The Burial of Jesus (Matthew 27:55-66)

 When you go to a funeral or a memorial service, we would usually expect to hear about the person who is deceased. Many even learn some things about that person, but in the case of Jesus Christ none of that happened. There was no service there were no pallbearers there was no eulogy to recall and admire the significant things he had done in his life and ministry there was no sermon there were no testimonials. Most Christians now and celebrate annually that he died and then he died and then he arose and somehow we just saw a sweep over the fact that he was buried. It gets brief mention at best, as a matter of fact, one theologian has said the burial of Christ is another of the neglected events in our Lord’s life and it is probably safe to say that this is one of the most neglected facets of Christology in all of his life. While volumes have been written of his life, his miracles, his parables, his teaching, even his suffering his death and his resurrection, it is still difficult to find a single sentence on the significance theologically of his burial.

A pastor said in our eagerness to get through Easter we tend to move quickly from the crucifixion to the resurrection forgetting that the burial of Jesus is important it is mentioned in all four gospel accounts. So today I want to ask, what is the significance of the burial of Christ and what is the theological implication does it have, if any. Perhaps we could ask are there any practical lessons we could learn by looking at the burial of Jesus, and by the way it’s not only mentioned in all four gospels, but it is mentioned in some detail.  In fact, we know more about the burial of Jesus than we do any other person in ancient history. so apparently, it’s important, but what is its importance. Well let’s look at Matthew’s account of the burial of Christ run with me you will to Matthew chapter 27 

The Burial of Jesus

55 Many women were there, watching from a distance. They had followed Jesus from Galilee to care for his needs. 56 Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons. 57 As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. 58 Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him. 59 Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, 60 and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away. 61 Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb.

The Guard at the Tomb

62 The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. 63 “Sir,” they said, “we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ 64 So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first.” 65 “Take a guard,” Pilate answered. “Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.” 66 So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.

 So, this is the description of the burial of Christ as recorded by Matthew, as you can see there are a few significant facts concerning the burial but most of this passage is actually talking about those who attended the scene, the attendees at the burial of Jesus. There are really several things going on here there’s some things we need to learn about the burial itself and then I think there's some really interesting insights into some practical spiritual truths that we gleaned from the people who were in attendance.

The passage itself can be broken down into several parts, first we’re told about the women who were there, secondly we’re told about Joseph who took the responsibility for the burial and finally there’s some more activity by the religious leaders to make sure this doesn’t go any further. It begins by telling us that many women of the who followed during his ministering were watching things from afar and then it goes on to list some of those women.

The first thing we’re told is that there were women at the burial, but you can’t be helped but struck by the fact that we were told in the previous chapter 26 that all the disciples fled, as a matter of it said they did that just as was prophesied in the Old Testament.All the disciples fled so at the burial none of the disciples are present, no Peter, n James, no John or Andrew. I could go down the whole list, they all fled. The only people remaining were the women and these are the ones that had come from Galilee, they were the faithful few who were with him from the beginning and were still here. It mentions some names, it mentions Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons. So lets think for a moment about who was there. So, Mary Magdalene was there, who by the way, has got a lot of bad press by the church over the years. There has been a lot said and taught about her over the years which is just not true, in fact all that stuff was a later development in church history, she was not the lady of the night, that she is sometimes portrayed to be. Not when you base you views solely on the Biblical texts anyway.

However, let me tell you this she was the one they had a demon and Jesus cast out the demon out, that part is true, and we know that from the scripture itself. Can you imagine the having something happen to you like being demon possessed and all the pain and suffering that causes and somebody come along and instantaneously and miraculously delivering you from that. Would you not be inclined to follow that person and pay attention to what they said and be grateful for what they did when they did, at least attend that person’s funeral. As for his mother that needs no explanation. May say the love of a mother is matched by no other, that’s just the way it is. 

I would like to suggest is that these women were the faithful few, down to the very end. It also says they watched from afar, sitting opposite the tomb and they had been there to the very bitter end, they had watched the crucifixion and they watched the burial they watched him being down off the cross they watched him being put in a tomb. These were those loyal faithful people,  and if nothing else they just remind us that we need to be faithful, like those women. It is imperative that we as followers of Jesus Christ simply be faithful also. Paul says it is required of a steward that we be found faithful, and these women are our example and model for us, they were faithful to the end.

Let me just add on a P.S. at the end. It was the women that stayed and remained faithful, the men fled, that is often the way, even today,  sadly.

So the first are mentioned as being part of this crowd around the burial scene are the women. The second is a man named Joseph of Arimathea and we’re told a little about his story.

