The
Jewish leaders didn’t want any of the bodies on the crosses after sundown (as
we saw last week), but who was going to take the bodies, prepare them for
burial and bury them? Most of the Jewish leaders made sure they remained
“clean” in order to partake in the Passover meal. However, 2 of the 70
Sanhedrin (the highest Jewish religious body) did choose to defile and
contaminate themselves in order to give Jesus a proper burial.
John
19:38-42 38 Later, Joseph of
Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of
Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jewish leaders. With Pilate’s
permission, he came and took the body away. 39 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. 40 Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it,
with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial
customs. 41 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. 42 Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and
since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.
Joseph
and Nicodemus risked everything to bury Jesus. Not only would they not be able
to celebrate the Passover with everyone else, but all of their peer religious
leaders would know why! Their choice to follow Jesus would no longer be a
secret. Their inward faith was now displayed outwardly as they honored Jesus
through His burial.
Are you and I like Joseph and
Nicodemus? Are we willing to put everything on the line for what we believe?
Or, do we cling to our traditions/comforts/security while partially following
Jesus? Did Jesus partially die for us?
What are we still hanging onto and
refusing to bury? We can ask for His help to bury old attitudes, desires,
habits, fears and thoughts to live the new life He’s given us. Then, you and I
can better show our love for Jesus and honor Him, as Joseph and Nicodemus did!
Alice
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