All right, everybody, it's the happiest time of the week. We're all assembled in the house of the Lord. We're expecting his blessing. And all of you look pretty healthy out there so far. So let's keep it that way by all means, right? Lord, we're glad to be in the house of God. We pray your blessing upon our service that you'll meet us here at this place at this appointed time. And dear God, that we would hear from heaven, we desperately need to hear from you, Lord. Help us in these troubled times. May the peace of God that passes understand to keep our hearts and our minds. Let us not get worried, confused, anxious. Because you're in control of everything that happens, Lord. All things work together for good to them that love God. And we tell you, Lord, that we love you with all of our heart. We thank you for all of the good things that you have done for us, Lord. And even the troubles that have come our way and things that are inexplicable, Lord, we're here not to question you. We're here to understand what a cursed place we're in, and that you even sent your son to this terrible place, and he brought a great victory that day for all of us, and we all here are participants and beneficiaries at that work at the cross. And so we're glad to study his word today and just hear from heaven. So, enlighten the load, Lord. Maybe people came in here with a bit of sorrow, trouble, affliction. Lord, oftentimes, because of holidays, people get very depressed. They've lost loved ones, or they're not able to do the things that they used to be able to do. And this is a time of our rejoicing and thanksgiving to Thee, Lord, because there's a better place, and You've prepared it for us. And you said that you would come back and receive us unto yourself. So we take consolation, Lord, and we thank you in Jesus' name. Amen. Alright, did you all have a great Thanksgiving? A lot to be thankful for. And we give God all the praise and all the glory for what He has done, because He's done marvelous things, wondrous things. Here we are at the 23rd chapter. We've spent a number of weeks already discussing the centerpiece of the Gospels, which is the death of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross. But there are two other elements that we could say comprise the Gospel, the actual Gospel of Jesus Christ. The word Gospel means good news. And we have the definition of it here in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and the three elements of the gospel. You have not heard the gospel unless you've heard these three elements, and that would be the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. All those elements combine together to form the good news. So it's not just that Jesus died on the cross, which is so essential, of course, because he was taking in our sins and becoming a substitute on our behalf. That's an aspect of the gospel, certainly, and a very important one at that, as he covers our sin record. But the next important aspect, a prong of that 1 Corinthians chapter 15 context, has to do with his burial. And we're going to spend some time now talking about how that was all accomplished, that he was buried. And then of course in the third day that he rose again from the dead according to the scriptures So that's the definition of the gospel the death the burial and the resurrection of jesus christ according to the scriptures So that's what when you're hearing the good news, that is the good news that god has sent his son into the world Of course, there's so much that surrounds that good news Who was jesus and what he accomplished and how he did it all and the epistles will take that up pretty much and certainly the Gospels themselves. But when we reduce it down to this common denominator that saves mankind, the Gospel, the good news is that Christ died, that he was buried, and that he rose again on the third day. Now, so we want to focus a little bit on this 50th verse of chapter 23 where we have this enigmatic character that appears, Joseph of Arimathea. And Joseph of Arimathea comes And he was a good man. And he was a just man. So good and just. So that doesn't mean that he's good in the purest sense. Absolutely good. None are good. No, not one. But good in the relative sense. Good in the sense that he was a true seeker of God. He was looking for eternal life and he was waiting for the kingdom. So he's not only good, but he's also just. Now that's important to understand his position, because he was a wealthy man, but he was also a member of this elite group called the Sanhedrin, the 70 that ruled in Jerusalem. They were the council members. They made the decisions, and the president of the council was the high priest. And they made the decision, after all, to crucify Jesus. But you'll note here that Joseph was not, he was a dissenting vote. So the same, and you notice the parenthesis that the Luke and Gospel gives us, so the same had not