After the Fire, the Fire Still Burns

John the Baptist began to spread the new way with a fiery oratory style and a radical message that inspired the masses and threatened the establishment. So the powers-that-be chopped off his head and extinguished his fire. Or so they thought.

Little did they know that Jesus Christ was there to pick up the torch. He would not allow the flame to be extinguished. Instead his message and his style went even further, flaming up so brightly that many saw the hope of an entirely new world, one which would not see the current authorities retain their traditional power.

And so again out of fear, they took him away. They beat him, mocked him, and nailed him to a cross where he would also die. They thought that they had extinguished the flame once again. The fire was out as Jesus died and his followers, it's final flickering embers, dispersed into the wind. Or so those same powers of this world thought.

Jesus had indeed been put to death on Friday, and his body taken away and buried in a tomb on Saturday. A massive stone had been set against the opening to the tomb, and guards set outside so that none would be able to remove it. And so night time fell, and into the early still-dark hours of Sunday morning, Jesus lifeless body lay there entombed.

Christ Has Died

There is no credible historical or religious writing that makes any allusion to any other fact than that Jesus Christ died on the cross and was buried in a nearby tomb.

He was not miraculously raised up to Heaven. He was lowered down from the cross, likely by his friends and followers, or by workers hired by Joseph of Arimathea.

Joseph was a rich man who also had become a follower of Jesus and believed in his teachings. Joseph had stepped forward to donate a nearby tomb which he owned as the final burial place of Jesus, and thus had asked for the body.

His wealth and his status in the community as a member of the 'Sanhedrin', a local governing council, impressed Pilate enough that he granted Joseph permission.

When you think about this particular act, think a little more deeply. Roman law at the time was actually against this very type of action, because the authorities feared that such a tomb would become a shrine of pilgrimage.

There has been some speculation through time that Pilate granted the request simply because of Joseph's status in the community, or possibly some bribe or payment from Joseph.

There is also speculation that it was a simple matter of conscience. Pilate believed that Jesus was innocent of any crime, let alone one for which he should have been put to death. He stated this numerous times in the hours leading up to the crucifixion. At least a part of Pilate's decision to allow the burial at Joseph's tomb may have come simply from feelings of guilt.

Approval for this act of charity was granted by Jesus' family as well. And so the cross was lowered and the battered, bloody, and lifeless body of Christ was removed from it.

We think about the drama surrounding Jesus' passion and many of the events surrounding his death and resurrection, but we rarely contemplate the most minute details as Joseph and his friend Nicodemus would have dealt with them in the aftermath of the crucifixion.