What we know is, number one, he was rich we don’t know how he obtained his wealth, perhaps it had been inherited maybe he was highly successful at trade, but we know he had a large enough house to have a garden and a private tomb in the garden that was hewn out of solid rock.

Apparently was a wealthy individual, Matthew says he was rich, but Luke also tells us he had livestock and that he was a member of the Sanhedrin, that’s the ruling religious body in Israel at the time and that’s the same Jewish body that condemned Jesus and persuaded the Romans who were really in charge politically to put Jesus to death. Luke is quick to add he was a prominent member and that he did not agree with he crucifixion of Christ. So he is not just a wealthy man here is a man of influence he’s on the highest body in ancient Israel and we also know from the gospel of John that he was a disciple of Jesus.As a matter of fact ,Matthew also says that in verse 57. Now those of you have heard me before will know that I believe there’s a difference between being a believer and being a disciple, what you have to do to gain eternal life is believe that’s John 3:16 and that’s all you have to do which means you trust in Jesus Christ who died for you and arose from the dead and by doing that in faith you are in deed saved.

However, the word disciple on the other hand means that you have become a learner the word disciple means learner that you not only have trusted Christ for eternal life to get you to heaven but you’re also learning from him by following him, which means doing what he said, following his teaching. I think the scripture is explicitly clear that salvation is a free gift it’s called that in several places, “the gift of God is eternal life,”  but  discipleship costs. 

Joseph of Arimathea had become a believer and a disciple, Joseph had heard the Lord's word and the spirit of God had turned his heart to trust of the solid rock of a divinely provided righteousness through Jesus Christ, that’s salvation. But Joseph had gone beyond that and he’d become a real disciple of Jesus Christ, a learner but here’s the shock the gospel of John says but he was following Jesus in secret.

Let’s think about this for a minute, here is a man who has a lot to lose he’s wealthy, he’s prominent, and he’s a member of the Sanhedrin, that’s the body that’s condemning Jesus. Can you imagine what it would mean if he even though he was a disciple he came out and defended Jesus. He was a disciple, but John makes the interesting observation that he was a secret disciple and he adds this is because he was afraid of the Jews. Before you get too hard on Joseph have you ever not spoken up for the Lord because you were afraid of the people that would hear what you had to say. 

If you ever have in any way then you can identify with Joseph. Yet here he is, and there are lots of reasons why he shouldn’t be here. He shouldn’t have gone anywhere near the body of Jesus, according to the Jewish law if he had touched the dead body he was ceremonially defiled and that would prohibit him from observing the whole Passover. This could cost him personally, he would have to explain to the members of the Sanhedrin what he was doing of all things claiming the body of Jesus. As a matter of fact one expositor, I read said, “To acknowledge Jesus as the Messiah king meant ostracism persecution and perhaps death, it meant the loss of his status, his position and probably his estate. Joseph faced a difficult future by doing this, nevertheless he is the one the only one that steps and claims his body for burial.

When mark records this story in his gospel account, he says Joseph was a prominent council member who himself was waiting for the Kingdom of God to come and taking courage went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Mark tells us he took courage and even though he was afraid of the other member of the council; That fear  had prevented him from being an open witness for Christ whilst he was alive, but now this is too much to bear, and he takes courage and goes to Pilate and asks for the and Pilate gives it to him. Joseph then takes the body has it washed and wrapped in a clean linen cloth.

Now let me just pause here for this might sound like saying the obvious but it needs to be addressed, he took what the body, so what does that tell you, he was dead, correct. One of the things that’s significant about the burial you can recognise is that is that Jesus was actually dead. This and other things prove he died. Jesus died, but why make a big issue out of that? Because some people claim he didn’t die, as matter of fact a number of people come up with all kinds of reasons for why he didn’t actually die. One theory that was popularised by a books published in the 1960’s called the Passover. According to that view Jesus didn’t actually die but on the cross, he came close, he probably fainted, it's called the swoon theory and they took him down and put him in this cool room and the cold air revived him and so he didn’t die he wasn’t resurrected that’s the thesis of the Passover.

I meet once a week with a group of mainly humanist and Atheist philosophers who it seems to me all prescribe to this theory or one that says the whole thing is a fiction. I wonder what they think would really happen if someone was beaten with relentless whipped with 39 strokes of a cats tail, then nailed to a cross, hanging in the midday sun for 6 hours and run through with a sword and see what happens next. My friend, Jesus died that day. So, he dead and verse 60 says that they laid him in a tomb, one which was huned out of solid rock. So it had a sort of a round hole as the entrance and when you walked in and it was a small room there. On one side a rock shelf and the body laid on that. This was a rich man’s tomb, this was the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea so Jesus was put in this tomb and what’s significant about that is it’s cut out of solid rock, so you only have to protect the front door there is no back door so nobody could sneak in and steal the body and then say he was resurrected. Joseph put him in a tomb that would specifically prohibit people form stealing the body and it tells us that he put a stone against the doo.