consented to the counsel and deed of them. He was of Arimathea, a city of the Jews who also himself waited for the kingdom of God. All these little details. Now listen, Joseph is no minor character. He's mentioned in all four Gospels. So that makes his position, again, a very important one. After all, the element of his burial had to be cared by somebody else. Somebody had to take care of this detail. And so Joseph steps in and accomplishes that to fulfill the good news. Now let's just take a look here you see he the same had not consented to the council so he was a member of the Sanhedrin and when they were Voting to condemn Jesus to the death and all the way to the cross of crucifixion, that he would be put on the cross, nailed to the cross, he was not consenting. He was a dissenting vote. I would think at least two dissenting votes, maybe even more, of those that recognized Jesus was the true Messiah, the Son of God. So we know at least of Joseph, and another would have been Nicodemus. So, not consenting, and so you can imagine the scene there. Right away, they wanted everybody to consent. They wanted complete agreement. It also tells us that he was of Arimathea, the city of the Jews. Now Luke tells us of Arimathea, but he also adds to it that it was a city of the Jews. Well, that's because it was a border city. As far as the territory of Judea was concerned, and that's where the Jews lived in Judea, especially those that would be a member of this very select group called the Sanhedrin, most of them would live right in the city of Jerusalem itself. So beneath the temple there were rows of houses and literally luxurious condominiums and this is where the priests, the Levites, and the members of the Sanhedrin would reside. They had the best real estate, so to speak, and they were closest to the temple, so of course they were the holiest people. But Joseph not only dissents in the council about who Jesus is, but also, in a sense, we find him living outside in a suburb from Jerusalem in a place called Arimathea. I have it circled here on the map so you have the idea of about 25 miles outside of Jerusalem. And so he would have to traverse from Arimathea to Jerusalem to serve on the council. So one might wonder, well, what's he even doing on the council if he's not living in Jerusalem? And the answer to that probably is in the fact that he was a very wealthy man. And so he was a man of great position, and because of his wealth and power, he was able to secure the corpse of Jesus for burial. He, in other words, had enough influence that he could actually go to Pontius Pilate, who's the procurator, the governor of Jerusalem, the Roman head of Jerusalem, and he was able to secure the permission to take the body of Jesus and to give it proper burial. So we understand Joseph to be a very influential person. And the fact that he didn't live in Jerusalem makes him somewhat outside of the camp. So that's kind of an intriguing thought there. And the other thing to notice here is that he also himself waited for the kingdom of God. Waited for the kingdom of God is an expression that we find throughout the scripture of those who were faithful. How many of you are waiting for Jesus to come again? Anybody in the room? Okay, a lot of you are. That's good. You're waiting though, aren't you? In fact, you're probably saying, you know, this would be a good time for Jesus to come back right in the middle of a pandemic. Let's get us out of this place, right? Or some of you that have some credit card debt. Let's Lord any day now, right? We're interested. Let's get out of this place. But we should be waiting for the kingdom. And don't let anybody take that away from you. Modern theologians have now depreciated the doctrine of the immanency of Christ. They're saying, well, he already came in the first century. He came spiritually, nobody saw him. It's nonsense, but there are a lot of people who hold that position. A-millennial, post-millennial people and so on that reject the notion of a pre-tribulation coming of Jesus Christ. The rapture of the church is the hope of the saints, the blessed hope and the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. Believers are waiting for that with great anticipation. Everybody here that has some sort of little ailments or troubles or problems or whatever it might be, you say, that's the solution when the Lord comes. So we wait for the kingdom. Well, that was the case certainly in the first appearance of the Lord. There were people now waiting 4,000 years for the coming of Messiah. So the Bible tells us of some of these people. Simeon and Anna are seen in the first and second chapters of Luke as being a member of that segula of individuals that waited for the coming of the Lord. So we have And Simeon and Anna, of course, he's waiting to see the Christ child. God had revealed to him that he would not die until he held the Christ child in his