Saturday, April 11th, 2020

Hey Church of the Grove, I hope you are having a great weekend and that you were able to join us at our Good Friday services last night.

I'm excited to be able to share with you from Luke 23 about Jesus' burial.

But before we do that, I want us to step in to what has just happened on Friday after Jesus has died.

We know that Jesus experienced the most gruesome death that could be experienced.

He was spit on, he was mocked, he was persecuted, he was nailed to a cross with a thorn on top of his head.

And everyone had to sit and watch and wait.

When Jesus died, it was darkness.

Can you imagine being in darkness, literal darkness?

There was an earthquake, a rock split in two, and the temple, one of the most precious places to the Jewish people, the curtain that separated the priests and the Holy of Holies, it split from top to bottom.

Only God could be the reason why that had happened.

If you were a follower of Jesus, you are overwhelmed with grief and sadness that your teacher, that your savior, has just died.

And I'm sure there's a lot of doubt and fear because will Jesus ever be with them again?

Is he really who he says he is?

There's so much waiting in the Friday and in the Saturday.

I'm sure a lot of the followers of Jesus were probably in their homes or they ran home and locked themselves up in their house and were super quiet because they too were scared that maybe they would be arrested, maybe they would be persecuted, maybe they would be put on a cross because they followed Jesus.

We we learned that Peter even denies Christ three times.

So those closest to him were left in a state of unknown.

And if they weren't, if you weren't a follower of Christ during this time, you should experience something that could not be explained.

And maybe, just maybe, you were wrong about Jesus.

I'm sure their hearts were turning in chaos.

Can you imagine what it must have been like in Jerusalem when Jesus died?

And what we know about Friday is that Friday was the day of preparation, that Jewish people were getting ready for the Sabbath.

And the Sabbath was from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset.

And so we know people were working very quickly in order to observe the Sabbath.

And that's where Joseph comes in.

Jesus has died on the cross.

And here is what is so beautiful about Joseph and and what God has shown me about Joseph is he was a man that was brave and courageous.

We we learn in Matthew that he was secretly a disciple of Jesus, but we also read in today's scripture that he was a part of the council, he was a Sanhedrin, he was a part of the group that put Jesus on trial, and here he is wanting to um ask Pilate for Jesus' body, which was very unheard of.

Criminals that die on the cross, like Jesus did, were mainly disposed of, they were not given a proper burial.

Maybe sometimes the mothers of these criminals would go and they were allowed to have their children's bodies.

So for a member of the council to go to Pilate and ask for the Savior's body was very brave.

And and Joseph met a man named Nicodemus in a tomb not too far from where the crucifixion took place, and they had prepared their their myrrh and their aloe and spices and linen, and they were preparing Jesus' body, and I'm sure working very quickly because they had to be done before sunset.

And I love the picture of two women sitting to the side watching what was happening.

I think one, so they would know to make sure they have the right tomb and exactly the place where Jesus' body would be buried, and they wanted to see the spices and how um Joseph and Nicodemus prepared Jesus' body.

So they too could rush home and continue preparing spices and perfumes before sunset.

So as soon as the Sabbath was over, they could be there and continue honoring Jesus, their Savior.

I know there was probably so many emotions going on during this time, so much sadness, so much pain, so much uncertainty.

And I kind of feel like if we fast forward to today, what we're living in, a lot of us are kind of feel trapped in our homes.

We're fearful, we're anxious, we kind of feel like things are in chaos, and we're in the waiting.

We're in the waiting to see what happens next.

Here's the beauty of the gospel is that we know what happens on Sunday.

You see, Jesus has defeated the grave, the tomb is rolled away, and he is not there, he is risen.

Jesus has victory over COVID 19, he has victory over our fears and our doubts.

And it's a beautiful love story that we get to experience and walk in.

But the people on this Friday and Saturday, they had no idea that on Sunday Jesus would be alive.

Go outside, lock yourself in a room away from your children, go on a walk, whatever you need to do to step in to what the waiting is and what it must have felt like in Jerusalem after Jesus died on the cross.

And then I want you to experience the victory because Jesus did die on the cross for your sins, and that he does love you with this overwhelming love.

And then I want you to think about Joseph and how he was so courageous and brave.

And I want you to think about how you need to be courageous and brave today.

And maybe you need to be brave and accept Jesus for the first time.

You need to quit doubting, you need to quit wondering.

Jesus' word is a hundred percent truth, and we can believe in who he says he is.

So step into that, receive his gift of salvation today.

Some of us need to be courageous and then invite our friends, invite our neighbors, invite our family to our Easter services tomorrow.

We just need to share our faith.

Maybe we need to be courageous and brave and changing some of our lifestyles and and what and how we're living.

Because we have a Jesus that loves us.

Maybe you just need to be reminded to be courageous each day as we are in the waiting right now.

And the beauty of the cross is that we have victory, we have peace, we have hope.

So I hope you will join us tomorrow as we celebrate Easter and celebrate the risen Savior.

Our services are 9 15, 11, and 5.

And you can find our services at church at thegrove.com.

Have a fantastic Saturday.

How are you going to be courageous today?

See you soon.