1 00:00:00,760 --> 00:00:04,160 As has been mentioned already, we're so thankful for everybody 2 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:07,760 who is here this morning. If you're a visitor, please be. 3 00:00:08,119 --> 00:00:10,120 We want you to feel welcome each and every time you're able to 4 00:00:10,120 --> 00:00:11,720 make it here. And as we said on your way 5 00:00:11,720 --> 00:00:13,800 passing through, we pray that you make it to your destination 6 00:00:14,240 --> 00:00:18,440 safely as well. Of course, we want to make sure 7 00:00:18,440 --> 00:00:21,160 that we are in line with the Bible, with what we're teaching 8 00:00:21,160 --> 00:00:23,480 this morning and pray that that's what I have done. 9 00:00:25,280 --> 00:00:29,800 I'd like to, we're going to, we're going to be talking about 10 00:00:30,040 --> 00:00:35,080 Luke 23, verses 50 through 56 with a lesson called Silent No 11 00:00:35,080 --> 00:00:37,840 more. So if you want to open your 12 00:00:37,840 --> 00:00:41,520 Bibles, please, I'll have it up here on the board as well. 13 00:00:41,520 --> 00:00:44,360 If you don't, it says they're beginning in verse 50. 14 00:00:45,600 --> 00:00:48,840 Now, there was a man named Joseph from the Jewish town of 15 00:00:48,840 --> 00:00:51,760 Arimathea. He was a member of the council, 16 00:00:51,760 --> 00:00:55,960 righteous, a good and righteous man who had not consented to 17 00:00:55,960 --> 00:00:59,280 their decision in action, and he was looking for the Kingdom of 18 00:00:59,280 --> 00:01:01,640 God. This man went to Pilate and 19 00:01:01,640 --> 00:01:04,920 asked for the body of Jesus. Then he took it down and wrapped 20 00:01:04,920 --> 00:01:07,720 it in a linen shroud and laid him in a tomb cut in stone, 21 00:01:08,800 --> 00:01:10,560 where no one had ever yet been laid. 22 00:01:11,280 --> 00:01:14,240 It was the day of preparation, and the Sabbath was beginning. 23 00:01:14,600 --> 00:01:17,680 The women who had come with him from Galilee followed and saw 24 00:01:17,680 --> 00:01:20,080 the tomb and how his body was laid. 25 00:01:20,720 --> 00:01:23,360 They returned and prepared spices and ointments. 26 00:01:23,720 --> 00:01:26,280 On the Sabbath, they rested according to the commandment. 27 00:01:28,240 --> 00:01:32,600 This description provided by Luke of the burial of Jesus is 28 00:01:32,600 --> 00:01:35,280 what we read about here. And this is one of the little 29 00:01:35,280 --> 00:01:40,320 paragraphs in the Bible that, you know, I tend to just kind of 30 00:01:40,320 --> 00:01:43,680 read through and skip over and, and not pay much attention to. 31 00:01:43,680 --> 00:01:46,680 But we may think to ourselves, well, you know, all the dramatic 32 00:01:46,680 --> 00:01:50,280 moments of the crucifixion and all the implications and all the 33 00:01:50,280 --> 00:01:51,960 major events have already occurred. 34 00:01:52,320 --> 00:01:55,200 And it's just sort of a little footnote concerning what has 35 00:01:55,200 --> 00:01:58,480 happened regarding his burial. And so when we come to a little 36 00:01:58,920 --> 00:02:02,560 portion like this, we may think to ourselves, you know, well, 37 00:02:02,560 --> 00:02:04,680 there's not much there to. There's not much there to see. 38 00:02:04,680 --> 00:02:06,000 There's not much there to dive into. 39 00:02:06,000 --> 00:02:07,880 There's not much, there's not much here. 40 00:02:08,600 --> 00:02:15,440 Well, I like to try to find the small obscure stories or phrases 41 00:02:15,440 --> 00:02:17,760 in a Bible that sometimes we tend to overlook. 42 00:02:17,760 --> 00:02:21,160 And I hope that I can just give some insight of what the 43 00:02:21,160 --> 00:02:23,920 inspired work, inspired Word of God is trying to teach us. 44 00:02:24,680 --> 00:02:26,960 So I hope to have one or two things that will be worthy of 45 00:02:26,960 --> 00:02:31,240 our attention this morning. First of all, we should notice 46 00:02:31,240 --> 00:02:35,840 that the burial Jesus, the actual burial of the body of 47 00:02:35,880 --> 00:02:39,800 Jesus was by no means an obvious conclusion. 48 00:02:40,560 --> 00:02:44,720 And that's for two reasons. Because the Roman law, the 49 00:02:44,720 --> 00:02:49,080 crucifixion of a criminal, was not the end of the humiliation 50 00:02:49,080 --> 00:02:51,680 on the cross or not the humiliation of the criminal. 51 00:02:52,200 --> 00:02:54,480 The humiliation actually followed the person of their 52 00:02:54,480 --> 00:02:56,160 death. They were barred from honor, 53 00:02:56,360 --> 00:02:58,560 from the proper burial. If you want to say they were 54 00:02:58,560 --> 00:03:02,480 barred from any kind of proper burial, and the release of a 55 00:03:02,480 --> 00:03:08,200 corpse from the cross was only granted by a Roman magistrate. 56 00:03:08,760 --> 00:03:11,320 That's the only person who would release the body of a criminal 57 00:03:11,320 --> 00:03:14,360 of Rome. And so it's solely depended on 58 00:03:14,360 --> 00:03:16,640 Rome. So unless somebody went and 59 00:03:16,640 --> 00:03:21,920 asked, then the chances of the body would be simply left there, 60 00:03:21,920 --> 00:03:26,480 maybe for days, they say sometimes even to where birds of 61 00:03:26,480 --> 00:03:30,640 the air would would devour on the on the corpse of the body is 62 00:03:30,640 --> 00:03:32,400 some of what the historians have said. 63 00:03:33,760 --> 00:03:38,320 And consequently the place would not only become only a sorry 64 00:03:38,320 --> 00:03:40,920 side, but it would become an ugly place as well. 65 00:03:40,920 --> 00:03:45,520 It was not an obvious conclusion because the burial was not the 66 00:03:45,520 --> 00:03:48,040 right. A proper burial was not the 67 00:03:48,040 --> 00:03:50,320 right of the condemned under Roman law. 68 00:03:50,320 --> 00:03:53,280 And secondly, it was not an obvious conclusion because when 69 00:03:53,280 --> 00:03:57,960 we look at the passage closely, we realize that nobody was 70 00:03:57,960 --> 00:04:00,400 around to make the request on Jesus's behalf. 