The Burial of Jesus Christ

Transcript

GR 414
9/27/1981
The Burial of Jesus Christ
John 19:31-42
Gil Rugh

John chapter 19. Contrary to some comments, I did not start the gospel of John 12 years ago. It was two years ago, it just seems like twelve years.
John's gospel the 19th chapter. In our last time together we looked at the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. Culminating with that cry from the cross, "It is finished!". That statement that the work of redemption has been accomplished, it is done, it is complete, everything that ever needs to be done for all eternity to secure salvation has been done by the Son of God in His death on the cross. Redemption is complete, it is finished. We noted the importance of recognizing the finality of that statement, one word in the Greek language, three words in our English language, the perfect tense denoting something that is settled or secure. The permanence of it, it has been finished by Jesus Christ, everything is done, all you and I need to do now is respond in faith to what He has done. The moment I came to believe that Jesus Christ the Son of God died for me, for my sins personally at that instant of time my salvation was complete, I was completely saved, completely cleansed, eternally saved, eternally secure as one who has been redeemed.

Verse 30, when Jesus said "if is finished"-, He bowed His head and gave up His spirit. One of the other gospel writers record that He said to the Father, "Into Your hands I commit My spirit", that He was in control even of the time of His death, Even in dying Jesus Christ is master and Lord and at this time when the work of redemption is over, is complete, then the Son of God can die.

Verse 31, the events surrounding the burial occupy verse 31 to 42. Again impressed with the simplicity and brevity of the accounts, not only by John but by all the gospel writers of the most significant of all events, the crucifixion of the Son of God, yet in such a brief span it is recorded. Now, the theological implications of this death, the importance of it of course is the subject of Old and New Testament alike. The actual facts of His death on the cross occupy a relatively brief portion of the account. Verse 31, "The Jews therefore, because it was the day of preparation, so that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man, and of the other man who was crucified with Him". The Jews maintain through all of this, their overwhelming concern for external or ritual propriety. They are concerned about ceremonial defilement.

Back in the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 21, Deuteronomy chapter 21, the closing verses of this chapter, verses 22 and 23 where a curse is pronounced upon the one who hangs on a tree. Paul picks this up in writing to the Galatians, that Christ has become a curse for us because it is written cursed is everyone who hangs upon a tree. And in Deut. 21:22 "And if a man has committed a sin worthy of death, and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his corpse shall not hang all night on the tree, but you shall surely bury him on the same day (for he who is hanged is accursed of God), so that you do not defile your land which the Lord you God gives you as an inheritance." So the Jews now come and beseech Pilate to have the legs broken of those on the cross so that they might die quickly and their bodies can be removed from the cross and put in the grave because they don't want to defile the land. Now, it is such an obvious mockery, you begin to wonder, how can rational human beings go through such a travesty, how can they be so self deceived as to even carry on the motion of religious activity. They have just been guilty of executing the Son of God and now they are concerned that there be no defilement on the nation. So they want the dead bodies removed from the cross. They are totally blind, ignorant of the real issues at hand. I think it's important for us to recognize this throughout this entire procedure that a person can be as religious as possible, devote himself to religious activity, down to the minutest details and be totally oblivious and blind to spiritual reality. These Jews, how can they even talk about ceremonial defilement when they executed an innocent man. That even Pilate knew that they delivered Him up for crucifixion because of envy, jealousy.

