Starting with John chapter 19
verse 38, though we'll soon be in the other Gospels as well.
But here's John's account of the burial of the body of our
Lord, verse 38 through verse 42. And after this, that is,
after the Lord had been condemned, after He had been crucified on
the cross, and after the legs had been broken of the other
two, after this, Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but
secretly, for fear of the Jews, Besought Pilate that he might
take away the body of Jesus. And Pilate gave leave. He came therefore and took the
body of Jesus. And there came also Nicodemus. which at the first came to Jesus
by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloe, about a hundred
pound weight. Then took they the body of Jesus,
and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner
of the Jews is to bear it. Now in the place where he was
crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new sepulcher
wherein was never man yet laid. There laid they Jesus therefore,
watch this, because of the Jews' preparation day, for the sepulcher
was nigh at hand, the burial of the body of our Lord. Now,
a good argument, I think, might could be made that in our preaching,
the burial of the Lord is that part of his work that is the
most slighted in our preaching. We preach about his death all
the time, and well we should. And we preach about the resurrection
of our Lord all the time, and that with good cause. Because
these are grounds and pillars of the gospel. It was necessary
that the Lord both die for the sins of his people and that he
be raised again for their justification. Romans 4 and verse 25. But between
these two, his death and his resurrection, God's Holy One
lay three days and three nights in the tomb. That is, he lay
dead and buried in the tomb. You remember when Paul recounts
for them the gospel that he had received from the Lord and that
he had preached unto them in 1 Corinthians 15 and verses 1
through 5, he names three things there that sum up or make up
the nucleus of the gospel. One, Christ died for our sin
according to the scripture. Two, Christ was buried according
to the scripture. And three, Christ was raised
again on the third day, all of them according to the scripture. All of them in harmony with the
word of God and the word of the prophets of old, all of them
fulfilling what the scripture had to say about him. Now something else, we should
also notice that all four of the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke,
and John, all four of them include an account of the burial of the
Lord's body. And putting them all together,
Hormonizing them, it gives us more of the details that occurred
in connection with our Lord's burial of His body. Here are
the places in the four gospels where you'll find a record of
the burial of our Lord's body. Matthew has it in chapter 27
verses 57 through verse 60. Mark has it chapter 15 verse
42 through verse 46. Luke has put it down in chapter
23 and verse 50 through 56 and John as we read chapter 19 and verse 38 through verse 42. Now it was appointed that our
Lord be in the grave three days and three nights. And that fulfilled
the type of Jonah, who was three days and three nights in the
belly of the great fish that the Lord had prepared to swallow
him up. Not only is there his death,
but his burial also is prophesied and predicted by the prophets. One place we'll mention is Isaiah
chapter 53 and verse 9. And he made his grave with the
wicked and was with the rich in his death. We'll bring that
back before us later on in our study. Now here's the crux of
it. The Lord's body was taken down
from the cross. It was prepared for burial after
the manner of the Jews. It was wound in linen cloth,
as we have read, using spices to put in there with that. ointments, fragrances that were
placed in the, then he was placed in the tomb that the scripture
said was hewn out of stone. And the opening was sealed with
a great stone, as we read, and this was done not the next day
or two days later, but it was done on the same day that he
died. It was done on the evening of
the death of our Lord. In fact, he went straight from
the cross into the tomb. His whole lifeless body was put
in the tomb, and might we add, there were but few in attendance,
there were but few that took a hand in the matter of the burial
of the body of our Lord. Now, if you'll pardon A short
digression. Concerning the burial of the
dead in general, and the burial of the Lord in particular, it
was of old, as we know, a long time standing custom among the
Jews to bury their dead. Even from the time of Abraham,
we read often of that. God said to Abraham, Genesis
15 and verse 15, Thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace, thou
shalt be buried in a good old age. The word of God to Abraham. In Genesis chapter 23, the whole
chapter is interesting. The whole chapter is taken up
with an account of Abraham's effort and arrangement to bury
his beloved prince's wife, Sarah, when she died. He went to much
labor, much expense too, purchased a burying place, for her from
the hand of the Hesse, and expense, and was later buried there himself. When Abraham died, he too was
buried in that place that he had bought for his wife Sarah.
