Death Is Powerless

Movies and books have been written about a way to live forever.  Maybe it is using the fountain of youth, wherever that may be.  Maybe it’s with the flower as found in the Disney movie, Tangled.  For centuries there has been a desire and a fascination with trying to cheat death.  If one runs fast enough or avoids certain situations, then surely the Grim Reaper cannot catch you.  There is even an industry called cryonics which puts people into a frozen, preserved state.  The intent is that when the cure for the disease which killed them is invented, they will be thawed and healed and continue living; which actually, leaves God completely the equation.  

As a general rule, most people have a fear of death.  Ever since Adam and Eve, death has been a part of this world.  We know of only two individuals from the Bible who did not experience death; Enoch and Elijah.  Some suggest that Moses didn’t experience death; however, if he didn’t, then why did God bury Him?  Even Christ experienced death.  However, He conquered death and was victorious over sin which causes death.  He rose from the dead and offers that resurrection life to all who will believe on Him.  Jesus, by His power, has taken away the fear of death.  

You see, the Bible makes it clear that on this earth, death is a part of life and it is for all of us.  But, my friends, that is not the end for many of us. 

For all who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, we will experience Christ’s power over death.

Power Of Release - 19:31-37

Then the Jews, because it was the day of preparation, so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.  So the soldiers came, and broke the legs of the first man and of the other who was crucified with Him; but coming to Jesus, when they saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs.  But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out.  And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you also may believe.  For these things came to pass to fulfill the Scripture, “Not a bone of Him shall be broken.”  And again another Scripture says, “They shall look on Him whom they pierced.”

Many times, death comes when it is least expected.  Those in car accidents never thought that was going to be when the end of life occurred.  Sometimes, suddenly and swiftly, death takes a person.  There are those other times, when there is plenty of opportunity to prepare for death.  None of us were given a calendar with the date of our death marked on it.  

Yet, for Jesus, He knew exactly when His death was going to take place.  In fact, every time when someone tried to take His life, they failed.  Only Jesus Himself could know exactly when His death was to take place.  None of this was coincidence.  That His sacrifice for sin would occur exactly in preparation for the Passover was part of His divine plan.  That all the Scriptures would be fulfilled with such precision was part of His plan.  He could have avoided the cross or still be on the cross, if He wished.  But when Jesus shouted, It is finished, it was truly completed.  

Jesus’ time on the cross was only for about 6 hours.  Most people would be hanging there for 2-3 days before they finally died.  But we observe here that it seems the religious leaders’ intent was that they all be killed before the Sabbath began so that the land would not be defiled with dead bodies outside.  However, Jesus would not let them have that control.  He gave up His own life, based on his perfect plan.  

The other two, who were criminals, had their legs broken by the soldiers so that they would die quicker. The loss of blood and excruciating pain wasn’t always what killed them.  Since they could no longer lift themselves up by their legs to breathe in air, they literally suffocated.  

It appeared that Jesus was dead, so they pierced His side with a spear, watching as the mixture of water and blood came out. Our focus is on the fact that the power of Jesus was seen even in His death.  By the way, Jesus’ legs were not broken, in order to further fulfill prophecy which stated:

not one bone of His body shall be broken. 

Even the piercing of His side was to fulfill prophecy.  If nothing else, this verifies that Jesus Christ was a real person with a real body.  

Please understand that these soldiers were experts in knowing when a body was dead.  They testified that He was dead.  They would have had nothing to gain to lie about Jesus’ death.  Even their commander, according to Mark 15, stated that Jesus was dead.  By the way, John was actually there on the scene.  He observed it all.  Even in Jesus’ death, Christ was in control and He was fulfilling the Scripture.  

Here, we observe the power of Jesus shining forth even in His death.

Power In Resting Place - 19:38-42

After these things Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but a secret one for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus; and Pilate granted permission. So he came and took away His body.  Nicodemus, who had first come to Him by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds weight.  So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen wrappings with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews.  Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid.  Therefore because of the Jewish day of preparation, since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.

