"The Borrowed Tomb"
Text: Luke 24:1-12
4-17-2022
In the name of our risen Lord and Savior, dear friends in Christ. During the course of our Lenten journey together, I’ve shared with you pictures of various Biblical sites that my wife and I saw over in Israel several years ago. Today, I have two final ones to assist us in our meditation on the Scriptures. Let’s start with the tomb on the front cover. What’s different about this site is that nobody claims that it had anything to do with Jesus. It was accidentally unearthed alongside of a road that was being constructed. The reason why I used it is because it’s very similar to the borrowed tomb that Jesus was laid in on Good Friday. And hopefully this picture will help you visualize the scene that took place on that first Easter morning.
You recall that after Jesus died on the cross, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate to release Christ’s body to him. Joseph was a member of the Jewish Sanhedrin but he was also a secret follower of Jesus. St. Matthew tells us that he was wealthy which would explain the tomb he owned. Only rich people could afford the luxury of a grave carved out of the limestone like this. It would be large enough to hold his body along with several family members. But he had no need of it yet so he volunteered this pristine, unused tomb for the temporary grave of Jesus. After he and Nicodemus added spices to the body, they wrapped it and placed it in the tomb.
That large, round stone you see on the left was the door and it could be rolled back and forth in a channel that was cut into the rock at the entrance. To move it was no easy task. We don’t know how the women on that early Sunday morning hoped to roll the stone away. However, that wasn’t the only barrier they would have to encounter on their mission to finish anointing Christ’s body. On Saturday, the Chief Priests and Pharisees had gone to Pilate and asked him to post a guard at the tomb because they feared that the disciples might try to come steal the body and then claim that Jesus had risen.
Just a minute though. Why hadn’t they made this request on Friday evening immediately after Christ was placed in the tomb? Well, most likely they figured that since it was the Sabbath AND the Passover celebration the friends of Jesus wouldn’t risk going out to do such a thing. Back then, and even yet today, everything shuts down and the streets are empty on Friday evening when Sabbath begins. No work was allowed and no businesses were open. However, at sundown on Saturday when Sabbath was over things would be different and the disciples would be able to move about freely. The Chief Priest wanted to prevent any chance of them sneaking to the tomb so they went to Pilate with their request. By then, he was sick of dealing with them and he basically said, “Go secure it yourselves!” So, they sent Temple guards and sealed the tomb. The seal was hot wax that was poured somewhere onto that round stone where it met the face of the tomb. If it were moved the seal would be broken showing that it had been tampered with.
Then the guards set a watch over the tomb. The ironic thing is that they were supposed to make sure no one entered that grave. They weren’t looking to prevent anyone from exiting it. When God broke that seal early on Sunday morning, He did it in a BIG way. There was an earthquake and an angel rolled the stone away. Not to let Jesus out. He was risen and gone. Rather, the door was opened to reveal that this borrowed tomb was already empty.
Isn’t it interesting that the guards who were supposed to prevent the body of Jesus from being removed were the first witnesses that the tomb was empty? They saw the angel and cowered in fear. However, as far as we know this didn’t convert them into believers in Christ. They accepted a bribe from the Jewish leaders and kept their mouths shut. But notice what the angel said to the women who DID trust in Jesus, when they arrived at the tomb: “Why do you seek the living among the dead?” He reminded them how Jesus had promised that He would rise again. It stimulated their faith so that they could believe that Jesus was truly alive!
That question of the angel is a good one for us to ponder this morning. “Why do you seek the living among the dead?” Yes, Jesus most certainly died on Good Friday. And He remained dead until early on Sunday morning. But do you remember how I said that it was a “borrowed” tomb that He was placed in? That’s because He wouldn’t need it for long. Only 3 days to be exact. It’s like going to a motel where you only intend on resting for a few days. You have no intention of staying there for the rest of your life. Well, Jesus only needed that grave for a short while. His body rested there until it was time to rise to life. The tomb would soon be vacated. Even though we visited 2 different sites claiming to be the Holy Sepulcher over in Israel, nobody knows for sure if either of them is the actual one. But you know, when it really comes down to it, it doesn’t matter because we have God’s sure and certain Word that on Easter morning the tomb that Christ lay in was empty. And now He lives, never to die again. Therein lies the hope of all believers in Jesus.
On the Mount of Olives east of Jerusalem overlooking the former Temple there is a massive Jewish cemetery on the descending slope. You can see a picture of it on page 11 of your bulletin. Do you see the rocks that are on those graves? Well, instead of placing flowers when they visit the grave of a loved one, they use a rock. Rocks last longer and they’re plentiful over there in Israel. Anyway, this cemetery is a special place for a Jew to be buried because they believe that those closest to the Temple will be resurrected first when the Messiah appears. That’s sad because Jesus Christ, the true Messiah, has already come and they refuse to believe it. He lived and died and rose again. His empty, borrowed tomb testifies to that. Being close to the Temple won’t assure them of eternal life. Only faith in the risen Savior will.
For us who do believe and trust in Jesus, our graves have now become like His. When we die and are laid in the ground it’s also a borrowed tomb. It’s a temporary place for our bodies to rest until the Day of Resurrection when Christ returns. Our earthly remains may lie there for hundreds or thousands of years. No matter. Our souls live on with Him. On the Last Day when Jesus brings life to our dead bodies and reunites them with our souls those graves will be abandoned and empty. And all believers in Christ will live eternally with Him in heaven. There’s a beautiful verse in the hymn, “All Praise To Thee, My God, This Night” that expresses this Christian hope. It goes like this:
Teach me to live that I may dread,
The grave as little as my bed.
Teach me to die that so I may
Rise glorious at the awful day.”
So when we visit the cemeteries where we’ve laid the bodies of our loved ones who died in the faith, we must remember that those are borrowed tombs. When we look ahead to the day when we are placed in the ground, our grave is just a temporary resting place. By faith in Jesus Christ, we will live again because He has conquered death and gives us eternal life. Praise God for Christ’s empty, borrowed tomb. Praise God, our Lord and Savior is alive. And so we boldly and joyfully remind one another of this by saying: Alleluia! Christ is risen! {He is risen indeed, Alleluia!} Amen!
Soli Deo Gloria!