JANUARY 31, 2016
THE CRUCIFIXION OF CHRIST (CONTINUED)
INTRODUCTION:
In parts one and two of this study we considered Verses 15-41 under the following five headings:
I. Christ was condemned by Pilate to be crucified. (Verses 15-21)
II. Christ was crucified at the appointed time and place. (Verses 22-32)
III. Christ was dying under the curse, signified by the sun being darkened. (Verses 33-41)
IV. Christ’s death, a marvel that was attended and followed by many marvels. (Verses 37-39)
V. Christ’s crucifixion mournfully viewed by friends who kept their distance. (Verses 40, 41)
In our present study we will be considering Verses 42-47.
VI. CHRIST WAS BURIED IN A BORROWED TOMB. (VERSES 42-47)
A. THE BODY OF CHRIST WAS CRAVED (BEGGED) FROM PILATE. (VERSES 42-43) The dead bodies of malefactors were at the disposal of the government. Ordinarily they did not receive an honorable burial, to be sure. Those who had demanded that Christ be crucified, and hurried Him to the cross, no doubt assumed that He would receive no better than to make His grave with the wicked. However, God designed that He should make it with the rich in His death. (Isa. 53:9)
1. We are told when the body of Jesus was begged in order to give it proper burial, and why such haste was made to see it done. (Verse 42)
a) Even was come, and it was the preparation, that is, the day before the Passover. The first Passover Sabbath would actually begin at six o’clock in the evening. The first and seventh days of this memorial feast were holy days, or Sabbath days. Evening was coming on, and shortly would begin the first Sabbath.
b) The day before the Sabbath was a day of preparation, whether it be the regular weekly Sabbath, or a special Sabbath, such as the Passover. It is good that there should be a preparation in anticipation of our Christian Sabbath, not of our houses or tables, but our hearts.
2. We are told who it was that begged the body of our Lord in order to see it honorably buried. (Verse 43)
a) Joseph of Arimathea is here called an honorable counselor.
(1) Some think he was one of Pilate’s privy council.
(2) More likely, he was a member of the great Sanhedrin.
b) He was a man of character and distinction, serving in some office of public trust.
c) He, Luke tells us, was a good and just man. He had not agreed with other members of the council in what was done. He was looking for Messiah and awaiting the Kingdom of God. (See Luke 23:50, 51) Those who wait for the Kingdom of God, and hope for a place in it, must show it by being forward to own Christ and his cause.
d) Clearly, he was a man of bold conviction, one who stood against the majority in the Sanhedrin.
3. He was not only bold in his stand among his fellow Jews, but he also went boldly unto Pilate, who had condemned Christ to die, and begged the body of Jesus.
a) This man God raised up for this necessary service. That which His disciples had no ability to do, and possibly neither interest nor courage to do, this man did.
b) He knew the affront this action was to the chief priests and elders, who had so reproached Christ, to see this honor done him. He was also aware of the risk he was running to approach Pilate with this request. Pilate was haughty, and unpredictable, and could easily have taken this request as an act of defiance. Joseph no doubt weighed the possibilities before doing what he felt he must do.
4. It came as a great surprise to Pilate to hear that Christ was already dead. (Verse 44)
a) We gather from Pilate’s reaction that the victims of crucifixion usually lingered much longer.
b) However, as we have already considered, our Lord died according to His own will, and gave up the ghost when it was time for the Passover lamb to be slain.
5. Pilate, it seems, may have been suspicious of Joseph’s motives. Perhaps he intended to take Him down before He was dead. He therefore, sought confirmation from his centurion, who could assure him of this, for he had particularly observed how He gave up the ghost. (Verse 39) Once it was confirmed that Jesus was dead, he gave the body to Joseph. (Verse 45)
a) Pilate’s suspicion was part of a special providence preventing any claim that Jesus was not really dead when taken down from the cross.
b) Add to this confirmation by the centurion the fact that another soldier thrust a spear into His side before He was taken down from the cross, and still there are infidel Bible teachers who eagerly promote a swoon theory and other heretical teachings in order to assert that Jesus did not actually rise from the dead.
B. THE BODY OF CHRIST WAS RESPECTFULLY AND HONORABLY BURIED BY JOSEPH IN HIS OWN TOMB. (VERSE 46) It is truly remarkable how God prevented those who would have dishonored Christ’s body from either getting to it first, or from hindering Joseph in his good work.
1. Joseph bought fine linen in which to wrap the body for burial. Notice, he did not merely use what was at hand, though that might have been acceptable, he purchased new and expensive linen. In our service to Christ, let us be generous and particular. Let us not offer to Christ the leftovers of our life, time, money, etc., but let us give to Him the first, the finest, and the best we have.
2. Joseph took down the body and wrapped it in linen. He carefully took down the mangled body of our Lord, and wrapped it in valuable new linen as a treasure of great worth. When we partake of the broken bread at the Lord’s Table, we do remember His broken body as most precious and valuable.
3. Joseph took the body of Christ, which he had wrapped in fine linen, and laid Him in a sepulcher.
a) This sepulcher belonged to Joseph. He had had it hewn out of a rock.
b) He placed the body of Christ inside this sepulcher.
4. Joseph then rolled a stone unto the door.
C. SOME OF THE GOOD WOMEN TOOK NOTE OF WHERE THEIR LORD’S BODY WAS LAID, INTENDING TO RETURN AFTER THE SABBATH TO ANNOINT IT. (VERSE 47)
1. These dear women had ministered to Christ during His earthly ministry. They had observed His crucifixion from afar. They had attended His funeral, hurried as it was. They had not time, however, to properly anoint His body for burial before the preparation of the Sabbath.
2. Their intention was to wait until the end of the Sabbath, and then return to the sepulcher to perform this work. They would return, even wondering who they might impose upon to help with the rolling back of the stone. However, upon their arrival they would find that the stone had already been rolled away, and no man had done it. They would also find that the body of Christ was not there, but He was risen as He said.
3. In our next lesson we will begin our study of the resurrection of Christ.
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