The Darkness in the Grave — Things of the Sort

Jan 3

Jan 3 The Darkness in the Grave

In Mark’s account of the death of Jesus in Mark 15:33-47, he includes a bit about Jesus’s burial in verses 42-47. Why does he record the burial of Jesus? Throughout history, this has been a contested point of the story. Some say Jesus didn’t really die on the cross. Maybe he passed out, was taken down, and recovered somewhere. Muslims say he was taken to heaven before he died on the cross. Others say dogs ate his body. But from the earliest of days, the burial of Jesus was an important and well-recorded point. All four gospels record his burial, and the earliest Christian creed, the Apostles’ Creed, includes it.

But why does his burial matter so much? Because only a dead Jesus saves. Only a dead and buried Jesus experienced the full wrath of God against our sin. Only a dead and buried Jesus can resurrect. If he wasn’t really dead and truly buried, the resurrection couldn’t have happened, it was only for show, and if the resurrection didn’t happen then, as Paul said, “our preaching is in vain and our faith is in vain.”

The details Mark includes lead us to the conclusion that Jesus really did die, and he really was buried. Verses 42-43 tell us that by evening, because it was the day of Preparation, the day before the Sabbath, Joseph of Arimathea, a member of the Sanhedrin council, took courage and went to Pilate to ask for the body. Those details matter because of what comes next. Verse 44 says Pilate was surprised to hear Jesus was already dead. Crucifixion could take days. Jesus was dead in a few hours. So he called the centurion who oversaw the death. After confirming, Pilate gave Joseph his body. This wasn’t normal practice. Usually, to complete the humiliation of crucifixion, the body was thrown in the trash heap. So why did Pilate give the body to Joseph? Mark doesn’t say. All he says is that he did, and that’s important because it’s different from the normal way of things. It’s the kind of thing that is only written down if it’s true.

But it’s important for other reasons too. It’s a fulfillment of prophecy. The Old Testament prophesied this kind of burial for the Messiah. Joseph was a rich man—only a rich man had a tomb like this prepared. Isaiah said the Messiah would have his grave made with a rich man in his death (Isaiah 53:9) and that the tomb would be cut out of a rock (Isaiah 22:16). Even more amazing, John says in his account that this tomb was in a garden (John 19:41). Remember, that’s where the tragedy of this world’s darkness began. The Puritan commentator Matthew Henry puts it this way, “In the garden of Eden death and the grave first received their power, and now in a garden they are conquered, disarmed, and triumphed over. In a garden Christ began his passion, and from a garden he would rise, and begin his exaltation.” In his death, Jesus is undoing the terrible events of the Garden of Eden. In his burial, he is planted to become the first fruits of the resurrection. If you’re in Christ, his burial represents your burial. As Paul says, “We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death.” That’s important because of what he says next. “In order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4). In other words, when that stone was rolled over Jesus’ grave, he took your sin in there with him. He buried it away in his death, which means you don’t have to bear the punishment anymore. Yes, you still have some darkness in you, but there is also now a new light. His death purchased it and his burial sealed it. Your sins are there in that grave, dead and gone in the sight of God, never to be resurrected.

But on the third day, Jesus was resurrected. His body came back to life, and he became for us the first fruits of what we will one day be in him. Paul says in Romans 4:25, “[Jesus] was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.” Though the wages of our sin is death, the wages of Jesus’s death is our resurrection. God accepts Jesus’s payment, and in him promises us newness of life. As dark as this world is, as dark as your heart is, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5).

This is the good news of the gospel. It is available to all who will accept it. You might think you’re not worthy, but the cross says you can’t be too low for Jesus. In fact, the cross was the lowest form of death, the most humiliating kind of execution ever invented. Jesus came all the way down to be visible to those at the very bottom.

In verses 40-41, Mark includes the witness of several woman that day. Why mention them? Because women were the lowest of all in those days. They were watching from afar because Jewish convention demanded it. Their witness didn’t even matter in court, but they were witnesses to God’s salvation. When almost nothing else was, God was available to them. His salvation was for them. They saw Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. God was using them—the lowest—to tell his story. He always does.

Even if you watch from afar, the cross is God’s action that draws you near. You might think, “Okay, but what if I mess up? I mean really mess up. Isn’t there some point at which this salvation can’t be true for me anymore?” John Bunyan was a man who knew this feeling well, and he spoke the gospel to himself to assure his heart. He wrote a book called Come and Welcome to Jesus Christ. It was devoted to one verse in John 6:37 which, in the KJV Jesus, says, “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.”

But I am a great sinner, you say.