Christ's Burial - Luke 23 Vs 50-56

Good morning, everyone Thank you for coming this morning.

Welcome to Faith Bible Church. I just want to go over a few announcements really quick We have prayer meeting

Tonight here at 6 p .m. So if you can make it back to that, we would be happy to have you.

Sorry We have a leadership board meeting this Wednesday at 6 p .m. That's in the back there

We have our missionary of the month, which is Darcy Berglund She serves with Ethnos 360 in Indonesia She does

Bible translation there. So just pray for her safety and just pray that her ministry is fruitful

We have baptism this Sunday December 29th, so if anyone's interested in that just let

Harold or Victor or Iljin know and they'll get you there on that list

Also, I think you guys have noticed but we got the church painted finally looks amazing

So we thank Harold for coordinating that did a great job Thank you.

Did you even pick the colors for that or did did you have a consult? You didn't? Oh, you had somebody else do it.

Okay. Okay. Either way, it looks beautiful and Okay It looks great though So with that, we'll just start service.

So we'll start in order prayer real quick Dear Lord, we thank you for today. Thank you for allowing us to gather all here this morning

Lord, we just We just pray Lord that as we worship here today Lord that You wouldn't have this be just something we do on Sunday Lord something that is

Indicative of how we treat the rest of the week Lord and how we worship you throughout the week We pray that others could see that as well

We thank you again for the safety of this building and being able to worship you in comfort

Lord And we love you. We pray in Jesus name. Amen It's good to be back with you

We traveled about two and a half months and we're probably in a different church every

Sunday and Heard a lot of different Music Some of it my

I had a pain in my head That rocked my head off most off my shoulder

Message was good usually But I was thinking It's a blessing to sing and hear voices.

I Don't particularly like a performance up here. I like to hear you singing in praise to the

Lord and One of the phrases that I heard a couple of times while I was gone that I thought we mentioned in In Sunday school this morning that we thank the

Lord for the church building and how beautiful it looks but the church is not the building the church is you and Some places started by saying good morning church and I thought that's a good thing to say and So when we sing

I don't want to hear me singing up here I want to hear you singing in praise to the Lord and our first song that we

Sing is it says oh come all ye faithful. So you faithful church are here to praise the

Lord Let me hear your voices in praise. Don't let it be a performance up here

Okay, and the Lord says he loves to hear a joyful noise If you cannot sing still lift your voice so we hear it.

So stand together with me as we praise the Lord The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup you hold my lot

The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places Indeed. I have a beautiful inheritance.

I bless the Lord who gives me counsel in the in the night Also, my heart instructs me.

I have set the Lord always before me because he is at my right hand I shall not be shaken

Therefore my heart is glad and my whole being rejoices my flesh also dwells secure

For you will not abandon my soul to shul or let your Holy One see corruption

You make known to me the path of life in your presence There is fullness of joy at your right hand our pleasures forevermore.

We thank the Lord for his word Stand together with me again as we praise our

Lord Most of you know was originally written in German trend and as I understand it was written reading a song for his children to sing

So it's a praise to the Lord when talking about the Lord's coming You're gonna sing the second verse without instruments, then they'll join us on the last verse

Is that okay with you and we dismiss our youngsters to Children's Church as pastor comes to bring the word

Appreciate that we got to hear just the voices Because that's that's what makes the church gathering different from just Listening to a live stream right you get to hear your neighbors singing to the

Lord With the death and riches of the theological truth that are in the

Christmas hymns Right and you can't replace that right in the end.

The instruments are to The instruments are to help us to sing to the

Lord. They are not the center stage With that let's all turn to Luke chapter 23 verses 50 through 56

Luke chapter 23 verses 50 through 56

Now behold there was a man named Joseph a council member a good and just man

He had not consented to their decision indeed He was from Arimathea a city of the

Jews who himself was also waiting for the kingdom of God This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus then he took it down Wrapped it in linen and laid it in a tomb that was hewn out of the rock where no one had ever lain before that day was the preparation and the

Sabbath drew near and The women who had come with him from Galilee followed after and they observed the tomb and how his body was laid

Then they returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils and they rested on the seventh day

