the grave, or tomb.
imagine making your own coffin.
thats what Joseph of Arimathea did.
he had a hole dug out of rock!
boy was that a solid place.
no doubt it was expensive to do it too,
well, he was a rich man after all.
hah, see not all rich people are bad =P
but the part that really stuck a heart sting was this,
matthew 27:58
"But going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him"
did he just ask for a dead body? well he sure did.
he ask for the lifeless corpse hanging on that cross,
to be given to him... where were the 12 apostles that Jesus walked with,
were not they all like Peter to deny their Savior?
yet here stood up a man from a far away land,
believing Jesus as the Messiah, he really had some huge guts to walk up to a high ranking roman official and ask for a 'cursed'* body, one that has undergone the punishment of a criminal.
one that was bloody and dripping with pain all over,
one that had its flesh torn and ripped out, hanging in bits from the skin and muscles underneath.
and having be granted his desire, Joseph held..
he held the body of God in his hands.
probably one of the very few only to have had the chance to touch it.
the body that was broken and marred for us.
the body that was wounded and crushed for our sins.
so that he, and those who believe in it should be healed.
Matthew 27:59,60
"Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, 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"
taking the body and wrapping it in a clean linen cloth.
have you ever held a dead body in your arms?
and feel it slowly getting cold?
the heat dissipating away after the last breath was breathed.
well Joseph didn't get to hold Jesus at the point of death,
but he did get to do this, wrap Jesus.
and taking what belonged to him, a tomb.
he gave it to Jesus.
he gave it all, he gave his final resting place that was meant for him.. to Jesus.
Jesus took the place of Joesph's death.
He took the my place in Hell that was the rightful judgment meant for me in all my sins.
and rolling the stone over the entrance,
it was meant to seal it for eternity,
nobody opens up tombs that are close.
but we all the the story of Easter,
that we have a risen King, a God who lives.
oh Lord,
why do i stand in the crows mocking and jeering at You while You hung there and died on the cross,
why was i not knowing what i was doing in foolishness, yet you still cried to the Father to forgive me.
in all the pain and agony you bore, you still though of me, the one you love.
and because of you grace and mercy, i know my soul shall live for all eternity.
the grave on earth.
will be the final resting place for this physical flesh and bones,
i will however go to a place truly called home.
*curse is the man who hangs on a tree. Jesus was made a curse for us, so that the curse of death would be taken from us and unto Him.
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