195. Luke 23:50-56 JESUS BURIED IN JOSEPH'S TOMB

Introduction:

	In our text today Luke tells about the burial of Jesus.
Jesus had been crucified and it was to be expected that He would
be buried in a field where only beggars and criminals were
buried.  Since the members of the Sanhedrin Council had demanded
His crucifixion it was not to be expected that one of their
members would give His body a decent burial.

I.  Joseph of Arimathaea

    V. 50-52, "And, behold, there was a man named Joseph, a
counsellor; and he was a good man, and a just: (The same had not
consented to the counsel and deed of them;) he was of Arimathaea,
a city of the Jews: who also himself waited for the kingdom of
God.  This man went unto Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus."
Luke said that this man particular Joseph was from Arimathaea.
He was a counsellor, a member of the Sanhedrin Council.
    This counsellor, came to Pilate and requested permission to
bury the body of Jesus.  Can you imagine a member of the council
which had demanded the crucifixion of Jesus coming forward and
requesting permission to give His body a decent burial?
	Luke explains.  Luke says that Joseph was a good man, a just
man.  This is in sharp contrast to most of the others in the
Council.  It is most certainly in sharp contrast to Caiaphas, the
high priest.  Caiaphas was a cruel, vicious, dishonest man.  It
was also in sharp contrast to the chief priests and elders who
had joined Caiaphas in seeking the death of Jesus.  They were not
good men.  They were all wicked, evil men.  They were unjust
lying hypocrites who would stop at nothing to accomplish their
evil purpose.
    Luke explains further that Joseph was not in agreement with
the objective of the council.  He was not in agreement with the
council leadership nor the majority of the council members.  The
leadership and the majority would put Jesus to death by hook or
by crook.  But Joseph did not at all agree with them.
     He had not been in favor of trying to trap Jesus with trick
questions.  He had not been in favor of paying Judas to betray
Jesus.  He had not been in favor of arresting Jesus and bringing
Him to trial.  He had not been in favor of sending Him to Pilate
nor demanding that Jesus be crucified.
    We may wonder, "How is it that one of the members of the
Sanhedrin Council was so completely out of step with the thinking
of the majority of the Council members?"  Luke gives a hint.
Luke says that Joseph was waiting for the kingdom of God.  For
the past several years he had been waiting for the kingdom of God
to come.  He had been anxious for the Messiah to come
    John says that Joseph was a secret believer in Jesus.  He had
been looking for the Messiah to come and he had realized that
Jesus is the Messiah.  He had believed in Jesus as the Messiah,
the Christ of God.  He had never openly professed that Jesus is
the Christ, but he had believed that Jesus is the Christ.
    Being on the Council, he was in position to know just how
much opposition there was to Jesus and to know that it would have
been dangerous for himself and his family if he publicly
acknowledged Jesus as his Savior and was baptized.  Joseph  was a
secret disciple because he feared what the Jews would do.  But now
	Joseph had to make a decision.  He had to decide whether or
not to remain a secret disciple or to come out  Joseph in the
open with his belief in Jesus.  He knew that if he should go to
Pilate and ask for the body of Jesus, he would reveal his faith
in Jesus.  But if he did not do so then Jesus would be buried
with the beggars and criminals.  He could not bear the thought.
He believed even the dead body of Jesus should be buried with
respect and reverence, with tenderness and love.  He knew also
that he was probably the only person in the whole land who could
pull this off.
    Joseph was probably the only person in the land who could go
to Pilate and get permission to give the body of Jesus a decent
burial.  The apostles and other followers of Jesus could
certainly not do so.  They would never even get an audience with
Pilate.  He could openly admit his devotion to Jesus or else the
body of Jesus would be buried with the criminals.
	So Joseph went to see Pilate.  Being a rich man and being a
member of the Sanhedrin Council he got an audience with Pilate.
Matthew says that he went inside to see Pilate.  Most Jews would
stayed outside and expected Pilate to come out to see them, like
the Jews did at the trial of Jesus.  But Joseph went right inside
to speak with Pilate and I am sure this met with Pilate's favor.
	Luke says that Joseph begged the body of Jesus.  The Greek
word which here is translated "begged" can take on several
different shades of meaning.  It can mean simply "to ask or
request." It can mean "to plead or make a strong appeal."  I can
mean "to demand."  Thee King James translators here made a good
choice.  I am certain that Joseph did not demand Pilate to do
anything.  I am also certain that he did more than make a simple
request.  Joseph made a strong appeal to Pilate requesting him to
release the body of Jesus to him.  Pilate was probably well to
release the body of Jesus so that He could have a decent burial.

