"From the Cradle to the Grave" (Sermon for Good Friday evening)

In the Nicene Creed we confess that Christ “was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate. He suffered and was buried.” Likewise in the Apostles’ Creed, we say that Christ “suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried.” Now the suffering, the crucifixion, and the dying we spend a lot of time thinking about during these days of Lent. But the last part, the burial, we don’t think about too much. There aren’t many hymns about it. In fact, the only hymn in any of our hymnals specifically devoted to the burial of Christ we just sang, “O Darkest Woe.” No, we don’t usually think much about the burial of Christ. Tonight, though, we will.

So let’s set the scene. Jesus died around 3:00 on that Friday afternoon. That left only a few hours until sundown, when it would be too dark to bury the body. Besides which, sundown on Friday marked the beginning of the Sabbath, when pious Jews were supposed to rest. So these reasons gave some urgency to the need to get Jesus’ body buried. Factor in also that this was a shocking and unexpected death--unexpected, that is, at least to Jesus’ followers--so there had not been time to make any normal preparations for a burial. What’s more, the family of this “Jesus of Nazareth” obviously was not from Jerusalem and would not have a family plot nearby. Therefore any burial that could be done in the area and in a hurry would be most welcome.

This is where Joseph of Arimathea comes into the picture. He had a tomb available, right there in Jerusalem. Why would a man from Arimathea have a tomb in Jerusalem? We don’t know for sure, but the village of Arimathea was only about 20 miles from Jerusalem, so it wasn’t that far. Perhaps his family had roots in Jerusalem. You know, there’s a grave marked “Henrickson” waiting for me up in Chicago, so that sort of thing does happen. Or maybe Joseph had a tomb in Jerusalem because it was a desirable thing to have a tomb in that holy city, if you could afford it.

And apparently Joseph could. He seems to have been a prominent person, a member of the Council, in fact. Although he was a member of the Sanhedrin, we’re told that Joseph had not consented to their decision and action of seeking Jesus’ death. No, Joseph was actually a follower of Jesus, a good and righteous man, and he was looking for the kingdom of God.

So Joseph offers his tomb for Jesus to be buried in. He took the body down, Luke writes, “and wrapped it in a linen shroud and laid him in a tomb cut in stone, where no one had ever yet been laid.” Hey, now! This sounds a little familiar. Where have I heard something like this before?

This account of the burial of Jesus comes near the end of Luke’s gospel. But toward the beginning of that gospel, in the account of the birth of Jesus, we have heard Luke say something very similar. There at that time, at the time of Jesus’ birth, there was another good and righteous man by the name of Joseph, who likewise was used of God to take care of Jesus. At Jesus’ birth, as at his burial, the body of Jesus was wrapped and laid where no one else had been laid. In chapter 2, Luke writes: “and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.” In chapter 23: “and wrapped it in a linen shroud and laid him in a tomb cut in stone, where no one had ever yet been laid.”

So the way Luke writes it, the phrasings he chooses to use to describe these two events, at the start and the end of Jesus’ life, are strikingly similar. Two Josephs, two wrappings, two instances of laying Jesus in an unexpected place. Could Luke have written his gospel in that way in order for his readers, like us, to make the connection? It’s very possible.

In any case, there is a connection to be made. It is this: From the cradle to the grave, Jesus Christ came to be your Savior. He was born for your sake. He died and was buried for your sake. From birth to burial, this man Jesus fulfilled the will of God and accomplished your salvation.

From the cradle to the grave, Jesus is your Savior, the Son of God incarnate, true God and true man, sent from heaven to be born and to live and to die and to be buried as the perfect substitute for sinful humanity. It was necessary for our Savior to be true man, so that he could do all these things in our place. It was also necessary for our Savior to be true God, so as to give his saving action infinite worth, to cover and avail for all the sins and all the death of all sinners in all times and all places. That’s who your Savior is! There could be no other! He is the God-man, Jesus Christ, “conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried.”

You see, by being your Savior from the cradle to the grave, Jesus hallows these places and all the places in between. His life follows the same steps your life takes. He walked the same path you trod on this journey of life. Jesus knows what it is to be born, to grow up as a child, to walk and work and weep, to be tempted, to be hungry, to thirst, to lose loved ones, to suffer and to die and to be buried. He experienced all these things that we do. And so, by his holy life, he hallows and sanctifies these places and experiences for us. All of them, from the womb to the tomb, from the cradle to the grave.

For most of us, we have been joined to Jesus from just about the cradle, from the time of our baptism as infants. That was our beginning, our new birth as a child of God. It was our birth, but it also was our burial of sorts. St. Paul says that we were buried with Christ “by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” Your baptism was the burial of your old man of sin, and at the same time it was your birth into a whole new life with God. From the grave to the cradle, in a sense. Baptism as both tomb and womb.

You see, when we talk about Jesus’ burial, we have to talk about what he took with him into that tomb of his. He took all your sins and buried them there, never to return! Jesus paid the price for all those sins by his holy sacrificial death on the cross. That’s why he died--again, as our perfect substitute. The just sentence against sinners like you and me is death, death under God’s judgment and condemnation. But God loved you so much that he sent his Son Jesus to take that judgment on himself. That is what Jesus willingly did. He took all those sins of yours on his bloody back and carried them to the cross, where he died on that Good Friday. Those sins, all of them, have been paid for; they’re dead and buried. Your old man of sin and death has been buried with Christ, and a new person rises up out of that baptism into new life.

And on the last day, when Christ returns, that dead body of yours--resting in a tomb like Jesus’ body did--will rise up too, rise up to everlasting life, a glorified body, free forever from sin and death. You see, Jesus has already been to the grave ahead of us. He’s been there and done that. So when you get there and do that, you’ll only be following your Savior. Where he goes, you will surely follow. And that’s a good thing.

Jesus has been to the grave ahead of you. It may have said “Joseph of Arimathea” on the outside, but by having Jesus of Nazareth on the inside, that grave has been transformed. ’Cause Jesus took your sins there and left them there! They didn’t come out. But he did! By his burial, by his rest in the tomb, Jesus Christ now assures us that our rest in the tomb will be like his: It will end in an endless Easter! Yes, from the cradle to the grave--and beyond the grave!--Jesus Christ is your perfect Savior!

Luke 23:50-56 (ESV)

Now there was a man named Joseph, from the Jewish town of Arimathea. He was a member of the council, a good and righteous man, who had not consented to their decision and action; and he was looking for the kingdom of God. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then he took it down and wrapped it in a linen shroud and laid him in a tomb cut in stone, where no one had ever yet been laid. It was the day of Preparation, and the Sabbath was beginning. The women who had come with him from Galilee followed and saw the tomb and how his body was laid. Then they returned and prepared spices and ointments. On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.

Toward the beginning of that gospel, in the account of the birth of Jesus, we have heard Luke say something very similar. There at that time, at the time of Jesus’ birth, there was another good and righteous man by the name of Joseph, who likewise was used of God to take care of Jesus. At Jesus’ birth, as at his burial, the body of Jesus was wrapped and laid where no one else had been laid. In chapter 2, Luke writes: “and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.” In chapter 23: “and wrapped it in a linen shroud and laid him in a tomb cut in stone, where no one had ever yet been laid.”

The irony of the parallel of Jesus's birth and death is compounded by the fact that Bethlehem of Judea was the burial place of Sarah, wife of Abraham, father of the faithful. The first real estate and dwelling place of the old covenant was the cave purchased for her burial. The first dwelling place of the bringer of the New Covenant was a borrowed cave/stable....in Bethlehem, "the house of bread"...the first earthly tabernacle of the Bread of Life.

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