Laid to Rest for a Time

Lesson #322

Our previous lesson ended with the assurance, by John, of the death of Jesus. “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” (John 19:38 ESV). After it was determined that Jesus was dead, Arimathea who was a wealthy member of the Jewish ruling council, came to Pilate and asked permission to take away the body of Jesus. Permission was granted “And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut in the rock. And he rolled a great stone to the entrance of the tomb and went away” (Matthew 27:59 – 60 NLT). This fulfills the prophecy found at Isaiah 53:9 (ESV): “He had done no wrong and had never deceived anyone. But he was buried like a criminal; he was put in a rich man’s grave.”

Joseph takes the body and now “Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight” (John 19:39 ESV). We met Nicodemus in Lesson #33 when he came to speak privately with Jesus and during the conversation Jesus told him he had to be born again, causing confusion for Nicodemus. Now Nicodemus comes to Jesus again, this time to show his respect, bringing with him that which is necessary for embalming. Seventy-five pounds is a rather large quantity for embalming just one person, but it is believed that large quantities were used for important people.

It appears that they met at the cross because “. . . they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews” (John 19:40 ESV). They covered the body with the mixture of myrrh and aloes and as they did they wrapped his body with a clean linen cloth. Joseph and Nicodemus were good friends of Jesus and if there was life left in him they would have detected it during this process. Even if there was life, it would have been impossible for that life to have continued for the time Jesus laid in the tomb wrapped the way he was.

“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” (John 19:41 ESV). It is interesting to note that the fall of Adam occurred in a garden and Jesus, the second Adam, was laid to rest in a tomb in a garden. The wage of sin is death and that was committed in a garden by Adam and Jesus who paid that wage on the cross was brought to a garden and placed in a tomb.

Joseph and Nicodemus were running out of time, “So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there” (John 19:41 ESV). They probably intended to place Jesus into a more magnificent tomb, but because of time constraints and since Joseph had a tomb there they chose to use it.

Because of space constraints, we will end our lesson here and begin our next lesson at the beginning of chapter 20.

Prayer

Father, so many people of the world simply see Jesus as a historical person of influence like many other historical people. They fail to see him as the perfect sacrifice that was offered for their sin and refuse to believe that he rose from the dead to provide eternal life for those who embrace him in belief. Father, if the story ended here with Jesus in the tomb, then there is no hope and we all remain under the wrath of a holy God, but it doesn’t! Father, thank you for the resurrection, which we will study about in our next lesson.