ヨハネによる福音書19:38-42 John 19:38-42,

Have you ever seen burial of a dead person in a tomb? In Japan, when someone dies, it is common to cremate the body and bury the bones in a tomb. This is called cremation. However, when you watch American films or dramas, you will sometimes see a dead person’s body being placed in a coffin and buried in a tomb in the ground. This is called burial. However, it seems that the number of people being cremated is increasing in the United States these days. So, what was it like in the time of the New Testament? In the time of the New Testament, in the Jewish country, a body of the dead was wrapped in cloth and placed in a tomb shaped like rock cave, and the entrance was covered with a large round stone.

Jesus was a completely innocent person, but he was crucified and sentenced to death. He was then buried in a rock-cut tomb. In the Jewish country, there was the Counsil, a kind of meeting that combined the Japanese Diet and the Supreme Court. The members of the Counsil sentenced Jesus to death for the crime of blaspheming God’s name by saying that he was the Son of God and the Saviour (Mark 14:61-64). Jesus was truly the Son of God and the Saviour, so there was no sin for which he could be put to death. However, he knew that his mission was to die on the cross to atone for the sins of human beings, so he did not resist and accepted his death sentence, dying on the cross. It was a man called Joseph, a member of the Council from Arimathaea, who took Jesus’ body and buried it in a tomb.

In another passage of the Bible, it is written: “Now there was a man called Joseph, a member of the Council, a good and upright man, who had dissented from their policy and the action they had taken. He came from the Judaean town of Arimathaea, and he was one who looked forward to the kingdom of God” (Luke 23:50-51, REB). Joseph of Arimathaea did not agree with Jesus’ execution. However, he probably did not have the strong faith to say in front of everyone, “I believe that Jesus is the Son of God and the Savior!” In today’s Bible passage, it is written: “After that, Joseph of Arimathaea, a disciple of Jesus, but a secret disciple for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate for permission to remove the body of Jesus” (REB). When you think about it, it takes courage to disagree with the other Council members when they are saying, “This man deserves to be put to death.” And, since there was a risk that the other Council members would accuse him of being a follower of Jesus, it must have taken even more courage to take Jesus’ body and bury it in a tomb.

At that time, it was common for the bodies of people who had been executed by crucifixion to be eaten by birds such as vultures, or left out to rot until they fell apart, and then thrown into a communal grave. However, Joseph of Arimathaea took Jesus’ body and buried it with care. There was someone who helped Joseph with this. This was Nicodemus, who was also a member of the Council. Nicodemus had spoken with Jesus before and had been taught, “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that everyone who has faith in him may not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16, REB). It is written that Nicodemus “brought with him a mixture of myrrh and aloes, more than half a hundredweight” (REB). Myrrh is a medicine made from trees that is used to prevent the bodies of dead people from decaying. Aloes is also a good-smelling substance that is also obtained from trees. A hundredweight is about 32.6 kilograms, so it is a very large quantity. Nicodemus probably put a lot of myrrh and aloes inside the cloth that wrapped Jesus’ body so that his body would not decay and would remain fragrant.

In this way, Jesus’ body was buried in the tomb. Normally, when a person’s bones or body are placed in a tomb, that person’s life is over. However, Jesus’ life was not over. Why? That’s right, because Jesus would be resurrected after this! I will preach about Jesus’ resurrection in next week’s Easter service.