November 26, 2017
Hymn 264 - The perfect righteousness of God
Prayer
We’ve seen Jesus on the cross, with the penitent thief, and in the hours of darkness. Let’s see what happened after He died.
John 19:31-37. Knowing all that Jesus had done, and all the friends and disciples He had made, you would think that they would come to bury His body. However, they were all scared, and hiding from the Jews. Two fellows did come out of the woodwork, though. They were people you would least expect, because they were also scared of the Jews. One was Nicodemus, who visited Jesus by night so that no one would know; and the other was Joseph of Arimathea. He was a counselor, but was also a secret disciple of Jesus.
John 19:38. Another one of the gospels says that Joseph craved the body of Jesus. To crave something means to want it very badly. Joseph has never been mentioned before in this gospel, but he went to Pilate and begged for Jesus’ body. Pilate let him have it. You can imagine Joseph up on a ladder throwing away the crown of thorns, saying, “He deserves better than that!”
Verse 39. Nicodemus came to help prepare Jesus’s body for burial, and he brought linen and 100 pounds of myrrh and aloes with him. They would soak the linen in this liquid, and wrap it around Jesus’ body. They used a separate napkin to wrap his head. It all would have smelled very fragrant.
Verses 40-42. After the wrapped Jesus’ body up, Joseph and Nicodemus brought it to a garden (a place of life) and laid it in a tomb (a place of death). It’s precious to know that Jesus had friends that wouldn’t let the soldiers hurt His body any further. They prepared it properly, and buried it. Some of the chief priests were worried that the disciples would steal the body, so they sealed the tomb and set a watch over it.
Here’s another thought to ponder: on the sixth day of the week, man killed Jesus—took His life—and then put him in a garden. In Genesis 2:7-8, on the sixth day, God created man—gave him life—and then took him, and put him in a garden.
James 1:12-20
It’s interesting that there is a crown of life that one gets by enduring trial or temptation. Let’s put it in perspective for us. Suppose you’re a parent, and you have a young child. Now imagine that the young child gets hurt badly and remains unconscious for a length of time. They’re taken care of at the hospital and eventually regain consciousness, but they’re not normal. In the long run they’re able to come home, but they need a lot of care. Thirty years later that child is still needing care, and is a burden. It’s effected your whole family life. A trail like that keeps going on and on. I’m talking, of course, of our sister Isabella and her daughter Pamela. She has endured so patiently. If the story is seen from the other side, you can see the reward and treasure for all of eternity. There is another side we can’t see. There was a grandfather who was out with his granddaughter on a clear night. They could see many stars in the sky. The granddaughter said, “I wonder what the right side looks like when the wrong side looks so beautiful”. Everyone has trials, and as you get older they get bigger. But there is a reward for those who endure.
There is a difference in trials and temptations from verse twelve to verse thirteen. We may say, “But the Lord was tempted”. The enemy brought those temptation and they didn’t effect the Lord. He didn’t have an old nature. It’s not a sin to be tempted, but if we give into that temptation it will bring death. Temptation comes from without; from our enemy. He know it’s effective because in the human nature there is the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes.
Judas was an example of where temptation can lead us. His death was physical. We read that, “the wages of sin is death”. It’s a spiritual death that hinders communication with God. Death is separation of the spirit from the body. If I sin today it is already atoned for and forgiven. There is still consequences, but there isn’t spiritual and physical death.
In verse sixteen we’re told that if you’re even suggesting that God gave something bad not to make a mistake. The Lord gives good gifts.
Hymn 341 - Jesus bids us shine
Prayer