Wednesday, January 22, 2014

John 19:38-42

38 Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jews. With Pilate's permission, he came and took the body away. 39 He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. 40 Taking Jesus' body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs. 41 At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. 42 Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.

75 lbs of spices!  Wow that's a lot but this was one way that witnesses could truly say that Jesus was dead.  It meant Joseph and Nicodemus spent time with a body, wrapping it in spices and strips of linen.  The details in these verses are there for us so we really know that Jesus died and was laid in a tomb.  I think this is really important so that we don't easily shrug it off that Jesus died.  Death is so final, but thankfully for us, Jesus' death was not final.  

No comments:

Post a Comment