“For I delivered to
you as of first importance what I also received,
that Christ died for
our sins according to the scriptures,
and that He was
buried,
and that He was raised
on the third day
according to the
scriptures.” (1 Corinthians 15:3,4)
A few words from 1 Corinthians 15:4 have often arrested me
in my contemplation about Jesus’ death and resurrection. Paul inserts the short phrase: “and that He was buried…” These words are as important as “…that Christ died for our sins…” and “…that He was raised on the third day…” For those who have questioned whether Jesus
actually died, these words should pretty well clarify any
misunderstanding.
Jesus was buried. We
do not bury people who are still alive. All four gospels relate the account of
Jesus’ burial. Nicodemus and Joseph of
Arimithea took Jesus’ body down from the cross, embalmed Him with a mixture of myrrh and aloes, and bound His body in linen wrappings, as
is the burial custom of the Jews.
(John 19:38-40). These two men were
willing to defile themselves, by touching a dead body, which meant they would
not be able to even celebrate the Passover. And they laid Jesus in a nearby tomb (John 19: 42). These are not incidental details. Amongst many reasons why Jesus’ burial is
included in the gospels, I remain caught up with the imagery that burial brings
to mind- the reality of someone’s death.
If He had not been buried, His body would have been thrown
into Gehenna, the Valley of the Sons of Hinnom; the place where they heaved
common criminals’ bodies, over the edge, down into the valley and burned along
with the garbage from the city of Jerusalem.
If He had not been buried, then why bother setting a Roman guard at His
tomb, and setting a seal on the stone, as requested by the chief priests and
the Pharisees (Matthew 27:62-66)? They
were afraid Jesus’ disciples would come and steal His body. Apparently, these religious leaders were
certain that Jesus was dead. If He had
not been buried, then why would some of the women have gone to watch Joseph
& Nicodemus? “Now the women who had
come with Him out of Galilee followed after, and saw the tomb and how His body was laid” (Luke 23:55).
Perhaps most telling of all are Jesus’ words, a few days
before the Passover; a few days before His crucifixion. He was in Bethany at Simon the leper’s house,
and a woman poured a vial of pure nard over His head. Some at the table were indignant, remarking
to one another that the ointment should have been sold and the money given to
the poor. Jesus replied: “She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for the burial”
(Mark 14:8). Who talks like this,
unless they know their burial is looming; their death is imminent?
Jesus’ burial is no trivial matter. It is the confirmation of His actual, real,
death; a death that had been prophesied thousands
of years beforehand. And it sets the
stage for the most climatic event in all of history- His resurrection.
One more glorious thought, found in Romans 6:4, “Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, in order
that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we
too might walk in newness of life,” and in Colossians 2:12, “having been buried with Him in baptism…”
Baptism is a picture of our sins being buried with
Christ. It is no trivial matter. And we have risen to a new way of life. Oh my, it doesn’t get any sweeter than
that.
Happy Easter
