The Burial of Jesus
Luke 23:50-56
March 7, 2021
This morning we’re going to take a little DIFFERENT APPROACH
Than perhaps we typically do in our study through God’s word.
We’re going to do a little more of a thematic type study as we read our current text and then discuss for a little while the issue of the burial of Jesus.
In some ways I think it seem like the burial of Jesus
Is sort of treated like an afterthought.
It just sort of feels like JUST A FORMALITY.
It doesn’t feel really all that significant.
Burial is just sort of what you do when people die,
And so it doesn’t seem like the sort of thing
That we would really make any big deal about or spend time discussing.
Perhaps we might say that “It hardly seems worth discussing”.
AND YET
All 4 gospel accounts include, not just the fact that Christ was buried, but the details surrounding His burial.
• They show us how Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus and took Him down and buried Him.
• John’s gospel tells us that Nicodemus was also involved and helped him.
• We learn from Matthew’s gospel that Joseph buried Jesus in his own new tomb.
• And each of the gospel accounts remind us that a small group of women followed to see exactly where Jesus was buried.
All the accounts mention details regarding the burial of Jesus.
It was important to the gospel writers.
Indeed it was important to the Old Testament writers too.
We’re going to talk about it more in a minute, but you remember:
Isaiah 53:9 “His grave was assigned with wicked men, Yet He was with a rich man in His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.”
David also referenced it:
Psalms 16:9-10 “Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices; My flesh also will dwell securely. For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol; Nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.”
So the burial was certainly on the minds
Even of the Old Testament writers.
Beyond that, Jesus spoke of His coming burial and its significance.
Matthew 12:38-41 “Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.” But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet; for just as JONAH WAS THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS IN THE BELLY OF THE SEA MONSTER, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. “The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment, and will condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.”
• From Jesus’ perspective, the burial was an important part of the entire resurrection narrative.
• Jesus even taught us that Jonah being swallowed by that fish was in some way a prophetic type of the burial of Jesus.
There is clearly significance there.
When you get beyond the gospels into the rest of the New Testament, the burial is not omitted, but is INCLUDED AS AN ESSENTIAL REALITY of the gospel.
Remember what Paul had to say about the gospel?
1 Corinthians 15:3-4 “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,”
• Paul doesn’t just say that Jesus died and rose again, but that He died, was buried, and that He was raised.
• The burial is not omitted, but is included as an important aspect of what occurred during these days.
Even beyond the cannon of Scripture, THE EARLY CHURCH latched on this as well.
The Apostle’s Creed states:
“I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;”
So clearly it wasn’t just the death and resurrection of Jesus,
But there has always been a focus even on the fact that Jesus was buried.
There is also, in the New Testament, A CORRELATION for us between the burial of Christ and Christian baptism.
Paul writes:
Romans 6:3-4 “Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.”
And again:
Colossians 2:11-12 “and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ; having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.”
And I just point all of that out to you
To sort of get your brain moving in the direction
Of pondering the importance of the burial of Jesus.
Clearly the burial of Jesus was more than an afterthought…
Clearly it was more than an insignificant formality…
• It was prophesied by prophets…
• It was pictured by Jonah…
• It was related by Jesus…
• It was fulfilled by Joseph…
• It was recorded in the gospels…
• It was proclaimed by the apostles…
• It is typified by baptism…
And so before we rush on to the glorious news of the resurrection,
I think it is fitting for us also to stop for one week
And consider the fact that after Jesus died, He was also buried.
And we’re going to look at our text this morning, along with some others
As we contemplate a little bit about the burial of Jesus.
Now, of all the themes that emerge regarding the burial of Jesus,
There is one that I think does rise above the rest.
There is a main point to be learned regarding the burial and it is this:
#1 THE PROOF IT OFFERS
Luke 23:50-56
When I speak of the proof it offers, we understand that the burial,
More than anything else, proves that CHRIST DID IN FACT DIE.
I don’t care to litter a sermon with heretical beliefs,
But it is enough to point out that even a quick google search will show you that there are plenty of skeptics who still hold that on the cross Jesus DID NOT actually die.
• Some think He merely fainted and was resuscitated.
• Muslims hold that He did not die there.
And of course if Jesus did not die, then we have major problems.
However Jesus did die, and the burial is the proof.
Burial is the proof that all 4 gospel writers give.
Now, as we stated last time, John gives even more proof of Jesus’ death.
John 19:31-34 “Then the Jews, because it was the day of preparation, so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. So the soldiers came, and broke the legs of the first man and of the other who was crucified with Him; but coming to Jesus, when they saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out.”
So there are other proofs that Jesus’ died,
But still the one proof all the gospel writers agreed on
Is that He was buried.
Certainly that is true from Luke’s perspective.
