Our Savior's Burial

Turn your Bibles this morning to John chapter 19, beginning there in verse 38.

John 19 · chapter mention

! After these things, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus.

Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about 75 pounds in weight.

So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloth and with spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews.

Now in the place where he was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been lain.

So because of the Jewish day of preparation, since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there.

Let's pray.

Father God, this morning as we take the Scriptures in hand, we are mindful

that what we have in front of us, that which we read,

that's which we rely upon, is the very words that you have chosen to reveal yourself to us,

to help us understand the glory of your salvation,

to help us gain a better affection and deeper appreciation for our Lord Jesus Christ,

to help us have confidence in the life that you've called us to live as children of the Heavenly Father,

to give us courage and faith that we,

growing from glory to glory,

through the working of your Spirit and the Word,

may become more like Jesus today

and in the days that follow.

And we pray that you would give me your strength to speak

as an oracle of God

and that your people would receive the Word with gladness

and that the Spirit of God would bear fruit

in the lives of those that are here today

that know Christ

and that those that are here today

that do not know the Lord Jesus,

that today, by the power of the Spirit of God,

would be drawn to the cross to understand

there is no hope and no salvation apart

from our Lord Jesus Christ.

We pray this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Let me start our passage this morning

by reminding you of the reason that I generally begin by reading Scripture.

It's not something that I was coached, per se, to do in seminary,

and it is not something that the deacons have appointed and said,

Pastor, whatever you do when you get started,

please read the passage of Scripture,

and I want to be careful that I communicate

that it's not the necessary and automatic way

that every pastor should always begin a sermon.

But for Tim Knoyer,

I like to remind you from the very beginning

that the thing that has put me here

and has put you here

is the Word of God

that is infallible

and absolutely reliable

and sufficient,

and that the starting point

and the center point of our attention

is what God has chosen to reveal to us.

In relationship to that,

I began reading in John chapter 19,

John 19 · chapter mention

but I want you to turn over

to John chapter 20, verse 31

John 20:31

to frame another little piece here

as we get into a reasonably complex passage.

John chapter 20, verse 31

John 20:31

tells us why this is written.

Incidentally, if you don't have a Bible,

there's one in the pew

or there's one in the chair by you,

and we have those there

so that you can follow along.

It helps to actually look at the text.

So grab a Bible

if you don't have one

and at least go through the exercise

of allowing that Word

to interact with your thinking.

John chapter 20, verse 31,

John 20:31

but these things are written

so that you may believe

that Jesus is the Christ,

the Son of God,

and that by believing

you may have life in His name.

I remember reading at one point

and I'm not positive

of the one who said it.

I think it was Zane Gray.

Someone asked him

at one of his, you know,

author conferences type of things.

They said,

so why does it take the hero

five shots to kill any man?

And Zane Gray,

the author that he was,

who wrote just a number of Westerns

and pretty well redundant

in every one of them,

he said,

well, because I get paid

five cents a word.

Do the math.

One bullet's five cents.

Five bullets is always better.

And I bring that to your attention

because when you look

at the Word of God,

you are not looking at a document

and you're not looking at words

that were just put down

either for entertainment

or for some kind of economic value.

They are given to us

that you and I

might be transformed

by the power of the Word of God.

I think about 2 Corinthians 3, verse 18,

2 Corinthians 3:18

where it says,

we are changed from glory into glory.

And namely, that happens

as we see the Lord Jesus Christ

in the Scriptures

and growing to understand Him

and His love for us

and His wisdom,

we are slowly being transformed

to be like Him.

And so, this morning

as you take John chapter 19 in hand,

John 19 · chapter mention

we are looking at a passage

that if you were just skimming along

and speed reading,

you probably would step over

and not think very much about.

To amplify that characteristic,

I want you to recognize

that if you were to take

all of John chapter 19

John 19 · chapter mention

and think carefully about

how much of John 19

actually has to do

with the physical suffering of Christ

in His crucifixion,

you would be stunned

to recognize

John 19 has very little to say

about His suffering.

