Amen. People of God, we come now to the reading of God's word for us this morning. Mark chapter 15, page 1084, and most of the Pew Bibles, some of which might be opening up to Mark. By now, Lord willing, one, two sermons left here in this gospel. And so we will read We'll begin reading at verse 33. We will begin our focus at verse 39, as we consider the death and the burial of Jesus Christ. We'll begin reading at verse 33. Our focus begins at verse 39. We will read through the end of the chapter, verse 47. People of God, let us hear the word of God. And when the sixth hour had come, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, and at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani, which means, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? And some of the bystanders hearing it said, behold, he's calling Elijah. And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed, and gave it to him to drink, saying, wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down. Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, Truly this man was the Son of God. There were also women looking on from a distance among whom were Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joseph and Salome. When he was in Galilee they followed him and ministered to him and there were also many other women who came up with him to Jerusalem. And when evening had come Since it was the day of preparation, that is, the day before the Sabbath, Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the council, who was also himself looking for the kingdom of God, took courage and went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Pilate was surprised to hear that he should have already died, and summoning the centurion, he asked him whether he was already dead. When he learned from the centurion that he was dead, he granted the corpse to Joseph. And Joseph bought a linen shroud and taking him down, wrapped him in the linen shroud and laid him in a tomb that had been cut out of the rock. And he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of Joseph, saw where he was laid. The grass withers, the flower fades, the word of our Lord endures forever. Dear congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, the atonement of sins calls not only for the spilling of blood, for the bearing of the curse, but also for death. Death is included in this act of redemption. In the love of Jesus Christ, which goes all the way to the end, to the point of death itself. As the Apostle has said, the wages of sin is death. And as we read already in Genesis 2, what is part of the curse upon mankind, those who would have eaten of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and surely that is what our first Adam, together with Eve, did. Well, it says this, die, only then a substitutionary death, one who can stand in our place as true man while also being true God, only a substitutionary death can remove that punishment, that punishment which is justly laid upon us all. All of us who are in the first Adam, all of us who are sinners by nature, From conception, all of us who continue in sin, only the second Adam, the last Adam, can reverse this curse. And this all requires also His very death. And so Jesus, the Son of God, came. He came to live, to suffer, to die for His people. He came on behalf of his people. Now the divine nature cannot perish. The divine nature cannot, we cannot say in that sense that God has died. So it's more helpful to say Jesus died, to say Christ died. This helps us to emphasize that it's the one who was also truly man, whose human nature could die. This is the one who died. But Jesus really died. Not that the divine nature perished, but Jesus died. He was buried in a tomb. And this was all necessary that life might come to his people. And so we'll walk through the text, we'll look at his death on the cross, his burial in the tomb, and also the women, the women so central to the ending of Mark, the women who witnessed this all. First of all, this death is an unusual death. Those who were crucified eventually died of suffocation, exposure, of thirst. Often this took more than a day. It could take even two days or even sometimes three days. Now we know that with the Sabbath upcoming, We know that, as it says in verse 42, the day of preparation, the day before the Sabbath, the Sabbath is coming. We know that the Jews did not want anyone upon the cross before the Sabbath. And so what they would sometimes do to speed up the process so that those being crucified could no longer push themselves up and remain breathing, remain alive, they would break the legs. those being crucified. And so John speaks about this explicitly in John chapter 19. John chapter 19 beginning at verse 31. Since it was the day of preparation and so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath, for that Sabbath was a high day, the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away. So that the soldiers came and they broke the legs of the first and of the other who had been crucified with him, that is Jesus. