Meditations on the Cross, Burial, Resurrection and Appearances of the Lord Jesus

April 4, 2010

Meditations on the Cross, Burial, Resurrection and Appearances of the Lord Jesus

"It is finished... they laid Him in a tomb... He is not here, He is risen... it is the Lord!"

“It is finished!” John does not tell us, but others do, that Jesus spoke these words in a loud voice. Not the voice of one defeated but the note of triumph and completion. The tone would be like an athlete yelling, “I did it!” after a hard-fought contest. Whatever Jesus was doing, He completed it. It was accomplished. 

His dying was more than physical. The saving is more than spiritual. It is WHOLE. The Father’s purposes are done. The Scriptures have been fulfilled. The ruler of this world has been judged. Then and only then did Jesus yield his Spirit. The worst that evil and humanity could do had been done and yet, He overcame. Sin had done it’s uttermost and He bested it. Jesus absorbed the blows of evil and sin, He absorbed the essence of evil and sin and “finished it” BEFORE He yielded His spirit.

The world wanted a dead Jesus and that is what it got. He had come to His own but His own rejected Him. His body, a holy tabernacle, was destroyed by sinful rebellion and cruelty. The perfect light that had shone was extinguished. Love was eliminated from the scene. The dead body of Jesus hung lifelessly there. Crushed by evil, weighed down with sin. Yet one eyewitness had seen through the cruelty, pain, ugliness and had asked to be remembered, even though he deserved to be forgotten. He had seen past flesh and blood and had seen the face of God. And he uttered a prayer that hoped for better things. And he was answered. The agony continued as the heavens darkened, the earth shook and lightening flashed while a cosmic reconciliation was being accomplished. And as the spirit is dismissed; the spear thrusts, the blood and water flow. Death is verified. The hands of the haters had done their deeds well. 

It is Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus who bravely ask Pilate for the body of Jesus and place the spices in the wrappings around His body. They may have been secret disciples before these few days, but the pressure of the trial and crucifixion had hardened their faith, not their hearts. So they prepared His body and laid Him in a new tomb. They saw all the enemy had done to Him and they thought He was done for, so they were sad and wracked with grief. But it was not over. . . a new song of music was brewing in heaven. 

And it was a song of life. There are no eyewitnesses of Jesus’ act of rising. His enemies were not permitted to see and His followers did not expect to see; but there are many accounts of the Risen Jesus. He moves from Mary to the travelers on the Emmaus Road to the disciples in the upper room. They find He is Present. He is There. And He is. For He is Risen. Indeed.