• There is nothing sneaky, nothing secretive, going on here.
• There is no conspiracy brewing…
Remember, there was even a fear among the Jews that the disciples
Might try and steal Jesus’ body and claim He was alive.
Matthew 27:62-66 “Now on the next day, the day after the preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered together with Pilate, and said, “Sir, we remember that when He was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I am to rise again.’ “Therefore, give orders for the grave to be made secure until the third day, otherwise His disciples may come and steal Him away and say to the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last deception will be worse than the first.” Pilate said to them, “You have a guard; go, make it as secure as you know how.” And they went and made the grave secure, and along with the guard they set a seal on the stone.”
But when you read the narrative, there is no plan being hatched here.
Joseph simply wants to bury Jesus.
(50-53) “And a man named Joseph, who was a member of the Council, a good and righteous man (he had not consented to their plan and action), a man from Arimathea, a city of the Jews, who was waiting for the kingdom of God; this man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. And he took it down and wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid Him in a tomb cut into the rock, where no one had ever lain.”
• There is no secret plot.
• There is no plan to carry of Jesus’ body.
• This man is just honoring Jesus with burial.
Beyond that, even the WOMEN, they aren’t behaving any different
Than if Jesus has died and is being buried.
(54-56) “It was the preparation day, and the Sabbath was about to begin. Now the women who had come with Him out of Galilee followed, and saw the tomb and how His body was laid. Then they returned and prepared spices and perfumes. And on the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.”
• There is no plan to steal the body…
• There is no attempt to resuscitate Jesus…
These women just want to know where the grave is
So they’ll know where to come to adorn His body with spices.
Everything about the scene screams the same logical point.
JESUS IS DEAD
There is finality here. There is closure here.
We’ve all been to enough gravesides in our lives to know the scene.
• It is certainly not something you do to someone who is living.
The courage of Joseph…
The curiosity of the woman…
It all confirms the main point.
JESUS DIED ON THE CROSS.
Jesus didn’t just suffer and pass out on the cross, Jesus died there.
Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death…”
And since the burial is the definitive proof of that,
Let us consider for a brief moment this morning,
THE NECESSITY OF HIS DEATH.
TURN TO: HEBREWS 9:15-17
That passage can be a confusing one to many who read it today
Because we are not always accustomed to “covenant” language.
The Greek word for “covenant” is DIATHEKE (di-a-thay-kay)
It is defined like this:
“the last disposition which one makes of his earthly possessions after his death, a testament or will”
Now perhaps that helps you understand a little better.
When you see the word “covenant” here just think “will”
So if you read: verse 16 “For where a will is, there must of necessity be the death of the one who made it.”
• That makes sense.
• No one cashes in on a relatives will before that person dies.
And we understand verse 17, “For a will is valid only when men are dead, for it is never in force while the one who made it lives.”
So when the writer of Hebrews
Starts talking about the Old Covenant and the New Covenant
You understand that he is talking about the old will and the new will.
It is the disposition which Christ makes to us after His death.
Now you know why Christ made the statement at the Last Supper, “this cup is the new covenant in My blood”
His death was ushering in the execution of His will.
And certainly He had to die to make that valid.
• All of His promises of forgiveness…
• All of those truths about the inheritance…
• None of those are valid unless He dies.
But that’s not all that is in play.
See, there is first the Old Covenant or will that also has to be dealt with.
This is what the writer of Hebrews is talking about in verse 15.
(15) “For this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.”
• There was also an old covenant promise of life and blessing, etc.
• But those promises could not be claimed
• Because the named recipients had transgressed the covenant.
That is to say, they had failed to uphold their requirements
And were thus rendered ineligible to receive the inheritance.
Did you know that even to this day in Israel there are laws that make an heir disqualified to receive their inheritance?
Things like:
• If you caused the death of the deceased
• Of if you at any time tried to kill the deceased
• If you are a murderer or suspected of murder
• If you tried to hide, forge, or destroy the will
Well you then also understand the problem
Of all those under that first covenant.
They had broken the covenant and where therefore disqualified
And were ALSO under the penalty of death by reason of their sin.
Look down at verses 19-22
(19-22) “For when every commandment had been spoken by Moses to all the people according to the Law, he took the blood of the calves and the goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, saying, “THIS IS THE BLOOD OF THE COVENANT WHICH GOD COMMANDED YOU.” And in the same way he sprinkled both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry with the blood. And according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”
What was Moses doing there?
• He was laying out the stipulations for the covenant.
• He sprinkled everything with blood signifying the penalty of transgressing the covenant.
You’ve seen that before too.
Remember when God made a covenant with Abraham?
• He promised Abraham to give him the land of Canaan and then God chose to
strike a covenant so as to prove it.