hands. So here he is, Simeon, a priest in Jerusalem, faithful. not like the rest of them that were pretty much apostate. He held on to the literal hope that the master was coming, that he was going to set up a kingdom on earth. And the rest, of course, by now had become very liberal. They were Sadducean. They didn't believe in a life after death. They weren't even looking for the coming of Messiah. They just had their little religious business that was going on, and they went through the motions of religiosity, but there was no heart in it. Jesus condemned them, you draw nine to me with your lips, but your heart is far from me. So there's Simeon, it was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, the same man was just and devout, see, same kind of characteristics of Joseph, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Ghost was upon him. And then we have Zechariah and Elizabeth. They were also waiting for the hope of Messiah. And you know, of course, they give birth to John the Baptist, who's the harbinger, comes six months before Jesus to announce that the kingdom of God is at hand. And they were delighted also to get the heavenly visitation and the word that the day spring had arrived and the time had come now. All the waiting had ended, and that the master was coming with the kingdom. And we'd have to put Joseph and Mary also in that same category. After all, they were simple people. In some cases, certainly unenlightened compared to those that were the intelligentsia in Jerusalem, the high priests and so on, the Sanhedrin. But they had a simple faith. And when the angel came to them, they both accepted their role, humbly accepted this intrusion into their private lives by the Almighty. And perhaps many more that we don't see here that are not necessarily named, who followed Jesus all the way to the end. And so we join that august group, all of us here now, our waiters. We're waiting now for the second appearing of the Lord, and we're wondering how much longer. Of course, they waited 4,000 years, we've only waited 2,000 years. But the day with the Lord is 1,000 years, 1,000 years is a day, so it really doesn't make much difference. In 2 Thessalonians 3, 5, the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and to the patient waiting for Christ. And let no man take that hope and expectation away from you this morning. Jesus is coming. Back to Joseph of Arimathea, he was a follower, disciple of Jesus, but secretly. for fear of the Jews. There was a lot to lose. And so he kept it to himself. But he apparently heard Jesus. Maybe heard him preach the Sermon on the Mount. Maybe saw some of his miracles. Who knows what it was, but his heart had been converted. And he recognized that Jesus was indeed the Son of God. He may not have had the outward habiliments. He didn't have, he didn't come from royal lineage. Didn't come with a cadre of angels, but It was clear that he had validated all of the signs and wonders that needed to be done to prove in his heart this was indeed the Son of the Living God. So, but secretly, because after all, you didn't, in his position, a man in his position, to openly confess Christ. What would it mean? Well, he'd find out what it would mean soon enough. You can only remain secret so long, beloved. So nobody in your family knows you're a Christian? Is that what you're telling me? Nobody at work knows you're a Christian? Hmm? Well, everybody should know it. There's no secret about this matter. There really are no secret disciples, and if you try to be one, it won't be long before God will force you out of the closet, right? So he goes and begs or besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus. And Pilate gave him leave. He came therefore and he took the body of Jesus. So it was a bold stroke. So forget about secret disciple. Now this would be something that would be known. And he would now be ostracized and put out of the Sanhedrin. And anybody that would identify with him, with Christ perhaps even, could be put on a cross for it. But it didn't matter at that point. Joseph could remain silent no longer and he could be secret no longer. Jesus said in one of his teachings, whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous generation of him also shall the son of man be ashamed when he cometh in the glory of his father with the holy angel. None of us need be ashamed that we belong to Jesus and we should advertise it gladly telling people That we belong to the Lord and you know, it's uh when the opportunity comes and you can you bring that matter to light? and I was uh seeing a doctor, um eye doctor and so forth And he, I could tell, you know, he was just businesslike and so forth and we were getting to different things and so on. And I knew eventually I got to get around to the gospel with him and so I don't know what it was. It doesn't take much. I think he, maybe I sneezed and he said, God