The Story of Easter – Day #8
(Devotional by Pastor Ben)

Unwittingly, the Jewish leaders, Pilate, the Roman soldiers, and the secret followers of Jesus all play a role in fulfilling several ancient prophesies about how Jesus’ death and burial were to happen. Then, by sealing the tomb and posting a guard, they help to set the stage for the greatest upset victory of all time.

“Because the Jewish leaders did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: ‘Not one of his bones will be broken,’ and, as another scripture says, ‘They will look on the one they have pierced.”

“Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jewish leaders. With Pilate’s permission, he came and took the body away. He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs. At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.”      (John 19:31-42)
“The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. ‘Sir,’ they said, ‘we remember that while he was still alive, that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. The last deception will be worse than the first.”
“Take a guard, Pilate answered. ‘Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.’ So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting a guard.”    (Matthew 27:62-66)

We are first introduced to the Pharisee Nicodemus when he sneaks to meet with Jesus under cover of darkness. Their fascinating conversation, which includes one of the most well-loved verses in the Bible, is recorded in John 3:1-21. Many of Jesus’ words from that night are probably coming back to haunt Nicodemus now. Read that passage.

There is no way around it, Jesus is polarizing. Even while He hangs on the cross, people react to Him in completely opposite ways. This is seen most clearly in the responses of the two thieves on either side of Him.

“The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, ‘He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.’ The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar and said, ‘If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.’ There was a written notice above him, which read: this is the king of the Jews.”

“One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: ‘Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!’ But the other criminal rebuked him. ‘Don’t you fear God,’ he said, ‘since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.’ Then he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’ Jesus answered him, ‘Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
                                (Luke 23:35-43)

It’s impossible for a criminal who is stuck to a cross and on the verge of death to do any work to earn himself a place in heaven. Read all we have to do to gain eternal life in John 1:12.