Jesus Laid in the Tomb

April 18 (Good Friday): Jesus Laid in the Tomb. John 19:39-42

 40 They took the body of Jesus and wrapped it with the spices in linen cloths, according to the burial custom of the Jews. 41 Now there was a garden in the place where he was crucified, and in the garden there was a new tomb in which no one had ever been laid. 42 And so, because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.

How can we be sure that someone is dead?

In the ancient world (and most places in the world today), burial took place soon after death. This was because there was no way to prevent the body’s decay and the accompanying smell and grossness that came quickly.

But illness or injury can render a person seemingly lifeless. The possibility of premature burial is terrifying.

In old Westerns, the doctors would have a small mirror in their medical bag. To confirm death, the mirror would be placed under the supposedly deceased person’s nostrils to see if there might be any clouding. Even a tiny amount of condensation indicated there was still breath in the body and the person was not dead. Now, those certifying death look for lack of heartbeat, lack of breathing, and lack of brain activity.

Historically, mistakes have been made, entombing people before they are dead. This has led to things like “safety coffins,” that might have a cord inside connected to an external bell. If a person revived after burial, this cord could be pulled, and the bell would ring to indicate a mistake had been made.

What about Jesus? There has long been a theory that while he suffered traumatic injuries in the crucifixion, he wasn’t quite dead when he was taken down from the cross. According to this speculation, Jesus revived in the cool tomb and came out of the tomb.

This is implausible for several reasons. First, the Roman crucifiers were expert executioners. When they came to break the legs of the three men on the cross and thereby killing them quickly, they determined Jesus was already dead. To be sure, they shoved a spear into his heart. Second, those who took Jesus down from the cross were also acquainted with death. They knew he wasn’t breathing, and his heart wasn’t beating. They observed no reaction when they pulled the nails out of his wrists and feet. They did not need a nose mirror or a brain scanner. They were not fools. Jesus was dead and the sooner they could get his body in a tomb, the better. Third, for this story to work, we have to imagine Jesus having an Incredible Hulk moment to allow him to toss aside the stone blocking the tomb entrance, which weighed several hundred pounds.

The death of Jesus is difficult to understand from a theological perspective. How could the Son of God die? Wasn’t he “God in the flesh?” Wasn’t he the giver of life? But his death was necessary in the Father’s plan, and he knew this well before his last trip to Jerusalem. Consider Matthew 16:21.

From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and on the third day be raised. 

Despite the warning and prediction, the disciples did not understand that this meant their leader would be killed (see Luke 18:34). They were shocked and numbed by his death. How could this happen to Jesus? How could this happen to them?

Although not one of the twelve disciples, Jesus’ mother, Mary, was a devoted follower. It is not hard to believe that she was there when his body was prepared, laid on a stone shelf in the new tomb of Joseph, and then the tomb’s entrance was sealed with a large, carved rock that was rolled into place.

What emotions flowed through his woman’s heart?

I’m reminded of the reaction of a three-year old to the death of his father:

… one day he scratched up a beautiful picture of Nick. When I grabbed it from him, he shouted in his baby voice, "I hate him! He went away and left me. He didn't even kiss me goodbye!”

Mary surely didn’t hate Jesus, but did she get a proper chance to say goodbye? How heavy was her heart when that stone was rolled into place! As Harriet Beecher Stowe expressed it:

O wondrous mother! since the dawn of time
Was ever love, was ever grief, like thine?
O highly favored in thy joy's deep flow,
And favored, even in this, thy bitterest woe!

This is the seventh and last sorrow of Mary.