-April 19, 2025-
Good morning beloved, happy Holy Saturday,
“Then they returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils. And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment.”
(Luke 23:56).
Today is the day we focus on the tomb. To the average person they saw the death of Christ as an end, a defeat, and a disappointment.
Though Jesus had told His disciples on three occasions that the Son of Man would be killed and rise from the dead, they didn’t look for the resurrection. Luke 18:32-33 says, “For He will be delivered to the Gentiles and will be mocked and insulted and spit on. They will scourge Him and kill Him. And the third day He will rise again.” It could not be in more clear.
Joseph of Arimathea went Pilate to body to ask for Jesus’ body to give Him a decent burial. Pilate first verified with the Roman Centurion that Jesus was really dead. The centurion who had likely presided over many crucifixions and carefully examined Jesus at the cross and certified that He was dead.
Nicodemus joined his friend and colleague Joseph from the Jewish Sanhedrin. They carefully and skillfully took out the nails and removed the crown of thorns. They washed His body and laid Him in Joseph’s new garden tomb located near Golgotha. They rolled a huge, heavy stone over the tomb. The Jews also went to Pilate to get his permission to set a guard over the tomb. Interestingly, they remembered that Jesus said He would rise again and were afraid the disciples would take away His body and claim He rose from the dead.
There was no way for anyone take the body with such a heavy guard and stone over the tomb. The women who were the last ones at the didn’t expect Him to arise for they prepared spices and fragrant oil to anoint His body; Joseph and Nicodemus didn’t either, nor did any of His disciples.
But this of course was not the end of the story of Jesus, for He would rise from the dead to give us a living hope. Hollywood couldn’t write such a story. It wasn’t just “based on a true story,” it was a true story with as many as five hundred eyewitness of this true story.
Have a blessed day awaiting Easter Sunday, Resurrection Day. We know the rest of the story. Stay safe and healthy.
God certified that He was pleased with Jesus’ sacrifice by raising Him from the dead.
Dean
Dean Allen's Daily Devotional 