39. Mark 15:42-46
When evening had come, and since it was the day of Preparation, that is, the day before the Sabbath, Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the council, who was also himself waiting expectantly for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate wondered if he were already dead; and summoning the centurion, he asked him whether he had been dead for some time. When he learned from the centurion that he was dead, he granted the body to Joseph. Then Joseph bought a linen cloth, and taking down the body, wrapped it in the linen cloth, and laid it in a tomb that had been hewn out of the rock. He then rolled a stone against the door of the tomb.
Mark’s account of Jesus’ Passion, so devoid of details when it came to his actual crucifixion and death, is again awash in them. It is the day before Sabbath, and so Joseph, both respecting Sabbath law and wanting to give Jesus a proper burial, asks Pilate if he can take the body down now, before the day of rest. But first Pilate needs to check. Crucifixion, you see, wasn’t intended to be a quick death. Typically, those sentenced to such a fate would languish for hours, sometimes more than a day, until their strength gave out, their bodies sank inexorably toward the earth, and they would asphyxiate. But when the centurion confirms that Jesus is, indeed, dead, Pilate gives permission.
Joseph then goes about the business of caring for a dead body, wrapping it for burial and placing it in a tomb. Most criminals didn’t receive such treatment. In fact, most first-century people didn’t receive such treatment, as rock-hewn tombs were far more the exception than the rule. But Joseph has one, or has access to one, and places Jesus body inside, sealing it with a large rock.
Jesus is dead. All the details Mark offers in these verses serve to establish that. He is dead. He is not wounded, or unconscious, or comatose, but dead. Pilate has checked it, the centurion confirmed it, and Joseph acknowledged it and through his ministrations has delivered him to the tomb.
Jesus is dead. And in dying he has now been joined to us in every element and aspect of our lives. He was born, grew up, lived, laughed, worked, wept, suffered, hoped, been afraid, loved, worried, and the list goes on. And now he has died. He has lived a fully human life and died a fully human death.
By all rights, this should be the end of the story. It is, for everyone else in all times and places, the final episode of life’s journey. But this is not everyone else’s story. At least not yet….
Prayer: Dear God, we give you thanks that you have identified with us so completely and fully in Christ Jesus. Through his life and death you have joined yourself to us, that we may in time be fully joined to you. On this day we dare call Good, let the wonder of your action sink in. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
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