Day 38 :: Burial
He approached Pilate and asked for Jesus’s body. Taking it down, he wrapped it in fine linen and placed it in a tomb cut into the rock, where no one had ever been placed.
Luke 23:52-53(50-54)
In life we will make many small sacrifices such as sacrificing your warmth by giving someone else your blanket or giving away a few pounds to a homeless person. Or we may make a bigger sacrifice of giving away your expensive burial plot to someone else just like Joseph did for Jesus!
As we go on to talk about the event of Jesus’ burial, we as Christians must not underestimate this event as it’s not a coincidence or a mistake his death and burial is mentioned in all four gospels. But this passage in Luke goes into much more detail than the others.
In this passage, we are introduced to Joseph, a man from Arimathea. He is described as good and righteous. He was also looking forward to the kingdom of God, but why? In my research, I found out that he was wealthy and a high up, prominent member of the Council (the Sanhedrin) and a man who had been secretly following Jesus. Even though Joseph did not agree with the council’s plot and scheme against Jesus he still didn’t say anything to stop Jesus’ suffering.
As a believer Joseph seeing Jesus suffer on that cross would have been hard, wishing that he could have done something but couldn’t. He would have been changed in some way after witnessing what he did and that change sparked what he did next.
He risked everything (his place on the council, people knowing he followed Jesus) when he went and asked Pilate for Jesus’ body. As you can see in the passage after Joseph removed Jesus’ body from the cross, he wrapped him in fine linen which would have cost more than most folk would have been able to afford.
Joseph placed Jesus’ body in a tomb cut into the rock that no one had ever been placed in. These plots would have been very expensive, but Joseph was prepared to sacrifice his place in that plot for Jesus to lay for eternity even though he only used it for a couple of days.
Joseph’s sacrifice for Jesus was nothing compared to the sacrifice Jesus made for him. He took on death, so that Joseph might live, and that can be true for us too.
What will it look like to sacrifice for Jesus today, knowing he endured death for us?
Passages to read: Matthew 27:57-65, Mark 15:42-47, John 19:38-42
A thought to remember: Jesus died, was buried, and completed his sacrifice.
A question to ask: What will it look like to sacrifice for Jesus today, knowing he endured death for us?
A song to sing: In Christ Alone