How can I move from fear to peace?

“Breathe on Me, Breath of God”

(John 20:19-23, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, September 26, 2010)

19 On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”

On the evening of that day... (19)

On the evening of the first Resurrection Sunday, the disciples were afraid. They were so afraid that almost all of them were together behind locked doors. John tells us that they were afraid of their own countrymen, the Jews. I guess that there was plenty to be afraid of. After all, the political and religious leaders had just put Jesus to death. It was obvious that these disciples could be identified by many people as followers of Jesus Christ.

They were afraid even though Peter and John had witnessed an empty tomb, at least a tomb empty of the body of Jesus Christ. John had carefully considered the way that tomb looked, and especially the position of the cloths that had once covered the deceased body of Jesus of Nazareth, and he had come to the conclusion that Jesus had risen from the dead. They had also received the report of Mary Magdalene who had plainly told them that she had seen the Lord, and that He had given her a message to relay to them about His coming ascension to heaven.

Still, they were behind locked doors. We imagine ourselves courageous, and we train certain people to be brave in situations where their lives may be in danger, but there are many things that make even brave people afraid. Even the fact of the resurrection might not be entirely comforting to the disciples. Though Jesus had risen from the dead, their lives were still in danger. We tend to feel more secure when events are predictable. These men were way out of their comfort zones.

The doors were locked. But then He came. He did not knock on the door. He just came and was standing among them. Some old facts are worth repeating here. He had told them that He would rise from the dead. He had performed miracles and was teaching about the kingdom of heaven. In terms of the powers that be on earth, the situation was dangerous. Long before this point the religious leaders had come to the conclusion that anyone who believed that Jesus was the Christ would be removed from the synagogues. Many people did not want to know anything about a risen Son of God. But here He was. He was undeniable, but so was the danger from the Jews.

“Peace be with you.” (20-21)

He speaks to them these familiar words of comfort that we hear as believers in Christ today: “Peace be with you.” This does not suggest that all your troubles are gone. There are still many who would not be happy to hear the news of the resurrection. There are many people all over the world today who will not be glad to hear that their sons or daughters have come to the conclusion that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that He is the beginning of a new resurrection world. Old ways are rejected when something this big and new is embraced. The Christian life is not a denial of grounds for fear, but it is the embracing of a message of peace between God and man.

Over thirty years before this point in the hill country of Judea near the town of Bethlehem, there were shepherds keeping watch over their flocks by night. Suddenly the angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord was shining around them, and they received there that night the announcement of the birth of a child. The coming of that child had something to do with peace. Remember? Suddenly there were many angels saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

Jesus came to bring peace to men. These men are afraid. They are behind locked doors for fear of the people they live with and for fear of the religious and civil authorities in their country. The resurrected Son of God is with them. Many people will not be happy about the resurrection of Jesus. He knows all about their predicament, and He says to them, “Peace be with you.”

While the kind of peace that disciples of Jesus have is not freedom from danger or from the anger of those they live with, they do have peace. They have the most important peace that they could ever have. They have peace with God. Their sins have been forgiven. The emblems of that forgiveness are visible in the wounds that He shows them. He showed them His hands and His side. They were glad. They knew it was the Lord. When He rose, He did not rise to be mortal again, subject to injury and death. He rose to immortality, but He bore the marks of our salvation in His body, and even after Jesus ascended to heaven, He still had these signs of the blood that was shed, a blood of the one righteous Man, a blood that speaks forgiveness to the humble who will receive His Word. This is the peace that Jesus brings. We long for forgiveness and acceptance by God. We have it in the wounds of Christ.

“As the Father has sent me...” (21-23)

But there is more to the peace that we have now than the forgiveness of our sins, there is a new peace that comes to those who accept the purpose of the church, to be agents of the pronouncement of this new kingdom, and this lavish forgiveness of sins in the blood of the Lamb. That may sound counter-intuitive if you think of the situation that the disciples faced. They were afraid of their families, their neighbors, and the authorities in their country. Their danger was not removed. How can there be any peace in the commission that Jesus gives to these disciples, and through them, to the whole Christian church throughout this dangerous age?

