Daily Lectionary Readings:
Psalm 31:1-4, 15-16
Job 14:1-14
1 Peter 4:1-8
Matthew 27:57-66
Matthew 27:57-66
New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society
The Burial of Jesus
57As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. 58Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him. 59Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, 60and 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. 61Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb.
The Guard at the Tomb
62The 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.’ 64So 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.” 66So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.
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We switch from John to Matthews Gospel for our reading today. This Saturday between Good Friday and Easter is a somber day. Christians worship on this day in a rather reflective manner. Good Friday is behind us, but Easter is not yet here. So we wait. We ponder. We wonder at the marvelous plan of God sending his Son to the Savior of the world.
Today’s text is the account of Joseph of Arimathea asking Pilate for Jesus body. Joseph, a follower, wanted the body to receive a proper burial. The Chief Priests and the Pharisees, though, wanted to make sure there were no under handed shenanigans going on. So they asked that Pilate put a guard on the tomb. They quoted Jesus saying, “After three days I will rise again.” Pilate consents to their request and a Roman guard put a seal upon the tomb and then took up positions around it.
I wonder what the guards thought of their assignment. I am sure they were all aware of the happenings of the previous couple of days. They may even have been the ones that helped to scourge him. They might have been the same detail that nailed him to the cross. Perhaps, the one that put the spear into Jesus side was now standing there with the same spear in his side. Perhaps he was wondering, “Why am I guarding a dead man?” Indeed, perhaps they all wondered what was going on that made this man, even in his death, so important as to require a contingent of Roman soldiers to guard his tomb.
With the tomb sealed, and the guard in place. The Jewish leaders could be sure that Jesus would stay dead. There would be no missing corpse that would miraculously be said to have come back to life. There would be no Lazarus again walking in their midst. The job was done. The task was completed. The Jewish Carpenter was no longer going to stir things up with the Romans and there would be peace and security once again in the land.
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