Isaiah 53 is such a helpful cross-reference in discussing Jesus, the Messiah.  It is no wonder that the Jewish religious leaders today refuse to read this chapter, much less discuss it.  It so very obviously points out that the Messiah who fulfilled the prophecies of Isaiah is none other than Jesus Christ.  

I visit with several people who plan out their funerals.  They know the Scripture passage to be shared, the music, the pallbearers, where they are to be, etc.  However, Jesus knew about His burial, but nobody else really did.  Isaiah 53 is fulfilled even in where He is to be buried.  Isaiah 53:9 says that the Messiah’s

grave was assigned with wicked men, yet He was with a rich man in His death.

He was crucified with the worst of the worst.  But His burial was in a borrowed tomb of an incredibly wealthy individual.  This man was Joseph of Arimathea.  According to Mark 15:43, Joseph was also a member of the Sanhedrin, as was Nicodemus.  According to Luke 23, he opposed the majority of the Sanhedrin who were trying to condemn Jesus.  Also, we see in the same chapter that he was considered a good and righteous man.  Matthew 27 states that he was a disciple of Jesus, though secretly because of the other Jewish religious leaders.  

Mark 15 lets us know that when Pilate was fully assured by his people that Jesus was totally dead, he allowed Joseph to take the body for burial.  In verse 39 of John 19, we see that Joseph is joined by another secret disciple and peer in the Sanhedrin, Nicodemus.  Scholars suggest that the amount of myrrh and aloes brought equaled about 65 of our pounds.  Interestingly, that was the equivalent of what would have been used for the body of a king who had died.  The purchase of the tomb area and the purchase of the myrrh and aloes had been done previously. There's no way this could have been done at a late stage, due to the incredible busyness of this Passover season.  Even the location of the tomb is remarkable. A wealthy individual would not have normally had his own tomb that close to where all these criminals would be crucified and their dead bodies left on the ground. I believe there was intentionality so that Nicodemus and Joseph could take care of the body quickly before the religious leaders or the Romans could do anything.

The purpose of the spices was to mask the odor of the body as it decayed.  The Egyptians and many others embalmed the body.  The Jews did not. 

Now think about this.  If Joseph, Nicodemus, or any of the women who were involved in preparing the body for burial thought for a moment that Jesus was going to rise from the dead, do you think they would have been so thorough in their burial preparation? Personally, I don’t think so.  And I believe the Scriptural evidence as seen in everyone’s reactions later bear this out.  

It is helpful if we don’t think of this as a typical North American cemetery.  Most of these burial places were carved out of a rock and then sealed by placing a huge stone in the front of the opening.  They also needed to do this fairly quickly for this had to be done before the Sabbath.  But even more importantly, the prophecy was to be fulfilled for Jesus to have been buried for three days before rising to life.  Thus, He was in the grave for part of Friday, all day Saturday (the Sabbath), and part of Sunday morning.  

I also want to touch on something that often gets overlooked.  Joseph and Nicodemus, by touching the dead body of Jesus, were no longer able to participate in the Passover, since they were now unclean.  Yet, they understood that they had observed the last sacrifice that would ever be needed for sin.  They did not care any longer about ceremony or what others may think.  In fact, by coming out into the open, they were confessing Christ before men, regardless of the cost to themselves.  

So, we see the power of Jesus, not only in His death, but also in His burial.  

Power In Resurrection - 20:1-10

Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came early to the tomb, while it was still dark, and saw the stone already taken away from the tomb.  So she ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.”  So Peter and the other disciple went forth, and they were going to the tomb.  The two were running together; and the other disciple ran ahead faster than Peter and came to the tomb first; and stooping and looking in, he saw the linen wrappings lying there; but he did not go in.  And so Simon Peter also came, following him, and entered the tomb; and he saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the face-cloth which had been on His head, not lying with the linen wrappings, but rolled up in a place by itself.  So the other disciple who had first come to the tomb then also entered, and he saw and believed.  For as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead.  So the disciples went away again to their own homes.