Back to John 19. The added dimension mentioned in verse 31 is that the Sabbath is the following day and they don't want the bodies to remain on the cross on the Sabbath. So not only is Deut. 21 in view but the added dimension that it is a Sabbath day. Not only a Sabbath day, but a high day a great Sabbath as it said in parenthesis (and we'll talk about that a little bit later). The request that their legs might be broken and this was not an unusual practice with the Romans. If for one reason or another they wanted to hasten death they would break the legs. Not unusual for the Romans to let a person hang on the cross for days. And then it was the practice of the Romans not to bury the ones that they crucified but to let the birds of the air and the dogs carry away the body as another step of humiliation and desecration of the body. But the Jews asked that the legs be broken. In crucifixion the person was hanging there and their legs, their feet were nailed, usually there was a small seat as a break and then their hands. And the person sustained himself with the leverage of his legs to push himself up to take the next breath. You can see if you would hang with your arms up and all the weight pulling down it becomes increasingly difficult to catch your breath, you're suffocating yourself. So a person gaining the leverage with his legs by pushing himself back up to take the next breath. And so they would come with a mallet and smash the legs and so the leverage was lost, there was no way for a person to push again to take another breath, so rather quickly a person expired. Of course you have the added dimension of the trauma that would be caused by smashing the legs with a mallet. So it's not primarily to add to the torture although the agony would be very intense for a time, it hastened death very quickly. And that is the goal of the Jews here, they're not asking for added torment or torture, they are asking for the process that will hasten death. So that these bodies can be removed from the cross and put in the grave and thus not be defiling on the Sabbath day, The soldiers come and carry out the orders, the two men crucified with Christ have their legs broken "but coming to Jesus", verse 33, "when they saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs", He had expired unusually quickly, it was unusual for a man to die so quickly, unless something else had been done like the breaking of the legs. I take it, with the scourging and the severe suffering that Christ had undergone, with the added dimension that He is bearing the weight of the sin of mankind the awful agony of separation from His Father that His body is weakened much faster and He expires much more quickly than normally would be the case. So they don't break His legs.

However, verse 34 "but one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately there came out blood and water." I take it that its not primarily a matter of just cruelty on the soldiers part, maybe some of that. But these Roman soldiers are responsible for those who are being executed and if one of those would be taken down from the cross alive and escape for some reason, the soldier would know that he would hang in his place. Now, there in even recent days was popularized a theory, Christ did not die on the cross but He just swooned, fainted was carried, then when He was placed in that cool damp tomb He revived. You don't give much credit to these Roman soldiers. If you watched the agony of crucifixion on a rather repeated basis, knew something of the tremendous suffering that underwent and knew that if anyone had ever escaped from being crucified you would hang in their place, I take it that you would be relatively sure that anyone who was taken down from the cross was stone dead. I take it that's what the soldier is doing, they're not going to break His legs but the evidence of His death, just to be sure a spear is run into His side, immediately there came out blood and water. You know there has been much written about the coming out of the blood and water. And some with more medical insight than I would have written on the subject from different sides. Some say this is an evidence of a broken heart and how the blood and the water collect around the sack at the heart and the spear would have pierced that sack and the blood and the water separated come out, so Christ died of a broken heart, and the Psalm does speak that "My heart is broken", That may be the case since there are medical people who write on both sides, I don't know that I am in a position to determine. I think the prime emphasis here is that He is dead. There may also be a stress here on His humanity. Remember the Gnostics that come on the scene relatively early. They deny the real humanity of Jesus Christ, but here is evidence of His genuine humanity and of the reality of His death, so that is the point that is basic to anything else that is stressed here. Jesus Christ has experienced physical death and that is what is crucial here because we've seen something of His spiritual death already in "My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?". And now His physical death which evidences clearly the penalty for sin has fully been paid.

Now John draws significance on these events and I think what is crucial is the interpretation that he gives to these two events, One, His legs were not broken, two, His side was pierced and the Old Testament support he gives for these, tells us something of the significance. Verse 35 "And he who has seen has born witness, and his witness is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you also may believe. John stresses here, I am an eye witness, this is the account of one who has seen this happening. Someone didn't tell me about this, I saw it, I was there when the soldiers passed over Him and did not break His legs, I was there when they pierced His side.

Over in I John chapter 1, John stresses this character of being an eyewitness, its characteristic. I John chapter 1, "What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen without eyes, what we beheld and our hands handled, concerning the Word of Life-", verse 3, "what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you". So there as John writes that epistle, he stresses the fact that I'm an eyewitness. That's his stress back in chapter 19, verse 35, I am one who was there and observed these events.