71 00:04:02,160 --> 00:04:04,320 You know, for remember, you know who was really going to ask for 72 00:04:04,320 --> 00:04:07,040 the body of Jesus? His friends were gone. 73 00:04:07,040 --> 00:04:09,360 The women were clearly unprepared and probably in the 74 00:04:09,360 --> 00:04:12,760 constant context of the day, they would not have been 75 00:04:12,760 --> 00:04:15,280 listened to even if they had gone and requested the body of 76 00:04:15,280 --> 00:04:18,920 Christ. There is no obvious leader who 77 00:04:18,920 --> 00:04:22,480 is about to step up and request the body of Christ and and take 78 00:04:22,480 --> 00:04:28,680 charge in those circumstances. I found this quote from Norvel 79 00:04:29,440 --> 00:04:33,320 Gelden Heiss. In one of his characteristic 80 00:04:33,320 --> 00:04:38,680 notes it says, isn't it a shame that in the hour of crisis it is 81 00:04:38,960 --> 00:04:42,280 often to the, sadly too often the Peters who have sworn 82 00:04:42,280 --> 00:04:45,440 loyalty to Jesus with big gestures and fullness of 83 00:04:45,440 --> 00:04:47,880 self-confidence, who disappoint us? 84 00:04:48,600 --> 00:04:51,640 Even if they all leave you, Jesus, I will be there with you 85 00:04:51,640 --> 00:04:53,920 to the end. Even if they all fall away, 86 00:04:53,920 --> 00:04:57,640 Jesus, I'll be there at the end. And so he made these bold 87 00:04:57,640 --> 00:04:59,720 assertions and now it is the end. 88 00:04:59,720 --> 00:05:04,160 But there is no Peter, no friend, a sign, a place with the 89 00:05:04,160 --> 00:05:08,200 wicked in his death. And then suddenly and silently, 90 00:05:08,200 --> 00:05:12,960 out of the shadows emerges one like Esther we see here, whom 91 00:05:12,960 --> 00:05:15,680 you will remember came into the Kingdom for just a moment like 92 00:05:15,680 --> 00:05:19,920 this, or just a time like this. And so it is here that he 93 00:05:19,920 --> 00:05:24,600 arrives on the stage, this individual who whose secrecy had 94 00:05:24,600 --> 00:05:27,720 up to this point been destroying his discipleship, if you want to 95 00:05:27,720 --> 00:05:30,680 say. But now he is determined that he 96 00:05:30,680 --> 00:05:34,480 is going to step forward generously and boldly. 97 00:05:34,960 --> 00:05:38,480 And here we find him. And it says now there was a man 98 00:05:38,480 --> 00:05:41,440 named Joseph from the Jewish town of Arimathea. 99 00:05:42,000 --> 00:05:45,600 He was a member of the council, a good and righteous man. 100 00:05:47,960 --> 00:05:50,760 Now there's a sense of, you know, when you read this, you 101 00:05:50,760 --> 00:05:54,080 can kind of get excited about, you know what, what we're going 102 00:05:54,080 --> 00:05:56,240 to see. And now there's steps forward of 103 00:05:56,240 --> 00:06:01,240 man's what we read. Well, we want to find out as 104 00:06:01,240 --> 00:06:04,360 much as we can about Joseph of Arimathea in our study. 105 00:06:04,840 --> 00:06:07,400 Why is he even in the Bible? Why is he pop up now? 106 00:06:07,400 --> 00:06:10,520 Have we read about him before? You know, I don't think we have. 107 00:06:11,120 --> 00:06:13,880 Do we read about him afterwards? Probably not. 108 00:06:17,360 --> 00:06:23,360 This is surely a time for Joseph to be showing up in the Kingdom 109 00:06:23,360 --> 00:06:27,480 for just a moment like this. So a quick biography including 110 00:06:27,480 --> 00:06:30,280 all the details. We can find them pretty easily 111 00:06:30,280 --> 00:06:33,440 if we if we read the the scripture and cross preference 112 00:06:33,440 --> 00:06:37,600 the other passages of the Gospels that we can find the 113 00:06:37,600 --> 00:06:41,040 same story in. What we do know is we know that 114 00:06:41,040 --> 00:06:43,600 he is from Arimathea, the town in Judea. 115 00:06:44,480 --> 00:06:48,080 We also know that Matthew in Matthew's record that he is 116 00:06:48,080 --> 00:06:51,400 rich. He Matthew says he is a rich man 117 00:06:51,400 --> 00:06:56,240 in in chapter 2757. And we know here that he is a 118 00:06:56,240 --> 00:06:59,080 member of the council. That is the Sanhedrin. 119 00:06:59,680 --> 00:07:03,080 The people had The Who had been responsible for going to pilot 120 00:07:03,080 --> 00:07:05,640 and and pressing for the death of Jesus. 121 00:07:07,160 --> 00:07:10,200 Actually, Mark tells us in Mark 15 that he was not simply just a 122 00:07:10,200 --> 00:07:13,120 member of the council, but he was a prominent member of the 123 00:07:13,120 --> 00:07:16,120 council. We also know that he was a good 124 00:07:16,320 --> 00:07:18,400 and that he was good and upright. 125 00:07:18,480 --> 00:07:21,640 That's what verse 50 says. We also know that he was also a 126 00:07:21,640 --> 00:07:25,760 secret disciple. John tells us that his record 127 00:07:25,760 --> 00:07:28,200 tells us that he was a secret disciple and that he'd become a 128 00:07:28,200 --> 00:07:33,800 disciple because of of of what Jesus was teaching, but he was 129 00:07:33,800 --> 00:07:35,320 afraid of the Jews because of it. 130 00:07:35,320 --> 00:07:40,080 So he's a secret disciple. We also know that he was waiting 131 00:07:40,400 --> 00:07:43,160 here in verse 51. He was waiting for the Kingdom 132 00:07:43,160 --> 00:07:46,720 of God. And we also know from verse 51 133 00:07:46,720 --> 00:07:51,600 that although he was a member of the council, he did not consent 134 00:07:51,600 --> 00:07:55,200 to the decision that the Sanhedrin meet made in regards 135 00:07:55,200 --> 00:08:00,360 to the death of Jesus. The matter of fact is that he 136 00:08:00,360 --> 00:08:02,560 was. My guess is maybe he was missing 137 00:08:02,560 --> 00:08:05,080 from one of the meetings if he wasn't conceited. 