You'll find it in Genesis 25 and verses 8 through 10. He was
buried by his sons Isaac and Ishmael. And in the burying place,
He had purchased from the children of Heth to be the resting place
of his wife Sarah. Now, another remarkable instance
that you have is that of Joseph. Chapter 11 of Hebrews, verse
22. He gave commandment concerning
his bones. And in Genesis chapter 50, and
verse 22 through verse 26 he gave a command to the children
of Israel that his bones be carried out of the land of Egypt in the
exodus. He said God will visit you and
he also gave command concerning his bones and when they left
They carried the bones of Joseph with them. Exodus 13 and verse
19. They did not forget. And when
they arrived in the land, they buried his bones in Shechem according
to Joshua chapter 24 and verse 32. That Joseph was particular. that he be carried up out of
the land of Egypt into the land of promise. We also read that
before that, before his death, that Joseph had transported the
body of his father Jacob out of Egypt and buried him in the
plot that Abraham had purchased. Genesis chapter 50, and verses
1 through 13. In fact, in Genesis chapter 49,
verse 27 through 33, we learn that that burying place that
Abraham bought not only was the grave of Abraham and of Sarah,
but also of Isaac and Rebekah and Leah, who had been a wife
of Jacob. But there are other examples
For example, Deborah in Genesis chapter 35 and verse 8. She was Rebecca's nurse and she
died and the scripture said she was buried under an oak near
Bethel. in Genesis chapter 35, 19 and
20. Rachel, another wife of Jacob,
died and was interred near Bethlehem, and Jacob set up a pillar on
her grave, a marker or a memorial of some kind. David died and
was buried, Acts 229, 1336. Nehemiah 3 and verse 16, and
the record you have in 1 Kings 2 and verse 10. In the New Testament,
John's disciples took his body and buried him in Matthew 14
and verse 12. In John 11, we're familiar with
the case of Lazarus who died and was buried in a tomb. In Acts 8 and verse 2, Devout
men carried Stephen to his burial and they made great lamentation. over him, him being perhaps a
sort of first fruit of the martyrs of our Lord Jesus Christ. But without behind us, we return
to the burial of the body of the Lord and that by a few. And we find that there is much
to admire here as to the divine providence of God that carried
the matter. The divine providence of God
is so evident in the events leading up and concerning the burial
of our Lord. And not only that, but they fulfilled
the scripture, the word of God. Where he died, he rose again
according under the scripture, so he was buried according under
the scripture. Now, as we look at this account
and the burial of our Lord, I suggest that the Lord's being removed
from the cross and prepared for burial and laid in a tomb, that
there are two wonderful or amazing things here to be considered
that we might not expect. Number one, it is wonderful that
the Lord's body was not further desecrated in any way by the
wicked. It was not cast out to be burned
like some crucified were. It was not left there to be devoured
by by the elements, or by the ravenous birds, or by the varmints,
as was the case with some. It was not left to more violence
at the hand of the soldier, though I suspect that what they had
seen on the cross would become a check upon them. Nor did our
Lord's body fall into the hands of that frenzied mob of Jews
who had so clamored for him to be put to death. Nor was our
Lord's body buried in the potter's field, as was the case with others. But God would not suffer. God
would not suffer his Holy One to be any further desecrated
at the hands of men. He died and his body was bruised
and was pierced and it would not be desecrated beyond that
necessary to make an atonement for our sin, or what he should
suffer as our sin-bearer. That's the first amazing thing,
that his body did not meet the fate of the bodies of others
crucified on Golgotha. The second thing I think that
is amazing, and we have it here, in John's account of the gospel,
are we surprised, to a certain extent, at who took upon themselves
the task of burying the corpse of the Lord. I was thinking,
where are the disciples and the apostles of the Lord? Where are
those who said, though all forsake you, yet will not I? We remember John's own disciples
carried him to burial, Matthew 14 and 12, perhaps risking the
wrath of Herod. So where are the 11? Why are
they not seeing that their Lord and their Master receive an honorable
burial? Yet, in raising the question,
we can see it was providential. All of this in the hands of the
providence of God. The Gospels tell us of two men
who took the task of bearing the Lord upon themselves, risking
the wrath of their fellow Jews in doing so. Now, one name we
know, but the other name is mentioned here for the first and the only
time in the New Testament. One name we recognize, the other
is brought before us here for the first time. Now, let's look