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear and at once there came out blood and water. So Jesus, his bones were not broken. All of this, John goes on to speak about how this fulfilled the scriptures. that they would look upon him who they had pierced, that his bones would not be broken. But all of this is a reminder that the death of Jesus was not like the usual death of one upon a cross. Even the very timing of it is not what the centurions would have expected. And a centurion, he knows what death is. I mean, today, They don't even let the nurses pronounce death, right? They need the doctor to come in and that's when death is officially pronounced. The doctor is the final authority, we might say, although I think the nurses can tell also, who have seen it. Who was the authority? Who was the expert on these things in this day? A Roman centurion. trusted soldier of high rank who has seen much death, this is one who knows what death is, who knows how to tell when a body is dead, who knows what usually happens in a crucifixion, and who sees that there's nothing normal about Jesus Christ on the cross. There's something very unusual about this one, the very way that he died. And certainly in the gospel of Matthew and John, it's also hinted at that the events surrounding the death of Jesus played a part in this. Bodies getting up out of the grave, the earth quaking, the darkness for three hours, put all of these things together in the centurion sitting here like, this man is dead, but there's something There's something strange going on here. Not just something strange, this was the Son of God. And so, how unwitting and how true this testimony was, we do not know, but the centurion even gives a testimony of faith at this time. Truly, the end of verse 39, this man was the Son of God. No light thing for a centurion to say. No light thing for a centurion to say, you know, you were only supposed to give that title to Caesar. This was one of the highest titles that he claimed, that he was the son of gods and therefore divine and therefore had authority. A centurion was only supposed to say this about Caesar. The centurion knows there is something going on before him. And again, the text itself does not give us enough details to know if this was a true testimony or a spur-of-the-moment declaration by one who had faith for a moment and then it fell on rocky soil and he fell away. We don't know, although church history does say that this man was a true believer. So he gives this testimony were supposedly reserved only for Caesar. So soldiers had mocked Jesus, giving him a royal parody, a fake crown, a fake robe, but now even in his weakest moment, even in the very end of the humiliation of Jesus Christ, even in his moment of death, there is something royal. something divine about Jesus Christ. And the centurion sees this and gives a testimony. He cannot help himself, though he is a Roman who is not supposed to say such things. And certainly, scripture testifies to the significance of the death of Jesus. No doubt that Jesus died. The centurion knows what death is. Again, it happened at a surprising time. So Pilate, verse 44, he's surprised to hear that he already died. He summons the centurion. Did he really die? Yes. And again, the centurion is the expert. Also, we'll speak more about the women who witnessed this in our third point. Consider this, people of God, that the women see him die. It says that they're far off here in Mark, but that's only in comparison to the centurion who's right there. John tells us that they were basically on the hill. So compared to those who are really far off, the women were not far away, they're right there, they see Jesus die, they see him buried, they see where he's buried, they go back to that tomb and they see the angel that he's not there. There is complete testimony, no doubt, Jesus died. And it's that Jesus who also arose. Scripture is so clear upon this. Not only the reality that it happened, but the significance of this. How does the apostle speak of it in Romans chapter 8? For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do by sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh. Remember, Jesus could die. He is man. He has a human nature. In the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh. And then speaking explicitly about how this ties to death, we read in Philippians 2 that this was the very last part of the obedient submission to humiliation by our Lord Jesus Christ. So Philippians 2 verse 8 says it this way, and being found in human form. Again, the emphasis upon the human nature of Jesus Christ, being found in human form. He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death. even death on a cross. And the author of Hebrews speaks this way about the death of Jesus Christ, again speaking about how he's one who for a little while was made lower than the angels. So again, now in Hebrews 2 verse 9, the author of Hebrews emphasizing that this is one who is God but has taken on human flesh, who for a little while has become lower than the angels. This one, namely Jesus, Hebrews 2 verse 9, is now crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, which he did so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. He was really man, and he really died, and he really died for sinful persons. He was without sin, but he tasted death to take away our death. Jesus not only lived the perfect life, not only suffered the very wrath of God as he was upon that cross, as we focused upon last week, the very words, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why have you poured out your wrath upon me? Jesus also finishes the task. He completes the work set before him. He is obedient all the way to that final point of humiliation, his very death itself. You know, us humans, we have such a tendency to do things halfway, don't we? Whether we're younger or older. It's one of the first things we see in young children, right? You're supposed to clean something up, they don't clean it up all the way. And then we continue to do that when we get older, don't we? We're supposed to do this task, that task, and we don't finish it, or we don't finish it properly. We don't go all the way in things. It's something which Many of us struggle with, or we know there's something that we should do, but we just put it off to tomorrow. We don't even start it. We don't even do it at all. The most difficult task which was ever set before anyone was the task of Jesus Christ to purchase salvation. And He went all the way. He completed every part of His task. It's humiliation all the way to death. He