Jesus was sent forth by the Father in mission. That mission cost Him His life. Now He is sending forth the men who were His frightened friends. They were to proclaim the forgiveness of sins, even as we do now in this worship service today. We confess our sins together and repent every Sunday, on the day of resurrection. We acknowledge together and receive together the pardon that is ours from God for all who call upon the Name of the Lord. We proclaim the Lord's death as we partake of the Lord's Supper. Will we be forthright about this mission that Christ entrusted to the church?

He says that the mission is ours. “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.” What a responsibility for the church, to speak and to withhold words of forgiveness based upon the Word of God. For all who repent and believe, there is forgiveness. For those who do not repent and believe, we cannot speak those words from God. This is a frightening calling when enemies may be on the other side of the door, enemies that do not want to hear about the forgiveness that comes to us through faith in Christ.

But we cannot have the fuller peace that we were created for unless we have a sense of purpose. We have a job given to us by the King of Glory. We speak into a dangerous world as those who are willing to give a reason for our hope. Whatever you do to bring order and beauty to a world that needs workers and families and citizens, do it as one who is part of the only organization in the world that has been charged with the heavenly task of speaking forgiveness to others.

Yet you will reject the peace of purpose because of the power of fear if you are left to your own strength. If all that you have is from this fading creation, you may just stay behind locked doors for fear of your countrymen. But did you notice that Jesus breathed on them with the breath of heaven, the wind of a new creation. Today may God breathe His Holy Spirit on you and on us, so that we will embrace the peace that comes with our purpose that we must not reject. And may we speak words of true peace in a dangerous world according to the Word of the King of peace.

1. What do we know about the condition of the disciples on that Sunday night?

2. How is that the disciples were finally glad?

3. What is Jesus revealing about the Holy Spirit here?

4. What is the commission he gives here?

Do not cling to Me...

“I have seen the Lord”

(John 20:11-18, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, September 19, 2010)

11 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. 12 And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. 13 They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” 14 Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). 17 Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” 18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”—and that he had said these things to her.

But Mary stood weeping... (11-14)

In these verses, Mary Magdalene sees the Lord. This is not the first time that Mary saw Jesus, and it is not the first place in the Bible that Jesus is called “Lord.” Yet there is something wonderfully new, a true first, recorded for us in these words. The Firstborn King of the new resurrection world is receiving the adoration and love of one of His beloved subjects. This great Man is the Lord. He is the answer to the question that careful thinkers should have been asking about Psalm 110 when they sang, “The Lord says to my Lord: 'Sit at my right hand.'” Who is the Lord, and who is He speaking to who is called in the psalm “my Lord.” If this song is written by David the King, and David's descendant is supposed to be the Messiah, how is it that Jehovah God, the Lord, is speaking to a Messiah figure who is David's Lord? How is it that the coming King would be both David's Son, and also David's Lord? Now we have the answer. Jesus of Nazareth, descended from David according to His human nature, but also the eternal Son of God, has risen from the dead. The Father was speaking to the Son about a moment yet to come, a new moment, when people would see the risen Jesus as ascended Lord. The Lord God would speak to His risen and ascended Son. “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.”

Maybe that's too much to think about. The entire experience of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus was too much for Mary Magdalene to fathom, this woman out of whom the Lord Jesus had cast seven demons. See Luke 8:2. How would you have reacted, if the Man who was so clearly your Deliverer had been killed in such a horrible way, and then you found that his body was missing from the tomb? She is weeping. She already knows that his body is not in the tomb. She stoops down again and looks in the place where he should be. Maybe she just didn't see rightly. Take another look. And when she does look, two angels in white are sitting where the body of Jesus used to be, one at the head and one at the feet. She doesn't seem to think that they are angels. She just treats them like people. They speak to her: “Woman, why are you weeping?”