Verse 36, why did it happen this way? "For these things came to pass, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, "Not a bone of Him shall be broken." and again another Scripture says, "They shall look on Him whom they pierced," And these two Scriptures taken together, further evident that God's plan is precisely being fulfilled down to the minutest detail. It just wasn't an interesting happening, the soldiers didn't come five minutes before the death of Christ but they came after He had died because the Old Testament had said that none of His bones could or would be broken. It's not just a spur of the moment occurrence that a soldier happened to lance His side with a spear because the Old Testament said that He would be pierced as He hung on the cross. God's plan again being fulfilled in the minutest detail. No happenings, no just circumstance, only details in the plan of God. Now verse 36, "Not a bone of Him shall be broken." Now if you go' back to Psalm 34, verse 20, we have a reference in the Psalms that may be looking forward to what is happening to Christ. There is some disagreement on this but at least you ought to be aware of this statement in the Psalms. Chapter 34, verse 20 "He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken,", that would fit, that may be the reference, but more strongly in view is the fact that the Passover Lamb was not to have any of its bones broken. Remember the situation with Passover and we are at Passover when we come to the death of Jesus Christ in John chapter 19.
My understanding is that Jesus Christ is being sacrificed as the Passover Lamb of God.

Now come back to the book of Matthew, chapter 27, Matthew 27 verse 45 "Now from the sixth hour darkness fell upon all the land until the ninth hour." From 12 to 3, 6 in the morning the sixth hour would be 12 o'clock noon, the ninth hour would carry you to three o'clock in the afternoon, time being measured in the synoptic gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke, from 6 o'clock on Jewish time. From 12 to 3 there is darkness over all the land. We noted that this is when Jesus Christ is experiencing spiritual death, separation from His Father. That "'s the cry in verse 46"about the ninth hour (3 o'clock) Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" And then followed by the cry "it is finished", you note at three o'clock this all draws to a conclusion. I believe that is significant because this is the appointed time for the slaying of the Passover lamb in Jerusalem. My understanding is that Passover is coming, there is a question did Jesus partake of the Passover meal with His disciples. My understanding is that He did not. If you read Matthew, Mark and Luke you get the idea that Christ ate the Passover with His disciples. But I believe that John indicates that this is not the case, that the last supper was not the Passover.

Come over to John chapter 13, John chapter 13, verse 1, as we are at the last supper and in my Bible the passage is labeled the last Passover but that's not inspired. Beginning with verse 1 "Now before the Feast of the Passover", I take it that the last supper occurs before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing all things and so on has supper with His disciples. I take it we are a day before Passover. Over in verse 29, as Judas leaves this supper, some were supposing because Judas has the money box that Jesus was saying to Him, buy the things we have need of for the feast, for the Passover. Now Judas would not be going out in the middle of the Passover meal to buy things. These were Jews, they would have already made the preparations required by the Passover meal. So again, indicative of the fact that it is prior to the Passover. Over in chapter 18 of John, verse 28 "They led Jesus therefore from Caiaphas into the Praetorium:, and it was early; and they themselves did not enter into the Praetorium in order that they might not be defiled, but might eat the Passover." So these Jews would not go into the residence of Pilate because that would defile them and thus prevent them from eating the Passover. Now, the Passover feast that first day is followed by the feast of unleavened bread and some would say that that is what is in view here, they might partake of the week long feast of unleavened bread, But never is Passover used of the Feast of Unleavened Bread apart from that first day of Passover and it's meal. So when they say that they want to eat of the Passover they're talking about the Passover meal and the Passover lamb. Then over in chapter 19, verse 14 "Now it was the day of preparation for the Passover", the day of preparation for the Passover, so I take it that he's talking about here the day leading up to the Pass- over, of preparation for the Passover. This day is used, the day of preparation is used of Friday in preparation for the Sabbath, it's the day before the Sabbath. Here when it says the preparation of the Passover, I take it that he is talking about the day leading up to the Passover, So that when you come then to the death of Christ and the events recorded, the time is laid out that about at 3 o'clock He dies. At the very time when throughout Jerusalem attention is focused upon the fact that the Passover lambs now are to be slain. And it would begin at this time and take the next couple of hours, the Passover lambs would be slain in Jerusalem. Jesus Christ, God's Passover is dying.

