Title: HE WAS BURIED

Focus: The burial of Jesus signifies that he truly died in our place, taking our sins upon himself, sanctifying the grave, and granting us access to eternal life.

Function: To move the people to face the reality of our sins and the awesome love of Christ in taking our place, so that we may have life.

Text: John 19:38-42

We measure the scope of earthly, human life from the cradle to the grave. For some that scope or stretch of life is short; for others it is long. All of us, however, start human life in the womb and end up in a tomb.

As a minister of the Gospel, I have come to experience the cradle and the grave as two sacred places. It’s true: the cradle is a place of joy, and the grave a place of sadness. Yet, both places confront us with the mystery of life and death, and both places force us to ask important, ultimate questions. The cradle and the grave confront us with life and death and thus with God himself.

It is no different tonight. On this Good Friday, we face Jesus’ death and burial in a tomb.

I’m glad you are here to witness and ponder Jesus’ burial, for so many people (Christians included) are afraid to probe Jesus’ descent from heaven all the way to the grave. They prefer to skip this part of Jesus’ earthly life because they find it so “depressing,” so sad. They fail to grasp, however, that Jesus’ burial is part of the good news. They fail to see that Jesus’ burial in a grave has turned the tomb—our tombs—into a womb, into a place where we await the new birth into eternal life.

For you see, the burial of Jesus signifies that he truly died in our place. He took upon himself our sins; he sanctified the grave, and he grants us access to eternal life. That’s why Good Friday is such an appropriate time to face the reality of our sins and the awesome love of Christ in taking our place. Christ was buried that we may have life!

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Consider the passage from John’s gospel. There are four movements in this short passage. (1) There is the request by Joseph of Arimathea—a secret disciple of Jesus. Joseph requests that Pilate (the Roman governor) releases the body of Jesus. It’s clear from such a request that both Joseph and Pontius Pilate know and firmly believe that Jesus has died. Note, for example, the two references in vs. 38 to Jesus’ body.

(2) The second movement in the passage confirms that Jesus is dead, for we learn in vs. 39 and 40 that Joseph, together with another secret follower of Jesus by the name of Nicodemus, have come to Golgatha to take the body of Jesus away.

(3) The third movement in the story centers on the act of embalming and wrapping Jesus’ body into strips of linen. This is done in accordance with Jewish burial customs. And again we are confronted with the fact that Jesus really has died. For “Taking Jesus’ body,” says the text, the two disciples “wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen.”

(4) The fourth and final movement points to the burial place of Jesus’ body. It’s in a new tomb, in a garden near the place of crucifixion. And it’s in that newly-hewn burial chamber that Joseph and Nicodemus laid or buried the body of Jesus. In this short passage, then, the Apostle John drives home that Jesus has died and that he was buried.

But why does Scripture tell us in such details about the burial of Jesus’ body? It’s a good question, for everything in Scripture is for the edification or building up of God’s people. The detailed references to Jesus’ body and burial declare good news to all God’s people.

Here are some reasons why Jesus’ descended all the way from heaven to the depths of the grave. First of all, Jesus’ burial is in fulfillment of the Scriptures. Through the prophets and the psalmist, God signaled that he would send a Savior who would descend into the grave for us, and break the powers of sin, Satan, death and hell.

For example, in Psalm 16:10 we find a glimpse of Jesus’ burial. King David says: “…my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure, because you (O Lord) will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay.” Inspired by God’s Spirit and with prophetic foresight, King David foretold the burial of Jesus, the “Holy One” of God.

Likewise, the prophet Isaiah, speaking about the coming of a suffering servant, said: (Isaiah 53:9) “He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.” Isaiah, too, foresaw that Jesus, the Son of God, would suffer and end up in a grave.

The Scriptures, then, foretold Jesus’ burial. And Jesus himself confirmed the Scriptures when he reminded his disciples of the story of Jonah being “buried” for three days inside a large fish, saying: (Matthew 12:40) “…as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” Jesus, then, prepared his own disciples (and us) for his burial.