Far more attention

is given actually

to the related materials

surrounding Christ's crucifixion

and the effect

that what was taking place

had on those

who were watching it

and were witnesses to it.

And so, this morning

as you look at this passage,

we are actually looking

at the very concluding moments

of that evening on Friday

when Christ actually died.

You remember up in verse 30

when Jesus had received

the sour wine,

He said,

it is finished

and He bowed His head

and gave up His spirit.

Now, what we are dealing with here

in verse 38 through 42

is further information

that the Holy Spirit

has chosen to give to us

and to inform us

about the nature of our Savior

and the phenomenal work

of His grace in saving us.

So, I want you,

as you look at this passage,

to recognize, first of all,

that what we find here

is Christ's power to change men.

Christ's power to change men.

As we take up the text,

we can't miss some of the detail

that John provides.

We're given the names

of two men

who willingly risked

their reputations

and their standing

in the Jewish community

to show an exceptional care

for the body

of our Lord Jesus.

Generally, the bodies

of individuals

who were crucified

were treated

several different ways

in Roman law

or Roman discipline.

Individuals that were crucified

for some relatively

common crime

could be expected

to be taken off the cross

after they'd suffered

and died

however long it took

and they would be thrown

in a common grave,

you know,

kind of a hole in the ground

and that's where

irrelevant pieces of trash

in the bodies

of criminals went.

Individuals that were

actually executed

for sedition

or rebellion

against the Roman government

were treated

a completely different way.

They were dragged out

unceremoniously

into a field

and left there

to be consumed

by vultures

and jackals.

And if you were

to think with me

just for a moment

back through the Old Testament,

you'll remember

one of the despicable

treatments of a body,

God wants us to treat

the dead

with a certain amount

of decorum

and one of the despicable

treatments of those

who died exceptionally

bad deaths,

disobedient, etc.

Remember it says this,

the son who is disobedient

and rebellious

against his father,

what will happen?

The vulture will pick out,

the eagle will pick out

his eye,

an indication

he's going to die

a pretty tough death.

And so those who died

as criminals

treated one way,

those who died

as rebels

were treated another way.

And so you find here,

here are two Jewish individuals

who come to Pilate

and they ask for a favor.

Remember earlier

when the Sanhedrin,

the high priest,

came to ask

that Jesus be crucified,

they wouldn't come in.

Why would they not come in?

They didn't want

to violate themselves

and not be able

to have the Passover.

And so here are

Nicodemus and Joseph

actually coming

into Pilate's presence

and they're asking

for the privilege

of burying Jesus

and caring for his body

properly.

I would imagine

that if you had asked

the Sanhedrin,

the high priests,

if they were approving

in any way

of this level of respect

that was being shown

to the man

they so vilely hated,

they would have objected

very strongly.

Remember,

they wanted him crucified

as a rebel

and they also really

were upset

when Pilate put

what sign over

the head of Jesus?

King of the Jews.

They said,

don't do that.

Just say he thought

he was the king

of the Jews.

They hated him

and the idea

of Jesus being shown

any respect whatever

must have been

highly offensive to them.

So, imagine

and understand

that against the backdrop

of the hatred

of the Jews,

two men

of exceptional rank

came to bury Jesus.

Joseph of Arimathea

came directly

to Pilate

into his presence

and asked for permission

to remove

Jesus' body.

We know also

from the text

here in John

that Nicodemus

was involved as well.

So, let's stop

and think just a little bit

more about these two men,

Joseph and Nicodemus.

For one,

we know from the

Synoptic Gospels

and will not turn there

this morning,

but we do know

from the Synoptics

that both of these members,

these men,

were members

of the Sanhedrin.

They were the actual,

kind of like the court

of Israel

and involved

in making significant

religious

and practical

political decisions

that were outside

the venue

of the government

of Rome.