Genesis 15:8-10 “He said, “O Lord GOD, how may I know that I will possess it?” So He said to him, “Bring Me a three year old heifer, and a three year old female goat, and a three year old ram, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” Then he brought all these to Him and cut them in two, and laid each half opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds.”
So God told Abraham to take those animals
And Abraham cut them in two which was a form of judgment.
And then remember what God did:
Genesis 15:17 “It came about when the sun had set, that it was very dark, and behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a flaming torch which passed between these pieces.”
What was God saying there?
He was saying, “May such happen to Me if I do not keep My word”
The death of those animals was the symbol of the penalty.
MOSES WAS DOING THAT SAME THING.
• He read the covenant and then he sprinkled everything with blood.
• “May your lifeblood be shed if you do not keep this word”
Death was the penalty for breaking the covenant.
So what did Christ do?
HE DIED (15) “for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, [so that] those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.”
Christ paid off their debt!
• Their debt was death, and He paid it.
• He satisfied the requirements of the Old Covenant
• And He ushered in the benefits of the New Covenant.
And for any of this to happen, He had to die.
So you understand the significance of death and the necessity of death.
• If Christ doesn’t die those under the Old Covenant receive no inheritance.
• If Christ doesn’t die His New Covenant is never put into effect.
DEATH IS ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL.
And how do we know Christ was dead?
THEY BURIED HIM
The burial is significant because of the proof it offers.
But there is more, and I want to make sure you see that as well.
#2 THE PROVIDENCE IT DEMONSTRATES
Isaiah 53:9
You don’t have to turn there, we’ve already read it several times.
Isaiah 53:9 “His grave was assigned with wicked men, Yet He was with a rich man in His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.”
As I told you last time, Isaiah spoke of this vindicating act for the Lord.
• He died as a sinner, but He would not be buried as one.
• Christ’s humiliation ended at the moment when He said, “It is finished!”
Christ signified at that moment that
He completely satisfied the righteous requirement of God.
He had completely propitiated God’s wrath on the elect.
At that moment
• He ceased to be the whipping boy.
• Condemnation was over.
• He returned to being treated as the sinless and glorified Son of God,
And the first time we see that is in His burial.
(He had an honorable burial)
Incidentally it is also seen in the fact that His body did not undergo decay the whole time it was there, just as Psalms 16 indicated.
Psalms 16:9-10 “Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices; My flesh also will dwell securely. For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol; Nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.”
After Jesus bore God’s wrath,
He was finished being treated as a sinner.
He received nothing but total glory after that.
He was buried in a glorious tomb and His body didn’t decay.
And this is where PROVIDENCE comes in.
I tend to agree with John MacArthur who says that in many ways the providence of God is a greater miracle than all the famous miracles we read about in the Bible.
Do you understand providence?
Providence speaks to the unfathomable wisdom of God.
God allows men to basically do whatever they want.
Even sinful men are free to commit sinful acts.
• Men have thoughts…
• Men examine the circumstances…
• Men ponder a response…
• Men then choose how they will respond…
• Men act on their choice…
In addition to that, other men are constantly throwing variables
Into the situation that may change the status quo.
I can decide I’m going to walk out the door,
• And have every intention of doing so,
• But someone else may holler at me from across the room,
• And change what was my plan.
There are constant variables like this going on all the time.
There are constant decisions and changes.
And yet, with all these men, and with all their decisions,
And with all the contingencies that can arise from those decisions,
How is it that God still manages to fulfill His perfect plan?
PROVIDENCE
It really is remarkable.
God had declared that Jesus would be buried in a rich man’s tomb.
Now, you should know the BASIC PROTOCOLS that would have PROHIBITED this.
For one,
• It was quite common for men who died on a cross to have their bodies stay on the cross for days or even weeks after their death.
• Those men were meant to be an example, and a decaying body, being eaten by birds was a pretty emphatic statement.
But that wasn’t the case for Jesus because the Jews asked Pilate that their legs be broken and them taken down off the cross for the Passover.
Another issue is that there were two options for the body of Jesus.
1. Is a Roman burial which included Jesus and the other two criminals being thrown into a ditch sort of like a mass grave.
2. Is a Jewish burial where Jesus is carried way beyond the city and buried in a field reserved for other criminals.
But Jesus gets neither.
According to the Providence of God
Joseph just happens to be a rich man with a new grave
And he determines to bury Jesus in his own new tomb.
• What caused the Jews to want the criminals off the cross that early?
• What caused Pilate to acquiesce to their request?
• What caused Joseph to find courage?
• What caused Joseph to already have a tomb ready?
All of these men made all of these decisions by their own free will
And yet it was exactly as God had promised.