Sabbath According to the commandment. This is the Word of the Lord Let us pray

Father we are grateful for this church and as mentioned that it is the people who make up this congregation that we call the church and we're grateful for your faithfulness towards us and How you have filled us with your spirit that we may be filled with the knowledge of the risen

Lord Help us to honor him and delight in him today Help us to experience his presence this morning and help us to know that he is with us in his spirit we also remember the

Pearl Harbor day is yesterday and thank you for all the sacrifices of the young man who stood firm and fought against the invasion

Thank you for Giving us decades more of freedom and We pray that we would remember the lives lost on that day

Jesus name So they this passage rather short, but I think it's an important passage it is the passage right before the resurrection and Right after the crucifixion

Now after the crucifixion we actually see two unlikely types of disciples a council member and Galilean women

None of them are the Apostles Yet they are the first ones to honor

Christ right after his death and in fact despite his death

For the first time in Christ's earthly ministry his disciples don't get a verbal response

For the first time in Christ's earthly ministry he does his disciples do not see the remarkable miracles

By being around him for the first time in Christ's earthly ministry

His disciples do not receive the assurance of his presence instead his disciples behold the blood -stained body and his disciples carried the limp body of their master and Seal it inside an empty tomb

Yet Luke shows us the faithfulness of Christ's followers despite His seeming absence and this is a fitting conclusion to Jesus's crucifixion

Luke began with a faithful man and woman Zechariah and Elizabeth and Now he is ending it with Joseph and the

Galilean women From his birth to his death Jesus is surrounded by faithful followers from all backgrounds

Jesus is accompanied by the righteous ones whose primary priorities are to honor

Christ and this is the first portrait of the disciples without Jesus's presence

This is important for us today because we live without the privilege of Jesus's physical presence

We don't get to see him We don't get to dine with him yet, and we have not literally walked with him just as the like the

Apostles and We eagerly wait for his return and the world mocks us for this faith

Even this morning. How can you trust someone whom you've never seen? yet We see that the early disciples honored

Christ despite his death and This shows us we can still follow him faithfully

Even when we can't see him and it is possible to trust him despite his physical absence even more so than Joseph of Arimathea and the

Galilean women because We know how this ends

We know that he's risen the main point of today's text is that true disciples are actively faithful to honor the king until he his return

The true disciples are actively faithful to honor the king until his return

First the true disciples honor Jesus even at a high cost The faithful disciples honor

Jesus even at a high cost The first unlikely disciple after Jesus death is

Joseph and Luke describes him in the first two verses Verse 50 now behold.

There was a man named Joseph a council member a good and just man The first description

Joseph of Joseph is that he's a council member He's part of the

Sanhedrin It is the council of 70 Jewish religious leaders who made important decisions for the nation of Israel The very body that falsely

Accused and tried Jesus hand handed him over to be crucified under Pilate Right.

This is not the type of a body you really want to belong to Unless we group

Joseph with the high priest and the other wicked rulers Luke clarifies

Joseph's character. He's a good and just man Good means whole good here means no contradiction

Good means that his inner life Aligns with his public life

Right. He is no politician What we

See outside is what is inside of him? Right what is expressed?

Outside is what's his inside what his inside looks like in? Righteous means having the right relationship with God righteous has to do with God's standard of righteousness and This Joseph has the right relationship with God and others in fact the gospel according to Luke started with the righteous

Zechariah and Elizabeth the birth of Christ involved righteous men and women and The burial of Christ will also involve righteous men and women

Now how was he righteous and good when the Sanhedrin voted to kill Christ and Luke defends?

This in verse 51. He had not consented to their decision and deed

Despite being a member of the council that killed Jesus Joseph did not take part in it

Whether he denied or declined to vote or refuted or whether he

Was not present to vote it's unclear but Luke makes it clear.