lived for you, He suffered for you, He died for you, and He completed this work. People of God, what does the author of Hebrews call it? The once for all sacrifice. It's done. It's completed. It's accomplished. Repent. Repent of your sins, the very sins which held Him there. Trust and believe. You are trusting in the completed work of Jesus Christ. He loved you as He loved His disciples. The language of John 13, as Jesus is about to wash the disciples' feet, that night when he was to be betrayed, his last night upon earth, before he goes upon the cross, and the words that we read there in John 13 verse 1 are he loved them to the end. He loved his disciples to the end. He loves all of his people to the end. This is our Savior completed the task and now he will be buried in the tomb We come to our second point. He will be buried in the tomb. Remember that the darkness was in the land until the ninth hour and then in the ninth hour, verse 34, Jesus is crying out and then Jesus breathes his last. What does this mean? This means that there are about two hours left before Sabbath begins. There is just enough time. But who will bury Jesus? We spoke last week about how crucifixion is perhaps the most brutal form, if not the most brutal form, of capital punishment this world has ever seen. And some of the Romans themselves object to it. It is too brutal. But you see, the death upon the cross itself was not always all that that entailed. The Romans, they reserved for themselves capital punishment. Minor crimes could be handled by, in the case of the Jews, the Sanhedrin. But capital punishment they reserved for themselves. And they reserved every part of that for themselves. You could not take the body off the cross without Roman permission. And sometimes, especially in the case of those who are convicted of high treason, they intentionally left the body upon the cross as a way of further humiliation and degradation. and a symbol of their power. Look, you stand against Rome, we will leave your body on the cross until it's devoured by wolves. It could only be released by Pilate. Now, the Romans did often release the body, especially if it was not someone who had been convicted of treason. Especially if it was a family member who asked for the body. But Jesus has been convicted of treason. In John chapter 19 we read that among the women who are there at the cross is Mary, the mother of Jesus. It's not unreasonable to say that the rest of the family of Jesus was somewhere. They weren't there because Jesus had to ask John to care for his mother, to take his mother home. So if the persons whom the body of criminals is most often released to is the family, and if the the one convicted of treason as Jesus was, here is the King of the Jews, the one who is supposedly in sedition against the Emperor. If this is the one who is most likely to be left on the cross, well how, how will Jesus be buried? Well, two Christians who perhaps we did not know were Christians. stand up for the task. Two members of the Sanhedrin. The parallel accounts tell us that Nicodemus will also help Joseph of Arimathea in this task. They go to Pilate. It is perhaps not speculation to say that Pilate will grant the body even though Jesus was convicted of treason because Pilate knows Jesus is innocent. And even though these are not family members they are highly respected men with a high office. One commentator said it's almost like Esther who used her high position for good in the kingdom for such a time as this, now Joseph of Arimathea has been raised up. Again, a Christian that we didn't know was a Christian. He's a member of the Sanhedrin. Matthew tells us that he was against what was done, but up until this moment we don't read of him standing up. And the parallels tell us Nicodemus as well. They wait until this moment to come out. Again, we don't have so many details that we should be critical of them, where the scripture doesn't give us details to be critical, but every indication is that they wait for this time, that they wait for this moment. The people of God, it is a reminder that God will raise up people for the task, and God may have Christians where we do not think that we'll find Christians. And this was no small thing. Joseph of Arimathea doesn't know that Pilate will grant him the body. And so he did what? He took courage. He took courage and asked Pilate. Middle of verse 43. Joseph of Arimathea stands up for this task. He has just enough time. They must bury Jesus in a tomb which is close close to his place of death, because the Sabbath is quickly approaching. It begins, remember, at sundown. The Jewish day is sundown to sundown, not midnight to midnight. With just enough time, with just the right one appointed. Of course, Isaiah 53, we've turned to many times as we've worked through Mark. Here's one more detail, that he will be with a rich man in his death. Isaiah 53, verse 9. And Joseph of Arimathea was a rich man. Matthew 27 explicitly says that. We do not always know who will be raised up for tasks in the body of Christ. We do not always know where we will find true believers. But Joseph of Arimathea was one who was looking for the Kingdom of God. And he did take courage for this important task. And so Jesus is buried. He is buried before the Sabbath. He is buried not just with any burial, but in the tomb which the rich man provides in a royal tomb. just like the kings of Judah of old who were buried. How? We can think of 2nd Kings chapter 29. How was Manasseh buried? He was buried in the garden of his house, in the garden of Uzzah. And then just 10 verses after that, in 2nd Kings 21 verse 26, speaking now about Amon, the son of Manasseh, the father of Josiah, he was buried in his tomb in the garden of Uzzah. In other words, what is this? This is an echo of the burial of the kings of Judah from of old, buried