Mary speaks of some unknown “they” who have done something with the body of Her great Helper. “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” She is weeping. She is overwhelmed by everything. She turns away from the angels who seem like men, turns around from the opening of the tomb that she had stooped down to look into, and now there is another Man in front of her that she does not recognize.

“Whom are you seeking?” (15-16)

He asks her the same question as the two angels had: “Woman, why are you weeping?” And He adds a second question: “Whom are you seeking?” She does not know this third man. She assumes him to be the person in charge of the grounds of this burial area. Maybe he took the body of Jesus away? “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Was His body a bother to the man? Had moved it? Fine, Mary will take it.

But this man is not the gardener. This Man is the Lord, the King of Men and Angels, the risen Jesus. He says one word that brings Mary out of the place of death and into a new world of life. “Mary.” Her name. “Rabboni!” “My Teacher!” It is amazing the words that come out of our mouths. If you turned around, and suddenly heard Jesus calling your name, what would come out of your mouth? My Lord? My Savior? My God? My King? She had oriented herself toward Him according to a certain role. She was really a disciple. He was the greatest of all rabbis. She was a student. He was the greatest of all teachers. She was a listener and a learner of His spiritual teaching. She was doing what God had instructed Peter, James, and John to do at the Transfiguration, and what Mary of Bethany had chosen to do when Martha was caring for the house guests. She had learned to listen to Him. With no time to think, she says, “My Teacher.”

“Do not cling to me...” (17)

Jesus says to her, “Do not cling to me.” Even before Jesus rose to immortality, He knew what was in a person's heart. Certainly He knew what was in Mary Magdalene's heart on this occasion. It would be very normal for her to think of Jesus as she knew Him before the events of the last few days. But to cling to the temporary experience of what she had known of Jesus from the past would be a mistake. Everything is different now. The voice of the ascended Jesus will come in new ways, and not as a bodily companion she had known and embraced.

That earlier three-year public ministry of Jesus was a very unusual time. He went all over the land teaching and preaching about the kingdom of God and performing signs befitting the coming of the kingdom. But now the kingdom has started to arrive in the resurrection of our Lord. At the time of Hos death, He yielded His Spirit to the Father and was immediately in Paradise. Now He has come back from Paradise and has come forth from the tomb. He is on the earth again, but in a resurrection body. Soon He will ascend, resurrection body and soul, into the present heaven and will take His place at the right hand of the Father. He will not be around the table with the disciples in the same way. They will not see Him in the same way. He will be in heaven, with all who live there. He is going to His Father and our Father, to His God and our God. He is going home to our home.

Mary Magdalene went and announced... (18)

These words help Mary Magdalene. She is doing better now. She has seen the Lord, and she is able to announce that to the disciples. No longer is she speaking only of a moved stone, an empty tomb, or what could be seen inside that tomb like the linen cloths that Peter and John saw. She has seen the Lord. He told her about His coming ascension to heaven. Yes, she is better now. Her heart is calmer because of what He said to her. Jesus has risen from the dead, and He still knows her. He called her by Name.

Have you seen the Lord? Has He calmed your heart in these tumultuous times? Have you seen Him this morning in this worship service? Do you see Him in the face of one of His little ones who is hungry, thirsty, lonely, sick, depressed, or stuck in a desperate mess. See Him in the Scriptures and in the beauty of this fading world. See Him at this table when you hear those words, “This is My body. This is My blood.” See Him around the table at home, perhaps with others you love. You pause to acknowledge God and ask for His blessing upon your food and upon you and the others with you. See Him there. See Him in His promise of eternal life and in His provision of meaningful service for you every day. See Jesus as Lord everywhere.

Above all, do not see Him as an impersonal and distant deity, a god who cannot be bothered with your weaknesses and your dreams. He knows you. He knows how to call you. He is still with you, even after these many years. He will never abandon you. He will lead you home.