138 00:08:05,480 --> 00:08:08,400 You know, we're told that the Sanhedrin acted unanimously 139 00:08:08,400 --> 00:08:12,720 together in the decision to crucify Jesus. 140 00:08:13,080 --> 00:08:15,640 So maybe, maybe he wasn't there for the final vote. 141 00:08:15,640 --> 00:08:18,120 We don't know all that, but just my assumption. 142 00:08:18,920 --> 00:08:22,480 So that all kind of falls under the biography sketch that we 143 00:08:22,480 --> 00:08:27,040 have of Joseph of Arimathea. The second point I want to make 144 00:08:27,040 --> 00:08:34,799 here is a courageous move because that's what we actually 145 00:08:34,799 --> 00:08:37,120 see here in verse 52, a courageous move. 146 00:08:37,880 --> 00:08:41,440 This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus is 147 00:08:41,440 --> 00:08:45,320 what it says there. Mark actually uses the word 148 00:08:45,320 --> 00:08:49,120 courageous. He said that he took courage and 149 00:08:49,120 --> 00:08:55,800 went to pilot in Mark 1543. And of course, because the fear 150 00:08:55,800 --> 00:09:00,240 had previously silenced him. Fear had previously controlled 151 00:09:00,240 --> 00:09:04,720 him and now he casts his fear to the wind and he steps up. 152 00:09:06,240 --> 00:09:10,680 Somehow or another, the cross had brought him out into the 153 00:09:10,680 --> 00:09:14,800 open. What the life of Jesus had done, 154 00:09:14,880 --> 00:09:17,400 what the teaching and the miracles of Jesus had done, was 155 00:09:17,400 --> 00:09:20,520 to attract him and bring him to the point of belief. 156 00:09:20,680 --> 00:09:26,000 Somehow or another, he was still being covert in his actions. 157 00:09:26,000 --> 00:09:29,120 While he still believed in Jesus prior to this point, he was 158 00:09:29,120 --> 00:09:31,520 still going about his business in a secretive way. 159 00:09:32,040 --> 00:09:35,600 He was still moving amongst his colleagues and believing in 160 00:09:35,600 --> 00:09:38,880 Jesus and yet somehow able to fly under the radar, if you 161 00:09:38,880 --> 00:09:44,040 will, may find a point of identification with that this 162 00:09:44,040 --> 00:09:48,600 morning, that we may be actually describing ourselves to this 163 00:09:48,600 --> 00:09:50,880 point of our life, a secret disciple believing. 164 00:09:52,800 --> 00:09:57,720 But yet we're afraid really of letting anybody know what our 165 00:09:57,720 --> 00:10:03,320 belief is, what we stand for, even those who are closest to 166 00:10:03,320 --> 00:10:05,480 us. We tend to shy away from that 167 00:10:05,480 --> 00:10:09,080 courage to to let people know who Jesus is. 168 00:10:09,960 --> 00:10:14,160 But something had happened. Jesus had said here in John 169 00:10:14,160 --> 00:10:18,000 1232. And I, when I am lifted up from 170 00:10:18,000 --> 00:10:20,800 the earth, will draw all people to myself. 171 00:10:22,440 --> 00:10:25,160 And if you go back a few verses in Luke 23, you know the 172 00:10:25,160 --> 00:10:32,440 centuries that centurion found that same distinctive point that 173 00:10:32,480 --> 00:10:35,400 Jesus was somebody who was important. 174 00:10:35,440 --> 00:10:39,240 Something had happened to him at that cross and now that same 175 00:10:39,240 --> 00:10:43,040 thing is happening to Joseph. And so Joseph makes a daring 176 00:10:43,040 --> 00:10:45,880 request asking for the body of Jesus. 177 00:10:47,240 --> 00:10:52,440 And you know, why are we, why is he asking for the body would 178 00:10:52,440 --> 00:10:54,920 have been the obvious question. The obvious answer is because 179 00:10:55,560 --> 00:11:00,160 Joseph was committed to this condemned and crucified man. 180 00:11:00,600 --> 00:11:02,800 You may have thought, you know, I failed to follow this guy. 181 00:11:02,800 --> 00:11:07,280 I failed to serve Jesus during his life while he was alive, but 182 00:11:07,280 --> 00:11:09,560 I'm sure not going to miss the chance to do it now that he is 183 00:11:09,560 --> 00:11:13,160 dead. And Mark alone tells us that 184 00:11:13,160 --> 00:11:17,560 Pilate was surprised. We can read that in Mark 15 185 00:11:17,560 --> 00:11:21,840 verse 44 through 45. Joseph goes and says, can I have 186 00:11:21,840 --> 00:11:24,200 the body? And Pilate says what the body? 187 00:11:24,680 --> 00:11:26,960 You mean to tell me that the body's already dead, that Jesus 188 00:11:26,960 --> 00:11:29,240 is already dead? Oh yes, says Joseph. 189 00:11:29,240 --> 00:11:31,440 And then Pilate says I need to verify this. 190 00:11:31,440 --> 00:11:35,320 So Joseph takes census centurion to go verify that Jesus is dead. 191 00:11:35,320 --> 00:11:38,480 He comes back and yeah, it's verified Jesus is already dead. 192 00:11:39,840 --> 00:11:42,560 Sometimes the crucifixion, as we have studied here before, often 193 00:11:42,560 --> 00:11:48,520 sometimes lasted up to three days or so, a very horrible way 194 00:11:48,520 --> 00:11:52,840 to die. And so it was remarkable in 195 00:11:52,840 --> 00:11:56,960 which Jesus had passed away or died so quickly as his life had 196 00:11:56,960 --> 00:11:59,480 come so quickly to an end on the props. 