It Is Finished
The Cost of Sin Written By: Deanna Ellis
Luke 23:50-56
50Now there was a Council member named Joseph, a good and righteous man, 51who had not consented to their decision or action. He was from the Judean town of Arimathea, and was waiting for the kingdom of God. 52He went to Pilate to ask for the body of Jesus. 53Then he took it down, wrapped it in a linen cloth, and placed it in a tomb cut into the rock, where no one had yet been laid. 54It was Preparation Day, and the Sabbath was beginning.
55The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed, and they saw the tomb and how His body was placed. 56Then they returned to prepare spices and perfumes. And they rested on the Sabbath, according to the commandment.
Who is Joseph of Arimathea? This is what scripture tells us:
1. Joseph of Arimathea is mentioned in all four Gospels.
2. He was a wealthy member of the Sanhedrin.
3. He was secretly a disciple of Jesus (John 19).
4. He was waiting for the kingdom of God (Mark & Luke).
5. He opposed the Council’s decision or action to crucify Jesus.
6. He risked his reputation, his wealth, his position by asking Pilate for Jesus’ body.
7. He was accompanied by Nicodemus who brought myrrh and aloes (John 19).
8. He and Nicodemus, took Jesus’ body down and wrapped it in a linen cloth and placed it in a newly hewn rock tomb.
9. His action fulfilled the prophecy in Isaiah 59:9.
10. His action gave proof to the death and burial of Jesus.
Seven hundred years prior, the prophet Isaiah wrote, “He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth” (59:9). I doubt that Joseph of Arimathea realized he was fulfilling this prophecy when he asked to bury Jesus’ body. Joseph had secretly followed Jesus, like Nicodemus, who, according to John’s gospel, accompanied him to take down and bury the body of Jesus. Joseph had opposed the Council’s decision or action, and at great risk to his reputation, asked Pilate for Jesus’ body, wrapped it in linen, and placed it in a tomb.
I can’t imagine what it must have been like to separate the blood-dried, broken body of Jesus from that rough-hewn timbered cross. Did he also remove the crown of thorns that were embedded in Jesus’ head? I wonder what emotions raged as he loosened the spikes from Jesus’ wrists and ankles. What they had done, what he had been unable to stop, it was too much. Their hatred and jealousy had driven them too far, and it had to stop here. He would not allow Jesus’ body to be ravaged by the birds and wild animals like most others who were crucified. So he must go to Pilate and ask for the body, and he did. And because Joseph took Jesus’ body and laid it in his own newly hewn tomb, we would forever have a record that Jesus did indeed die and was indeed buried.
Why is that important? Because soon there would be rumors and false doctrines that Jesus didn’t really die, but it’s really, really important that He did. You see, apart from the death and burial of Jesus, there is no resurrection, there is no payment for sin, there is no redemption.
Isaiah wrote that…it was the LORD’s will to crush Him and to cause Him to suffer; and when His soul is made a guilt offering,…Yet He bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors (53:10,12).
The wages of sin is death. My sin, His death. He paid a debt I could never pay to give me a life I could never live. I bet Joseph of Arimathea never forgot what it cost Jesus. I bet he never forgot what it felt like, looked like, smelled like to take Jesus’ broken body off that cross. Joseph knew, up close and personal, what it had cost Jesus. Just think, as a member of the Sanhedrin, Joseph would have witnessed the temple curtain ripped from top to bottom. He would have witnessed the dead walking out of their tombs. And, I would hope he would have been among the 500 who witnessed the resurrected Jesus, yet, I imagine, the memory of taking down that broken, bloody body never left his mind’s eye. Joseph knew the cost.
Thank you Father that you gave your only son Jesus, for me. I cannot imagine the pain, the suffering that Jesus endured. What love, what value you have placed on me to pay such a price. Help me always to remember and to live my life in honor of your sacrifice. Worthy! Worthy! Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!”
