57 Now when it was evening, a rich man from Arimathea came, named Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus. 58 This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. 59 And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, 60 and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut out in the rock; and he rolled a large stone against the entrance of the tomb and went away. 61 And Mary Magdalene was there, and the other Mary, sitting opposite the tomb.

Matthew 27:57-61 (NASB) 中文

On the cross

Jesus is dead. The physical and emotional suffering is over. The worst suffering – spiritually – was that the Father had to reject Him as He became sin for us. The Roman soldiers have seen the miraculous natural signs and confessed He was the Son of God. The women have been watching all of this.

Rich follower

Jesus didn’t only appeal to the outcasts – though they were the ones who responded most. He said in Matthew 9:12. “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick.” He said this to the Pharisees who did not acknowledge their sin whereas the tax collectors, fishermen (such as His disciples) and “sinners” recognized their need.

Nonetheless, some rich people also recognized their need to repent and believe. Joseph was one such rich man. Even some religious leaders believed – like Nicodemus – as John 19:39 tells us.

Using your resources

What does Joseph do with his resources? This man takes a risk and makes a bold request for the body of Jesus. He saw what needed to happen to give Jesus a respectful burial and just did it. He had help from Nicoedemus (per John’s account in John 19:39) as well as some of the women.

Day of preparation

The Jews had strict rules for how to prepare the dead for burial – including wrapping the body with spices to protect it from decay. Maybe they learned it from the Egyptians when they were there in Joseph and Moses’ times. But since it was the day of preparation *, they couldn’t fully prepare His body so they did the basics then put him in the new tomb. They rolled a huge stone to close the tomb.

Some of you may have heard there is an error in the recording of the day of His crucifixion. Gotquestions.org does a decent job of explaining this in their article. “After the Passover (Thursday) came the Day of Preparation (Friday) on which Jesus was killed. The Sabbath (Saturday) followed, of course, and then the first day of the week (Sunday)—the third day after the crucifixion and the day on which Jesus rose from the dead.” (gotquestions.org) 

And some wonder how Jesus could be dead for 3 days but this only accounts for 2 days. Depending on how you count days, He was dead Friday (when He was crucified), Saturday and Sunday (when He arose).

RЯeflection

• We don’t have to be rich to be accountable for how we use the resources God gives us. As with the parable of the talents we read in Matthew 25:14-30, each is given resources according to the Master’s determination of their ability. Each is responsible to put them to use for God’s kingdom. Take a quick assessment of how you are using your resources. Not just money, but time, talent, abilities, and gifts. God is likely speaking to you right now about it!