197 00:12:01,000 --> 00:12:04,680 So the body was released and that gives way to urgent 198 00:12:04,680 --> 00:12:09,160 activity. And the pace of this is quite 199 00:12:09,160 --> 00:12:11,240 remarkable if you think about it. 200 00:12:11,280 --> 00:12:15,680 Verse 52, it says this man went to Pilate and asked for the body 201 00:12:15,680 --> 00:12:18,960 of Jesus in the verse 53, then he took it down. 202 00:12:20,520 --> 00:12:23,040 There's a timeline here that I want to kind of have us the 203 00:12:23,040 --> 00:12:25,800 picture in our head what's going to be happening here very 204 00:12:25,800 --> 00:12:28,040 quickly. So we need to remember that is, 205 00:12:28,640 --> 00:12:32,960 but by now it is the middle of the afternoon on the day of the 206 00:12:32,960 --> 00:12:36,760 crucifixion on the Friday of the Passover week, the middle of the 207 00:12:36,760 --> 00:12:38,880 afternoon Jesus died around 3:00. 208 00:12:39,280 --> 00:12:43,400 Remember that the darkness came over at noon day lasted for 209 00:12:43,400 --> 00:12:46,160 three hours and at the end of the darkness Jesus said Father 210 00:12:46,160 --> 00:12:49,200 into your hands I commit my spirit and he breathed his last 211 00:12:49,200 --> 00:12:51,240 breath. So that was about 3:00. 212 00:12:52,240 --> 00:12:56,720 And if we allow a little bit of time, then the commencement of 213 00:12:56,720 --> 00:12:59,280 the Jewish Sabbath was at 6:00 PM the same day. 214 00:13:01,120 --> 00:13:05,160 Therefore, this individual, Joseph, if he was going to abide 215 00:13:05,160 --> 00:13:08,000 by the Jewish law, now had a window of opportunity that is 216 00:13:08,000 --> 00:13:11,480 less than three hours to get a lot of work done. 217 00:13:13,200 --> 00:13:15,560 So he has less than three hours to accomplish everything that 218 00:13:15,560 --> 00:13:18,000 needs to be done. If the burial is going to take 219 00:13:18,000 --> 00:13:20,880 place, it's going to have to take place very quickly. 220 00:13:22,240 --> 00:13:27,640 Now this guy moves into action again, what we need to take all 221 00:13:27,640 --> 00:13:29,320 the gospel records and write them down. 222 00:13:29,320 --> 00:13:32,360 And if you put almost in this kind of a, a, a list of 223 00:13:32,480 --> 00:13:35,480 everything that happened, we come up with a great picture of 224 00:13:35,480 --> 00:13:37,560 urgency. So the things that need to be 225 00:13:37,560 --> 00:13:42,040 done within three hours was to take the body down. 226 00:13:42,360 --> 00:13:45,600 Mark tells us that he went and bought the linen cloth and Mark 227 00:13:45,600 --> 00:13:49,720 15, verse 46 and the body we did have been washed because Jewish 228 00:13:49,720 --> 00:13:52,280 law required that you had to wash the body before it was 229 00:13:52,280 --> 00:13:55,320 buried. So there was no way that Joseph 230 00:13:55,320 --> 00:13:58,200 affair Messiah was not going to follow the Jewish law at that 231 00:13:58,200 --> 00:14:00,640 point. So the body has to be washed. 232 00:14:00,960 --> 00:14:03,240 And then we're told in John that it was wrapped in linen. 233 00:14:03,240 --> 00:14:07,720 Claws were wrapped together with some 75 lbs of spices in John 234 00:14:07,720 --> 00:14:13,360 1939 through 40 and the body was placed in a newly cut tomb and 235 00:14:13,360 --> 00:14:16,040 the big stone was rolled in front of the entrance. 236 00:14:16,040 --> 00:14:19,840 Matthew 27, verse 60. All in an afternoon's work, 237 00:14:20,960 --> 00:14:23,800 right? That's a lot of stuff to get 238 00:14:23,800 --> 00:14:26,560 done before 6:00 PM in three hours. 239 00:14:28,000 --> 00:14:31,680 So he goes to Pilate and boldly he says, may I have the body, 240 00:14:31,840 --> 00:14:33,880 And he is granted the body of Jesus. 241 00:14:35,800 --> 00:14:40,680 And if we think about it, it's remarkable, You know, who is 242 00:14:40,680 --> 00:14:42,240 this guy? Joseph Arimathea. 243 00:14:42,440 --> 00:14:45,680 Look at what Joseph of Arimathea was able to do in such a short 244 00:14:45,680 --> 00:14:50,160 period of time. And when we think about it, you 245 00:14:50,160 --> 00:14:53,400 know, I don't think well, we know that Joseph didn't act 246 00:14:53,400 --> 00:14:58,200 alone during this time. Clearly he didn't act alone. 247 00:14:58,200 --> 00:15:01,200 We know that there was at least one person with him and we'll 248 00:15:01,200 --> 00:15:04,040 get to him in a moment and maybe others about. 249 00:15:04,040 --> 00:15:06,840 But Joseph was a Mitch man. He was prominent member of the 250 00:15:06,840 --> 00:15:09,000 council. He was the kind of guy that 251 00:15:09,000 --> 00:15:11,960 would have influence. And and we can imagine that 252 00:15:12,320 --> 00:15:15,520 maybe he is getting his servants together and giving up the 253 00:15:15,520 --> 00:15:17,720 tasks. You know, just picture that in 254 00:15:17,720 --> 00:15:19,200 our mind. We're not told those things in 255 00:15:19,200 --> 00:15:22,640 the Bible, but but you know, he had some clout about him and he 256 00:15:22,640 --> 00:15:24,960 had some authority where he could divvy up those tasks, 257 00:15:25,640 --> 00:15:28,480 taking the body from the cross. We can't imagine that he did 258 00:15:28,480 --> 00:15:30,840 that alone. He had to have help in that. 259 00:15:31,480 --> 00:15:34,240 It doesn't make sense for him to pull that body down off the 260 00:15:34,240 --> 00:15:36,960 cross by himself. He would have probably had help 261 00:15:36,960 --> 00:15:38,680 there. The purchase of linen, the 262 00:15:38,680 --> 00:15:41,520 location of the tomb, making sure that the entry was 263 00:15:41,520 --> 00:15:44,120 accessible and possible. All these all these different 264 00:15:44,120 --> 00:15:47,760 things that had to be done. But the one help where we are 265 00:15:47,760 --> 00:15:51,920 Noah, that is a sure friend that we that we've read about before 266 00:15:51,920 --> 00:15:55,040 is Nicodemus. And this is really, really 267 00:15:55,040 --> 00:16:00,440 pretty neat in the Bible, you know, John 1938 through 40, the 268 00:16:00,440 --> 00:16:02,320 way just kind of comes into the text. 269 00:16:02,680 --> 00:16:06,840 It says there Pilate gave him who was Joseph permission. 