We also know

previously

that Joseph

and Nicodemus

had been unwilling

earlier

to stand up

and let their faith

and relationship

with Christ be known.

The text here

in John chapter 19,

John 19 · chapter mention

and look at it

just for a moment,

it says this,

Joseph of Arimathea

was a disciple of Jesus

but secretly

for fear of the Jews.

He had believed

to a degree,

but he had not been willing

to make his faith

known publicly

and take a stand

for the Lord Jesus Christ.

Remember what Jesus said?

You who will not

take a stand for me publicly,

I will not take a stand

for you.

And here were individuals

who had been drawn to Christ,

were interested in Christ,

oh man,

he's pretty spectacular,

but they'd not been willing

to make a public stand

at this point.

Now we also know

about Nicodemus

and we find there

in the passage,

Nicodemus in verse 39,

who earlier had come

to Jesus by night.

Here was a man,

interested,

knew he was a prophet,

knew that Jesus

was somebody special,

but again,

he really didn't get,

did not understand

who Christ was

or what he had come for.

And so now here we have,

at the end,

after the cross,

after Jesus' death,

anyway,

we have Joseph

and Nicodemus

both coming boldly

and publicly

to Pilate

and asking for the privilege

of giving honor

to the body

of the Lord Jesus.

What had happened?

I think it's important

for us to ask that question.

What brought the change?

Now I do want you

to recognize,

and it's fair to say,

that we have no

clear indication,

ah,

that Nicodemus

and Joseph specifically

in the construct

of the cross

had come to faith,

but it would seem

that at one time

they had been afraid,

we do know that,

they'd been afraid

to take a stand for Christ,

now they were ready

to do it.

They were no longer

intimidated

by the thought

of being thrown

out of the synagogue.

They were no longer

afraid of what

other people thought

about their readiness

to be identified

with the Lord Jesus.

You remember,

when Jesus healed

the blind man,

they brought the parents

in and said,

so what happened?

And they were afraid

to bear any kind

of testimony

because they knew

that the Jews

had said,

if you will confess Christ,

you'll take a stand

for Him,

we're going to kick you

out of the synagogue.

We'll disfellowship you.

And so how

do these two men

come to this point

of making this

significant change?

Well,

it is evident

as you look

at the text

that the death

of Christ

had had some

kind of effect

on these two

high-ranking individuals.

And I would propose

that it was only

faith in Christ

that could have

drawn them out

of the shadows

where they had been

kind of hiding

and interested

and curious

and respectful.

Now they were ready

to step out

and boldly make a stand

and indicate their faith

and confidence

in the Lord Jesus.

They had come

to the place

where they were

willing to risk

all they had

for Christ.

I want you

to recognize this

as you think about this.

Faith actually

brings change

to a person's life.

Do you understand that?

Faith brings

genuine change

to a person's life.

And one of the things

that is important

for me to draw

to your attention,

particularly in a fellowship

like this,

where there are some

of you that have grown up

learning the vocabulary,

hearing the Bible stories,

knowing all about

the facts of Jesus,

but you've never

really come to the place

where the grace of God

and the power

of the cross

has drawn you

from darkness

into light

and your life

has been radically

and forever changed

by the power

of salvation.

Paul said this

in Romans chapter 1,

Romans 1 · chapter mention

I am not ashamed

of the gospel.

Why?

Because it is the power

of God unto salvation.

And I think we need

to recognize

that those who trust

in Christ,

those who trust

in Jesus,

begin to think differently

and act differently.

It's a fact.

You look back earlier

and Jesus made the statement

in John chapter 12,

John 12:32

verse 32,

He said,

and I,

if I be lifted up

from the earth,

I will draw all men

to myself.

And the result

of being drawn to Christ

is that your life

ends up being different

than it was before.

I want you to think

with me just for a moment

to another passage

in relationship to this.

And I can't help

but kind of tag along

with what John

was referring to earlier.