bless you. And I said, speaking of God, but You've got to open up and speak about the Lord and speak of Him openly. And usually it's to the shock of people, you know, they kind of take it back. I've had people, even, that they'll say to me, well, pray for me when you get a chance. And I said, well, we're going to do it right now. And now they don't know what to do because they're in a public situation and I'm bowing my head and my eyes closed and I'm praying for this guy that didn't want that. He was hoping I'd do this somewhere else. Not in front of everybody, how embarrassing it would be if you were to be seen in a public situation, bowing your head in prayer. Can you imagine that? Ashamed of Jesus? There's nothing to be ashamed of. You know the devil's people aren't ashamed. They curse God openly and it doesn't bother them. They're glad to use his name in vain. We ought to be able to use his name in praise, right? Not ashamed. Jesus warned about it, and in Romans 1.16 Paul writes, for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believe it, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. So nothing to be ashamed of for sure. But of course, there is something when you follow the Master, especially in the first century, and especially in the context of Joseph being a member of the powerful Sanhedrin. It could mean his life. But Jesus warned about following him. He that findeth his life, he said, will lose it. But he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it. So, in other words, the prospect of being a martyr for Christ is a possibility. Of course, we're living in a generation in this very strange experiment called liberty and freedom of conscience, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and we can speak our minds without fear of intimidation. But it's not so in communist countries. Not so in China, not so in Russia and these other places, certainly not so in the Islamic countries. Speak of Jesus openly and you could lose your life. Jesus said it could happen and it happened for many centuries and is still happening in some parts of the world. Apostle Paul knew about this when he gave his testimony in Philippians 3, that I may know him in the power of his resurrection, the fellowship of his sufferings, though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more. Paul, remember, also was a member of the Sanhedrin, not in Jerusalem, but there were councils in various cities. And so he was of Tarsus, and he was a member of the council there. And so he speaks of this. He had a lot to lose becoming a Christian. He mentions that I was circumcised the eighth day, the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, and Hebrew of the Hebrews, is touching the law of Pharisee, concerning zeal, persecuting the church, touching righteousness, which is in the law, I was blameless. So he gives his testament of his righteousness as a Jew And what it took now to become a Christian, all of that for naught, he's saying. All of that cast aside, he said, concerning zeal, I persecuted the church, touching righteousness, I'm blameless. But what things were gained to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea, doubtless, I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ. All that mattered to Paul, all that should matter to us, that we have been wonderfully redeemed and we are citizens of another world. So secret disciple, John 19 says, there came also another one, Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes about a hundred pound weight. So here were the two that said, we'll take charge of the burial. That very important element that Jesus did not this you know Skeptics that don't believe Jesus actually died some don't even believe he ever lived which is absolutely ridiculous and but there are people that Do everything they can to denounce Christ, so they'll say well. He was just fictitious character some kind of myth There's all kinds of evidence including hostile witness to the life of Jesus But you can see here at the end, Nicodemus comes out of the shadows also. It's time for him to stand up for Jesus. And so both of them will take care of this very important element to have him buried. He must be buried. His body is actually dead. He has actually died. There's no swoon theory here. There's no Gnostic idea that the spirit left him and he was just a fleshly corpse at that point. No, no, no. We have Jesus literally dying on the cross, physical agony and pain, expiring as I must and as you must. He endures everything we go through, including burial. So they take him now, and it has to be done in a certain prescribed way. After all, his flesh can see no corruption. So they can't just bury him in the ground. So this will require a rich man to come. Let's not forget that Isaiah already prophesied in Isaiah 53 that he would make his grave with the rich. And so he would indeed. This Nicodemus is a curious fellow