Here, it becomes almost so exciting, we can hardly contain ourselves.  For here, we see the power of Jesus over death itself.  As a result of the newness of life that the believer can experience because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the church normally meets for formal worship on Sundays, the first day of the week.  

Here, we see Mary Magdalene come to the tomb.  She probably was the first one there, as it was still dark.  Mark 16 suggests that the other women and others who came did so after sunrise.  She must have panicked when she found the tomb empty, running back to tell Peter and John her fears.  She feared that someone had taken Jesus someplace else.  

Peter and John took off towards the tomb where Jesus had been placed.  John must have been the faster of the two since he arrived first.  However, upon seeing the empty tomb and the linen wrappings lying there, he just stood outside.  Peter, none too cautious, as usual, went right inside, getting a better picture.  Even though the details may not seem like much, they are important.  For if grave robbers had been at work, they would not have been neat and tidy and orderly.  Everything was intentionally placed in an orderly fashion.  In addition, grave robbers would have stolen the spices, as well, as they were worth a lot of money.  One scholar also suggests that the grave clothes being there would also deny that the disciples had whisked away the body.  A Jew would not take off the grave clothes for that would be dishonoring and make them unclean.

After Peter’s entrance and observation, John went on into the tomb.  It is here that John realizes that Jesus had risen from the dead.  They may not have fully graspe all that this meant, especially Peter, but they were obviously amazed.  In fact, as one looks at this description, a simple word gives even greater insight.  Weirsbe states:  When John wrote this account, he used three different Greek words for seeing. In John 20:5, the verb simply means “to glance in, to look in.” In John 20:6, the word means “to look carefully, to observe.” The word “saw” in John 20:8 means “to perceive with intelligent comprehension.”

Today we have seen that the power of Christ is seen in His death, His burial, and in His resurrection.

Reflections

Christ has shown, throughout His life on this earth, that He is in control and has power over everything.  He showed power over the weather; power over sickness; power over the death of others; power over false teachers; power over demons.  Yet, there was that one area that overshadows all who have ever lived.  Would it be possible for Jesus to have power over death itself?

Today, we’ve seen that He absolutely did have that power.  You see, it was sin that brought death into this world.  And as long as sin had control, death would always rule.  Yes, there was the regular sacrifices for sin.  But that was only good based upon the faith of the person offering it.  Did they truly believe in God?  Did they have a hope for the future based upon God and His promises?  

Now, here in Jesus Christ, the very Son of God, He has fulfilled all the prophecies and is indeed the predicted Messiah.  He came as the perfect Lamb of God to take away the sin of the world.  He willingly went to the cross because of the great love God has for us.  He carried upon Himself all our sins, joyfully willing to pay the price for us so that we wouldn’t have to pay it.  And when He said It is finished, He meant that He did all that was necessary to take care of your sins and my sins.

But would it really be enough?  Absolutely!  For death and the grave could not hold our Jesus.  His sacrifice was sufficient and was what the Father demanded.  We have seen today from this passage that the power of Christ was seen in His death, in that He released His Spirit when He was ready to do so. 

We have seen the power of Christ in His burial, in that He chose His own resting place before time began and moved the hearts of the right people at the right time. 

And we’ve gotten a glimpse of the power of Christ in His resurrection, in that He is no longer in the tomb.

Wiersbe also reminds us of how others can know that Jesus Christ is for real.  A person can see the working of Christ in the lives of each of us.  A person can also read the Word of God, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit will reveal what is necessary.  And once a person surrenders themselves to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, they will personally experience the reality of Jesus.  

Have you experienced the power of Christ in your life?  Maybe you have experienced it in salvation.  For that, we all praise God together.  Now have you experienced the power of Christ in your life where you have victory over sin?  Are you able to love others with the love of Christ?  Are you able to say Yes to righteousness and no to ungodliness.  

Jesus can give you victory in all areas of your life.  But it must start with surrendering to Him.