Remember the background for Passover in the Old Testament. Come back to Exodus chapter 11, just to pick up a couple of highlights, I encourage you to read Exodus chapter 11, chapter 12 sometimes this afternoon perhaps, to refresh your mind on these details. Passover celebrates the time when God went through Egypt and slew all the first born of the Egyptians, humans and animals alike but spared Israel. So the name Passover, because it marked the time when the angel of death passed over Israel in meeting out judgment on the Egyptians. Instructions concerning it are given in chapter 11, verse 4 "Moses said, (as Moses speaks to Pharoah) "Thus says the Lord, 'About midnight I am going out into the midst of Egypt, and all the first-born in the land of Egypt shall die, from the first-born of the Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the first-born of the slave girl who is behind the millstones; all the first-born of the cattle as well. 'Moreover, there shall be a great cry in all the land of Egypt, such as there has not been before and such as shall never be again, But against any of the sons of Israel a dog shall not even bark, whether against man or beast, that you may understand how the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.'" Then the instruction regarding the Passover and the Passover lamb, down into chapter 12, You take a lamb on the beginning of the month, the first of the month, on the tenth of the month, an unblemished male. In verse 3, "'On the tenth of this month", the lamb down in verse 5 '"Your lamb shall be 'unblemished.... and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the month", and then it is to be killed at twilight. "Moreover, they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses in which they eat it." And then the instructions on the eating of it, down in verse 11, "eat it in this manner: with your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and you staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste-it is the Lord's Passover. 'For I will go through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike down all the first-born in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments- I am the Lord. 'And the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live; and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt." Again verse 21, Moses instructs the people, "Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and said to them, "Go take for yourselves lambs according to your families and slay the Passover lamb. "And you shall take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood which is in the basin, and apply some of the blood that is in the basin to the lintel and the two doorposts; and none of you shall go outside the door of his house until morning." Incidentally, many have noted that when Christ asks for a drink before that cry, it is finished, they give Him that drink on a bunch of hyssop, The same instrument that's used to apply the blood in the Passover in Egypt, "For the Lord will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to come in to your houses to smite you." And thus the fulfillment of it down to verse 33 where the Israelites leave. This is what is being depicted at Passover, God delivers Israel by slaying the first-born of the Egyptians and He spares the Israelites by the blood of the lamb which covers them and their homes. Now this Passover lamb, that is to be sacrificed every year on this appointed day was a constant reminder to Israel of the Passover lamb, it • s blood which provided deliverance and redemption for them. And Jesus Christ is God "s Passover lamb which does provide redemption and deliverance for all under His blood, all covered by His blood. So amazing, here centuries later, 1500 years later, Jesus Christ comes on the appointed day at the appointed hour, is executed as the fulfillment of what was being pictured here. And God provides His own first-born to be the substitute, to take their place. He shed His blood that they might have deliverance and have life. While you're here in Exodus, chapter 12, look down to verse 46, regarding the eating of the Passover lamb, "It is to be eaten in a single house; you are not to bring forth any of the flesh outside of the house," (note the next statement, you ought to underline it) "nor are you to break any bone of it." Amazing, they could not break a bone of Jesus Christ as He hung on the cross, it was God's Passover lamb. And the Passover lamb, the type would be shattered, if they had broken His bones, because the Passover lamb was not to have one bone of its body broken.

Look over in Numbers chapter 9, reiterating the details of the Passover and in verse 12 "'They shall leave none of it until morning, nor break a bone of it;"
- nor break a bone of it. John says, down to the detail, what if they would have happened, the Roman soldiers would have said "Well there's no harm in being sure, we'll break all of their legs." It can't happen, why? Because Jesus Christ is God's Passover lamb. Over in John 1:29 you remember, John the Baptist had introduced Jesus Christ saying "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" Look over in I Cor. chapter 5, I Cor. chapter 5, note verse 7 "Clean out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened.
For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed." Remember characteristic and you read Exodus chapter 11 and 12, you'll see this, that the Israelites had no leavened bread in their homes during this feast. Leaven being a picture of sin and depicts the haste with which they depart Egypt. No leaven, that's why the seven days following the Passover are called the Feast of Unleavened Bread, because there is no leaven used during that Feast, that period of time. Jesus Christ is our Passover, He has been sacrificed so you and I now are to live as unleavened, no sin in our lives, The Passover has been sacrificed, that's the picture here. And you note that last statement in verse 7 "Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed," He is our Passover, He is-the Passover because it's not possible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sin. But that
blood over the doorpost looked forward to the Passover of God, His only begotten Son, His first-born who would die as God's Passover provision and thus provide redemption.