He is not culpable and he Dissented he was not in favor of killing a righteous man

First it shows that Joseph risked his career and character to identify with the suffering

Christ That's the first cost Joseph of Arimathea risked his social standing in order to follow

Christ faithfully second Disciples of Christ can be found in the most unlikely places

This is important for us today because our culture wants to vilify Certain groups of people whether rich or poor white or black

Jews or Gentiles Whatever, but you what what this tells us is you can find faithful follower of Christ in any and every group

We must never slander someone just because he is part of one group or another

And In relation to that what's important is

Unless the career is flat -out illegal and immoral Christians can be found in any workforce

Right. Sometimes people think Do you think Christians can be? I don't know nuclear engineer if it's what working for the weaponry and then

I've heard one theologian say You would want a

Christian to be working at a nuclear facility Wouldn't you

Right, there's there's really no job or no Group that a

Christian can't belong to unless it's flat -out immoral or illegal and unbiblical and That's what we see here.

Joseph of Arimathea was a faithful follower of Christ in The ruling council that voted to kill

Jesus. He just didn't take part in it He remained faithful To God rather than the people now after describing

His character Luke tells us Joseph's hometown. He was from Arimathea a city of the

Jews To this day. We don't know where exactly Arimathea is

We believe that it might be five miles north of Jerusalem And it would be known as Rama that's where Samuel the

Prophet Samuel's from but it's Unclear and the reason is Rama is sometimes called

Rama time, which sounds like Arimathea, but we are not sure But I think the point that Luke is making is that this

Joseph is Different from other Joseph's we see in the Bible, right? He's not

Joseph Jesus's stepfather Right, this is a totally different Joseph Lastly we see

Joseph's relation to Jesus How in the world did a rich religious ruler get in contact with the poor falsely accused suffering?

Galilean well Joseph who himself was also waiting for the kingdom of God The kingdom of God is the full restoration of God's people

And God's world done by as you've guessed it God in Israel Their eschatology was in the last days.

God will send his messianic King David's son Christ To make all things right in the last days and in fact a lot of our

Christmas hymns has that reference that this Christ has come to restore and That's what

Joseph of Arimathea was looking forward to and Seeking God's kingdom means not seeking any human kingdom, right?

Joseph of Arimathea was not looking to Rome to do the job of God Joseph of Arimathea was not looking to change the policies of Rome to restore the kingdom of Israel Seeking God's kingdom also means not seeking his own kingdom

Oftentimes a lot of so -called Christian organizations

Push for this kingdom agenda, but what they really means is that the poor get fed and The oppressed get some sort of advocacy those things are well and good

But ultimately The kingdom cannot exist without the king

The kingdom has to be centered around the king and if the king is never mentioned the poor getting fed and The defenseless getting a voice is not actually tied

To the kingdom of God The kingdom of God has to be brought forth by the king himself and Joseph knew

That prioritizing and pursuing God's plan of redemption through Jesus Christ was

Pursuing the kingdom of God and Joseph knew God's plan of redemption centered around King Jesus After all, there's no kingdom without the king and there is no eschatological restoration without the

Redeemer King Joseph trusted that Jesus was that King which means

Joseph Joseph was a disciple of Christ the King Now, what did

Joseph do in? The following two verses we see what this faithful follower did and the cost that he incurred

This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus It was

Friday late afternoon or evening when Jesus died on the cross Joseph hurries to ask

Pilate to bring down Jesus's body So that it could be buried right before the

Sabbath This may be a foreign concept for most of us However for the

Jews the Sun said right after the Friday Sun said you may not work and some of you may have grown up in a culture where the

Sabbath was Honored like that, of course in America's on Sunday, right?

All the cooking was done On Saturday night or before Saturday night so that you could eat

Without having to cook or having to work on Sunday, right? And and this idea of Sabbath is still prevalent in Israel where every elevator is programmed to stop at every level starting

Friday night So that you don't press the button which ignites Right closes the circuit and it's igniting fire

Right, and that's work. They have a very very stringent view of the

Sabbath now What this means for Joseph is unless He buried

Jesus that day. Jesus would not be buried until Sunday and Joseph wanted to honor

Christ by burying him before the Sabbath lest Jesus stay unburied through the

Sabbath and And Moreover the burial on Friday had another purpose because according to Deuteronomy 21 22 through 23 if you leave a dead body all night after the execution

The body was considered cursed by God and that body would in turn defile the land

Joseph being a righteous man who cares about God and who cares about his King Jesus He desired to honor

Jesus by burying him that day which also honors

God's land He wanted when he honored Jesus to make sure that he's not just a common criminal who just hangs on the tree all night