So, here’s a basic answer to the question, Why was Jesus buried?: The Scriptures prophesied that the Son of God would end up in the grave for our sake, mind you. Jesus’ burial, then, confirms the truth of Scripture and drives home the unmistakable truth that Jesus is not an ordinary person whom we should ignore. Rather, we are to ponder his burial.

And that leads me to a second reason for Jesus’ burial: Jesus’ burial is for our sake, and for the benefit of all who come to Christ in faith. For example, the Bible teaches us in Galatians 3:13 that Jesus became a curse for us. Listen: “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us for it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.’”

In other words, the curse of death (which was upon us by virtue of our own sins and rebellion against God’s Word) led Jesus all the way to a cross and to a burial chamber. Jesus’ burial was part of God’s curse on our sins, which Jesus took upon himself. As such, Jesus’ burial was for our sake.

Here’s another example: the Apostle Peter teaches us in his letter (I Peter 2:24) that when Jesus suffered, “…he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness.” In other words, Jesus is our sin bearer. And Jesus did not only bear our sins in his spirit, or emotionally, but also physically. He bore our sins in his body. Jesus’ flesh and bones paid the wages of our sins. That’s why his body ended up in the grave, and that’s why we can say that Jesus’ burial was for our sake.

Here’s one more example from Scripture in Hebrews 2:9. There we read that Jesus “…suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.” Think of it! The smell of death is putrefying and horrendous indeed. Jesus’ burial was on the deepest level of indignity and dishonor. Jesus carried the shame and the guilt of our sins all the way into his tomb. Jesus tasted death for everyone.

Thus we learn that Jesus’ burial belongs to his suffering. And the grave signifies or points to the power of death. When a corpse, for example, is placed in a grave, then it is clear that the grave has dominion and rules over that corpse. Think of it! For three days the Lord Jesus suffered and submitted to the powers of death and sin and hell.

But remember: Jesus’ burial was for our sake. God’s grace goes all the way down to the grave, and as we will see on Easter Sunday, the power of death could not hold Jesus in his tomb. Even in the darkness of Jesus’ tomb, we find glimmers of hope and good news. It’s Good Friday, after all.

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But you might ask, if Jesus was buried for our sake, then what effect or results does his burial have on us today? The answers to that question lead to more good news tonight:

For one thing: Since Jesus has descended all the way to the grave, Jesus has sanctified the grave for us. That is, he has turned the place of defilement, of dishonor and decay, into a waiting room where all those who belong to Jesus sleep or rest until Christ comes again and opens our tombs.

By way of going down the grave—and overcoming the powers of death and the grave on Easter Sunday—the Lord Jesus has sanctified our burial places. The pigsty of death (our tomb, so to speak) has become a womb that will lead us to eternal life with Christ on a restored creation. Because Jesus was buried, the grave has become a temporary resting place for our weary and worn-out bodies that turn to dust.

No longer can the grave hold us in captivity any more than it could claim Jesus for no more than three days. And because Jesus has sanctified the grave, turning it into a sacred place for all who belong to him, we no longer shall fear the grave or death itself. Jesus bore our sins and its curse in his own body for our sake. He took our place.

There is another effect of Jesus’ burial. By entering the grave, the Lord Jesus has opened the way to eternal life. As such, Jesus’ burial (and subsequent resurrection) confirms for us that Christ truly has won the victory over death in his body. Christ’s burial and resurrection also confirm for us that Christ truly has overcome the power of death. Thus we find encouragement and strength, and we shall no longer fear the grave.

After all, Jesus’ burial and subsequent resurrection also confirm in us the hope of the resurrection. That is, we, too, shall be raised from the dead. For Christ is the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. If Christ is the firstfruits from the dead, from the grave, then surely there will be a harvest of resurrection of all who belong to him.

When the Son of God came down from heaven and took on our human nature or flesh, he “suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.” Jesus’ descent from heaven to the cross to the grave was his hell. His humiliation or hellish descent, however, was for our sake.

How awful the reality of our sins! How awesome the depth of Christ’s love in taking our place! Thank God for Good Friday!

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.