270 00:16:06,840 --> 00:16:09,080 So he came and took away his body. 271 00:16:09,520 --> 00:16:13,720 Nicodemus also who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came 272 00:16:13,720 --> 00:16:17,120 bringing a mixture of murder and aloes and about 75 lbs in 273 00:16:17,120 --> 00:16:20,200 weight. So they took the body of Jesus. 274 00:16:21,560 --> 00:16:25,080 Oh, Nicodemus, Remember Nicodemus, you know, we haven't 275 00:16:25,080 --> 00:16:27,200 heard of Nicodemus. I think it's been, it was 17 276 00:16:27,200 --> 00:16:30,760 chapters before that when Nicodemus was introduced to us, 277 00:16:32,560 --> 00:16:35,880 he had visited Jesus at night. And just in case anyone had 278 00:16:35,880 --> 00:16:39,520 forgotten who Nicodemus was, that we were reminded. 279 00:16:41,200 --> 00:16:44,880 Well, one thing I thought about was, you know, birds of a 280 00:16:44,880 --> 00:16:50,240 feather flock together, right? These two guys, you know, a man 281 00:16:50,240 --> 00:16:53,160 called Nicodemus who went to Jesus by night, undercover of 282 00:16:53,160 --> 00:16:57,640 darkness, secretly, quietly asking his questions, 283 00:16:57,640 --> 00:17:01,000 discovering the glorious answer of the Gospel. 284 00:17:01,800 --> 00:17:04,280 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear it sound, but you 285 00:17:04,280 --> 00:17:07,160 do not know where it comes from or where it goes. 286 00:17:07,520 --> 00:17:09,760 So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit. 287 00:17:09,760 --> 00:17:13,920 John 3/8. It's a unique and wonderful 288 00:17:13,920 --> 00:17:20,720 thing that Nicodemus had found. So we see him in John 3, and 289 00:17:20,720 --> 00:17:23,119 that's all we read of him until here in John 19. 290 00:17:23,119 --> 00:17:27,319 And he stepped back into the text and we can understand why 291 00:17:27,319 --> 00:17:29,720 these two guys would hang out together. 292 00:17:30,640 --> 00:17:33,800 Maybe, you know, maybe they, they just knew one another, both 293 00:17:33,800 --> 00:17:36,560 of them. OK, we're scaredy cats. 294 00:17:37,240 --> 00:17:39,760 Both of them were a little frayed, both of them influential 295 00:17:39,760 --> 00:17:42,320 in their own way, both of them believing in Jesus, both of them 296 00:17:42,600 --> 00:17:45,880 somehow or another just not managing to muster up the 297 00:17:45,880 --> 00:17:48,800 courage to let everybody know that they were believers. 298 00:17:50,880 --> 00:17:53,520 And I imagine them, you know, I pictured them kind of getting 299 00:17:53,520 --> 00:17:55,800 together and saying, well, we can definitely honor him and his 300 00:17:55,800 --> 00:17:58,360 death, can't we? And yeah, I think they both 301 00:17:58,360 --> 00:18:01,760 agreed upon that. And then when we read the 302 00:18:01,760 --> 00:18:06,040 Gospels, it's it's intriguing because Joseph is the only one 303 00:18:06,040 --> 00:18:10,240 mentioned with the linen clause. Nicodemus is the only one 304 00:18:10,240 --> 00:18:13,800 mentioned with spices. And we can kind of see here and, 305 00:18:13,800 --> 00:18:17,520 and, and, and picture how maybe potentially the tasks were 306 00:18:17,520 --> 00:18:20,600 divided between different individuals to get all this work 307 00:18:20,600 --> 00:18:22,640 done in this short amount of time. 308 00:18:24,400 --> 00:18:28,360 Luke, along with Matthew and Mark mentions also the presence 309 00:18:28,360 --> 00:18:31,600 of the women. In fact, he's very careful to 310 00:18:31,600 --> 00:18:34,040 make sure that we know that these ladies were present. 311 00:18:35,320 --> 00:18:39,240 We see in Mark's Gospels, very brief, it says Mary Magdalene 312 00:18:39,240 --> 00:18:42,560 and Mary the mother of Joseph saw where he was late. 313 00:18:43,440 --> 00:18:45,520 And Luke, there's a little more information. 314 00:18:45,520 --> 00:18:49,360 And the woman who had come with Jesus from Galilee, he's already 315 00:18:49,360 --> 00:18:53,640 said that in in verse 49, it says they followed Joseph. 316 00:18:53,840 --> 00:18:56,760 They saw the tomb, they saw how his body was laid in it, and 317 00:18:56,760 --> 00:18:59,120 they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. 318 00:19:01,640 --> 00:19:06,200 Well, John's Gospel says that they took approximately 75 lbs 319 00:19:06,200 --> 00:19:10,640 of spices mixed with them and linen claws to take care of the 320 00:19:10,640 --> 00:19:14,000 burial process. And then Luke tells us that they 321 00:19:14,000 --> 00:19:16,840 saw the tomb and they saw how the body was placed in it, and 322 00:19:16,840 --> 00:19:19,520 then they went home and prepared the spices and perfumes. 323 00:19:19,520 --> 00:19:24,920 But there's commentators that I read that that that try to say 324 00:19:25,240 --> 00:19:30,760 that the women actually did not see inside the tomb how the body 325 00:19:30,760 --> 00:19:33,400 was laid and how it was, how it was prepared. 