Come back to John 19. In verse 31, we're told "The Jews therefore, because it was the day of preparation, so that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day)". That Sabbath was a high day that Sabbath was a great one, I take it as a reference here that this was the Sabbath of Passover. In our study tonight, I'm going to look at the day of Christ's crucifixion, Wed., Thurs., or Fri, We won't take time for that in our study now but this evening we'll spend our time looking in to what the Scripture says about the day of Christ's crucifixion. But sufficient for now, that that Sabbath was a great one, a high one. I take it that he is talking about is that was the Passover day. So all the more important that you would not want a body hanging on the cross during that high and holy holiday. Amazing how blind the unbeliever is.

"Not a bone of Him shall be broken/' Then verse 37 of John 19, "And again another Scripture says, "They shall look on Him whom they pierced." Look back to the book of Zechariah. Zechariah, next to the last book in the Old Testament, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi. The prophet Zechariah and the 12th chapter, Zechariah chapter 12, verse 10 "And I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him, like the bitter weeping over a first-born," Note that they will look on Him whom they have pierced. Look back in Revelation chapter 1, Revelation chapter 1, verse 7 "Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. Even so. Amen." Pierced.

Back to John 19. Just a spur of the moment offhanded action of a Roman soldier, instead of breaking His legs, he runs a spear into His side. When centuries earlier the prophet had prophesied they would look on Him whom they had pierced. There are no "just happened" in God's plan, there are no accidents in God's plan, Every little detail is arranged and carried out according to His will. Do you think that Roman soldier was standing there saying, "Wait, prophecy says we don't break His legs, we run Him with a spear." Not at all, oblivious, but you note even sovereign God is using sinful man carrying out every detail of His plan.

Back in John 19. Just to look quickly at the burial of Jesus Christ "And after these things Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but a secret one, for fear of the Jews", interesting, that almost sounds like a contradiction doesn't it? Joseph of Arimathea, a disciple, but a secret one, because he feared the Jews. Look at a couple of other passages with me, Matthew 27, quickly, Matthew 27:57 "And when it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph", so this man from Arimathea is a rich man. I don't know whether that had any influence on his being a secret disciple or not. Perhaps he felt the pressure of what this would cost him to be an outspoken, identifiable disciple. Look over in Mark chapter 15, verse 43, Mark 15:43 "Joseph of Arimathea came, a prominent member of the Council", Joseph of Arimathea is a rich man who is a prominent member of the Sanhedren, After moving through all of the events to the crucifixion it rather takes you back to now confront a man who is well to do, a prominent member of the Sanhedrin (the governing body in Israel), which is responsible for the decision to carry out the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Over in Luke chapter 23, Luke 23, verse 50 "And behold, a man named Joseph, who was a member of the Council, a good and righteous man (he had not consented to their plan and action)". He had not been in agreement with them, Where was he? We don't know, maybe He had absented himself. He was afraid to be publicly identified with Christ, he was a secret disciple. Maybe to not have to consent he simply didn't show up for the proceedings. We don't know, but at any rate when you come to John 19, here we have Joseph of Arimathea a rich, prominent member of the community had the privilege of burying Christ. He gets the permission, came and took away His body.

Then in verse 39, here comes another little man, Nicodemus. "Nicodemus came also, who had first come to Him by night;". Then in chapter 7, the closing verses of the chapter we saw Nicodemus, remember, he is also a member of the Council, and he offers his feeble resistance "Does our law condemn anyone before he is tried?", then he is soon hushed up. But now at the end, Nicodemus, the one who had come to Him by night in John 3, came "bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds". They really want to honor him, Joseph is going to provide the rich man's grave, Nicodemus is going to provide the rich man's spices.

