Jesus Died and Was Buried | A SOAP devotional, By Pastor Jamie

 

Matthew 27:57-61- As evening approached, Joseph, a rich man from Arimathea who had become a follower of Jesus, 58 went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. And Pilate issued an order to release it to him. 59 Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a long sheet of clean linen cloth. 60 He placed it in his own new tomb, which had been carved out of the rock. Then he rolled a great stone across the entrance and left. 61 Both Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting across from the tomb and watching.

Here we see the fulfillment of Isaiah 53:8-9: "Unjustly condemned, he was led away. No one cared that he died without descendants, that his life was cut short in midstream. But he was struck down for the rebellion of my people. He had done no wrong and had never deceived anyone. But he was buried like a criminal; he was put in a rich man’s grave." Obviously, this is kind of confusing- to be buried like a criminal in a rich man's grave. Jesus died as a criminal without any idea of where He'd be "put to rest" (He wouldn't need any place for very long!) So, a rich man named Joseph stepped up to allow Jesus to borrow his space in which to be buried. This notion also points to the fact that Jesus carried our sins on His shoulders to defeat sin, suffering, and death, thus dying as a "criminal" theologically. The great stone rolled in place to keep His followers from stealing His body and to declare the dead stay dead.

Romans 3:23 says, "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God;" that is, all but Jesus, who while unjustly condemned still freely chose to show us the full extent of His love for us on the cross to redeem us. This part of the story reveals that Jesus was fully human as He really died.  Some commentators have posited through the years that Jesus didn't really die, and He got better within a couple of days to meet back up with the disciples and pretend to be resurrected from the dead. With all due respect, that's nuts! How does it matter to you that Jesus suffered and died?

Father and closest Friend, thank You for the redemptive sacrifice of Your very own Son and our Savior on the cross bridge the immense gap between our sin and Your holiness. Jesus made a way where there seemed to be no way and for that we are grateful. In response we offer ourselves to You as those who commit to trying and training to take our next steps toward being all in with You. Amen.

 

"But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God." (Romans 5:8-11),

 

Pastor Jamie