at these two men, first of all, separately, and then in their
work. A man called Joseph of Arimathea
is brought before us here in John 19. Let's sum up all of
it that the scripture tells us about him. we find that all four
gospels mention him as taking the lead in burying the Lord. Plus, each gospel tells us something
that the others do not. Each gospel gives us a unique
fact. All four tell of his petitioning
Pilate for the body of the Lord, that he might bury it. Here in
John 19, 38 tells us, he was a disciple of Jesus, but not
heretofore openly, but secretly, and notice, for fear of the Jew. Now to trace that thought, you'll
see it three more times in John, fear of the Jew. You'll see it
in John chapter 7, 13, 9, 22, and again in 12, and 42 of the Gospel of John. Why were these so reluctant? Well, the Jews had threatened
excommunication, putting them out of the synagogue of any that
confessed that Jesus was the Christ. You see that in those
three places. They would excommunicate a Jew
who confessed that Jesus was the Messiah. But then Matthew
27 57 tells us something else. that he was a rich man and a
disciple of Jesus. And there in verse 60, that he
was the owner of the tomb in which our Lord was buried. It was his tomb. It was cut out
or hewn out of a rock. Then we go to Mark chapter 15
and verse 43 tells us this man was an honorable counselor which
also waited for the kingdom of God. In line with that, In Luke
chapter 2 and verse 25, there is said of Simeon, who waited
for the consolation of Israel. For there were a few who waited
on the coming of Messiah. This means that Joseph lived
in expectation and hope of the kingdom. That is, for the appearing
of Messiah. This shows that his hope was
in Messiah and that he had a good foundation and a substance for
it in Luke chapter 23 and verse 51. But Luke then describes this
Joseph as a good man and just. That's in Luke 23 50 through
53. and that his tomb had never held
a body. There had never been a body lie
in that tomb, had never seen the corruption of death. This
tomb that our Lord providentially is buried in had never had the
stench of death and corruption within it. And Luke tells us
an interesting fact in verse 51, that Joseph had not consented
to the counsel of them. That is concerning the Lord Jesus
Christ. Most think this means that Joseph
could have been a member of the Sanhedrin Jewish court. which condemned the Lord to death
according, they said, to the Mosaic law. And though present,
Joseph did not agree to their sentence, whether he opposed
it openly and outwardly, who can say? We're not told. But
he did not vote, did not lift up his voice with the majority
of them to put the Lord to death. And this shows us that this man,
before this, had a different opinion of the Lord than the
majority of the Jew in his day. And that is persuasion grew stronger
and stronger by the events surrounding the Lord's crucifixion and the
dead. Now all four Gospels tell of
Joseph asking Pilate for the body of Jesus. Matthew 27 58,
he begged the body. So Luke 23 and 52. John 19 38,
he besought Pilate for the body. Mark has it, he went in boldly
and and crave the body of Jesus that
he might bury it according to his wishes. And it is Mark that
tells us chapter 15 and verse 44, only Mark that Pilate marveled
to hear if Christ were already dead. Here comes Joseph asking
for the body of our Lord. Pilate is amazed. Could it be that he is dead already? For you see, crucifixion was
designed, meant, and intended to inflict protracted suffering
and a slow lingering death. Many did not die on the first
day of their cross experience or crucifixion and the strong
lasted longer. and when they were crucified
upon the cross. So Pilate, wondering about this,
dispatched a courier to the centurion on duty, asking, is he dead so
soon? Is he dead already? Has he been
dead for a while? And when it was confirmed, yes,
the Nazarene indeed is dead. Pilate released the body to Joseph. Now here's an act of providence
as well. Pilate in his ego and authority
might have made another decision, but he did not. We can see that
this is providence. In order that the scripture might
be fulfilled, particularly that one in Isaiah, 53 and verse 9,
he made his grave with the wicked and was with the rich in his
death. So, having been granted that
permission, Joseph took the body of our Lord down off of the cross
and prepared it for burial as was the custom of the Jews. However, it is at this point
that another man in John's gospel is brought before us, a second
man that also hid his faith till after the Lord was dead. Unlike Joseph, we have an earlier
mention and history of him. His name, Nicodemus. Nicodemus
is the man who is mentioned twice before in John's Gospel. Two things before are mentioned
of him. You have it in John chapter 3,
as the Pharisee, a ruler of the Jew, who came to Jesus by night
and heard the necessity of regeneration, but seemed not to understand
it, even though it was taught in the Old Testament scripture.