as well, a member of the Sanhedrin, and one that came to Jesus. Notice here, as he's mentioned, he came to Jesus by night. By night. We go back to the third chapter and we find out that Nicodemus came to him. He was a Pharisee. a ruler of the Jews, the same came to Jesus by night. So it's repeated there in this chapter in John, as well as in the third chapter. So we see every time Nicodemus is mentioned, he came to Jesus clandestinely. He came undercover. He didn't want anybody knowing that he was having a conversation with this common, uneducated rabbi, Jesus. But he needed what Jesus had. And with all of his erudition, all of his education, Nicodemus did not understand that a man must be born again to enter the kingdom of heaven. And so he got schooled at the feet of Jesus, the greater teacher. And that, to his eternal salvation, I might add. But he hides with the council until they condemn Jesus. And I think that's, as with Joseph, that's the end of it. You condemned the Son of God. We now have to stand apart from you. You know, there's a time, beloved, where we're all going to have to come out from among them. The unbeliever and the believer can have no fellowship. 2 Corinthians gives us the context, of course. Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, Ephesians tells us. So we come out from among them and be separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing. There are friends that, well, you really can't have them anymore as friends. Their lifestyle's different. It's not commensurate with what you've chosen. If you're following Jesus, you said, no, no, I have to please the Master now with my life. There are certain things I cannot do any longer, or I will not do them any longer. I could choose to do them, but I will not do them. I won't go to the dirty movie. I won't go to the bar. I won't go to the harlot's house. I won't join in with the gang that's telling their filthy jokes. I have to go a different direction. And so separation, believers separate from the world. And it's not something, listen, there's no great loss to this. It's all a gain, isn't it? And there's a sense in which, if we're gonna follow Jesus, the fellowship of Christ is far dearer than any fellowship on earth could ever present. And so Nicodemus and Joseph do the duty of taking the body of Jesus down from the cross, which was a defiling act for a conscientious Jew, by the way, is to touch the body of a dead person and to take them down from the cross. Take him down from the cross meant to them they didn't care what they forfeited, which would have included that they could not participate in the Passover that was nigh at hand. They were unclean ceremonially. but it didn't matter to them now. After all, the Passover was completed when Jesus died on the cross. This man went into Pilate and he begged the body of Jesus and he took it down and he wrapped it in linen. What a tender act indeed. Now, I just want to Compare the two Joseph's in the Bible one at the beginning of the life of Jesus now one at the end of the life of Jesus So we have Joseph the counselor the just man the good man the member of the Sanhedrin And we also have Joseph, who is also spoken of in Matthew as being a just man. So isn't it intriguing that at the beginning and at the end of the life of Jesus, we find a Joseph taking care of Jesus as a just man. Well, beyond that, they're both named Joseph, and they were both named after a hero of the Old Testament, Joseph, who was, when we meet him first in Genesis, at least in the beginning chapters of his life story, he's thrown into a prison, rejected of his brethren, and finds himself in abject poverty and pain, and imprisoned. But then, of course, he is resurrected from the prison, and he sits at the right hand of Pharaoh and becomes the ruler of the world, and thus becomes wealthy beyond recognition. So, both Josephs served this role. One was a very poor man, the other was a very rich man, just like their predecessor. Both lent, in the case of Joseph, a womb for Jesus to be born in. After all, they were espoused. Joseph and Mary were espoused. That meant that Mary was his property. He had right to Mary. They had made a pledge that they would belong to each other and that they would become one flesh. And that with time, that he would actually enter the body of Mary in intercourse after their marriage. Well, before the marriage, then, in this espousal period, God says, I need to borrow something from you. But I promise I will not defile it. I will place the Son of God in that womb without defilement. And so both lent something that was very important to them. In the case of Joseph the carpenter, it was the womb of Mary. In the case of Joseph of Arimathea, It was a tomb, something again that would merely be borrowed. Joseph went in unto Mary after the birth of Jesus. She's not perpetually virgin. She's virgin up to the point that Jesus is