It seems to me that the one thing we could say about Joseph was that he was faithful at the end. Joseph was faithful at the end, now it would be better to be faithful to the end than but still is better to be faithful at the end, than not faithful at all. Let’s not criticize Joseph, for he was faithful at the very end of the Lord’s life and by the way what’s he known for the last 2000 years. He is remembered today for the last thing he did in the Lord’s life. I trust that when we die that we are serving the Lord and we in a sense, die with our spiritual boots on. So be faithful to the end.

There is one more act to this burial story, and its an epilogue so to speak and it has to do with the religious leaders because the next day they go to Pilate and say, “We remember while he was alive this deceiver said after three days I will rise from the dead, therefore command that the tomb be made secure until the third day lest the disciples come by night and steal them away and say to the people he’s been risen from the dead”.

 These guys are bent on making this burial his final burial, they don’t want anything to go wrong they want to stop the spread of any influence he might have beyond the grave. So they go to Pilate and they say put a guard at the tomb, and that will backfire because now when he raises the guards add to the testimony that his body is not there anymore. If there was a guard on and now the body is missing, he must have come back from the dead.

Then the last verse of the chapter says so they went and made the tomb secure sealing the stone and setting the guard yet look what happens. If you put all this together obvious point is that to the very end a few were faithful followers and to the very end the religious leaders were determined to stop his influence among the people.

I began today’s message by saying we normally skip over the burial and talk about this the theological significance of the death or the resurrection, but the buriel itself has significance. So what are the practical lessons we can learn from this.

To do that I want to I want to put this in the context of what normally happened in the 1st century when the Romans crucified somebody. They did not normally bury the body of a crucified, as a matter of fact they simply threw it on the ground and let the vultures eat the flesh.

The Jews had a little different idea, they would usually put a criminal in a public burial plot without honour and they would not even put up a marker as to where they had been buried. Josephus points out that a blasphemer could not be buried except in an obscure manner and the Rabbinic literature states that criminals had to be had to be stoned to death or hung and were to be buried in the Potters field. As a blasphemer, even if you had a king in your ancestry that would still be the case. So this is just radically different than anything that would normally have happened during that time.No one would have ever imagined that he would be interned in an honourable tomb by the hands of two respected members of the Supreme Council in the land the Sanhedrin by the way Joseph is the one mentioned in this passage but John tells us he was helped by Nicodemus who was also a member.

Who would ever have believed that he was going to be buried by two members of the Sanhedrin this is incredible. This whole process was contrary to Jewish law, so how do you explain that, what’s the significance of the burel in this way.

Well, number one. He died and he died in our place to pay for our sins, but the second thing is he very fulfilled prophecy.

Let me read you Isaiah 53 verse 9.

“And they made his grave with the wicked but the rich and his death because he had done no violence nor was deceit in his mouth”.

600 years before Christ was born, Isaiah predicted that when the Messiah died, he would be buried with the rich and so he was. 

Joseph of Arimathea’s tomb was new, that means it had never been used before, Jesus is the first one to be buried in this tomb, it had never been used. No no doubt the people in the 1st century would have picked up and it was that it was the custom that when a king came to town you only gave him stuff that was new. For example they cut a new path into the town and he’d be the first one to travel on it, some bible experts this is the reason Matthew choose to make a poin out of this.

Do you remember when we talked about the triumphal entry back in chapter 21, when we were told that Jesus’ rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, that had never been ridden before. Another in the pattern of new things for the king. So the burial of Jesus Christ proves that when he died it fulfils prophecy proving he was the Messiah and the fact that he was in a new tomb again shows that he was the Messiah and king.

And then he dies and three days later he will come back from the dead.

So, in closing let’s now talk about some practical ramifications of this for a moment. I’ve already talked about what I think is the main message of this passage and that is that the women were faithful and loyal that Joseph of Arimathea who showed up late but he was loyal and faithful at the end. I’d like to suggest and what we learned from this passage is that we need to be faithful and loyal. Let me put it like this, Joseph was a secret disciple, so are you a closet Christian. I know some believers whose members of their families don’t know about your commitment to the Lord.

So I want to conclude by saying this and I mean this from the depths of my soul. 

Just focus on being faithful to the end so you can as I said earlier metaphorically die with your spiritual boots on.