DUNCAN/Jesus’ burial

If you have your Bibles, I’d invite you to turn with me to Matthew, chapter 27. We’ve been studying in the gospel of Matthew for the last several times focusing on the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ and today we come to His burial. I’d like you to look at the passage in two parts today. First, in verses 57 – 61 we see God’s providence working through faithfulness. And then in verses 62 – 66 we see God’s providence working through the deceptive schemes of the Sanhedrin.

I. God’s Providence Works Through Faithfulness 

In verses 57 – 61 God is working through a faithful man to accomplish His purposes. Now Joseph is a man from Arimathea. And this man came and inquired of Pilate, asking for Jesus’ body. Matthew tells us explicitly in verse 57 that he was wealthy. There were not many wealthy followers of the Lord Jesus Christ in those days. He was a leader of Israel, a leader of the synagogue back in his hometown, as well as a member of the highest court of the church in his day, yet he had not openly declared his loyalty to the Lord Jesus Christ. And in light of that fact you need to understand how brave he was. He is going to Pilate’s palace to ask for the body of a man who has been condemned and executed as a traitor, a rebel against Rome. He could be cast out of the synagogue for doing this. And so this man Joseph comes to Pilate, and he asks permission to take His body. He prepares Jesus’ body for burial, he dresses Him in fine funeral clothing, and he lays Him in his family tomb.

Now, think what was hanging in the balance. Joseph doing a seemingly, meaningless act of burying the body of his Lord was preparing for the glory of Christ and His resurrection. And all of us are called from time to time in life to exercise that kind of faith and devotion to Jesus. And sometimes it’s in very small and mundane things. You could have made a good argument for not getting involved in such a thing. But Joseph did what he was burdened to do out of faith and belief and loyalty in his Lord, and it turned out to be crucial in the fulfillment of the decree of God. And I wonder if you sometimes think, “Well, it really doesn’t matter whether I give to missions. Or it really doesn’t matter whether I speak to my neighbor about Christ.” But who knows what eternal destiny hinges in your little gesture. Perhaps something that you send to the mission field, perhaps a prayer for a missionary; perhaps a quiet, kind word of witness at a funeral or a wedding may be the difference between heaven and hell for an immortal soul. Never underestimate how your faithfulness may be used in the providence of God.

Matthew shows us here God’s provide for His Son through this little gesture. When His closest friends had abandoned Him, before the foundation of the world God had ordained that His Son’s body would be cared for by a disciple who was until that time utterly unheard of and perhaps even unknown to the circle of disciples of the Lord Jesus. And this is a passage which gives us a grand reminder of the importance of believing in God’s word and trusting in His providence. God ordered things so that the death and burial of Jesus were placed beyond all doubt. God will take and use all things for His own purposes. And He does that right here. God in His providence is laying the groundwork for the resurrection.

II. God’s Providence Works Through Scheming 

If you look at verses 62 – 66 you’ll see that these Jewish leaders continued their scheming, they continued their machinations on Saturday because of their concern over a fake resurrection. They wanted to make sure they did everything they could within their power to thwart any attempt to fake a resurrection. But with that as the main story that Matthew focuses upon, he has in mind a bigger, overarching theme. And that is that God in His providence is laying the groundwork for defending the resurrection. 

When the chief priests and the scribes show up to Pilate they say, “If they fake this resurrection and people start spreading the word that Jesus was raised again from the dead, that last deception is going to be worse than His first. He managed to dupe some of the people into believing that He was the Messiah. Now if they try and dupe some more of the people into thinking that He has been raised again from the dead, we’re going to be in a worse fix than we were before. So, we have got to make sure that His disciples do not steal the body away.” 

And so they asked Pilate to secure the tomb, to protect it from theft, lest an even greater deception be accomplished. And so they have a Roman guard stationed at the tomb, a string is spread across the stone and it’s sealed with the official Roman seal. And you know what that did? It made it absolutely certain that the first people to witness the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ would be non-disciples. It wouldn’t be Jesus’ inner circle that would spread a claim that couldn’t be corroborated. It would be non-disciples, Roman guards stationed at the tomb who would be forced to testify that He was not there.

God’s providence deploys the schemes of Jesus avowed enemies in order to vindicate Him, to confirm His teaching and to bring Him glory. All the extra measures that they took to secure Jesus’ burial ended up drawing attention to His resurrection. Matthew is showing you the irony of God’s providence here. That all the designs of men are used for the glory of Christ.

You may be in such a point and time in your own life where you are tempted to doubt God’s providence. You may be in some dark night of the soul. You may be facing something that you just don’t understand how God is going to be able to work out, and here Matthew is saying, “We were utterly demoralized at this time. We had no idea what God was doing. But looking back on it, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, we saw God’s hand in it every step of the way.” God moves in a mysterious way – His wonders to perform. He plants His footsteps on the sea and rides upon the storm. He has a plan. It is a loving plan; it is a good plan. Those who have embraced Christ will find in the end that nothing can bring a charge against them as His chosen, and nothing can separate them from the one who is the lover of their souls. Believe on that today, and you’ll find all the benefits which are attached to Him.