John 19:38-42 The Burial of Jesus
“Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jewish leaders. With Pilate’s permission, he came and took the body away. He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs. At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.”
Matthew 27:62-66 The Guard at the Tomb
“The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. “Sir,” they said, “we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first.”
“Take a guard,” Pilate answered. “Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.” So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.”
It’s Saturday. Jesus has been crucified and his body laid in a tomb belonging to Joseph of Arimathea. Nicodemus and Joseph have wrapped Jesus’ body in spices and strips of linen, doing everything they can before sunset on that fateful day. While all Jesus’ followers are grieving, the chief priests and Pharisees go to Pilate, requesting a Roman guard for the tomb and an official Roman seal. That should fix those pesky individuals who have believed in this upstart Galilean carpenter!
Meanwhile, the disciples have quietly gathered someplace, perhaps in the upper room where they shared the Passover meal with Jesus. Everybody is stunned, with nothing to say. Sure, Jesus made all those statements comparing himself to Jonah, but how can they possibly believe now that they have watched Jesus die? All the celebrations of Passover have lost their appeal, and everyone sits there quietly grieving. Some of the women go to the tomb and return reporting that authorities have posted Roman soldiers and have put a seal on the rock blocking the entrance to the tomb. Things look about as bleak as they can get.
Perhaps you can relate to those disciples on Holy Saturday. You thought your life was working well, but circumstances beyond your control have turned everything into a disaster. Your hopes and dreams have been dashed to the ground, and you scarcely have the energy to pray. These days, your prayers are mostly of the “God, help!” variety. Now the obstacles to God fulfilling His perfect Will in your life appear as huge and as permanent as that stone that blocked the tomb entrance, the one with the Roman seal on it. You don’t need Roman soldiers guarding a tomb, for you have people whom you have trusted who have betrayed you and who are adamantly persisting in their misconduct. You thought you were doing God’s will and fulfilling His purpose for your life, but now you just want a way of escape.
I’ve been there. I know exactly how you feel. Repeatedly, we have endured crises that threaten decades of devoted work. Things look bleak. At times, it’s tempting to ask God why he brought us to our current location if our best efforts are to be thwarted.
As part of my daily devotional reading, I am re-reading the Book of Job. God allows Job to endure the loss of family, wealth, and health. Job’s wife even encourages him to curse God and die. But throughout all that suffering, Job endures. Eventually, Job realizes that God is far greater than he is and that God’s ways are not to be traced. Once Job reaches that point, God restores everything Job has lost, even multiplying it.
Take heart! On Easter Sunday, Jesus’ followers will find themselves ecstatically rejoicing over his resurrection. God is the God of the impossible, and he can also resurrect anything in your life that deserves renewal. God can even give you something better than whatever you have lost. God specializes in resurrections, and He can renew, restore, resurrect, and deliver!
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, many of us are in despair. Our hopes and dreams have been crushed and all we have left is a tomb with a dead body. But You are the Lord, the God of heaven and earth, and nothing is impossible for You. Please help us to hold on and trust until we see Your excellent provision. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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