born. Then Mary and Joseph came together and they had other children. The tomb of Joseph of Arimathea was finally occupied but only temporarily by Jesus. It was borrowed. He would not stay there for long. It would be later that Joseph himself would be buried there along with Joseph's family. Both, you might notice, were wrapped carefully by the Josephs, right? Joseph wrapped the babe in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger. Whereas Joseph of Arimathea takes the body of Jesus and carefully wraps it in linen and places it now in the sterile tomb. not to mention that no man had yet been laid there. So both knew that they were placed by Jesus. They placed Jesus in a very temporary place. The manger at Bethlehem would only be occupied for a brief time, perhaps only eight days. Then they could go up to Jerusalem with the rite of circumcision, actually name the baby Jesus, and then from there they are warned of the wise men to depart because Herod would seek to kill the child and so they departed on a 500 mile arduous journey down to Egypt. They would only be in Bethlehem and Jesus only in the manger temporarily. And so likewise Jesus three days and three nights after he occupied the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea rose from the dead. Our next verse says, and he took it down and he wrapped it in linen and he laid it in a sepulchre that was hewn in stone, wherein never a man before was laid. So I've underlined the words here, sepulchre, and made it in hewn stone. So a sepulchre is, now today we use the expression a mausoleum. It's where you're buried above ground, a mausoleum. And that's what a sepulchre was. These were very expensive gravesites. To be buried above ground in the first century meant that you had to be a wealthy person. We only find two instances of people buried in the sepulcher and that would be Jesus and Lazarus, a week before, was buried. So these were wealthy people. So this leads us to a conclusion. It's possible to be rich but righteous. So I'm giving anybody here leave if you'd like to be rich. And I know some of you here have that idea in mind. Some of you might be. I don't know. It doesn't look like it in the offerings, but it could be that you're very wealthy, right? Well, there's no sin in being wealthy. It's what you do with the wealth. It's what you do with it that really matters. And most people, unfortunately, it becomes a snare and a trap for them. Thus Jesus said, how hardly shall a rich man enter the kingdom of heaven. It's not unlikely. All things are possible with God. He added that as the addendum afterwards. But what he was saying is he knew the power of wealth and what it would do to people and it corrupts people. We all see this, I think. If you knew anybody in high school, and they were probably just a big goof off and whatever, Suddenly, they end up with a business that launches them into a fortune, and they're millionaires. And all of a sudden, there's some way that they're affected by it. Even their speech is affected speech. They start speaking differently. And it's kind of humorous, almost. They're putting on airs, we often say. They put on airs. But the wealthy, it's a snare to them. So Paul, when he writes to young Timothy in 1 Timothy 6, It says, godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into this world, as certain we can carry nothing out, but having food and rain, it let us be there with content. But they that be rich fall into a snare, to many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in perdition and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all evil, which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, having pierced themselves through with many sorrows. So we understand that wealth has, it's an idol after a while, and it draws people away from God, as a matter of fact. Doesn't need to, though. And there are some instances in the Bible where we find a man wealthy and yet righteous. And I have to say, Joseph of Arimathea falls into that category. So he has this tomb. Well, of course, that would indicate he had to have some wealth to be able to be buried in that fashion near Jerusalem. Even more money for a sepulcher near Jerusalem. Our studies on Wednesday night take us to the man Job. In the first chapter we found out how much he possessed. His substance was great. And it's summed up by saying he was the greatest of all the men of the East. So he had tremendous wealth, but he was a righteous man. He feared God and eschewed evil. So we know that in the sight of God, even though his wealth was not an encumbrance to his faith, and it needn't be. Here's the case of Boaz, also in the Old Testament, in the book of Ruth. We find him to be a goel, a near kinsman. He was willing to redeem this poor young widow, Ruth, and to bring blessings to her and her mother-in-law. And so he used his wealth to bring the promotion of others. How about the