Resurrection faith
57As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. 58Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him. 59Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, 60and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away. 61Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb.
62The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. 63"Sir," they said, "we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, ’After three days I will rise again.’ 64So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first."
65"Take a guard," Pilate answered. "Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how." 66So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.
On Friday, we remember Jesus died to save us from our sins. He died our death, in our place, taking full brunt the wrath of God. The Father was satisfied. Justice was served on our behalf. So Jesus died. That’s where we pick up the story today.
Millions on this globe today celebrate with this greeting “Jesus is risen!” and millions would reply “He is risen indeed!” But could this be real? How can the dead come back alive?
Today I want to speak on faith in the Resurrected Lord Jesus Christ based on the story of Joseph from Arimathea . How is your faith? Perhaps it is not registering at all, or perhaps it is on life support, or perhaps your faith is stagnant. Is it growing and then stalling, needing a pick me up or is it soaring to new heights? How would you rate your faith today on a scale of 1 to 10? I trust your faith would be strengthened today and if it’s not existent that you’d find Jesus is worthy of your trust.
Well the disciples of Jesus did not fare very well when it comes to their faith. It sure looks like their faith would be anywhere from -1 to zero on that scale of one to ten. At one point, they declared they won’t disown Jesus, according to Matthew 26:35. It was a faith that came close to a ten! But when he was arrested by the large crowd armed with swords and clubs, the record states in Matthew 26:56 they and I quote “all the disciples deserted him and fled.” When it looks the disciples were outnumbered and knowing that the odds were against them, they took off, leaving Jesus at the mercy of his captors.
How can they NOT believe the words of Jesus who kept reminding them he must face the cross? It was certainly not a big surprise. Jesus predicted it will happen. Even since Peter confessed that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, He made it very clear that He must go to Jerusalem. That He must suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law. Then he would be killed and on the third day be raised to life (Matt.16:21).
At the Mount of Transfiguration in Matthew 17, where Jesus’ appearance changed, face shone like the sun, clothes became white as the light, once again He repeated that He must suffer and be raised from the dead. What a moment to be there, surely the disciples who would have got it then.
Not much later, when the disciples could not drive out a demon, Jesus recognized they had little faith. And because of that little faith, He reminded them of His impending death and that He’d be raised to life, to build their faith up. For what looks like a failure His death will be turn to victory. So have a little more faith people! Guess what was the reaction? The record says in Matthew 17:23 “And the disciples were filled with grief.” Good grief, they did not hear at all that on the 3rd day He’d be raised to life!
Then again later in Matthew 20:17-19
17Now as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside and said to them, 18"We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death 19and will turn him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!"
Numerous times Jesus would remind His disciples of His impending death and resurrection. That the disciples ran away, when Jesus was arrested shows us that they did not get it and their faith was shattered.
Then there was a guy from our Scripture reading today named Joseph. Let’s read again Matt.27:57-58 where we encounter Joseph.
57As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. 58Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him.
His story stood out. Instead of running away, he stayed with Jesus. He was the only one who was concerned enough to care for Jesus’ body as evening approached. When everyone else ran and hid, he stepped up to the plate. He was not even one of the Twelve but he became a follower. He was in fact “a prominent member of the Council” (The Sanhedrin) that Jesus faced after his capture (Mk.15:43). Being a leader among the Jews, rich, respected, an upright man, and a man of faith, he was a somebody (Lk.23:50,51). But he found Jesus attractive and was convinced He was Messiah and became a secret disciple but “he feared the Jews” (Jn.19:39). He could not be vocal supporter because of his prominent position at the council. He would lose face and lose his job! It was dangerous to be a supporter of Jesus. Besides that, how can you be on a team and not be a team player?
Isn’t it interesting that all four gospels mention this guy? Why was he given such recognition and widespread press coverage here? I believe the Biblical writers gave Joseph the honor of his name being mentioned because of his amazing faith. Yes he was a secret disciple. But when it came to crunch time, he did not fold like the rest of Jesus’ disciples. He was really quite bold. He actually went to Pilate, the Roman governor, as v.58 says, who gave the OK for Jesus to be crucified. This means his secret disciple days were over! Also, imagine this - having to face the executioner, the one who not a few hours ago handed Jesus the death sentence, still so fresh in his memory, facing the one who could with a wave of his hand say “you die!”
He stood out like a sore thumb from all the disciples of Jesus, didn’t he? He declared with this move he was with Jesus. He didn’t care anymore about being identified with Jesus. Joe would care for the body of Jesus. Furthermore, the word “asked” in v.58 in the Greek has the notion of begging, begging for the nasty business of burial. Why Joe did you do this?
Also read this OT scripture Numbers 19:16 "Anyone out in the open who touches someone who has been killed with a sword or someone who has died a natural death, or anyone who touches a human bone or a grave, will be unclean for seven days.” What Joe did with Jesus’ body for a devout Jew like he was, was a big deal. He’d become ceremonially unclean for 7 days. This means he would not be able to be with his family to eat the Passover the next day, the most sacred meal of all Jewish feasts, the next day. It was a huge sacrifice. And on top of that ,the closest associates of Jesus did not even show up to be with him to bury the one they say they follow. His neck is on the line! All of these demonstrate how much Joe loves Jesus. Being open to rejection from his peers, begged for Jesus body to be given him at the cost of being ceremonially unclean, to not eat the Passover with his own family, and then to go alone when none of the closest disciples wanted anything to do with Jesus. Wow, tip your hat to this guy!
59Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, 60and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock
Now we know that Joe’s hometown of Arimathea was about 40 kms away from Jerusalem. So what is he doing having a new tomb made for him in that location in Jerusalem? That is a long way from home! Especially at camel speed! What’s he doing so far from home base? Could it be that Joseph believed that Jesus was the Messiah that He claimed to be? Could it be he knew that he must be buried “with the rich” in fulfillment of Is. 53:9 especially with evening approaching and Sabbath coming when no work can be done, he’s got to do it now or never? Could it be he fully expected Jesus to rise from the dead on the 3rd day? Could it be he wanted to see for himself if indeed Jesus would rise from his own tomb and therefore his faith in Jesus would be vindicated?
Furthermore, this tomb that Jesus was placed in was not some obscure unmarked grave. It was a grave for the rich. It was a prominent grave. Had Jesus been buried at some unknown obscure pauper’s grave, no one would know that He had risen from the dead. It was planned from Is.53, a 700 year old prophecy, that Jesus would be buried with the rich which shows the remarkable mind of God. This burial would be in a prominent location that no one can mistake the exact place where Jesus would be buried. Jesus was not lost somewhere in some mass grave and that’s why His body is missing and his resurrection claims would not be credible. Everyone will know that there is no way this could’ve been fake or a mistake. There was a specific grave site, nice one too, that Joseph bought for himself, and he would know where it is, because it belonged to him. Not only that, there were two women witnesses of the whole burial event as v.61 says,
61Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb.
There are those who say that the resurrection of Jesus did not occur. They’d theorize that Jesus body was not found because they all went to the wrong grave. However there is no way this theory can work, as you can see. It was a specific rich man’s grave, that someone bought, it was new, that Joe cut out from the rock and witnessed by at least two women.
Not only was this grave looked after by Joe. It was guarded tomb too. And it was guarded by the enemies of Jesus. They wanted to make sure that the body of Jesus would not be taken away by the disciples. They wanted to make sure that the prophecy of Jesus rising after the 3rd day would not be perpetrated by the disciples.
Read with me once again v.62 ff.
62The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. 63"Sir," they said, "we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, ’After three days I will rise again.’ 64So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first."
65"Take a guard," Pilate answered. "Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how." 66So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.
Could the resurrection of Jesus be a hoax? The guards unwittingly were there to make sure it was not. The disciples all ran away, remember? And to think that they want to mess with professional soldiers who stood guard over the tomb? They would not have stood a chance. They may be impulsive but they are neither suicidal nor stupid. So Jesus’ body was not stolen. The guards were there. And if you get caught breaking the Roman seal which stands for the authority of Rome, it’s treason and automatic death penalty. Also if the guards slipped up there’d be better off killing themselves rather than be crucified upside down. There is no deception here!
Could it be Jesus body was lost in the shuffle of being in an area with too many graves or in some mass grave due to some bureaucratic slipup? No way, as we have established, it was Joseph’s grave, a rich man’s tomb, a very specific site that no one can mistake.
So how is your faith in the risen Lord? On a scale of 1 to 10? Is it...
1. BOLD like Joseph’s faith? He did not fold away like a wet tent. His faith is an inspiration to us today. He believed in the resurrection of Jesus even before it occurred. Remarkable! How about us in the post-resurrection day? We have even more reasons to believe because it has already occurred. What remarkable faith Joe had, to believe even before the Easter story was penned. Do you really believe that Jesus is risen? Jesus is risen! And God’s people say... Really? Do you believe it? Would you trust this risen Lord?
2. BROKEN like Jesus’ disciples? Their faith was shattered, all abandoned Him, at the time of the crucifixion. Yet Jesus restored them by His grace and used them to build the church. How about us today, who have shattered faith... could it be restored by Jesus by His grace? Could he use shattered betrayed hearts to build His church? There is forgiveness, restoration, because of the cross of Christ, would you receive it? He can fix your broken faith!
3. BELIEVABLE? I submit to you that the Easter story is God’s incredible but true story of His love and desire for you to be included into His kingdom. Or could it be the resurrection a well-orchestrated hoax? NO way, the disciples were too clueless and grief stricken and the body was not in the wrong tomb, it was in a specific verifiable grave site. Also the body stolen. To pull it off such a heist would require more than just the Mission Impossible Team, it’d require commandoes of the highest calibre. Believable? I am betting my everlasting life on it!
Because of the resurrection we know there is such a thing as life after death. Jesus came back from the death to prove it. The empty tomb bears witness to it. Now His offer of eternal life to us stands from the Bible in John 3:16-17...
16"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send
his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
Will you believe? Matthew’s story of Joseph of Arimathea calls for a response. Matthew’s story says to us “would you follow the risen Jesus, would you be His disciple?” It is a story that challenges believer and unbeliever. The believer to be bold like Joe was and the unbeliever to consider that Joseph was willing to put everything he holds dear on the line for the faith he has in Jesus. It challenges the believer whose faith is shattered to come back and find that Jesus still restores them. So would you put your trust then in this Jesus who once was dead but now is the Risen Messiah and Lord? And if you believe, you get to live forever. Great offer! Jesus is risen, and God’s people say “He is risen indeed!!”