in a tomb, in a garden, in Jerusalem. The royal king, the true king in the line of David, will receive even a royal burial. Every detail is accounted for by God. His plan of salvation, which was all leading up to this day, this action of Jesus Christ. All of history looking forward to it. Remember when when a few weeks ago now or or I don't remember how long ago now when we were when we were at the last meal and how we spoke about how it's no accident that this is the night of the Passover meal. There's nothing about this which is an accident. Everything is is perfectly worked out by God. this hour, this moment, that this central act of redemption. There is creation. There is fault. There is redemption. There will be consummation. These are the four major events in all of the history of the world. And this one stands at the center because this is where we look. This is where we turn our eyes to be saved from our sins. And everything is perfectly worked out. Jesus will be buried. He will be given even a royal burial. All is accounted for. Every minute, just enough time before even the Sabbath begins. A couple of points to note here, people of God. One we'll actually speak about more next week. And that is when we consider, you know, why do the women wait A day and a half, three days by counting the beginning of one day, a full day, or the end of one day, a full day, and then the beginning of the next day. Friday night, all day Saturday, Sunday morning. Why do they wait? Well, the same reason why Joseph and Nicodemus take care to have the body buried before sundown. They don't want to profane the Sabbath. They don't want to profane the Sabbath. This is no small thing. No small thing indeed. So we'll think about that a little more next week. Also note that burial is still important. We might say it this way, the Sabbath is still important even as Jesus Christ will arise and he will arise on Sunday and so we have a new Sabbath day. Sabbath is still important. Observing the Sabbath is still important. Burial is still important. Burial is still important. We live in a time when the world around us is quickly changing and this is now impacting us. This is impacting those whom we know, those who are friends and family members. What am I speaking about? I'm speaking about cremation. Essentially unknown a hundred years ago and before that in our nation, In the middle of the 1960s, it was less than 4%. Today, in our nation, more than 50%. It is now the majority practice. It is now the majority practice. Now, people of God, when loved ones, friends, family members are not buried, Whether this happens intentionally or unintentionally, there have always been those who have unintentionally or not been buried, right? Those who die in war or disasters. When these things happen intentionally or unintentionally, God can restore the flesh. We know this. God can restore the flesh. God can and God will restore the flesh of His people. I even, our assurance of pardon from Job chapter 19, though my skin be in a way, still with my eyes I will see my Redeemer. It's true in the Old Testament, it's true in the New Testament, but burial is no small thing, this is no small matter. Philippians 1 verse 20, Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. And people have got burial is the Christian practice, Old Testament, New Testament. Our sister churches in the RCUS, seeing the rapid increase of this practice all around us, and with even friends and family members, they responded with really a study committee paper. Pastors and elders getting together to think about these things, to write out about these things, I can share it with anyone who is interested. It includes these four points. At one point, it goes through four points as a reminder that burial is the Christian practice. It says this, it's the way that bodies are routinely carried forth in the Old Testament and the New Testament, including how God himself buried the body of Moses. And so there's many examples, right? And just list off biblical characters. Abraham, Joseph, all the way right on down, the kings of Israel, as we've said. Well, what about Moses? Interestingly, Deuteronomy 34, also spoken of in Jude, Moses was buried by God himself, the assistance of the archangel Michael. And when God himself buried Moses, how did he do it? He buried him. Deuteronomy 34, verse six. So there are many places where we see that this is the practice of believers in Old and New Testament, including one passage where it's the practice of God himself burying his servant Moses. Even dismembered bodies were buried. Old Testament, New Testament. We saw an example of that in Mark chapter six. The body of John the Baptist had been dismembered and yet he was buried. Even those who died under the judgment of God were almost always buried by the people of God. Numbers 11 is just one example of this. And again, we might contrast this right with the Romans, who would intentionally not have all those who were on the cross buried. Why? As a further sign of their power, as a further way of degrading those who had been convicted of crimes. And actually we do see that as well in the Old Testament. We see that not being buried is a sign of the judgment of God. To not be buried is a sign of the judgment of God. There are many passages which speak about this. Isaiah chapter 14, Jeremiah chapter 14, many more. People of God, God can still restore the flesh, but even this detail that Jesus is cared for, that Jesus is buried, is a reminder that this is the Christian practice. This is the Christian practice. Old Testament, New Testament, this is how we ought to care for the dead. Certainly, the bodies of believers There's even an anticipation of the resurrection of the body when we do this, but even for all those who are made in the image of God, even criminals deserve burial. People of God will now touch briefly upon the women who witnessed this. This can easily lead over into next week. Some of these points will be reserved for next week. Especially because of this, because notice people of God, the women who witnessed these things, witnessed each part of it. When the disciples are running away, only John was anywhere near the cross When the disciples are running away, the women who have been with Jesus, when they ministered to Him, they followed Him from Galilee, verse 41, and ministered to Him. There were also many other women who came up with Him from Jerusalem. Luke chapter 8 gives us just a couple more details about this. Luke chapter 8 verses 2 and 3. And also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities. Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Chuzza, Herod's household manager, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their means. How did Jesus and the disciples eat and live? It was out of the means of the women who were traveling with them. throughout all of Jesus' ministry from Galilee onward. And people of God, women served a very crucial role in the early New Testament church. Not only these women who have, this we'll reserve for next week, but just note, again, they see it all. They see the burial, they saw the death, then they see the burial, and then it's those same women who will come back after the Sabbath and be the first to hear the good news of the resurrection. Women play an essential role. It is the house of a woman, in this case it was Mary, the mother of Jesus, her house in Acts chapter one, where there was essentially a prayer meeting, 120 people gathered, including men and women, in the house of a woman, all praying before what? The day of Pentecost. So we might say the most important prayer service in the history of the church was held in the house of a woman, and it was a congregation of 120, including many men and women. Or we could think again of Acts chapter 12, another woman named Mary, and that's where the people of God are praying. When Peter is released from prison, he goes to that woman's house, and Rhoda answers the door. People of God, there is so much more that we can say here. How essential have women been in the life of the church? They have been highly essential. The first church on Greek soil, where did that church meet? In the house of Lydia in Thyracia. Who was one of the main benefactors of the apostle Paul? Phoebe mentioned in Romans chapter 16. what service in this church can be done by our women very much including work of evangelism in this very community which is best done by women. If we think of the principle of Titus 2 that older men should teach younger men and older women should teach younger women, we can think of that in terms of maturity and spiritual maturity and people of God, I've seen this play out, I've heard of how this has played out in in many different places in many different reform communities. What is a great method of sharing the gospel? It's women speaking with other women in the community. And then I've heard of ladies Bible studies that have been the nucleus for the church growing because women will share the faith and then and invite other women to ladies Bible studies and will be a place for growing and sharing and then ultimately being united to the body of Christ. This is done on the local level. This is done on the well beyond the local level. Who are some of the greatest missionaries in the history of the church? We can think of women such as Joanna Veenstra. Who was she? She was the first ever Christian Reformed Church missionary to serve outside of North America. She went to Nigeria and served there for many years, eventually dying there, not being very old. She gave her life, very much so. for the people in Nigeria. Or we could think of Elizabeth Elliot and many others. And in many instances, these are women who went to the most difficult places. Joanna Wienstra served amongst cannibals, literally. Places where if a man came, his presence would have been seen as threatening or deterring. They probably would have not been hurt at all. And so a woman was really the only one who could be there first. The name escapes me, but the quote is imprinted upon my mind. One of the women in these situations said, basically, I'll go and I'll teach until it's safe for the men to follow in my footsteps. Women have been essential in the local church, in the growth of the local church, in the work of missions around the world. People of God, even as we know that the offices are reserved, For those who were created first, as the Apostle says, the church needs men and women. And very often women have been at the center of healthy churches. J.C. Ryle said it this way less than 200 years ago, quote, there is a great work that women can do for God's glory without being public teachers. Happy is that congregation in which women know this and act upon it. And people of God, who were those who witnessed all of these things? Who were those who, unlike 11 of the 12 disciples, ran away? It's the women who had been with Jesus throughout His ministry who stand there, who will be witnesses, the first witnesses to the resurrection. And people of God, the death and the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ are both essential. They are both essential for the faith. 1 Corinthians chapter 15, we'll read verse 4 first and then we'll read verse 3. That he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures. This is what verse 3 is speaking about, matters of first importance. But it's not only the resurrection, it's also that Christ, what? 1 Corinthians 15 verse three, I deliver to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures and he was buried. This is our savior. He did complete this task for all of us. who believe in him. Amen.