1. How are we to understand Mary's confusion concerning the Lord?

2. What was Mary's intention and desire that day?

3. How was she redirected by the words of Jesus?

4. What does it mean for us to “see” the Lord?

How many lies did they tell?

“The Empty Tomb”

(John 20:1-10, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, September 12, 2010)

20:1 Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. 2 So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” 3 So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb. 4 Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, 7 and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus' head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. 8 Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; 9 for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead. 10 Then the disciples went back to their homes.

Now on the first day of the week... (1-4)

Here we are on the first day of the week. For centuries the Israelites gathered together to worship the Lord on the last day of the week, Saturday. We are hear today on Sunday because, on a very momentous Sunday centuries ago, the events recorded in this and the other three gospels happened. Jesus Christ rose from the dead.

Not long before the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Lord performed a very notable resurrection miracle when he called Lazarus forth from the grave. See John 11:43-44. That was quite a scene, and there were many witnesses. The existence of Lazarus, alive from the dead, was so threatening to those who were trying to stop Jews from confessing Jesus as the Messiah, that they sought to kill, not only Jesus, but even Lazarus. Many people came to Bethany to mourn the death of this man. He had certainly been dead. In front of a large group of mourners, Jesus called him back to life. Many more people came to Bethany just to see for themselves that this man, Lazarus, was actually alive again.

There are no accounts like that in the gospels of Jesus moving from death to life. What we have is the evidence of a resurrection that has already taken place when Mary Magdalene comes to the tomb Sunday morning before the sun was up. The stone has been taken away from the tomb. John simply reports the fact. He and Peter are summoned by the distraught woman when she discovers the scene at the grave where Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus had laid the body of the Lord to rest. By her words we know that she looks into the tomb and sees that the body of Jesus is not there. She assumes that someone has rolled away the stone and has taken away the body of the man who had been placed in the tomb prior to that final Old Covenant Sabbath.

And stooping to look in... (5-8)

Peter and John went out and made their way to the tomb, not casually, but running. The younger man, John, arrives first. What does he see when he stoops down to look in? He sees the linen burial cloths lying there, but the body of Jesus is not there. But John does not go in. He waits for Peter, who actually enters the tomb. There were the main linen cloths, but also a second smaller cloth that had been on the head of Jesus of Nazareth folded up in a place by itself.

There was something about the arrangement of these cloths. When John came in after Peter, we are told that he saw and believed. What did John, the writer of this gospel believe? He believed that Jesus had risen from the dead. What did he see that made him believe? The stone was not where it was supposed to be, the body of Jesus was not there, but especially the cloths that had been used to wrap the dead body told a story that inspired faith.

If someone had wanted to make it seem like Jesus had risen from the dead by stealing his body, they would have had to move quickly. They would have taken the body away without removing the cloths. If they had decided to remove the cloths right there at the grave, how would the linen cloths have looked? When John took in the scene, he found the placement of these cloths to be worthy of mention. Cloth was valuable. Consider the soldiers and how they split up the garments of Jesus. Why were the cloths laying there, and how were they placed? Did it look like a crime scene where intruders had ripped these cloths off of the body, and did not care enough about the value of the material to take it with them? The cloths were lying there, and the face cloth was folded up in a place by itself. It was as if John saw from the evidence what had actually happened, and he believed. The body was not stolen. Jesus had risen from the dead.

For as yet they did not understand the Scripture... (9-10)

If Jesus did not rise from the dead, then the disciples who spent the rest of their lives suffering for the gospel, were liars. It is hard to conceive of what their motives would have been. Their lies would not only have included their accounts of multiple resurrection appearances, some of which are recorded for us in the last two chapters of this gospel. They would have also written many smaller lies, like the ones that make up the details of their first encounter with the puzzle of an empty tomb that was not entirely empty.

