FIRST AND ONLY WITNESSES
Opening Prayer
Lord, I believe that You rose bodily from the grave.
Read MATTHEW 27:57–66
The Burial of Jesus
57 As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. 58 Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him. 59 Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, 60 and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away. 61 Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb.
The Guard at the Tomb
62 The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. 63 “Sir,” they said, “we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ 64 So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first.”
65 “Take a guard,” Pilate answered. “Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.” 66 So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Meditate
“I will sing the wondrous story / of the Christ who died for me, / how he left the realms of glory / for the cross on Calvary” (Francis H. Rowley, 1854–1952).
Think Further
When Matthew’s Gospel was written, it was important to prove that Jesus actually died. Claims that he did not truly die dogged the church for centuries. Islam claims similar things. In ancient times, proof of an event depended not on forensic science but on who the witnesses were. It is only logical that women, as congenital nurturers, would be more hands-on at the death and burial of Jesus than the men, Joseph of Arimathea notwithstanding.
As the tomb was empty, eyewitnesses to Jesus’ death were crucial to early Christianity. Matthew’s chief witness is Joseph of Arimathea, a Sanhedrin member who had objected to Jesus’ execution. He is the only person known to have handled Jesus’ body. The next most important witness is the officer charged by Pilate with certifying that the execution has been carried out. Then there are the women, important at least to Matthew because their more prominent male counterparts have deserted Jesus. Like John’s disciples, Jesus’ disciples should claim their master’s body, but they don’t even do that. Despite the portrayals by medieval artists, we cannot be certain that the women actually touch the corpse—but they are there. Their hopes shattered, they dare to remain to the end, observing everything—the death, the tomb and the burial. Most importantly, they are known to the early Christians for whom Matthew wrote. Only now, when he needs their testimony, does Matthew acknowledge the women disciples—but we too owe them a debt of gratitude. Because of their daunting vigil, we today know the details of Jesus’ death and burial.
Neither archaeology nor scientific investigation will ever prove what happened after Jesus was taken down from his cross. These events are properly assessed by faith, but this means that we who see them through the eyes of faith are the key witnesses to these events today. Only through our testimony can a disillusioned but searching world discover the meaning of the death and resurrection of Jesus.
Apply
How do you share the meaning of Jesus’ death and resurrection with a searching world?
Closing prayer
Lord, thank You for your resurrection from the dead, without which my personal justification would be an illusion.
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