The day between the death of Jesus and His resurrection was a day of grief and probably profound hopelessness. Imagine what the disciples were feeling - guys who had left homes and livelihoods to follow this man, Jesus, were now left in the cold after three years! Women who had served Him and cared for His needs had gone back overnight to their unseen status in society!
Eleven men had probably wandered back to the upper room in abject sadness and indescribable pain because the one that they loved was now gone. Remember, they did not have the vantage point, we now have, of the upcoming resurrection.
On the other hand, the members of the Sanhedrin and the Jewish council must have finally slept well knowing the threat to their religious structures was definitively gone (at least dealt with, for the time being).
I am particularly struck by how Joseph of Arimathea had come prepared with a new burial shroud to wrap His beloved rabbi’s body. He was bold enough to request Jesus’ body from Pilate in order to give Him a dignified burial. He placed the body in a brand new tomb that had never been used before! He had probably got it made for himself and his family but in a beautiful act of generosity gave it for Jesus.
The ones I relate to the most though, are those two women who stayed back to watch the burial. I somehow feel I would have been one whom Jesus had healed in some capacity and so would have followed Him around the city to stay as close to Him as possible. These women spent the whole day watching the one who had healed and delivered them (among so many others) being unjustly punished and left hanging on a crude wooden cross on a lonely hill. Yet they went home and prepared burial spices and perfumes to adorn the body of the dead Messiah.
Nicodemus, who had previously come by night to see Jesus, now came in full view of others with 35 kgs worth of myrrh and aloe to wrap the body with.
These four individuals show me what it's like to sometimes bury your dreams and aspirations in a way that weirdly resembles worship.
Here was the one who said that He was the bread of life, the living waters, the way to the Father and the Shepherd for the sheep. He had repeatedly told them that they would find eternal life if they believed in Him. Yet, His life didn’t currently seem the most eternal. He had said that the kingdom of God had come upon them but at the moment, the government that visibly reigned, hadn’t changed. What was running through their minds as they went through the motions of cleaning His broken body, wrapping Him up in the linen sheet while meticulously adding the spices to it?
Maybe you have had to do that with your dreams but the bigger question is how did you bury them?
Did you bury them with anger and resentment or with the greatest of peace and surrender?
Did you give it up to God or did you hold it so tightly that it has left a scar on you?
Joseph, Nicodemus and the women at the tomb may not have known it but their simple act of serving while grieving was making them ready for the greatest miracle they would ever witness! The body they were leaving buried along with all their hopes and dreams was going to come back to life!
The resurrection body of Jesus was different from His earthly body but He came back fully alive and completely victorious over sin and death.
When you bury your dreams and desires with the greatest of devotion, by handing them over to God, something changes.
The situation does not necessarily change but we do. Into the vacant spaces of our life, where our dreams once lived, arrives the resurrection power of Christ. This power brings to life the dreams and desires that God had for us all along!
The verse that got me was in Luke 23 verse 56 (MSG version) where it says that they rested quietly on the Sabbath. They buried their Jesus, served Him in a seemingly final capacity and then rested.
Even their quiet rest was an act of worship because everything would change tomorrow!
Would you take time to rest in silence as you wait for God to show up in your life?
His power is at work in the tombs of your life - nothing is dead until He says so!
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