He also honored God and his land and Verse 53 tells us what

Joseph did after the body was given then he took it down Wrapped it in linen and laid it in a tomb that was hewn out of the rock

There was no awe that no one had ever lain before Although Luke does not give much detail the

Gospel of John actually tells us That it was both Joseph and Nicodemus who wrapped

Jesus in linen using 75 pounds of spices

That is not a normal burial 75 pounds of spices are expensive and that was not set apart for a normal person

What we see here is a royal burial they were not burying a criminal but a king and They both gladly assumed the cost for the king who paid the infinitely more costly price for them

Furthermore Joseph gives up his own family tomb for Jesus sake the tomb said

The tomb is actually has never been used and the reason is is because Joseph is still alive

It was for him and it was hewn out of the rock, which means it was cut out on the side of the rock

Remember common criminals were just thrown out of the city into a ditch After all they don't deserve the honor and respect

Of being buried in a proper tomb Here, however

Jesus is laid in a tomb that is cut out of a rock and it's not just any tomb

But a very special one. It's it hasn't been defiled No one's used it before for this

King He's laying in a tomb. That's just for him

Joseph gladly gives it up for this King Jesus is not buried in an already defiled place.

And as we will see in the next chapter It's not just even a normal tomb. It's a very

Intricate tomb where it's cut out where the hole is small where you do have to stoop down to look but it goes in Right and and normal tombs didn't just have that because that would have been much costlier

It was a special tomb and this leads to another cost to this ritualistic purity

Remember this was the Passover The the Feast of Unleavened Bread is the whole week and it's it's one of the three most important festivals for the

Jews And in fact, it's so important according to the Gospel of John The Jewish leaders did not want to enter

Pilate's Governing quarter lest they become ritualistically unclean because who knows what the governor does.

He's a pagan They didn't want to defile themselves even when pushing their own agenda to kill

King Jesus yet Joseph of Arimathea has no problem becoming unclean to bury his king after all wrapping

Jesus's body and clean linen Meant touching a dead body would make which would make him ritualistically unclean

Ritualistic uncleanness is not sin But it does prevent you from a lot of community related

Interactions you have to go through a purification process in order to be brought back That's an extra cost to a religious leader like Joseph of Arimathea But for his king it was well worth it

And what we see in Joseph of Arimathea is faithfulness at any cost

Joseph of Arimathea, although not not one of his apostles Remember Joseph of Arimathea was not at the

Lord's Supper Yet he is honored. He he honors Christ no matter the cost even though there's no guarantee of any repayment

He didn't know Jesus was gonna rise from the dead whether socially financially or ritualistically

Joseph honored Christ with all that he could give no matter what it cost him and When Christ was crucified for our sin

What's true is most of his apostles were absent When Christ was crucified for our sin most of them scattered

Yet here a few did remain Joseph is the portrait of a faithful follower who honors the king despite the personal cost

With no promise of any repayment he does it because he wanted to he does it because he loves the king and Luke shows us

Joseph's Remarkable faith his king just died a humiliating death Anyone and everyone in Jerusalem has seen it or has heard of Jesus dying not just any type of death, but a death that is

Shameful and Joseph as he holds Jesus's limp lifeless body in his arms

And there's no guarantee the rest the restoration of the kingdom that he's looking for will ever occur through this man

Who's limp and lifeless? he Eagerly honors the king with everything that he had and in every way possible

Whether his finances or future nothing was too precious to hold back when it came to honoring

King Jesus For the first time in the gospel

Jesus is not physically with his disciples but we see the glimpse of faithfulness despite his absence and That is where we find ourselves today

It is easy to forget about Christ's honor when he is not physically present

It is easy to prioritize my plan over Christ's plan

When I cannot behold Christ's countenance Our five -year plan becomes more important than Christ's redemptive plan

Our financial plan fills up our mind more often than Christ's redemptive plan is

Eschatological coming we consider what we need to make much more important Than what

Christ had done and this also holds for our reputation

Our reputation often precedes Christ's reputation Oftentimes hearing the gospel becomes scary

Now if you're naturally shy that's understandable maybe talking about anything is scary but there is one type of fear of negative opinion of man

That places our reputation before Christ's reputation What would my family or friend think of me if I share

Christ Often precedes what would Christ think if I'm too ashamed to share what he has done for me.

