By Jim Mettenbrink
The apostle Paul declared that the “good news” (gospel) is the death burial and resurrection of Jesus (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). The background to the gospel is that God commands every person to obey Him. Just one disobedience requires death (Genesis 2:16-17). The first sin brought this weakness to sin upon everyone. Such a dilemma! No escape…. except for God’s love for you – “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son….” (John 3:16). That God commanded man to obey, meant that God would need to be a man in order to obey perfectly– sinless. The apostle John opens his record, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God….And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:1, 14).
Jesus was tempted in every way we are, but never sinned, thus He became the sacrifice for our sins that God accepted (Hebrews 7:27; 9:28; 10:10). Further, “And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him” (Heb 5:9). So Jesus’ willingness to die for you made a way to have peace (Romans 5:1) with God and live eternally.
In the last articles, we considered Jesus’ death on the cross and the supernatural events during those hours, that even the Roman soldiers acknowledge that Jesus is God (Matthew 27:54). Then He was buried. Why didn’t Jesus simply come to life again and get off the cross in everyone’s presence? Why was He buried?
First off, if He had simply gotten off the cross, people could claim, that He had not actually died. In fact, skeptics try to deny that He died, by saying he was swooning or in a coma. The four records reveal that He died and was buried.
That He died was certified. Jesus died on the day before the Sabbath. Jewish law demanded that a dead person be in the grave before the Sabbath began (6 pm). Jesus died at 3 pm (Mat 27:45-50). To satisfy the Jews, the soldiers broke the legs of the crucified to quicken death. However, the soldiers dispatched to ensure Jesus would die, found him dead and put a spear in His side which ensured He was dead (John 19:31-37).
Not only that, but two men of prominent reputation who were not associated with Jesus in any way buried Jesus. One was Joseph of Arimathea who ironically was a member of the Jewish supreme court (Mat 27:57; Luke 23:50-52; Jn 19:8) which had condemned Jesus to death (Mat 26:57-66; Mark 14:53-65; Lk 22:66-71). Further, the Court demanded the grave be sealed certifying Jesus was dead and buried. His burial was necessary to prove His resurrection to life again. Next: The significance of Jesus’ resurrection.