03-24-2019 Jesus is Laid in a Tomb

Bible Text: John 19:31-42 | Pastor: Pastor Mike | Series: John | Use this index to follow along; full sermon notes are found below.

3.24.19 ~ John 19:31-42, Jesus is Laid in a Tomb

Read John 19:31-37… The Jews request Pilate expedite the death of the crucifixion victims, as it was not permissible to have dead bodies hanging after sundown, let alone on a Sabbath day, and especially on a high Sabbath day.
Deuteronomy 21:22-23, says a man guilty of a capitol crime must die, be hung on a tree, and buried on the same day.
Why break their legs? To expedite their death.
John 19:32 says the soldiers broke the legs of the two criminals, but not Jesus, as He was dead.
A spear was used to pierce the pericardium, thick blood came out first, and then the watery plasma, giving postmortem evidence that our Lord died of heart failure due to shock and constriction of the heart by fluid in the pericardium.
Jesus gave up His own life (John 10:17-18), after completing His work; the Jews repeatedly tried to kill Jesus (Matthew 2:16; Luke 4:28-30; John 5:16-18; 7:1; 8:37, 40, 59; 10:31; 11:53) but it was not yet His “hour” (John 17:1).
Not breaking Jesus’ legs (John 19:36) fulfilled Exodus 12:46; Numbers 9:12; Psalm 34:20 – the ultimate Passover Lamb, God’s Son.
John 19:37 partly fulfills Zechariah 12:10, the complete fulfillment will happen at Revelation 1:7.
Read John 19:38-40… Isaiah 53:9,“His grave was assigned with wicked men, yet He was with a rich man in His death.”
Joseph of Arimathea a secret follower of Jesus, was (Matthew 27:57) a rich man, (Mark 15:43a) a member of the Sanhedrin, (Mark 15:43b) waiting for God’s kingdom, (Luke 23:50-51) didn’t agree with the Sanhedrin’s condemnation of Jesus.
Joseph asks Pilate for Jesus’ body. Nicodemus helps remove and prepare Jesus’ body for burial: a mixture of myrrh and aloes (in powdered form) was used to prepare Jesus’ body.
We are told (Luke 23:55-56) that some of the women followers of Jesus went and got more spices and perfumes and brought them also to prepare Jesus’ body for burial.
It seems strange that these women, Joseph and Nicodemus, go to such trouble preparing Jesus’ for burial. It doesn’t seem like they believe He is going to come out of the tomb alive.
Read John 19:41-42… Jesus is laid to rest in a new tomb (Matthew 27:60) that belongs to Joseph of Arimathea, carved out of the rock, to be sealed with a large stone against its opening.
Preparation day almost over, Jesus’ body must be buried, for at sundown all work must cease.
There is a much more important reason that Jesus must be buried before she start of a new day (Matthew 12:40) Jesus said, “just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”
Jews considered any part of a day as a whole day (cf 1Kings 12:5, 12; Ester 4:16; 5:1). Jesus would be in the tomb three days: part of Friday, all of Saturday, part of Sunday.
We see the sovereign hand of the Lord even in the events surrounding His death: none of His bones were broken, the Jews looked upon the One they had pierced, and although Jesus’ body should have buried in an unmarked grave among other criminals, He was buried in a rich man’s tomb.
Even in death, the Lord is still sovereign!