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What helps you with the daily burial of your independent self-life?
That evening, a rich man from the Judean city of Arimathea arrived in Jerusalem; his name was Joseph, and he had become a student of Jesus (220). He was also a member of the ruling council of Jewish elders, but he had not supported their campaign against Jesus.
Joseph went to Pilate & asked for the body of Jesus. Pilate was surprised to hear that Jesus was already dead. He called the officer in charge of the execution detail & asked him if Jesus had been dead a long time. After hearing the officer’s report, Pilate told Joseph that he could have the body of Jesus.
Nicodemus was another Jewish elder; he had first gone to see Jesus at night & later had questioned the campaign of the Jewish elders against Jesus. Nicodemus now went with Joseph to care for the body of Jesus — taking with him about a hundred pounds of spices, a mixture of myrrh and aloes.
The two men took Jesus’ body; they wrapped it in linen cloths, with the spices, according to the Jewish custom of preparing a body for burial. Then they placed it in Joseph’s own tomb, which had recently been dug out of solid rock.
Finally, they rolled a large stone across the entrance of the tomb & went away.
The women, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, saw the tomb & how Jesus’ body was laid in it. Then they went back home to prepare more spices & perfumes for the body. But on the Sabbath day they rested, as Jewish law required.
On the day of Jesus’ burial, the chief priests and the Pharisees had appealed to Pilate: “Sir, we remember that while that liar was still alive he said, ‘I’ll be raised to life three days later.’ So please, give orders for his tomb to be carefully guarded until the third day, so that his friends will not be able to steal the body and then tell the people that he was raised from death. This last lie would be even worse than the first!”
Pilate granted their request, saying: “Take guards, go & make the tomb as secure as you can.” So they went & made the tomb secure, by putting a seal on the stone & leaving the guards on watch.
LORD, please help us to love being buried with Jesus, every day.
What helps you with the daily burial of your independent self-life?
(220) Matthew 27:57-66, Mark 15:42-47, Luke 23:50-56, John 19:38-42
Unexpected 