Saturday 4th April
Matthew 27:57-66 | RACHAEL WRIGHT
PASSAGE:
57 As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. 58 Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him. 59 Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, 60 and 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. 61 Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb.
62 The 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.’ 64 So 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.” 66 So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.
DEVOTION:
In this passage, we see Jesus’ body cared for after his death, and then the seal and guard placed at his tomb. Reading this, I can’t help but wonder about Joseph of Arimathea. Did he know of Jesus’ statements about his resurrection, or the prophecies that had come before? Did he remember? What a beautiful, devastating privilege that would have been to care for Jesus’ earthly body after his death, but what a strange and confusing experience for a Saviour you believe will rise again.
Jesus was the fulfilment of so many promises made to God’s people over hundreds and thousands of years. But He wasn’t the Messiah that people imagined. His message was in many ways the opposite of what they expected, and it was uncomfortable and sacrificial. Many people missed that He truly was the fulfilment of all those promises, and they turned against Him.
Even Jesus’ disciples struggled to understand His death and resurrection and grasp what He was saying when He told them what would happen. Again, not the Messiah they expected! After His death, it’s the chief priests and Pharisees in this passage, the very ones who directed his death, who remembered Jesus said He would rise again. And these men almost certainly knew the prophecies about the Messiah. It wasn’t a matter of knowledge, but of the heart.
This passage is a reminder to me to look at the ways God’s promises have been fulfilled, even if they don’t look like I expect or want. Even if, like the coming of the Messiah, it’s a little confusing or uncomfortable.