They would have had to lie about the story that the cloths seemed to tell, making up the little mention of the larger cloth and the smaller cloth, about their run to the tomb, and who got their first, and who went into the tomb. What a strange detail that John arrived first, but then Peter went into the tomb first. Why lie about that? Was Mary Magdalene in on the lie, or did they count on her coming to the empty tomb first, and running to find them?

Most of all, they would have had to lie about their own knowledge of the plan of the resurrection of the Messiah according to the Scriptures. They report here very plainly a fact about their own biblical understanding or lack thereof. “As yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead.” If they had a devious plan to make it look like Jesus rose from the dead in fulfillment of difficult passages like Psalm 16, then they would have already understood about those Scriptures as necessitating a Messianic resurrection. But John said here that, early in the morning on that first day of the week, they did not yet understand all of this.

But these men had no motive for lying. They did not lie. They simply reported what they saw. They did not understand that Psalm 16:10 was about the suffering Messiah, “You will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption.” Even after they saw that the stone was moved, that the tomb did not contain the body of Jesus, that the cloths told a story; even after John saw what he saw and believed in the resurrection, he still did not yet understand Psalm 16. That came later. And when they understood Psalm 16:10, about how God did not abandon Jesus forever to the grave, they probably also went on to verse 11 of the same psalm and rejoiced in these words, “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”

We do know this: that many people came to believe their testimony and to change their worship practices based on this. That is not a doctrine of our faith. It is a fact of history. The Christian church worships on Sunday now. We gather together on the first day of the week, and rest, not in a work that will one day be done, but in a Messiah who has accomplished our salvation, and has risen from the grave.

1. What is the behavior of the disciples in response to Mary's testimony?

2. What is the physical evidence of the resurrection at the tomb?

3. How do Mary, Peter, and John each react to this evidence?

4. What is the significance of John's statement regarding the Scriptures?

OT Passage: Psalm 16

Living Beyond Fear of the Grave

“The Body of Jesus”

(John 19:38-42, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, September 5, 2010)

38 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 his body. 39 Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight. 40 So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. 41 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. 42 So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there.

Is it finished?

Jesus said on the cross, “It is finished.” That is true, but it is also true that much was still unfinished. He had accomplished everything that He came to do in His mortal life, but the death of our mortal bodies is never the end of our story, and it is important to see what Christians have confessed for centuries. Christ not only lived and died. He was also buried, rose again from the dead, and ascended into heaven. He now rules and reigns at the right hand of the Father.

You may be wondering about the phrase that Christians confess, “He descended into hell.” What do we mean when we say those words? The Westminster divines addressed this issue in the Larger Catechism under the question “Wherein consisted Christ's humiliation after his death?” Their conclusion concerning the biblical evidence is this: “Christ's humiliation after his death consisted in his being buried, and continuing in the state of the dead, and under the power of death till the third day; which has been otherwise expressed in these words, he descended into hell.” In addition to that helpful and practical answer, John Calvin summarizes what many throughout the history of the church have concluded, that this expression means that Christ “endured the horrible rigor of God's judgment.” Christ endured more than bodily torment. He suffered the pains of hell for us. When you confess that Christ was buried, remember that this is what could be seen by men, but when you confess that He descended into hell, let your heart consider that the suffering of Jesus for you was more than anyone could have seen, since He faced the horror of the eternal justice of God that we deserved. This too, is now finished.

After these things Joseph of Arimathea... (38)

But our passage at the end of John 19 focuses on the burial of the body of Jesus Christ. Joseph of Arimathea is a central figure in these events, since He went to Pilate to ask for the Lord's body, and since it was in His tomb, the tomb of a rich man (see Isaiah 53:9, “with a rich man in his death”) that Jesus was buried. This Joseph is mentioned in connection with the burial of Jesus in all four gospels. From these sources we know that Joseph was a rich man, a respected member of the ruling council of the Jews, and amazingly, a disciple of Jesus. He is called by Luke, “a good and righteous man.” We are told that he did not consent to the decision and action of the council concerning Jesus. We are also told that he was looking for the kingdom of God. Joseph of Arimathea believed in the kingdom of heaven, and he was looking for the fulfillment of God's promises from the Law and the Prophets, the fullness of heaven brought down upon the earth.