326 00:19:34,760 --> 00:19:38,200 And, you know, I started thinking about it and, and I 327 00:19:38,200 --> 00:19:40,160 kind of don't think that is true. 328 00:19:40,160 --> 00:19:42,800 I really think these women knew exactly what was going on. 329 00:19:43,920 --> 00:19:48,240 I really do. It is more probable that these 330 00:19:48,240 --> 00:19:50,520 women saw exactly what took place in the tomb. 331 00:19:50,520 --> 00:19:54,000 And they saw that Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of 332 00:19:54,000 --> 00:19:57,560 the council, and Nicodemus, you know, a guy of good stature. 333 00:19:57,840 --> 00:20:02,320 That's too maybe fiddling around trying to get this in, this 334 00:20:02,720 --> 00:20:05,560 stuff taken care of. And these women, you know, look 335 00:20:05,560 --> 00:20:08,800 at one another and said, yeah, these guys are going to really 336 00:20:08,800 --> 00:20:13,320 foul this up. You know, isn't that what women 337 00:20:13,560 --> 00:20:15,360 kind of see us men doing sometimes? 338 00:20:15,880 --> 00:20:17,520 You know, we think we can do it all on our own. 339 00:20:17,520 --> 00:20:18,760 I'm going to go ahead and take care of it. 340 00:20:18,760 --> 00:20:21,280 And these women standing back going, these guys are just going 341 00:20:21,280 --> 00:20:25,560 to really mess this thing up. Isn't that just like women? 342 00:20:27,040 --> 00:20:30,080 That's what you guys do. I mean, that's what supports us 343 00:20:30,080 --> 00:20:32,560 as men. That's what helps us out. 344 00:20:33,080 --> 00:20:38,160 That's what's so great about it. Wouldn't it just be like Lizzie, 345 00:20:39,080 --> 00:20:46,800 GAIL, Judy, Betty, Kaye, Charlotte, Diana, Janet, my 346 00:20:46,800 --> 00:20:54,000 mother, Penny, Tina, Sue, Sandra, Kendra, Taylor, Cindy, 347 00:20:54,320 --> 00:20:58,720 Dreamer, Evelyn? I know there's some of mist in 348 00:20:58,720 --> 00:21:03,240 there, but you women would come in and run in and support men in 349 00:21:03,240 --> 00:21:06,760 a way that we wouldn't know how to react sometimes. 350 00:21:07,480 --> 00:21:11,600 That's truly a blessing. And US men do a really good job 351 00:21:11,600 --> 00:21:16,040 making a mess of some things. At some point, of course, we'll 352 00:21:16,040 --> 00:21:20,400 have to wait to see if that was all fact or fiction when we get 353 00:21:20,400 --> 00:21:21,840 to heaven to figure it out all out. 354 00:21:23,680 --> 00:21:26,360 Well, that's really all the evidence the, the, the biblical 355 00:21:26,360 --> 00:21:28,720 evidence that we have of these few verses. 356 00:21:29,120 --> 00:21:34,240 So I wanted to try to just take a few things from these verses 357 00:21:34,560 --> 00:21:36,160 to learn. So what do we learn? 358 00:21:37,960 --> 00:21:41,200 Number one, I'm reminded that the good news, the good news 359 00:21:41,200 --> 00:21:43,480 touches both the rich and the poor. 360 00:21:44,880 --> 00:21:47,080 The good news touches both the rich and the poor. 361 00:21:47,080 --> 00:21:51,040 And certainly the the emphasis of the Gospel of Luke has been 362 00:21:51,040 --> 00:21:55,240 that Jesus comes for at least and the last and left out and 363 00:21:55,240 --> 00:21:58,560 that he he has a unique concern for the poor and that he would 364 00:21:58,960 --> 00:22:01,200 be a mark for those who would bear the good news. 365 00:22:02,000 --> 00:22:05,360 But sometimes people get hung out or get stuck on the notion 366 00:22:05,360 --> 00:22:13,320 that it becomes almost a crusade for people to pursue people only 367 00:22:13,560 --> 00:22:16,160 that fit the mold of what they think of Christianism look like. 368 00:22:19,960 --> 00:22:24,480 And it's it's needed for a rich man and it's needed for a poor 369 00:22:24,480 --> 00:22:26,200 man. And the good news is the gospel 370 00:22:26,200 --> 00:22:30,320 is no respecter of persons. Jesus died for the poor man, 371 00:22:30,320 --> 00:22:34,240 just as he died for the rich man and also for the woman at the 372 00:22:34,240 --> 00:22:39,320 well too, that we can read. We just find all that really 373 00:22:39,560 --> 00:22:41,320 quite beautiful in these passages. 374 00:22:41,320 --> 00:22:45,040 It also teach me too that God's Providence is at work all the 375 00:22:45,040 --> 00:22:50,280 time and everywhere. He was preparing Joseph for this 376 00:22:50,280 --> 00:22:53,280 very moment. In fact, Joseph's. 377 00:22:53,440 --> 00:22:56,880 I'm convinced that Joseph's secrecy, which was all really 378 00:22:56,880 --> 00:22:59,520 his own secrecy, it wasn't the will of God's secrecy, but it 379 00:22:59,520 --> 00:23:01,800 was only it was Joseph's own secrecy. 380 00:23:03,200 --> 00:23:05,120 It wasn't that God made Joseph fearful. 381 00:23:05,120 --> 00:23:06,720 Joseph was fearful in his own right. 382 00:23:07,960 --> 00:23:10,920 Joseph was secretive in his own right by his personality. 383 00:23:11,520 --> 00:23:14,720 That's how he was. And if he had been anything 384 00:23:14,720 --> 00:23:20,800 other than that, then we would have read of something else or 385 00:23:20,800 --> 00:23:24,520 maybe somebody else that would have taken care of what God 386 00:23:24,680 --> 00:23:27,840 wants taken care of. So the Providence, Providence of 387 00:23:27,840 --> 00:23:31,840 God is at work all the time and everywhere. 388 00:23:32,640 --> 00:23:35,240 It is a mystery, but it is at work. 389 00:23:35,480 --> 00:23:38,520 And it was God's express purpose that this, this special servant, 390 00:23:38,520 --> 00:23:42,880 Joseph, having missed so many opportunities previously, would 391 00:23:42,880 --> 00:23:45,800 be present on this day for this opportunity. 