Jesus Death and Burial

Where are you going in your life?  I suppose the answer to that depends on your age.  To a high school student it means, “Where are you going to college?”  For a college student it means, “What’s your major?”  For a college student about to graduate it means, “Where are you going to work?”  For a married couple it means, “What are your plans for a family?”  For empty nesters it means, “How are you going to spend your retirement days?”  For seniors it means, “What are you going to do if you can’t care for yourself and stay in your home?”  But there’s one answer to the question that’s the same for everyone.  , “Where are you going in life?”  To the cemetery.  Your remains and mine will be either in a jar or in a box buried under dirt.  Death and burial are not joyful topics, but they are fitting topics today because this is not a sad, yet joyful day.  This is the day we stop and

Ponder Jesus’ End: His Death and His Burial

Because Death Is Real

No matter when it happens the news of the death of someone close to you doesn’t seem real.  Those who study the grieving process generally agree that the grieving process includes several stages.  At first, the grieving person tends to 1) deny the loss – “This isn’t happening to me!” – and may withdraw from his or her usual social contacts.  Next comes 2) anger – “Why is this happening to me?” – The grieving person may be furious at the world for letting it happen or at himself or herself for letting it happen even if nothing could have stopped it, or even at the person who is gone.  Then comes 3) bargaining in which the grieving person tries to make bargains with God, “I promise I’ll be a better person if you take away the loss,” followed by 4) depression – “I don’t care anymore” – in which a person feels numb even though anger and sadness remain underneath.  Finally, there is 5) acceptance when the anger and sadness have tapered off, and the grieving person accepts the reality of the loss and says, “I’m ready to move on.”

But nothing can make death more real than a cemetery.  When the coffin closes, the reality of death sets in.  And, if you ever stuck around after a graveside committal service to watch the casket lowered into the ground and the dirt plowed back in place on top of it, you sense how real death is.

On this Good Friday we Ponder Jesus’ End: His Death and His Burial by following a man named “⁴³ Joseph from Arimathea, a prominent member of the Council, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God” to see the reality of Jesus’ death.  First, he asked the Roman governor for the body of Jesus.  If Jesus had simply passed out, he would not have made the request.  Even Pilate wanted to be sure. ⁴⁴ Pilate was surprised that he was already dead. He summoned the centurion and asked him if Jesus had been dead for a long time. ⁴⁵ When he learned from the centurion that it was so, he granted the body to Joseph.  There are five additional actions by Joseph that add to the certainty and reality of Jesus’ death. 

⁴⁶ Joseph bought a linen cloth, took him down, and wrapped him in the linen cloth. He laid him in a tomb that had been cut out of rock, and he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. 

Mark 15:46

Of course I don’t know what Joseph was thinking, but maybe he was thinking spiritually, “Well, it had to be.  Either Jesus had to die, or we would eternally.  There had to be a payment for sin.  That’s fair, and God is always fair.  The payment for sin is death.  Who are we to set the rules?  God could have said, ‘The payment for sin is a thousand dollars,’ or ‘The payment for sin is a thirty-minute or a thirty-year time out in your room.’”  Maybe he was thinking logically.  “The point of his creating humans was for them to enjoy a close connection with him.  We call that connection ‘life.’  Real ‘life’ is not merely being able to inhale and exhale air molecules.  Real ‘life’ is being connected to God and real living is having God provide for you, serve you, take care of you, love you, make sure you’re safe and special, and have all your needs met.”  Maybe he was thinking dogmatically, “The standard that people have to live up to in order to retain this connection with God is to remain as pure and perfect as God is.  He won’t tolerate second best or best efforts or slight impurities.  He expects purity – one hundred percent.  He expects good behavior – one hundred percent.  He expects pure thoughts and desires – all the time.  Anything short of that ruins his plan.”  That’s sin.  And sin has to be paid for in order for peace to be restored.  The price is death, the end of life, the end of a connection with God.  The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23).

While Joseph probably wasn’t thinking of that on Good Friday afternoon, but surely he did later.  The disciples/women were probably not thinking about that on Good Friday afternoon, but surely they did later.  When confronted by the reality of death, we can’t help thinking about the reality of the payment for sin.  Either people who have sinned have to pay for their sin with their own death or … well, there is no “or.”  There is no other option. Unless…

God Intervenes

Unless God injects himself into the scene, takes our place, and does the improbable and undeserved.  Unless God himself makes the payment.  Unless God himself dies.  That man who hung on the cross, that Jesus of Nazareth, was not a mere human.  He was and is also God.  That’s what makes his death so valuable.  His death has the worth of all our deaths combined.  That’s why it is essential for us to see the real payment, a real death, and the hour of burial takes us there – to the cemetery and the reality of his death.  As sad as that is, underneath there is rejoicing because Jesus did what we could never do.  He made the payment for my sin, for your sin, for all sin, for all the sins of all people of all time.  This hour of burial shouts to all, “The payment is real!”  The reality of Jesus’ death proclaims exactly what he himself called out from the cross, “The payment is finished!”

Whatever Joseph was thinking, there was one thing that had to be on Joseph’s mind – Jesus is really dead.  It was the same for the women. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses were watching where the body was laid. It’s over.  He had cried out from the cross, “It is finished!”  It certainly looked that way to Joseph and the women.   His burial brought a certain finality to it all.  It looked like the end. …..  But was it over? 

But Jesus provides the sequel.  What looked like the end was not.  The hour of burial brings home the reality of his death, but the reality of the payment for sin did not mean the end of Jesus.  There is a sequel, and the sequel is as good as the original if not better because we’re scripted into both, and the sequel has a much happier plot for us.  In the original, we were written onto the heart of Jesus.  We died there on that Good Friday cross when our Substitute died for us.  But we were also written on his heart when we were buried with him.  His hour of burial looked like the end, but it was not the end.  In the middle of all the gloom and doom of death and burial our eyes of faith see the goodness of God at work.  Jesus Intervened and paid the price demanded by God for our sins.  Jesus’ death and burial means the payment was made and accepted by the Father.  Proof of this miracle of salvation will be revealed on Sunday.  Don’t miss it!

Knowing who Joseph was—a secret disciple of Jesus, a prominent member of the Council who did not consent to their actions (Luke 23:51), reminds us how God Intervenes using his children to carry out his will.  Joseph once was silent, but on Good Friday his actions were louder than his words!  While we don’t hear about Joseph after the resurrection, I’m sure he let everyone know, “The burial of Jesus brought home the reality of death as the payment for sin, but his death is not the end.  He lives and so will I!”

This makes Good Friday so good. Today we come face to face with our sin and its curse.  We also sit under the shadow of the cross of Jesus where God Intervened to make the payment for our sins.  Here we see the death of Jesus as a tragedy due to our sins, and as a blessing since the payment of our sins was complete.

So where are you going in your life?  Because of Jesus we know exactly where we’re going.  Because for you and me Good Friday is not the end.  Jesus’ burial means the payment is real and done, so our relationship with God is done.  Our burial will simply show that we’ve moved on from this veil of tears to be with our Lord in heaven. Yes, on this Good Friday we ponder Jesus’ End: His Death and Burial that were very real, because God intervened to save us all!  Amen!