemingly insignificant act on the part of Joseph and Nicodemus and try to see in it their devotion for and their understanding of Jesus--devotion and understanding that we can take heart in, learn from, and look to as an example for us. In particular let's bear in mind that they acted in love and that they kept their perspective even in the midst of their grief.
Joseph and Nicodemus were now--finally--publicly acknowledging Jesus. Pilate would not have released the body to them unless they had told him why they wanted it. These two men were doing what everybody in their time and culture did to show respect for the dead. Following the burial customs of the day, they bathed the body, perfumed it with a mixture of spices made for that purpose, and then wrapped it up in a clean linen burial shroud. It doesn't seem that Jesus was buried with any excessive pomp. Neither was His body was disposed of without regard to dignity. We might say that they gave Him an average funeral--not extravagant by any means but certainly not cheap or lacking in dignity either.
More important than what is done to honor one at death is the matter of why it is done. No matter how practical, down-to-earth, or rational we may try to be, we cannot deny that when a loved one dies we have an overwhelming desire to do something for that person. Intellectually we know it's too late for that, but nevertheless we take great pains to give that person a tasteful burial and we take comfort in the knowledge that we are doing something for that person's memory. To make a long story short, it is our love for the one who has died that moves us to bury that person with dignity. No doubt it was love that moved Joseph and Nicodemus to obtain Jesus' body and bury Him tastefully.
Intent as they were about doing all of this, these two didn't lose sight of their priorities. All of the burial preparations could not be completed now, since the sun was setting and the Sabbath was about to begin. The rest of the preparations would have to wait until Sunday morning. These preparations were cut short because there were other preparations going on at the same time. The most holy Sabbath of the year was about to begin. There are more important things in the world than burying dead people. Perhaps they remembered Jesus' words, spoken earlier to the man who wanted to follow Him but first had to go and bury his father: "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God" (Luke 9:60). We think of the burial of our dead as an important religious event, and rightfully so. It's an occasion for mourners to express their grief and receive comfort--an occasion for the community of believers to gather together at worship to give thanks for the life that has now been completed, to comfort one another with the promises of the Gospel, and to proclaim to all the world that we are not shaken even by death. But the commemoration of the dead is never an end in itself, and we should never allow it to paralyze us or prevent us from worshiping our Savior.
There is yet another factor in play here: Whether they fully understood it or not, Joseph and Nicodemus were preparing the body of Jesus not just for burial, but also for resurrection. The tomb in which they placed Him was not to be His final resting place. Within three days He would again be alive. This reassures us that death is not so final that it should stop us from looking ahead. It's no different when we lay Christians to rest today. We are burying them not just so that they can be buried, but in anticipation of their resurrection from the dead on the day when the Savior returns. The grave is not the end for us any more than it was the end for our Lord.
Death isn't pleasant for anyone. It is for those left behind a time for mourning and remembering. But for the Christian it is also a time for rejoicing in hope because of the end result of that burial in Joseph's garden. There's nothing wrong with expressing grief, respect, and devotion when a loved one dies. But we need to be careful lest we lose sight of the fact that in Christ the sting of death has been overcome and we have reason for going on with life even in the face of death. We look forward to resurrection and everlasting life and we do so with confidence in the slain and risen Christ. In the meantime we have a mission to carry out in Jesus' name as we share the Gospel hope with those who have no hope. Keeping our eyes fixed on the blood-stained cross and empty tomb of Jesus, we forge ahead boldly, knowing that the same resurrection of Christ that gives us hope empowers us to share that hope with others.
Amen.
May the One who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, making us kings and priests before His God and Father, lead you to a life of repentance and trust. May He also be glorified in the lives of you, His people. He who calls you is faithful, and He will do it. Amen.