I think Romans 1 16 is a very convicting verse

I'm not ashamed of the gospel, which is the power of Christ to save Because there are times where it is hard I had a friend in college and he was he was kind of socially awkward, but he was

Possibly could have been a literal genius because He like fell asleep during the

SAT or something and got like one wrong, you know like he was he was that you know, he uh,

I He had no problem getting a 4 .0 in college and But he was he was socially awkward, but he was a new

Christian But if you if you if you ever walked down Right this the busy streets of a city

Berkeley, right? He we would walk down together any homeless person or really for them anyone who's just there to listen

He would say hey. Hey, have you heard about the good news of Jesus? He wouldn't he he there was no small talk with him.

He would just bring it up He might give food and you know to the homeless. He's like, can

I tell you about the good news of Jesus? And then and sometimes shamefully

I I almost felt embarrassed for his sake but but but he wasn't ashamed of the gospel

His reputation didn't matter to him His reputation before a stranger did not matter to him because he cared more about the reputation of Christ And the salvation of the homeless person's soul and for Joseph to his reputation didn't matter to him

It didn't matter what the Sanhedrin would have thought. Oh, who's the one who buried his body? It's one of us

It didn't matter other people's opinion often matters more than his

Right, I don't want her to think I'm intolerant by talking about the exclusivity of Christ And these are the battles that Christ followers have faced throughout history and these are the battles we face even today and Joseph of Arimathea has shown what it looks like to faithfully face them even when

Christ is not physically present We actually have even greater advantage

Because we serve the risen King Joseph had no idea that he had no expectation that Jesus would come back from the dead

He had no expectation that Jesus would ever repay him We however do not only of That we have the guarantee of his spiritual presence through the

Holy Spirit Joseph did not have the presence of the Holy Spirit because this was before the

Pentecost We however have the promised spirit who will give us the right words to say even if we're stopped

Now second, how else Christ do Christ's disciples honor Christ? Second true disciples honor

Jesus by faithfully obeying God until the end True disciples the true disciples honor

Jesus by faithfully obeying God until the end in verse 54 Luke trans Luke Transitions to remind us what is coming up and it is the

Sabbath that day was the preparation and the Sabbath drew near The day of preparation is is

Friday, right? And it is called the day of preparation is because you you have to prepare everything that you might need for the

Sabbath whether food chores Cleaning all the errands that need would have been needed to be done by Saturday or on Saturday Would have to be done by Friday night

And this was all the more important as the Feast of Unleavened Bread was unfolding

It was not just any Sabbath. It was the Passover Sabbath It was a national celebration

So you can assume these women who are watching the tomb they have their own family to take care of You know, they themselves are visitors.

They're not locals here yet Consider how they're spending their day of preparation for for a select group of women

There was a task greater than preparing for the feast after all it would have been heavily on their task list to prepare for the feast and The women who had come with him from Galilee followed after and they observed the tomb and how his body was laid

These women have followed Jesus to Jerusalem all the way from his stomping ground

Galilee north of Jerusalem and these women watched Jesus being crucified and while most of his apostles abandoned him and Now they linger behind and track down where he is to be buried

Even After Jesus is death. These women do not leave his presence. They watch the burial and what's the purpose of this?

verse 56 tells us then they returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils and They rested on the

Sabbath according to the commandment They wanted to honor Jesus until the very end or what they presumed to be the very end they purchased spices and fragrant oils to slow down the body's decay and Hope to come back after the

Sabbath What this shows is that these women were pious. They really cared about God's commandment they cared about what

God had commanded and they also cared about the state of Jesus's body and They didn't want to miss anointing

Jesus's body with Probably myrrh here and other spices

So they linger around on Friday the busy Friday To know where they need to return to in order to do that What this is also interesting that Jesus received myrrh both at his around his birth and also death and this was the last thing they could do for Jesus and This was the last thing they wanted to do for Jesus They didn't want to just forget

Jesus as that one guy that we followed to Jerusalem But they wanted to honor

Christ in the utmost Respectful way possible.