Turn in your Bibles

to 2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 5:17

chapter 5,

verse 17.

Let's look at this passage.

Turn in your Bible

to John chapter 5,

John 5:17

verse 17.

Put your finger

on it.

Therefore,

if anyone

is in Christ,

he is a

new creation.

The old

has passed away,

behold,

the new has come.

If any man

be in Christ,

he is a

different

person.

You're different.

You have

different affections.

You have

different abilities.

You have

different interests.

There is

a significant

change

in the life

of those

that have been

genuinely converted.

And as you look

at the life

of Joseph

and Nicodemus,

you see two

illustrations

of individuals

who in the

proximity of the

cross

had their lives

changed

by Christ.

Let me remind you

of one other

before we move on.

You remember

the thief on the cross?

There he hung

with Jesus,

actually one thief

on one side

and another

on the other.

And at the outset,

both of those thieves

speaking ill of Christ

and later,

one of them

comes to faith.

He rebukes

the companion

on the other side

of Jesus

and says,

listen,

we're suffering

justly for what

we've done.

And this man

between us,

he is not suffering

as a criminal.

He's not suffering

for anything he's done.

And he says,

remember me

when you come

into your kingdom.

And what does Jesus

say to him?

This day,

those are sweet words,

aren't they?

This day,

you will be with me

in paradise.

I tell you,

that was an encouraging

word for the man

that he was suffering

there.

You are going

to be with me.

So,

I ask you a practical

question as you think

about the issue

of the Lord Jesus Christ

in this moment

of his death.

Do you see

the changes

of salvation

in your life

as well?

That's a practical

question.

You sit here

this morning

thinking about

Jesus dying,

dead,

on the cross

and in the

immediate proximity

of what had taken

place in that

moment in history,

we find the thief,

we find Nicodemus,

we find Joseph

whose lives

had been touched

by the power

of the cross

and their lives

were not the same.

And I want to touch

on that

and have you think

seriously about it.

those who know

Christ are not

the same

as they once

were.

Let's look at

something else

as we look at

the passage.

It says there

in verse 40,

so they took

the body of Jesus

and bound it

in linen cloths

with the spices

as is the burial

custom of the Jews.

Now in the place

where he was

crucified,

there was a garden

and in the garden

a new tomb

in which no one

had yet been

laid.

laid.

So let's ask

the question,

what is the significance

of this historical

detail in the

immediate

surrounding

information that

we have

regarding Christ's

death?

Why is it there?

And let me

encourage you,

in your Bible study,

probably one of the

most important

questions you can ask

with the enabling

of the Holy Spirit

over and over

and over again

is why did God

choose to put it

there?

And if you're not

asking those kind

of questions,

the fact of the

matter is,

you're probably

just kind of skimming

across the top

of things and not

getting much of the

substance of what

God has there for

you.

Why is it there?

Well, I want you

to take a minute,

keep your finger

there in John

John 19 · chapter mention

chapter 19,

but turn back

to Isaiah

Isaiah 41 · chapter mention

chapter 41.

Isaiah chapter

Isaiah 41 · chapter mention

41.

I love this

passage.

Isaiah chapter

Isaiah 41 · chapter mention

41.

Beginning there

in verse 21,

here is one of

the things that

Isaiah loves to

do, or loved to

do, he's not

doing it today,

but he loved to

do was kind of

have smack down

with people who

believed in idols,

you know?

I mean, do you

understand how dumb

idol worship is?

I mean, we're all

illuminated.

There are none of

you that walk into

your house and bow

down to a copy of

Buddha and say,

oh, Buddha, you

know, we're way

beyond that.

We're not into

idols, right?

Okay?

Anyway, here we go.

Yeah.

Anyway, verse 21.

Set your case, set

forth your case, says

the Lord.

Bring your proof,

says the king of

Jacob.

Let them bring them

and tell us what

is to happen.