II.  The burial of Jesus

    V. 53, "And he took it down..."   Apparently it was Joseph,
himself, who took the body of Jesus down from the cross.  He
probably had servants who assisted him.  This was not an easy
task.  At least it was very difficult emotionally.
    (V. 53), "...and wrapped it in linen..."  Luke makes no
mention of Joseph using spices.  John tells us that Nicodemus
brought about 100 pounds of spices which were wrapped around the
body of Jesus inside the linen cloth.  The spices were for the
purpose of lessening the foul odor as the body decays and perhaps
to slow the deterioration process somewhat.
	But note that the spices were supplied by Nicodemus.
Nicodemus had come to Jesus acknowledging that Jesus is a teacher
come from God.  Jesus told him that he must be born again and
apparently Nicodemus believed Jesus as was born again.  He was
saved.  Now Nicodemus comes to Joseph and assists him in the
burial of Jesus.  He even supplied the spices.
    I wonder how Nicodemus knew that Joseph was going to Pilate
to request the body of Jesus for burial.  I wonder if he was not
in on the plan even before Joseph went to Pilate.  He must have
been.  I wonder if Nicodemus and Joseph were not already good
friends and had previously discussed their belief in Jesus well
before the crucifixion.  Joseph was a secret disciple in that he
had not told the general public, but it must not have been a
secret to Nicodemus.  He must have told Nicodemus about it
because Nicodemus knew about Joseph's plans for burying the body
of Jesus.  He knew and he brought the spices.  I think that once
he arrived with the spices, he stayed until the job was finished.
    (V. 53), "...and laid it in a sepulchre that was hewn in
stone, wherein never man before was laid.   Luke does not mention
that the sepulchre belonged to Joseph.  He does not mention that
the sepulchre was located in a garden right near the place of
crucifixion.  Joseph had bought this garden spot with the
intention of chipping out a hole where he and the members of his
family could be buried.
    Luke does mention that this was a sepulchre in which no man
had ever been laid.  It was common practice in those days in that
part of the world for many bodies to be buried in the same grave.
However, this was a new tomb and Jesus would be the very first to
be buried in this tomb.

III.  The day of preparation

    V. 54, "And that day was the preparation, and the sabbath
drew on."  On the preceding night Jesus and His disciples had
eaten the Passover Supper.  With the Hebrews, each day started at
evening time.  Therefore the Passover Supper was eaten right
after the Passover Day started.  During the night Jesus was
arrested and brought before the Sanhedrin for an unofficial
trial.  This was still on the Passover Day.  The next morning a
second hearing before the Sanhedrin was held to make the verdict
official and this was still on the Passover Day.  When Pilate's
office opened for business, the Jews brought Jesus before Pilate
and demanded His crucifixion.  This was still on the Passover
Day.  He was tried and crucified on the Passover Day.
    It was still on the Passover Day late in the afternoon when
Joseph rushed over to Pilate and asked permission to bury the
body of Jesus.  It was very late in the afternoon when Joseph and
Nicodemus finished wrapping of the body of Jesus and headed for
the tomb, but this was still on the Passover Day.
	Luke calls this day "The Day of Preparation."  This is
because a special sabbath day always followed the day of the
Passover.  That special sabbath day would start at evening time
about dusk dark.   Carrying of the body of Jesus to the tomb was
work and it had to be done before dark because the special
sabbath would start at dusk dark.  So they hurried and they made
it with little time to spare.  But they made it.  They got to the
garden and laid His body inside the tomb.  They rolled the stone
against the door and left.
    There was no ceremony.  But the body of Jesus had a decent,
quiet, respectful, reverent burial.  He had tender and loving
care.