I do want to talk about the fact that Luke specially acknowledges these women and It has a huge impact first Women were not viewed as reliable witnesses according to the ancient

Jewish tradition Unfortunately, they were not allowed to There were there were not reliable witnesses in before the court judicially this means

There's historical veracity to this gospel account. Think about this

If you are going to make up a new religion for many people to follow

Wouldn't you want to make? The faithful Disciples as men

Dude, wouldn't you want? Ah, yes, it was Peter John and James They watched from the distance the tomb which they were gonna anoint by the body of Christ on Sunday You would want that.

Why wouldn't you after all they were the first leaders of the church, too yet Luke writes

That it was actually the Galilean women. He doesn't even name them here

Who just watched from a distance so they could prepare and come back on Sunday to honor

Christ's body Luke gives us the truth of the matter rather than Shiny fable

The Apostles were gone, but the women remained Jesus's death and resurrection

Then is a historical account If Luke is not willing to fluff up some of the truth here

What makes us think he would do so elsewhere? Luke's goal is to tell a verifiable reliable and historical account of the life and death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and These faithful followers these women who stayed behind and lingered on points to that What may have been an

An unhelpful point in the first century is a crucial point in the 21st century

Luke's goal was To tell the truth Even if it didn't help the cause second

We are to honor Christ by obeying God Or in another sense, there is no way to honor

Christ by disobeying God These women were faithful to both

Jesus and God when they kept the Sabbath there was no dichotomy When you honor

Christ you obey God and when you obey God you honor Christ There's no command in the whole

Bible that causes you to dishonor Christ in order to obey God Which means the

Pharisees and the Sadducees who put Jesus to death disobeyed God and dishonored

Christ There is no verse in the whole Bible that makes you disobey

God in order to honor Christ so all these Antinomian so -called

Christians who say all these rules don't matter. I can live. However, I want After all,

I'm saved by grace alone There's no way that's honoring Christ if you're gonna live in Disobedience to God This is because Christ is

God's Son and he himself is also fully God There's no way to go around it

If you want to honor God honor his Son if you want to honor

God if you want to trust God trust in his

Son You cannot approach God without the Son third

For everything Joseph and these women gave Christ gave even more

They may not have known it back in that time that day that Friday There is no hint that they were doing this knowing that Christ would rise from the dead

They did it to honor their dead friend and King They gave their all for their final goodbye

Yet on that day Luke knew and we know that the one who gave more was the one who was buried

The one who received the honor actually gave them much more

Than they could ever repay ultimately Jesus by suffering on the cross freely gave his disciples a divine pardon that they could not have earned in Even the supreme of their goodness

Just a few hours before the burial. It was the crucified one who grew cried in anguish who faced the judgment of God on behalf of these women and Joseph of Arimathea And even us so that we may be forgiven of all of our sins and Be found righteous in him

How then can we count the cost that Christ incurred in order to deliver us?

I? Don't know how they did it How they incurred the cost to give to a dead man who they didn't think would rise from the dead but for us

When we know what he has paid and the fact that he is returning What in your life can we hold back from giving to Christ many centuries later a

British theologian and hymn writer Isaac Watts Expresses this wonderful truth in his hymn when

I surveyed the wondrous cross And I will read a couple of verses that Really illustrate this concept.

Well when I surveyed the wondrous cross on which the

Prince of Glory died My richest gain I count but loss and poor contempt on all my pride

Were the whole realm of nature mine That were a present far too small

Love so amazing so divine Demands my soul my life my all

When we consider the cross the wondrous cross Everything that we have and will have is worth giving

To the one who was crucified for our sake. Let us pray father we are

Grateful that the king who was buried gave far much far more than we could ever repay and I confess that I forget

How much he has given already? That my heart would wander off to something else help us

To focus on this king who is coming back because he has risen

Help us to honor him with everything we have Help us to honor him no matter what the cost is

Help us to honor him Knowing that whatever we give is far more than we can repay

And that we are far too small Compared to what he has given in Jesus name

Amen, just remember as you go through this holiday season that Christ is the beginning of Christmas And we may we remember that as we are gathering all of our gifts to what the gift that the