Here's God saying

to idolaters, why

don't you have your

God show up and

tell me something

that's going to

happen in the

future?

Tell us the

former things, what

they are, that we

may consider them,

that we may know

their outcome or

declare to us the

things that are to

come.

Tell us what is to

come hereafter, that

we may know that you

are gods.

What's he saying?

Isaiah is

challenging idolaters,

why don't you have

your idol go ahead and

tell us what's going to

happen tomorrow?

How many of you really

know what the weather is

going to be?

Just a second, check,

check, check.

How many of you

actually looked at your

cell phone to kind of

get a prognostication of

what the weather was

probably going to be?

How many of you

looked?

Look, look, raise your

hands.

I mean, you know, we

all checked it out.

How many of you have

learned that weather

prognosticators are

people that get to lie

50% of the time?

I mean, I don't care

what it says is going

to happen.

I remember a couple

weeks ago, Greg and I

were planning on a

work day.

Remember that?

Where are you, Greg?

You're out there

somewhere.

And we had it all

planned and we were

going to be working on

the ditch out there

and there was this, I

mean, ugly looking

cloud that was moving

towards Columbus and

it was just coming

right along and we

called it off at the

last minute and within

minutes of us calling

it off, guess what

happened?

I was out in the

parking lot actually

working on something

and we got about

little three or four

spritzes enough to get

my glasses wet and it

stopped.

Can you predict

tomorrow?

No.

But God can.

And what we find in

this passage going back

to John chapter 19 is

John 19 · chapter mention

that we find that God

has the power to make a

prophetic utterance and

to fulfill it.

God intends for you to

pay attention to the fact

that he can make prophetic

statements and that he can

fulfill them.

First one is in the book

of Isaiah chapter 53 verse

Isaiah 53:9

9 and I'm just going to

refer to it in broad terms

but in Isaiah chapter 53

Isaiah 53:9

verse 9 we find Isaiah

the prophet about 700

years before Christ's

coming and his

crucifixion predicting two

things in relationship to

the death and burial of

Christ.

One is that he would die

with criminals.

Did that happen?

Did that happen?

Yes.

He would die with

criminals.

Number two that while he

would die with criminals

it also tells us where he

would be buried.

And so understand this

the scriptures predicted

who Jesus would die with

and where he would be

buried.

Only a sovereign God

can predict with that

kind of accuracy with any

kind of accuracy at all.

And so we have to

recognize that that as

you read the text the fact

that it is here is given

to you to remind you of

the God that is our

God and Savior and the

one that we have to do

with.

Now the fact of dying

among criminals probably

the probability of that

happened is probably

higher than the idea of

Jesus being crucified

with print criminals and

yet being buried with

rich men.

That really kind of

stretched the thing.

And I want to remind you

of what had actually

happened number one that

in Christ's death his

disciples had done what?

Where did they go?

They all disappeared.

They ran away.

And furthermore none of

Jesus' disciples could be

categorized as being

exceptionally rich.

We know that.

Fishermen and whatever

else they were but being

rich was probably not

high on their list.

And yet we see here the

hand of God working in

such a way that we find

an exceptionally rich man

coming by faith and

asking for the body of

Christ so that Jesus

could be buried in the

tomb of a rich man.

I want you to look at

another passage.

Matthew chapter 12

Matthew 12:20

verse 20.

Matthew chapter 12

Matthew 12:20

verse 20.

The first passage that we

recognize is here is Jesus

crucified with wicked men

buried with a rich man.

But look at Matthew chapter

Matthew 12:20

12 verse 20.

What had happened is here is

Jesus in conflict with the

scribes and Pharisees etc.

And they ask for a sign.

And what does he say?

Verse 40.

For just as Jonah was

three days and three nights

in the belly of a great

fish so will the son of

man be three days and

three nights in the heart

of the earth.

Now what if Jesus treated

as a common criminal had

been thrown in just a

shallow depression in the

ground?

