Today’s scripture: Luke 23:50-56 (NRSV) (The Message) (KJV) What might God be saying to me?
My thoughts (John Seksay):
Today’s reading reviews the internment of Jesus’s body in a rock tomb by Joseph of Arimathea and other followers of Jesus. Providing burial care for an individual was (and still is) a deed of high honor. Unlike the living, the dead have no opportunity to return the favor being done for them. This cultural precept exist to this day in the form of the chevra kadisha (Jewish burial society), which ensures proper burial according to the traditions of the member’s Jewish community.
Joseph’s family would have had a rock-cut tomb chamber on the north side of the city, where all the tombs of the Sanhedrin were located at that time. As a commoner and executed criminal, Jesus’ body would not normally have found such an elevated setting. But Joseph of Arimathea belonged to the wealthy and influential. He would have been the kind of man to perform these funerary services for his community. As a follower of Jesus, Joseph would feel deeply compelled to perform this last great service for his teacher.
The typical tomb would have one or more rock-cut benches where the recently deceased would be promptly interred according to all the rites required and left to decompose. Once the natural process was completed, the bones would be removed to an ossuary vessel and the bench left open for the next family member to require burial. This was the expectation of events for this nascent spiritual community; their leader was obviously dead and all they could do was honor his memory in death.
Yet they were playing a vital role. Sometimes things we want prevent us from getting what we actually need. To be witnesses to the Resurrection, they first needed to be witnesses to the death of all their own misguided hopes and fears. The times of Jesus were as full of false Messianic visions as today’s times are. The Jewish community was very fragmented — Pharisees, Saducees, Essenses, zealots — each with their vision of fulfillment for their covenant with God. These forces were at play even among the apostles. Peter was less of a rock than he thought, Thomas was full of doubts, Judas had his plans.
Much of the power in our witness comes from the banishment of false beliefs that are deeply rooted in us, replaced by the resurrecting power of the Holy Spirit. But that power only comes through the crucifixion of the restraints that mislead — hold us in sin. If I am not feeling the power of the Holy Spirit in me, maybe it is time for a funeral. What barriers in me do I need to lay to rest today?
Thought for the day: Dear Lord, what attitudes in me need to die that I may live more fully in your ways? Help me make their death complete so that the Holy Spirit may be abundant my life!
We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the suggestions on the How to Pray page.