centurion that came to Jesus? He loveth our nation, and he hath built us a synagogue. So he had some wealth, didn't he, this centurion? And what did he do? Well, he was what we call a proselyte. He seemed to be a convert to Judaism. And what did he do? Well, he built a synagogue for them, which was a place of meeting like we're doing right here. And that was a great comfort to the Jews. And it demonstrates again that even with his wealth, he did a good thing and a right thing, because there the teaching of the law of God would be given each Sabbath day. How about Mary, Martha, and Lazarus? We already alluded to the fact they owned a sepulcher. And they could put their brother in a sepulcher. So that meant they had wealth. But not only that, they entertained Jesus and all of the twelve. So there's 13 people anytime they came to Jerusalem always had a place to stay in Bethany, only a mile away from Jerusalem. It would be the house of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. We even find in the 12th chapter that they had a party after Lazarus was raised from the dead. I don't know, that'd be a good reason to have a party. And they made a supper. And Martha served, of course. What else would she do? Mary sat at the feet of Jesus, though, and poured out expensive oils and ungents of spikenard upon his feet. We'll speak of this tonight, I think, when we get into the 24th chapter, but it's very, very powerful, very potent idea here. Very wealthy people could take a bottle of perfume and pour it on the feet, and Judas even protests this was a waste to do that. Now, I don't know, how many of you ladies have very expensive perfume? Anybody here? I don't think, no. You just got on the Walmart, probably. And you get eau de toilette, right? Which is a French word for the water of the toilet. That's what it means. I mean oil, but it's perfume. So I don't know. When we were first married I bought my wife interlude. And that was kind of expensive. I remember going down to Joseph Horns downtown. Remember when there was a Joseph Horns? And the first floor, you'd go in there, you could smell all the perfumes, couldn't you? And I went up to the counter and I said, give me a bottle of that stuff, right? And they said, give me $100. I said, well, give me a small bottle of that stuff. I don't want a big bottle. And she doesn't wear it anymore because she's allergic. Isn't it something when you get old, what happens to us, right? Then there's Barnabas, and you'll find him, he had land and he sold it, and brought the money and laid it at the apostles' feet. So here's a righteous man indeed, and what he intended to do with his wealth, and he sold his properties. Unlike Ananias and Sapphira, he took it all and said, here, distribute this and give it to those who are in need. Cornelius is a man of wealth. And it came before the Lord. He saw the alms, which means he gave charities. And he prayed to God always. He's a devout man, it says. One that feared God. He was another proselyte. These centurions, you know, it's curious how many of them we find in the Bible. Julius in the book of Acts. Cornelius here in Acts 10. The one that we learned about last week at the cross that was in charge of crucifying Jesus that said, truly this This was a righteous man. So how many of them were people of faith who were going to find centurions in heaven? So back to our text in the 53rd verse, and he took it down, took the body of Jesus, wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a sepulcher that was hewn in stone, wherein never man before was laid. Now that would be the perfect body of Jesus in a place undefiled by death. I mentioned, or at least I think I mentioned to you that if you were really wealthy, you could have a sepulcher in Jerusalem. It was right beneath the temple, and they would actually hollow out caves. In some cases, they would dig them out, hewn in the rock. And so it was a very expensive thing to do, to chisel rock out and to make a niche in the rock, which is a platform where you would lay the dead bodies. So Joseph had to be wealthy to be able to afford such a thing near Jerusalem. Right beneath the walls of Jerusalem on the south side they would actually permit you to have burial plots right next to the holy city. So that certainly indicated that he had some money. Also he would take very expensive linen. and wrapped the body of Jesus in this very important facet of his burial. So he took it down, he wrapped it in linen, he hid it in a sepulchre that was laid in a sepulchre that was hewn in stone, wherein never man before was laid. Now the idea here is corruption. The book of Deuteronomy is very clear on this, that if you touch the dead body, if you came into contact with anything that was dead, it defiled you. And you were unclean ceremonially for several weeks. because of that. So anybody that handled the dead body or anything that a dead body touched