IV.  The women who were present

    There was a small group of people present.  V. 55, "And the
women also, which came with him from Galilee, followed after, and
beheld the sepulchre, and how his body was laid."  These were the
women who had followed Him all the way from Galilee.  They had
the crucifixion from as distance and apparently they did not get
any closer than necessary at the burial.  They just wanted to
see.  They were, no doubt, very glad to see Jesus get a decent
burial.  They were also very glad to see just where He was buried
because it was their intention to return to the tomb.
    V. 56, "And they returned..."  Luke probably means that they
returned to the village of Bethany where they, along with the
apostles, had been staying each night.   They probably stayed in
the home of Lazarus, Martha and Mary.
    (V. 56), "....and prepared spices and ointments; and rested
the sabbath day according to the commandment."  It was probably
fully dark by the time they got back to Bethany.  So the special
sabbath day had already begun.  Once they were in the home where
they were staying there was not anything they could do but wait.

V.  Some things I would point out to you

	Let me point out something to you about Joseph.  He was not
only a good and just man as Luke said he was, but he was a saved
man.  Even before the ministry of Jesus began, he was anxiously
looking for the coming of the Christ.  Then sometime during the
ministry of Jesus he realized that Jesus is the Christ and he
accepted Jesus as the Christ and as his Savior.  He was a saved
man.
	He was, at first, afraid to make his faith in Jesus known.
He was not afraid to confide his faith in Jesus to a fellow
Christian like Nicodemus, but he was afraid to make it know to
the public.  He feared what people would think about him.  He was
afraid what they would say about him.  He was afraid of what they
do to him and to his family.  So he kept his faith in Jesus a
secret until a testing time came and then felt he just had let
his faith in Jesus be known regardless of the cost.  By his
bravery he is a hero in the eyes of Christians down through the
ages for giving Jesus, our Lord, a decent burial.
	Let me point out something to you about Nicodemus.  Nicodemus
was a great help to Joseph.  He was his one and only ally in this
noble project.  He, like Joseph, was willing to risk whatever
personal danger their might be to himself in order to render this
service to Jesus.  Neither of these men were doing this for any
honor or reward that they might get out of it.  They were doing
this strictly out of love and devotion to Jesus.
	Let me point out something to you about the women.  Those
were great Christian women.  They, too, took upon themselves
great personal risk by their love and devotion to Jesus.  But
they would not let any personal risk stop them from serving the
Lord, whom they loved.
	Let me point out something to you about you.  Some of you,
like Joseph, Nicodemus and those women have already trusted Jesus
as the Christ and as your Savior.  You have your eternity made.
You have no further need to fear the fires of hell.  You can rest
assured concerning your eternity.
	Some of you, like Joseph, may be afraid to take an open stand
for Jesus Christ.  You may fear what people would say about you.
If that be so, then I am not here to condemn you.  Rather I am
here to challenge you.  I am here to challenge you to come out in
the open and let be known to all your family and all your friends
and even to all your enemies if you have any that you have placed
your faith in Jesus as the Son of God and as your Savior.  I am
here to challenge you to give yourself in service to Jesus as
Joseph and Nicodemus and those women all finally did.
	In the event that there is anybody present here this morning
who is not yet saved, then I am here to point out something about
you.  I am here to point out to you that you, like everybody
else, has sinned against God and that you stand in danger of the
Lake of Fire and Brimstone.  Your only hope of staying out of
that place is to turn to God and to trust in the Lord Jesus
Christ as your Savior.

Conclusion:

	I am going to call for an invitation hymn and I am going to
ask that each of you who need to come, step right out like Joseph
did and step right down this aisle and surrender your life to the
Lord.