But you have another mention of him in John chapter 7, verse
50, through verse 53, here in a meeting of Pharisees and of
the chief priests who were about to take action against the Lord,
being very critical of him, ready to pronounce judgment against
both the Lord and the people who believed upon him. And Nicodemus,
in that meeting, raised a valid question. He stood or he asked
for the floor and he asked the question, does our law judge
a man before it hears him and knows what he is charged with? Some criticize Nicodemus. for that, and it caused a stir. But providentially, it broke
up the meeting for a time and did, at least at that point,
frustrate the Jews' efforts to stop Christ and to put him out
of the way. Now, this Nicodemus, who was
of the Pharisee party, was a ruler of the Jew and was a teacher
of Israel, and yet He joins together with Joseph to bury the Lord. John tells us that Nicodemus
brought a mixture of myrrh and aloe spices and a large amount
of them that were expensive, myrrhs and aloe, which some say
were not only aromatic but also intended to be antiseptic as
they buried them with a body in that day. And together, these
two men, Joseph and Nicodemus, who all we can say before had
been a secret disciple of the Lord, not openly in their confession
of him, prepared the Lord's body for burial. To do that, they
bound him around with linen and They anointed him with a spice
and such like that had been brought, made him therefore ready for
the grave. And at this point, let us not
forget, Luke tells us of some women who were witnesses of these
things and they stood by and saw. Matthew, And Mark named
two of them as being Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, who were
there to witness these things and our Lord in the tomb. Now,
there is a factor here that comes into play. I think, at least
to me, it's kind of complicated, which was raised by the Jew and
mentioned by Matthew, by Luke, and by John. And they called
it the preparation of the Sabbath. which John 19, 31 calls an high
day. This day was an high day. I had to have help from the commentators
on this one. And as Gil wrote on John 19 and
verse 31, under Roman law, such bodies were left until they putrefied
or were devoured, being crucified upon the cross. Jewish law, on
the other hand, was the body hanged on a tree, was not to
be left there overnight, but it was to be taken down and buried
that same day that it hung on a tree. You want to do a little
research back in Deuteronomy chapter 21 verse 22 and verse
23 is the law of one hanged on the tree. Most expositors agree
this time when Jesus died it was the time of the Passover. when the Jews presented themselves
in Jerusalem in the temple before the Lord, and waved the sheaths
of the firstfruits before the Lord. And that the land not be
defiled, the Jews petitioned Pilate to break the legs of them,
to hasten their death, so that the corpses could be taken down
that same evening, removed and taken away. Now, there are two
things that appear in this request. Number one, the great hypocrisy
of the Jew. Don't miss the great hypocrisy
of the Jew. That while they had no qualms,
none at all, about shedding innocent blood, that is, of the Messiah,
the Son of God, Oh, how assiduously would they guard against ceremonial
defilement performed by any external thing. But the second thing is
their requests carried the sovereign providence of God and fulfilling
of the scripture in that he being dead already A bone of him was
not broken. Remember, the soldiers were sent
to break the legs of the three, to hasten their death, increase
their pain, and hasten their death. They came and he was dead
already. And in John 19, 36 and Exodus
chapter 12 and verse 46, that a bone of him shall not
be broken. There was not to be the breaking
of a bone of the Passover lamb. And this fulfilled that scripture
that a bone of him, the Lord, was not broken. It also fulfilled
the piercing of the side of our Lord Jesus in John chapter 19,
34-37. And this fulfills Zechariah chapter
12 and verse 10. They shall look upon me whom
they have pierced. As for the burial, the actual
burial, time was short, and the evening was coming on. His body is ready. And I guess
we might paraphrase and put it this way. Here's the body. Here's the linen. Here's the
spices. Here are the pallbearers. Here
are a few friends and mourners. But where is the gravesite of
this one? Now again, providence carries
the day. Nearby, John tells us, was a
garden. And in that garden, there was
a new grave, and providentially it belonged under this man Joseph. Had they need to purchase or
prepare a new grave, time had failed them, for the evening
was rushing on, time was short. So John 19 and verse 42. There laid they Jesus, therefore,
watch this, because of the Jews' preparation, and because the
sepulcher was nigh at hand. It was close by. not far from
the place of crucifixion. There they put the Lord, and
they rolled a stone into the door, and they went on their
way, Joseph and Nicodemus. Thus begins the Lord's time in
the grave. fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah
53 and verse 9 as to some providential circumstances concerning his
death and burial. Now, this verse in Isaiah, if
you look at the commentary, had some commentators laying down
their pen rubbing their chin and scratching their head as
they come to this verse in Isaiah. What shall then we novices do
with it if it gave trouble to those learned and wise The scripture
here it is he made his grave with a wicked he was with the
rich in his day Now this is how it stands in the King James the
Lord died with the wicked between them and at their hand yea more
he was numbered with the transgressors Isaiah 53 12 Mark 15 and verse
28. That is, he was counted, treated
as a criminal or as a transgressor. Now, at this point I raise the
question, what became of the bodies of the other two that
were crucified with our Lord? We are not told. It was only
specified that, quote, they might be taken away. John 19 and verse
31. Not left on the cross on the
high day, we're not told of the disposal of the two thieves and
of their corpses and how it was done. But then a question again.