What if he had been

dragged out as rebels were

normally treated and just

left with his body lying

out openly in the public to

be eaten by jackals and

and vultures?

No.

In Matthew chapter 20 or

Matthew 20 · chapter mention

12 when Jesus is asked a

question about a sign he

goes on record and he says

let me tell you something

the the son of man is going

to be three days in the

ground and raise again.

And so here we have Jesus.

He died on Friday.

And he had to be buried by

sundown in order for the day

to count.

And so here we have remember

isn't that strange how the

Jewish leaders were really

concerned that the body of

these the bodies of these

criminals were not left on

the cross and so they check

and Jesus is dead.

The others are are have their

legs beaten and crushed and

they die.

And so Jesus has Nicodemus and

Joseph ask for his body and

he is in the tomb by Friday

night.

He is in the tomb Saturday and

what happens on Sunday?

We have the resurrection don't

we?

So I want you to recognize here

is Jesus back there in in

Matthew prophesying that he

would be dead for three days

and he would rise again.

Now I want to remind you again

that neither you nor I can

predict anything.

I mean we try.

Well we think this is going to

happen or we think that's going

to happen but the truth of

matter is it's probably wise

whenever we say we're going

to do thus and so to remember

what it says in James.

If the Lord wills.

But here we have the Lord

Jesus and we have Isaiah the

prophet under the prompting of

the Holy Spirit saying literally

hundreds of years before Christ

that certain things were going

to happen.

And the fact that fulfilled

prophecy should take make us

take his promises for the future

seriously.

Let me make that point and have

it settle in your mind.

The fact that God shows his

power both to make a prophecy

and bring it about should prompt

us to take his statements

seriously.

Why do I say that?

Why do I say that?

Because here is what the

scripture says.

Whosoever believes in the Lord

Jesus shall have what?

Everlasting life.

That is essential to understand.

And what does it say?

Those who refuse him, what is the

outcome and what is the

consequences?

Those who reject the offer of God

of salvation through the finished

work of the Lord Jesus Christ will be

judged forever and suffer for all of

eternity.

And so here you sit this morning as

believers, some of you, and you are

saying, wow, I am so thankful that the

God I know, the one who's drawn me to

the cross, is the one who makes

promises and keeps them.

And there's so many things that we can

thank him for in advance because we

know how the story ends.

I happen to love what it says.

Different places in Philippians, but

one of the things it says, he who has

begun a good work in you will, he's

going to pull it off.

How many of you looked in the mirror

this morning and thought, well, I wish

you'd do it a little sooner?

Fact of the matter is, if he began a

good work, he's going to finish it and

trust him to get it done.

There are others of you that are

sitting here this morning that do not

know Christ, and I want to appeal to

you on the basis of the fact that the

God we serve is the one who makes

promises and keeps them.

It says this, it's appointed unto man

once to die, and after that, what?

What?

Come to grips with the darkness of

your soul and understand you can't

save yourself, not by works of

righteousness, lest we all think we

can pull it off.

We can't.

It comes, faith comes by hearing the

reality of the gospel, and faith

brings us to believe in the Lord Jesus

Christ in whom alone is salvation.

Let me close in prayer, and John come

to lead us in singing.

Our Father God, this morning, as we

consider the reality of the power you

have both to predict and then to

fulfill, and we realize the power of the

Lord Jesus Christ to take broken and

ruined sinners and change them by grace

to be saved and delivered from the

burden of sin.

We revel this morning, we who know the

Lord Jesus, we rejoice in the power of

the cross, and we're thankful that you've

saved us.

And Father, this morning, those that are

here that do not know the Lord Jesus

Christ, my prayer is this, is that this

morning your spirit would draw them to

see that the bankruptcy of their soul has

no remedy, no hope, apart from crying

out to the Lord Jesus Christ and asking

him to be their God and Savior.

We ask this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Let's stand together as we close, and if

you're here today and the spirit of

And this.