It is the providence of God on full display at the burial of Jesus.
The burial shows us all of that.
The Proof It Offers, The Providence It Demonstrates
#3 THE PROCLAMATION IT ALLOWS
1 Peter 3:18-22
This is one other point I think is worth making regarding Christ’s burial.
Many have asked,
Where did Christ go for the time in which He was dead?
TURN TO: 1 PETER 3:18-20
The context of the passage is suffering like Jesus suffered.
Peter actually started the thought back in chapter 2 when he wrote:
1 Peter 2:20-21 “For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God. For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps,”
• From there we learn how even when a wife is married to an ungodly husband she should imitate the suffering of Christ.
• We learn how even when a man is married to a difficult wife, he should imitate the suffering of Christ.
In fact Peter says:
1 Peter 3:8-9 “To sum up, all of you be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, and humble in spirit; not returning evil for evil or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead; for you were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing.”
So you understand Peter’s point.
Face suffering, face injustice, face discrimination like Christ did.
We actually read in verse 17 “For it is better, if God should will it so, that you suffer for doing what is right rather than for doing what is wrong.”
And Peter caps these two chapters off with a reminder that
If you follow Christ you will have your chance at vindication,
Just as Christ did.
And that vindication is seen during His burial.
(18-20) “For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison, who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water.”
Peter speaks of the atoning death of Christ and reminds that
While Christ was “put to death in the flesh”
He was always “made alive in the spirit”
That is to say He DID NOT spiritually die on the cross, only physically.
And in His death, He was on a mission of sort.
“in which He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison”
• Who are these “spirits”?
• What is this “prison”?
Well the spirits are those “who once were disobedient…in the days of Noah”
Peter speaks of them again in 2 Peter
2 Peter 2:4 “For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment;”
And Jude speaks of them as well:
Jude 6 “And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day,”
The specific story is this:
Genesis 6:1-2 “Now it came about, when men began to multiply on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them, that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose.”
“sons of God” is a term for angelic beings.
“daughters of men” is a term for human women.
• What we find is that in those days there were some angelic beings (demons) who were seeking to cohabitate with human women.
• That is why Jude says they “abandoned their proper abode”.
• Jude even likened them to the homosexuality of Sodom and Gomorrah saying they went after strange flesh.
• It was detestable in the sight of God and He put a stop to it.
• Not only did God eventually kill all of those women and their offspring through the flood, but He also bound those angels in prison.
Peter calls the prison “hell” and “pits of darkness”
Incidentally you might recall the conversation that occurred between Jesus and the legion of demons that was in the Gadarene demoniac.
Luke 8:30-31 “And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Legion”; for many demons had entered him. They were imploring Him not to command them to go away into the abyss.”
Matthew’s gospel adds:
Matthew 8:29 “And they cried out, saying, “What business do we have with each other, Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?”
So you have an idea about this prison and who was there.
Well Peter said when Christ died “He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison.”
• “proclamation” there is NOT EUANGELIZO which is where we get our word for evangelism.
• Rather the word there is KERUSSO which means to proclaim or herald.
Christ dropped into that prison and declared Himself Lord
And King of the living and the dead!
Revelation 1:17-18 “When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.”
Hebrews 2:14-15 “Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.”
• Christ took on death.
• Christ took death’s best shot.
• Christ then put death in submission, and declared Himself Lord even of the dead.
Remember Paul’s famous statement:
Philippians 2:9-11 “For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
• This was a victory lap for Jesus.
• This was vindication for the Lord.
• Jesus put hell on its knees.
Jesus died, descended into hell, and came out the other side.
His death provided that opportunity.
And there is even a POINT to be made THERE FOR US.
If you keep reading in 1 Peter…
(3:21-22) “Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you — not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience — through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven, after angels and authorities and powers had been subjected to Him.”
• “Corresponding to that” (Just like That!)
• “baptism now saves you”
And to make sure you don’t get your wires crossed
• And think he’s talking about water baptism,
• Peter adds: “not the remove of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God
for a good conscience”
We are not talking about a bath.
We are talking about your identification with Christ.
When you identify with His death, His burial, and His resurrection.
YOU ARE SAVED.
What does Peter mean?
• That just as Christ descended into hell and all hell was made subject to Him and then He came out the other side…
• So also, we in Him, do the same.
In fact Peter compares Jesus to Noah’s Ark.
• Jesus is our ark that carries us into death, through judgment, and back to life again.
Just as He died, was buried, and then rose.
So also we, if we are in Him, will do the same.
JESUS IS OUR HOPE.
• His burial proved His death
• His burial demonstrated God’s providence
• His burial gave opportunity for Him to proclaim victory over the grave
In Jesus WE WIN!
John 11:25-26 “Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?”
