Burial Of The Christ Series

I. Introduction

A. On the day of my big job interview I woke up late. Frantically I threw on a suit. “OH NO!” I thought. “MY TIE! My Dad was out of town and wasn’t there to help me, and for the life of me I did not know how to tie a tie! I grabbed a tie and ran out the door. “Excuse me sir,” I said to the crossing guard, “I have an important job interview, can you please help me make this tie?!” Sure” said the guard, “just lie down on this bench.” Well if someone was going to help me I wasn’t going to ask any questions. After he finished and the tie looked good I just had to ask why I had to lie down. “Well in my previous job I learned how to tie tie’s on other people when they were lying down. He replied. What was your previous job? I asked incredulously. He answered, “I was a funeral director.”

1. In Scripture, in several incidents, we learn something about the funeral practices of the Jewish people in Jesus time.

a. Turn to Luke 7:11-13

2. It so happens that Jesus was present at several funerals

Luke 7:11-13 (NKJV)

Now it happened, the day after, that He went into a city called Nain; and many of His disciples went with Him, and a large crowd. {12} And when He came near the gate of the city, behold, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother; and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the city was with her. {13} When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said to her, "Do not weep."

a. The funeral involved many people, weeping and wailing

b. Some people could afford to hire professional mourners

(1) To weep and wale for the deceased

3. We read about Jairus’s daughter and the mourners weeping and wailing

a. Do you believe that a person should be mourned at their death?

b. I read a saying on the wall of a funeral home which read, something to the effect that one measure of a civilization is the treatment of their dead

c. I am in full agreement with our military tradition, “No one left behind”

(1) We still fly the POW/MIA flag on our county flag pole

(2) As it should be

4. But, do you realize that Jesus did not have a funeral?

a. Some must have wept

b. Some cared

c. But, there was no funeral

B. We move along, as we turn to Matthew 27:50

Matthew 27:50 (NKJV)

And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.

1. Jesus is dead

a. Lets turn to Luke 23:46 to confirm this fact

Luke 23:46 (NKJV)

And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, "Father, 'into Your hands I commit My spirit.' " Having said this, He breathed His last.

2. Jesus is dead

a. Turn to John 19:31-34

II. Body

A. Broken legs

John 19:31-34 (NKJV)

Therefore, because it was the Preparation Day, that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. {32} Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who was crucified with Him. {33} But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. {34} But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out.

1. Preparation Day

a. Remember this was Friday

b. The next day was the Sabbath Day

c. According to Mosaic Law, a body hanged on a tree was not to be left over night

(1) Turn to Deuteronomy 21:22-23

(2) The body was to be buried before sundown

(3) Leaving the body hanging would desecrate the land

Deuteronomy 21:22-23 (NKJV)

"If a man has committed a sin deserving of death, and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, {23} "his body shall not remain overnight on the tree, but you shall surely bury him that day, so that you do not defile the land which the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance; for he who is hanged is accursed of God.

d. Three men were crucified

(1) Evidently the thieves were still alive

(a) Since it was the day before a most Holy day, the Jews did not want the bodies to hang on the crosses over night, according to Mosaic Law, they were to be buried that day

(b) Remember that some who were crucified hung on their cross as long as 9 days