Cuddling HIS body!
John 19:39”Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight. 40 So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews.”
Imagine cuddling the body of Jesus Christ! Joseph begged for the body of Jesus Christ from Pilate while Nicodemus hugged His Body! Listen! I sobbed like a kid while I preached this message in the church! How I wish I could touch His body! Embalming the body of Jesus was taken care of by Nicodemus: these two disciples were once secret friends of Jesus Christ but now have stepped out of their closet, amidst avalanching dangers to proclaim their relationship with Jesus Christ. Please don’t ask me why should Nicodemus spend seventy five pounds in weight of myrrh and aloes to embalm the body of Christ, who would be resurrecting anyway! Please don’t ask me that….. this is love…passionate love for the One who spent time with Nicodemus in the night to reveal precious truths of being born again. Jesus had a wonderful burial ceremony by two people who loved Him immensely and tremendously! You don’t have this kind of love, to embalm His Body, if you have not actually been hit by the wind, that Jesus talked about! John 3:6 “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound!”
Nicodemus was not just touched but I guess he was blown over by this Holy Ghost wind! Once you brush against Jesus in your life, your life would never be the same again! It should never be the same again. That’s exactly what Jesus meant by saying ‘Nicodemus, you got to be born again!’ True seekers find Jesus! As Nicodemus caressed the Body of Jesus and embalmed Him, I’m sure he would have remembered of the time spent on that awesome night when he walked into the house to talk to Jesus! The heart of Jesus must have cried, ‘Oh, Nicky boy is coming to meet me, he is not coming for goodies but He is coming to know more of me’. This excites Him!
I’m sure Nicodemus must have kissed the body a thousand times and wept over it. Jesus loves true seekers! Are you listening? The devil does not want you to touch His body, are you listening? And that’s why he keeps many away from the Holy communion. What do you think is Holy Communion, it is nothing but touching the body of Christ and partaking in His blood that has been shed for you. Many partake in it without knowledge, without love, without meaning and without reverence. Please understand , the moment the pastor hands over the bread into your palm, it becomes the ‘body of Jesus!’ Like Nicodemus, now you are touching His body, do it with love, do it with faith and do it with reverence and not nonchalantly.
Nicodemus found the Kingdom of God because he refused to sleep one night and took a step to meet Jesus! Hallelujah! During my initial period of salvation, while working for a multinational bank, I would wrap up my Bible in a cover and take it to the wash room secretly and I would read it with tears rolling down my cheek. Might sound crazy. God saw it, though, and turned me into His Preacher.