"Now in the place where He was", so they took the body, verse 40, "bound it in linen wrappings with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had been laid. Therefore on account of the Jewish day of preparation, because the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there." Just interesting, time is so pressing, they bury Him in this tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, a rich
man. Having been anointed with rich spices, a hundred pounds, much more than a
normal burial. Isaiah chapter 53, it just happens that it works out like this?
Isaiah chapter 53, verse 9 "His grave was assigned to be with wicked men, yet with
a rich man in His death". Amazing, Joseph of Arimathea comes out of hiding on this occasion at this time, offers his grave, his tomb on this occasion. It's near by and because the day of the Sabbath is coming they bury Him there, Isn't this just an interesting happening? No just the fulfillment of an 800 year old prophecy. And even though He was assigned to be with the wicked in His death,
He's buried with a rich man. Little detail but important detail in God's plan so in John 19 what he's brought to our attention here, He is God's Passover lamb. He is the one who has died to be the deliverer of God's people. You know the only ones who were spared in Israel were the ones who had the blood over the doorpost. The only ones who experienced God's forgiveness and God's cleansing are the Sanhedrin who was not in agreement with the death, the crucifixion of Christ comes to the fore. Remember back in John 12, verse 42 "Nevertheless many of the rulers believed in Him but because of the Pharisees they were not confessing Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God."

One thing we have to say for Joseph of Arimathea, he may be late but here he is. At least at this point in time he is willing to step forward and be identified. What a tragedy that in so many of our lives we are seemingly so late, opportunities go by that we don't recognize. Joseph of Arimathea, his opportunity to stand and be identified with Jesus Christ during the events leading up to the crucifixion is past, but praise God he steps out here. And he has secured a place in the Scripture for his boldness on this occasion even though it is noted that he is a secret disciple. I wonder how many of us, I read an expression like that, that would be characteristic of us. Secret disciples because we fear people. What will people say if I identify with Christ on this occasion? And it wouldn't cost near what it would have cost Joseph of Arimathea to identify with Jesus Christ, yet we read it and say "What a tragedy, a secret disciple during this awesome period of time." But you and I may lose sight of where we are in God's plan, on God's time table. How long before Jesus Christ comes again? Will He return this afternoon? And I would have wasted days, hours, years, months hiding the fact that I am a disciple, not realizing the awesome events that are transpiring. Joseph of Arimathea did not realize what was going on in God's plan. I fear that sometimes we are intimidated by people, we are afraid of what people say, we are afraid to stand clear and firm in our testimony for Jesus Christ. But oh if we could see things from God's perspective, if we had God's picture on time, we'd change the way we went about things. It would keep us from being afraid of people and give us a boldness for Jesus Christ.

He comes to ask Pilate for the body, he wants permission to bury it. Again it wasn't the practice of the Romans to bury criminals but Joseph wants the privilege of those who have Jesus Christ as their Passover lamb. You could not be more religious than the Jews but they do not have forgiveness because Jesus Christ is not their Passover lamb. They were unwilling to have Him, so they bear the full brunt of the judgment of God. Is Jesus Christ the one in whom you trust? Are you so taken up with religious ceremony, religious tradition, religious activities that you've missed the point, that Jesus Christ the Son of God is God's provision and that by believing in Him you have life, He is the One and the only One who meets every detail of every requirement of God's Word to be the sacrifice for sin. That takes a tremendous burden off, all you have to do is believe in what He has done. Quit trying to do yourself and believe what He has done. Have you ever come to recognize and believe that you are a sinner and Jesus Christ God's Son died to pay the penalty for your sin? Have you ever believed in Him, your Savior, you Passover lamb? If you have, have you clearly stood for Him? What is your identification with Him like? Are you afraid that others will know? Are you afraid of the cost to you family and friends? Do you feel the pressure, the fear of being identified with Him? Oh, He's redeemed us, how can we be ashamed? How can we be afraid? He is the One who has died for us? I should be afraid to make Him known to men? Stop and think, where are we in the plan and timetable of all mighty God? How much time do I have to stand in identification with Him and make Him known? Do I have minutes, do I have hours, days, do I have time to fritter away in fear and hiding? We need to back up and evaluate time from God's perspective and realize that every moment of every day is significant and crucial that I be identified with Him clearly, That I take the opportunity to make Him known, to proclaim the work that He has accomplished in redemption.