392 00:23:46,960 --> 00:23:53,920 God's works are wonderful. Thirdly, prophecy was still, 393 00:23:53,920 --> 00:23:57,440 even after Jesus's death, continuing to be fulfilled. 394 00:24:00,680 --> 00:24:03,520 We've learned here that also these proceedings continue to 395 00:24:03,520 --> 00:24:07,080 fill the words of prophecy. We see in Isaiah 53 and 9 it 396 00:24:07,080 --> 00:24:11,160 says and and they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich 397 00:24:11,160 --> 00:24:13,960 man in his death. That is a fulfillment of 398 00:24:13,960 --> 00:24:17,160 prophecy because Joseph in the Arab Matthea was rich. 399 00:24:17,160 --> 00:24:19,600 These tombs, these carved out areas where they were often 400 00:24:19,880 --> 00:24:21,800 reused. Once the body we had been 401 00:24:21,800 --> 00:24:25,240 decomposed, they would have taken the body away in about a 402 00:24:25,240 --> 00:24:26,400 year. They would gather it up and they 403 00:24:26,400 --> 00:24:30,960 would put it basically into a, well, cremation. 404 00:24:31,640 --> 00:24:33,880 It would take these bodies and they would they would reuse the 405 00:24:33,880 --> 00:24:36,120 tombs. From what some of the Jewish 406 00:24:36,120 --> 00:24:40,000 historians were saying, the form of cremation would take place 407 00:24:40,000 --> 00:24:43,640 and so the tomb could be reused and it may be reused multiple 408 00:24:43,640 --> 00:24:47,360 times, but the rich would not reuse the tombs. 409 00:24:48,400 --> 00:24:51,560 And Christ who had nothing but nothing and nobody, didn't have 410 00:24:51,560 --> 00:24:53,880 much of a chance of any kind of a decent burial. 411 00:24:54,360 --> 00:24:57,280 But his father saw that he was put in this lovely place, albeit 412 00:24:57,280 --> 00:25:01,240 briefly, but nevertheless he was properly buried. 413 00:25:03,840 --> 00:25:07,480 Couple other things I want to mention that I tried to learn 414 00:25:07,480 --> 00:25:11,040 from this passage is not everyone arrives as quickly as 415 00:25:11,040 --> 00:25:13,280 others do to the place of bold discipleship. 416 00:25:15,640 --> 00:25:19,240 Not everyone arrives as others do to a placeable discipleship. 417 00:25:20,120 --> 00:25:24,280 Some of us who by our own personality are more extrovert 418 00:25:24,560 --> 00:25:28,840 than others have a little have little patience maybe with those 419 00:25:28,840 --> 00:25:30,680 who take a little longer to do things. 420 00:25:31,600 --> 00:25:34,720 If you have that type a personality, you know, you're 421 00:25:34,760 --> 00:25:36,560 kind of OK. Are you going to get this task 422 00:25:36,560 --> 00:25:37,480 done? Are you going to when are you 423 00:25:37,480 --> 00:25:39,320 going to come to when are you going to get this done? 424 00:25:39,760 --> 00:25:41,280 You know, we've been studying for how long? 425 00:25:41,880 --> 00:25:43,320 Isn't it time for you to make a decision? 426 00:25:45,320 --> 00:25:47,720 Yeah, I yes, I believe that there is a time where somebody 427 00:25:47,720 --> 00:25:49,520 needs to to draw a line in the sand. 428 00:25:50,400 --> 00:25:53,160 But not everyone comes as quickly to that decision as some 429 00:25:53,160 --> 00:25:55,360 others do. And so we need to remember that 430 00:25:55,360 --> 00:25:59,120 while we're studying with somebody or maybe maybe family 431 00:25:59,120 --> 00:26:04,400 members that we pray for all the time, maybe our kids, maybe 432 00:26:04,400 --> 00:26:08,000 cousins or uncles. Be patient. 433 00:26:08,640 --> 00:26:11,200 The Lord is working. Whether we thank you she's 434 00:26:11,200 --> 00:26:15,840 working on our time frame or not, the Lord is working and I 435 00:26:15,840 --> 00:26:20,480 think it's a lesson that here in Scripture in part to remind us 436 00:26:21,320 --> 00:26:24,560 we're too quick sometimes to press others into a into a 437 00:26:24,560 --> 00:26:26,680 decision. So we just need to remember 438 00:26:26,680 --> 00:26:30,160 that, be prudent about that. The period between coming to a 439 00:26:30,160 --> 00:26:33,240 convinced belief in the saviorship of Jesus and the 440 00:26:33,240 --> 00:26:37,800 preparedness to, to, to nail it. Our colors to nail their colors 441 00:26:37,800 --> 00:26:41,160 to the mass, the nautical terms, if you want to say, or letting 442 00:26:41,160 --> 00:26:43,960 his world letting, letting the world know that we're going to 443 00:26:43,960 --> 00:26:47,400 fight for Jesus. That's, that's a time period 444 00:26:47,400 --> 00:26:51,000 that we don't know how the spirit works, how God works. 445 00:26:51,720 --> 00:26:55,120 But let that be a thought for everybody. 446 00:26:55,840 --> 00:26:58,960 And finally, surely this passage is a reminder for us that no one 447 00:26:58,960 --> 00:27:03,600 can remain a secret disciple indefinitely. 448 00:27:05,200 --> 00:27:08,240 Eventually circumstances will demand that we stand up for what 449 00:27:08,240 --> 00:27:12,240 we believe in and we'll take our stand with whom we've determined 450 00:27:12,240 --> 00:27:14,880 to follow. And Joseph is in the company 451 00:27:14,880 --> 00:27:17,960 with one other individual on the pages in respect to this. 452 00:27:18,600 --> 00:27:20,200 There's another individual that we see here. 453 00:27:20,640 --> 00:27:25,480 There are two people here who in within a 24 hour period of the 454 00:27:25,480 --> 00:27:29,120 time of the burial and death of Jesus are immortalized in 455 00:27:29,120 --> 00:27:31,880 history forever. One is Joseph and the other is 456 00:27:31,880 --> 00:27:35,200 Pilot. You know, and the reason that 457 00:27:35,200 --> 00:27:38,280 they're both known in the pages of of of Scripture and history 458 00:27:38,960 --> 00:27:41,240 and certainly in the biblical record is simply because of 459 00:27:41,240 --> 00:27:45,720 their reactions to Jesus. Both of them apparently thought 460 00:27:45,720 --> 00:27:47,760 that they could delay their response to Jesus. 