MY PERSPECTIVE, Gary Damron
Since last November, we've focused on the life of Jesus the Messiah. This week we'll explore a little about the meaning of death, both for Jesus and for all who have lived since.
My wife and I met this week with a funeral home director and the young owner of a monument shop. We came away with plans for burial plots and a grave marker, with the intention of making things easier for our kids when we die. Traditionally, there's a funeral service and then a burial, and I've sometimes noticed that whatever comfort and encouragement came during the service may be dimmed at the grave. So, though I won't be around, I'm proposing that my body be buried before a service - with a focus on worship - and then time for a meal and fellowship afterward.
At the time of Jesus' execution, there was no plan by the Roman authorities to give criminals a proper burial. Normally the bodies of those crucified for sedition were left for the vultures. However, they did allow exceptions for crucified Jews, since their religious law (Deuteronomy 21:22-23) called for a corpse to be buried the same day. Usually those burials were in a communal grave outside the city, but the body of Jesus received different treatment. Pilate gave permission for two influential Jews - Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea - to take His body (John 19:38-39), perhaps further indicating that Pilate believed Jesus was innocent.
Joseph was a wealthy man who sat on the ruling council, the Sanhedrin, and he had secretly become a follower of Jesus. He offered a new, unused tomb nearby where Jesus' body could be placed before the Sabbath began. Nicodemus had first come to Jesus by night (John 3:2). But the two of them that day made a public declaration of their commitment to Jesus. Following tradition, they wrapped His body in linen strips and spices, and with this caring act, the death of Jesus begins to move from humiliation to honor and glory.
The tomb of Joseph of Arimathea would not be needed for long. Within three days, God brought Jesus back to life. Resurrection:
1) confirmed God's approval of the Son's sacrifice
2) validated Jesus' divine identity as the Son of God, and His plan of redemption
3) expressed acceptance of Jesus' sacrifice for sin
4) demonstrated that Jesus has overcome death
5) provides eternal life for all believers
Luke 23:55 tells us that some women who followed when Jesus was taken to the tomb saw how His body was laid. Evidently no one witnessed the actual resurrection, but there were hundreds of people to whom He appeared afterward. The apostle Paul testified that Jesus came to him on the Damascus Road, and he listed others who saw Jesus after "He was buried and raised on the third day (I Corinthians 15:3-6)."
A current worldview is that we live, we die, that's it. But in each of the four gospels, Jesus promised everlasting life. The disciple John records 12 times that Jesus offers to give eternal life to those who believe in Him.
While meeting with His followers before the trial, Jesus had remarked, "'You have heard that I said to you, "I go away, and I will come to you." If you loved Me, you would have rejoiced, because I go to the Father...'" (John 14:28). Lyrics in "All My Tears" by Selah say, "It don't matter where you bury me - I'll be home and I'll be free". The first verse is appropriate for Jesus and all believers. "When I go, don't cry for me - in my Father's arms I'll be. The wounds this world left on my soul - will all be healed and I'll be whole."
Again, Paul speaks to this, referring to Isaiah 25:8, "Death is swallowed up in victory. The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 15:55-57). Death is not the outcome God intended for creation. "Through [Adam] sin entered into the world, and death through sin..." (Romans 5:12). But Jesus' death on the cross paid the penalty for humanities' sins, and His resurrection demonstrates victory over death and brings new life.
Knowing that we have spiritual life in Jesus prepares us for physical death, which becomes just a passage into everything God has planned for His followers. May we spend our time here getting to know the One with whom we'll spend eternity. A funeral and burial are not the end; rather, they can be just another step in following Jesus.