This Joseph was secretive about following Jesus. He understood the danger of being too closely associated with our Lord, and he feared the consequences that might come to him from his fellow leaders who hated Jesus. Yet in fulfillment of Isaiah's prophesy, He finds the courage to go to Pilate, to receive necessary permission, and finally to take away the body of the Lord.

Nicodemus also... (39)

Only John's gospel records the fact that there was another religious leader with Joseph of Arimathea, a man who appears in John 3 and 7, as well as this chapter, Nicodemus. Some of the facts are the same for him as for Joseph. He also is a leader of the Jews, he is wealthy, he has shown interest in Jesus, and he is afraid. This Nicodemus had visited Jesus by night, trying to complement the Lord whom he calls a great prophet sent be God. But Jesus had said to him, “Unless you are born from above you cannot even see the kingdom of God.”

He had been courageous enough to have that conversation with Jesus. Later, in chapter 7, he was brave enough to question the procedural fairness of declaring Jesus guilty without even hearing from Him in a trial. Now he is bringing a very large quantity of burial spices in order to treat the body of Jesus with respect, and he is associating himself with the burial plan of Joseph of Arimethea despite the fact that their actions can hardly remain a secret for very long.

So they took the body of Jesus... (40)

“So they took the body of Jesus.” John wants us to understand that these two very respected men were very involved in the proceedings that took place. From a factual standpoint, this should help us to consider the worth of the testimony of Jesus' actual death, particularly when we consider the actions of the soldiers described in the previous verses.

But there is something more in these words than a pure testimony of fact. There is something in the loving and respectful treatment of the body of a deceased man according to the customs of a society. There is something profound here that cannot be reduced easily to words; something of the cry of a heart that believes and wonders, “Lord, how could this be right? We are burying a truly good man.” This is a different heart than those who wanted to see the legs of the crucified broken so that his body could quickly come off the cross. There is a time to be born, and a time to die. When these events come to those we love, we stop, and we wonder, and we are changed.

Now in the place... (41)

The place of this burial is mentioned, and the fact that it was a new tomb, a special grave where no one else had been buried. The body of Jesus was in a clean tomb. But a grave is still a grave.

So because of the Jewish day of Preparation... (42)

There was no time to do anything more than what these men did. The Sabbath began Friday at sundown, and they were observant Jews who kept the Sabbath. We are told that Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus placed the body of Jesus there in the tomb. Those are heavy words.

We see in those words the fact of His burial, with details for those who would want to investigate that fact. But what is the significance to us of this moment? The account of the burial of Jesus helps establish the reality of His death, which means so much to the Christian message. This is a religion of grace, but grace that satisfies the demands of law. The sacrifice happened. The Lamb is dead and even buried. Reliable, respected people were involved, even providing a tomb, linen, and spices. They had the courage to honor the One that they admired and secretly followed.

This moves us beyond fact to feeling and to faith, a faith that moves us past the grave. Jesus traveled a road for us, a road that we will follow one day. We die. Our bodies are buried. Our souls are brought to God in heaven. We look to the promised resurrection. Jesus has sanctified the lowest place on the face of the earth, the grave. Because He satisfied the justice of God for us, the grave will not have the last word for Him or for us. We do not celebrate the grave. We see it for what it is. But we will not be ruled by it. We choose life and a level of faithful engagement in this world that makes sense for those who have a hope that man cannot take away.

1. What do we know about Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus?

2. What is the significance of the handling of the body of Jesus?

3. How is the detail of Jesus' burial in this grave a fulfillment of prophesy?

4. What is the religious significance of the burial of Jesus?

OT Passage: Ecclesiastes 3