461 00:27:49,400 --> 00:27:52,640 Pilate was a pontificator. He was pro a procrastinator. 462 00:27:52,640 --> 00:27:56,680 Pilot was trying to to put it off, trying to send, send it off 463 00:27:57,400 --> 00:27:59,760 to Herod to have somebody else make the decision. 464 00:28:01,160 --> 00:28:02,680 He said go to Harry, come back later. 465 00:28:02,680 --> 00:28:04,000 I don't, I don't want to know about this. 466 00:28:04,000 --> 00:28:05,360 I don't, I don't know about that. 467 00:28:05,360 --> 00:28:08,160 I, I want to wash my hands of this is what Pilot was saying. 468 00:28:09,120 --> 00:28:11,640 And Joseph from another perspective, perspective 469 00:28:11,640 --> 00:28:15,240 operated much in the same way. You know, there Joseph was 470 00:28:15,240 --> 00:28:17,640 thinking, there's going to be a time when I get when I'll get to 471 00:28:17,680 --> 00:28:21,080 it. I'll go, I'll get to it later. 472 00:28:21,440 --> 00:28:24,600 I'll let somebody someday, you know, we know how our mind 473 00:28:24,600 --> 00:28:26,240 works. We'll get to it later on. 474 00:28:27,440 --> 00:28:29,480 And apparently they thought they could delay the response 475 00:28:29,480 --> 00:28:33,600 indefinitely, but the events of life of course overtook them 476 00:28:33,720 --> 00:28:38,240 both and the question which was the utmost on Pilots mind on his 477 00:28:38,240 --> 00:28:41,840 lips and Mark 15 that we can read What shall I do with Jesus 478 00:28:41,840 --> 00:28:45,760 who is called the Christ and that was the question question 479 00:28:45,760 --> 00:28:50,200 they both had to face. That was the question they both 480 00:28:50,200 --> 00:28:53,760 they had to make their choice on that question and eternally 481 00:28:53,840 --> 00:28:58,200 eternity real will reveal the choice that they made. 482 00:29:00,080 --> 00:29:03,360 So there's no other place to kind of wrap this up other than 483 00:29:03,360 --> 00:29:08,040 to say perhaps today is the day when the secrets of our hearts 484 00:29:08,160 --> 00:29:12,160 will be revealed. Way back in Luke chapter 2, when 485 00:29:12,160 --> 00:29:17,920 Simeon takes Christ as as the baby child in his arms and he 486 00:29:17,920 --> 00:29:21,640 speaks over him and says, you know, let your let your servant 487 00:29:21,640 --> 00:29:24,960 depart in peace because my eyes have seen the salvation. 488 00:29:25,360 --> 00:29:28,560 And he says this child will be for the rising and falling of 489 00:29:28,560 --> 00:29:31,200 many in Israel. He will cause a division between 490 00:29:31,200 --> 00:29:34,800 people. And then he essentially says so 491 00:29:34,800 --> 00:29:38,600 that the thoughts from many hearts may be revealed. 492 00:29:39,920 --> 00:29:42,800 And that's exactly what happened here with Joseph of Arimathea. 493 00:29:43,440 --> 00:29:47,080 Suddenly he saw the cross and he said that's it. 494 00:29:47,200 --> 00:29:51,040 It all makes sense. I can't, I can't be in secret 495 00:29:51,040 --> 00:29:53,600 for Jesus anymore. I can't, I didn't honor him in 496 00:29:53,600 --> 00:29:56,280 his life while he was living, but I'm going to definitely 497 00:29:56,280 --> 00:29:59,360 honor him in his death. I'll do whatever it takes. 498 00:30:00,400 --> 00:30:04,080 I cannot live in secrecy. Any luck any longer? 499 00:30:05,120 --> 00:30:08,520 And of course, we want to ask that today, if you believe in 500 00:30:08,520 --> 00:30:11,520 God, that that that he has raised Jesus from the dead. 501 00:30:12,160 --> 00:30:15,160 And in believing that we believe that there's a reason God raised 502 00:30:15,160 --> 00:30:18,960 Jesus from the dead is because God was accepting the sacrifice 503 00:30:19,280 --> 00:30:26,840 for sin that Jesus had offered. And that belief that that it was 504 00:30:26,840 --> 00:30:31,880 a necessary sacrifice not just for the sins of men, but but all 505 00:30:31,880 --> 00:30:35,360 of our sins personally, our sins, not just those previously, 506 00:30:35,640 --> 00:30:38,400 but forward as well. He died for our sins. 507 00:30:39,320 --> 00:30:41,560 And that belief demands a change. 508 00:30:41,720 --> 00:30:44,520 It demands a new life. It demands us to think 509 00:30:44,520 --> 00:30:46,360 differently, to live differently, to make our 510 00:30:46,360 --> 00:30:51,160 decisions differently, to to look through the lens of what 511 00:30:51,160 --> 00:30:54,640 Jesus has done for us on how we make the decisions in our life, 512 00:30:56,880 --> 00:31:00,680 a life that cannot be kept in secret any longer. 513 00:31:01,080 --> 00:31:07,840 It demands us to be standing for Jesus and we confess Jesus as 514 00:31:07,840 --> 00:31:10,360 the Son of God and then we are baptized for the remission of 515 00:31:10,360 --> 00:31:12,760 our sins. Maybe there's somebody here who 516 00:31:12,760 --> 00:31:15,800 needs to do that today. Maybe there's someone here who 517 00:31:15,800 --> 00:31:19,960 has done that but has fallen short, sin in their life 518 00:31:19,960 --> 00:31:22,520 publicly, that needs to make a public confession or just needs 519 00:31:22,520 --> 00:31:24,120 the prayers of the congregation here. 520 00:31:24,720 --> 00:31:26,960 We ask you to come while we stand and while we stand.