What was the mind of the Jews? Think about that. What was the
mind of the Jews concerning the body of Jesus? They would not
have it remain on the cross on that high day, but would they
have him given a proper funeral and a proper burial or not? John
Brown wrote on Isaiah 53 and 9, there is no express record
in the gospel or in the scripture that the Jews intended to give
the Lord an ignominious funeral. But then he adds, there can be
little doubt of the fact After all, consider, they had handed
him over to the Romans to undergo the Roman form of crucifixion. Not being able to put one to
death himself, they'd given him over to the method of the Roman
crucifixion. and they knew what was their
way of disposing with those being crucified. Thus, they also consented
unto it. It was included in the Roman
method of crucifixion. To be abused by the Roman soldier,
or to be left on the cross, or be tossed in a common grave,
somewhere outside. Now as to the order of Isaiah
53 and verse 9, let's look a little bit closer at it. John Brown,
John Gill, others think that the sense of the verse is like
this. They appointed, they assigned,
they gave his grave to be with the wicked, with the malefactor,
but instead he was with the rich in his death. As a couple of
rich men gave him his burial. And for what it is worth, some
versions of the scripture translate Isaiah 53 and verse 9 as does
the NASB, quote, they assigned his grave with the wicked, yet
he was with the rich in his death. In other words, Providence carried
the matter. Providence overturned their original
design, putting it in the heart of Joseph. Oh, let's don't forget
that, that it came into the heart of Joseph. came so strongly that
he would defy his Jewish countrymen and march in to Pilate and crave
the body of the Lord, providing a new grave. That as the Son
of God rode upon a coat where never anyone had ever ridden
before, Luke 19 and verse 30, even so he lay in a grave where
never a body of death had lay before. And by evening on that
day, his body was buried in the tomb, and the tomb was closed
and sealed, and his morticians went on their way. His burial
was the final stage of his humiliation. The burial of our Lord, lying
in the bowels of the earth, lying in a tomb was the final stage
of his humiliation. Not only did he die the death
of the cross, but he was appointed and he humbled himself further
and he lay three days and three nights in a grave. Yet we quickly
had preserved from corruption, he that had given life to others,
he that had raised others. now himself is dead and buried. As scriptures speak of him being
in hell, it is translated in the King James, such as Acts
2 and verse 27. But it is not the fiery hell
there, as I understand it, that is meant, for the word is hades,
or something like that. and could be translated Hades,
being summed 11 times in the New Testament. Hades is one of
three ways that the word is translated in the New Testament. It is translated
Hades, translated Gehenna, and translated Tartarus one time
in 2 Peter chapter 2 and verse 4. Hades, the unseen world, when
body and soul are separate and one is in a state of death. But we must remember that the
attitude of most of the followers of Jesus for a time was his death
had dashed their hopes. of His being the Messiah and
delivering Israel. We listen in on that conversation
of the two there on Emmaus Road. As they say to Jesus, unbeknownst
unto them, we trusted that He would redeem Israel. Now this
is the third day and their thoughts trail off. Now it is true with
ordinary believers Death is the end of their earthly works. If such die, they do not live
again, Job 14, except God suspend the ordinary course and reverse
the common way in their situation. First, Christ is dead, and then
he is buried. His tomb has a stone in the opening
and a guard watching day and night at the request of the Jew. And you notice something interesting
about that and the Jews wanting a guard. Matthew 27, 62 through
66. Notice carefully in that passage
that the Jews are only interested in the first three days and nights. And there's a reason for that.
The Jews are only interested in the first three days and night. that if he remained in the tomb
past those three days and three nights, then they could say we
were right and call him a fraud. So they're interested. Because
they said, this deceiver said three days and three nights he
would live again. So now put a guard lest his disciples
come, steal him away, and say that he has been risen from the
dead. For he made a stupendous claim
during his ministry, after three days I will rise again. Now, in closing, Christ died,
Christ was buried according to the scripture, for as Jonas was
three days and three nights in the great fish, so Messiah would
be three and three in the bowels of the earth. and see no corruption. He did not, because providence
caused an unexpected man to step forward, a grave to be near,
and saved from further desecration at the hands of wicked men. And I'll just say this in closing,
if any knew the location of the tomb of our Lord, it would be
an act of idolatry. I can assure you if they knew
the tomb of our Lord. But thank God for our Lord who
conquered death. Death could not hold its prey. Not possible that he be holding
beyond the appointed time, Peter says in Acts 2, quoting Psalm
16. Our Lord was buried. Three days
and nights he lay. And then he got up. Got up under
his own power. Not the power of another, but
the power of the Godhead. Thank God for his victory over
death.