John 19:38-42

John 19:38-42 Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jews. 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.

Following the death of Jesus, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, two wealthy and important members of Jewish society, openly and willingly put their reputations on the line by asking for the body of Christ, taking it away, and preparing Christ's earthly remains for burial out of their love for him. Even though society now considered this man they carefully wrapped in strips of fine linen and anointed with fragrant myrrh and aloes as a criminal, they were willing to spend a significant amount of money on this extravagant fabric and these expensive spices to prepare Jesus' body for entombment. This scene reveals clearly their great respect and reverence for a teacher, a friend, and perhaps a Messiah who could no longer instruct or offer comfort and help or do anything for them, except maybe to besmirch their reputations in the community, especially among the Jewish elite. But Joseph and Nicodemus obviously were men of God who realized Jesus had influenced them with his obedience to God, touched them with his words, graced them with his goodness, and changed them forever. They were not going to abandon him to an unclean burial, lacking the traditional ceremony and the loving hands of friends to fulfill the customs of the day. They tenderly prepared his bruised body, lavished his wounded side and his pierced brow with tender care, and laid him in a new tomb in a garden where no one had been buried before. This was their love offering, the best they could give to the memory of the Jesus they loved. No amount of doubt, fear, or concern for self-preservation could have kept them from completing their assignment. They had seen Jesus crucified, and they knew the time for secrecy was past; they had to bury him.

As human beings with our emotional ups and downs and our spiritual highs and lows, we sometimes retreat from Jesus or stumble in our faith walk depending upon how we feel or what happens. We act as if Jesus is dead to us because things are not working out or our problems seem too big for him to handle because He has not answered our prayers as we think they should be answered. Perhaps we or someone we love or care about is too sick, we are too far in debt, we are too burdened down with obsessive compulsions, we are too overwhelmed with implacable family problems, or maybe we have made such a mess out of our lives we can't see a way out no matter what happens. There is no end to the list of difficulties we could name. Joseph and Nicodemus did not retreat when they faced impossible odds. They incurred the cost of burial, knowing Jesus was the fallen leader of a totally lost cause with a ruined reputation whose followers were scattered; and He had no power or resources of any kind to help them anymore. Certainly, they knew no more profound words of wisdom, no more insightful parables, no more loving touches or miraculous healings would emanate from his dead body. Yet wonder of wonders, they loved him, they cherished him, and they would not let his body be buried without their tender touches and careful burial ministrations. They literally put everything on the line for this dead Jesus: money, reputation, status, their lives. They were all in for a Jesus who could not help them anymore. Something about this man Jesus got hold of their hearts, and they said, "We will follow you, Jesus of Nazareth, even in death." They had begun to question, to seek, to want to know what He meant when He said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man [on the cross], then you will know that I am [the one I claim to be] and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.” (John 8:28-29)

Who is Jesus today? Is He the answer man, fulfilling all our requests like a giant computer in the sky? Is He the giver of all things good, all we want and all we need, who hands out presents willy nilly as a Holy Santa Claus, checking off our wish lists because we have been so good and we deserve all the things we ask him to send our way? Do we stop to remember that He is the Son of God, the Holy One, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the One we worship and adore whether we feel him in our lives or not, whether we are on a mountaintop or in a valley because He alone is worthy? He alone rescued us from the miry clay and set our feet upon a rock and put a new song in our hearts when we were without hope. Faith steps far beyond human circumstances, and faith always transcends finite powers of human reasoning. By faith we know Jesus is not dead regardless of our inconsistent feelings or fleshly assumptions. Every new creature in Christ cries out to all the world: "Jesus lives because He lives in me! I was blind but now I see!" Jesus is actually the breath behind our voices. John says, The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world. Jesus is that light, that breath of life. Whether we recognize him or acknowledge him, Jesus is that light, that breath, that fulfillment of all that we could not do through our own limited abilities or strength.

When Paul spoke of salvation through faith rather than the law, he showed Christ fulfilled the law: “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile — the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Romans 10:8-13) For Christians, as with Joseph and Nicodemus, we bear an everlasting love for our Lord, whether we feel him or not, our love endures, perseveres by faith, even in those times of insecurity or doubt when we wonder whether we will ever again experience the emotional highs or the exultant sense of power and authority we felt in some previous experience. We know by faith in God's Word Jesus is alive and He reigns forever. He lives in us through the power of the Holy Spirit, and we have victory over all things through him. Joseph and Nicodemus did not even realize Jesus would be alive in three days because if they had, they would not have prepared his body in such a manner. But God did not allow Jesus to suffer corruption in the grave. In truth, the Jesus of death Joseph and Nicodemus prepared for burial was the Jesus of eternal life, THE LAMB OF GOD, THE GRACE GIFT OF GOD WHO ROSE AGAIN IN TRIUMPH. May we receive that gift with grace and thankfulness today, knowing He is near, and He is all we need.