would thus be defiled. Now, Jesus was not defiled by sin because he was impeccably perfect. He was absolutely pure. So it makes sense that he would be laid in a place that would be considered ceremonially clean. No man had ever touched it. All this in fulfillment to Psalm 16, verse 10, where we have the notion there, a prophecy that had to be filled, for thou wilt not leave my soul in Hades, hell, in the grave, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. Thou wilt show me the path of life, and in thy presence is fullness of joy at thy right hand of pleasures forevermore. These two verses taken together, the burial and the resurrection, the burial of Christ, where he sees no corruption, and his resurrection, where he's raised to the right hand of God, where there are pleasures forevermore. So that had to be fulfilled. Remember, everything Jesus does, everything that happens to him, even after his death, is in fulfillment to some other portion in the scripture. So that is primary. Secondarily, though, again, as I already mentioned, in Numbers and Deuteronomy and Leviticus, it's all about cleansing and keeping things right and clean. Numbers 19 tells us, Whosoever toucheth the dead body of any man that is dead, and purifieth not himself, defileth the tabernacle of the Lord. And that soul shall be cut off from Israel. So we understand the importance here of a tomb wherein never a man had been laid. Now there's other intriguing concepts about this burial that we want to be able to take up, but unfortunately this time just breezes by, doesn't it? I can't believe how fast all this goes. As I've said to everybody after the COVID, don't think you're getting these kind of shortened sermons. It's not going to happen. There's a lot more to tell you. I just feel cheated. I hope that you do as well. And if you really feel cheated, you'll come back tonight at 6.30 and we'll take up some more intriguing thoughts about how they buried the dead, how they anointed the bodies, and why they did what they did, and we'll even discuss the bone box that was called the ossuary. But Lord here we are glad to rejoice in one of the elements of the gospel, the burial. You raised up a man as you did originally in the birth of Christ, a Joseph. And now here at the end of the life of Jesus another Joseph appears and is willing to lend that which is his. We're thankful, Lord, for all that was accomplished. Last week we rejoiced in the accomplishment of the atonement, the full atonement paid for when Jesus shed his blood and gave up the ghost and said, it is finished. And so what was left now to human hands, as often you do, Lord, it amazes us that we are brought in somehow in connection with the gospel. A man has to accomplish the rest of this. You did the dying. Now we must do the burial and follow you in the resurrection. So Joseph and Nicodemus come. They come out of the shadows as secret disciples. All this is a warning to all of us lest we should be secret in our following. Let us never be ashamed of the name of Christ and to let others see Christ in us. Let us live a separated life that the world might recognize that we belong as a peculiar people to a covenant that was sealed by the blood of the Redeemer. We pray, Father, in thanksgiving for what Thou hast done for us. Thank You for coming into our heart and cleansing us of our sinful lives, Lord. We have said, thought, and done things that would have brought eternal damnation upon us. And you, in your mercies, reached down from heaven and gave light to our blinded soul. You brought us out of the darkness and you carried us to the cross where the old life would be nailed. You took us to the tomb where we were buried with Him in baptism. And then we were raised again in a newness of life. We are brought now to a saving knowledge, Lord. And so let us now publicize the great news and what thou has done. We give glory to your name, Lord. We praise your name and thank you for the good gift of eternal life. Now remember all of us here, Father. Remember us as we battle through this winter and whatever we may be facing, Lord. Help us indeed to be wise and sacrificial. Help us to recognize, Lord, that there are others about us that we should be caring about. I pray, Lord, that you'll give us the discipline that we need and whatever it's going to take, Lord, and the patience as we endure whatever this fight of afflictions might be. We appreciate your goodness to us to this point, Lord. We have made it through this thus far without any incident. Pray, Father, that you'll take us all the way through it. And our families, Lord, bring a blessing to them as well. Help them all to be wise and prudent in the choices that they make. Lord, one day we'll enter a place where curses can no longer touch us. The sting of death has been vanquished and eternal life lay before us. Thank you for the gift, Lord. We receive it gladly in Jesus' name. Amen.