When soldiers came to Jesus on the cross and saw that He was dead, one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear and blood and water came out.  After this, Joseph of Arimathea, a council member, went to Pilate, the governor, and requested Jesus' body to be buried. After an investigation, Pilate granted the request to take down the body of Jesus Christ from the cross to be buried.  Upon hearing the news, Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes of about one hundred pounds.  They took the body of Jesus and bound it in strips of linen with the spices.  The women who had come with Jesus followed Joseph and Nicodemus to a tomb nearby that was hewn out of the rock.  After his body was laid in that tomb, they rolled a stone against the door of the tomb.  There the body of Jesus lay secured with seal of the Roman government and guarded by soldiers of the Empire.

 

Have we not done something similar today?  Many do not believe that He was the Son of God or that He rose from the dead.  For them, He was a good teacher that showed the world a better way.  So, they buried Him next to Socrates and the Buddha.  Others have wrapped Him in theological formulas and buried him in myrrh and aloes of doctrines and creeds.  Like Joseph of Arimathea, we too have hewn out a place for Jesus to Rest in Peace.

 

Even though Jesus was buried in a rich man's tomb, God had other plans for Him: for Him to be raised from the dead.  This "Good Friday," instead of burying Him in tradition, let Him reign in our lives.