April 20, 2019 (Saturday)
“Were you there when they laid Him in the tomb?” are the words of the old spiritual song. It is Saturday. It is the Sabbath Day. The religious rulers in Israel were saying, “It’s over.” The followers of Jesus, too, were saying the same. Hardly anyone, it seems, remembered the promise of Jesus to rise from the dead. Tomorrow, Sunday morning, they would learn the truth. But today, Saturday, His body lies in the tomb.
Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, respected members of the Sanhedrin, both secret followers of Jesus, took the body from the cross for burial in Joseph’s own new tomb. Ordinarily, certain things would be done to prepare a body for burial, but those who buried him were faced with a deadline, the start of Sabbath at sundown. After the beginning of the Sabbath, nothing could be done. It was the law. They simply wrapped the body in a sheet and placed it in the tomb. That explains why women came to the tomb on Sunday with the intention of anointing the body of Jesus with perfumes and spices.
The Apostle Paul, in 1 Corinthians 15, defines the heart of the Gospel, as the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He is careful to say that each part was clearly predicted in the Scriptures and each is a fulfillment of prophecy. The burial itself states clearly that Jesus really died. He was dead. His body lay lifeless in the grave. This is vitally important, because there are those who say that Jesus never really died. It follows, therefore, that He never really arose from death. As Paul declared forcefully, “If Christ be not raised, your faith is vain, you are yet in your sins.”
Yes, Jesus died. He died for you. He died for me. When we say, “He shed His blood,” it’s another way of saying, “He gave His life.” His death is payment for our sins; his resurrection the validation of that death as different from all others, because He died as the propitiation for our sins