Sermon for the Resurrection of our Lord – April 4, 2021
Calvary/Marquette ● Soli Deo Gloria

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you… (1 Peter 1:3-4, NKJV)

Luke 23:50–24:3 (NKJV)
50 Now behold, there was a man named Joseph, a council member, a good and just man. 51 He had not consented to their decision and deed. He was from Arimathea, a city of the Jews, who himself was also waiting for the kingdom of God. 52 This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. 53 Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a tomb that was hewn out of the rock, where no one had ever lain before. 54 That day was the Preparation, and the Sabbath drew near. 55 And the women who had come with Him from Galilee followed after, and they observed the tomb and how His body was laid. 56 Then they returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils. And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment.

Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. 2 But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. 3 Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.

In the Name of Jesus, the Christ,
Who was delivered up because of our offenses,
Who was raised again for our justification,
Dear Fellow Redeemed in His Most Precious Blood –

We all make preparations every day…some simple others more complex.

We arise from our beds and prepare for the day by washing, dressing, brushing our teeth and preparing our hair.
We prepare to drive our vehicles by first taking in hand the car keys.
We prepare for the unexpected by putting on our seatbelts.
In many cases we think very little about these preparations, they are a matter of habit really.

In the Word of God upon which we meditate we are told that the Jews observed a day of Preparation. For what did they prepare on that day?

For the Jews, every Friday might be considered a day of preparation. Since God had commanded the Jews not to labor on the Sabbath Day, they would have to prepare for that day in advance. Thus, even as the Israelites wandering in the wilderness gathered twice as much manna the day before the Sabbath (Exodus 16:22-26), so they would need to gather extra water and any other necessities on the Preparation Day, the day before the Sabbath – Friday.

This wasn’t the only preparation. They were to prepare their hearts for the Sabbath and for the hearing of God’s Word.

This morning we will take a moment to look at the preparations that were made on one particular Preparation Day. We will see how Joseph and Nicodemus, the Religious Leaders and the women who followed Jesus from Galilee used the Preparation Day. Finally, and most importantly, we will marvel at what our God accomplished on that Preparation Day.

We therefore begin with prayer: “Sanctify us by your Truth, O Lord, Your Word is Truth.” Amen.
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When we take a look at the burial of Jesus, it seems as if Jesus’ death found most of His disciples unprepared. Jesus was nailed to the cross at about 9am and died about six hours later at 3pm. The only disciple said to be present on Calvary was ‘the disciple whom Jesus loved’ (The Apostle John).

We might be tempted to stand in judgment of them, but we too are absent, even invisible, when we ought to stand up for our Lord. We justify it in self-preservation, but it’s sin.

It must have been shortly after Jesus’ death that the Jewish Leaders asked Pontius Pilate that the legs of the crucified men be broken to speed death (John 19:31-32). They also asked that the body of Jesus and those of the two criminals be taken away. They did this for two reasons: 1) The Law given through Moses forbad that bodies be left out through the night (Deuteronomy 21:23) and 2) because it was the Preparation Day and the next day was a special sabbath during the Festival of Unleavened Bread.

The bodies of the two criminals were probably tossed into a pit or unmarked grave. The same thing might have happened to the body of Jesus, except that God moved a secret disciple, a rich man (cf. Isaiah 53:9) to step into the light and ask for the body of Jesus:

50 Now behold, there was a man named Joseph, a council member, a good and just man. 51 He had not consented to their decision and deed. He was from Arimathea, a city of the Jews, who himself was also waiting for the kingdom of God. 52 This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. 53 Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a tomb that was hewn out of the rock, where no one had ever lain before. 54 That day was the Preparation, and the Sabbath drew near.

All of Jesus’ disciples had promised that they would die with Jesus before denying Him. So, which of them came forward to claim to body of Jesus? It wasn’t Peter or Andrew, James or John. It wasn’t any of those disciples, but a man named Joseph who had been a secret disciple of Jesus. Joseph was a member of the Jewish High Court, the Sanhedrin and hailed from a city called Arimathea. He was a council member, but He didn’t consent their decision or actions in condemning Jesus.

Joseph of Arimathea risked his reputation and went to Pontius Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Joseph purchased linen and took down the body of Jesus. He was aided by another secret disciple and council member, a man named Nicodemus.

How did Joseph and Nicodemus use the Preparation Day? They used the remaining hours of the day to hurriedly bury the body of Jesus. They placed it in Joseph’s own new tomb, which was hewn out of the rock, in which no other corpse had been or was laying, because of its close proximity to Calvary (John 19:42). It was there that they worked in the late afternoon hours to wrap Jesus’ body in strips of linen along with a mixture of myrrh and aloes (John 19:40). They worked quickly to bury the body of Jesus in perhaps less than two hours. They hurried because the Sabbath Day drew near and God forbade that they work on the Sabbath.

Moreover, in carrying out this labor of love for their Savior, they became ceremonially unclean and would not be able to celebrate on the Sabbath (cf. Leviticus 22:4-6).

Joseph and Nicodemus used the Preparation Day to prepare Jesus’ body for burial.

How did the other council men use the Preparation Day? They had a full day preparing for Jesus’ death. They convened an illegal proceeding during the night and based on false witnesses condemned Jesus. They crossed the ‘T’s’ and dotted the ‘I’s’ the next morning. Then they spent the day following Jesus from Pilate to Herod to Pilate accusing Him of different crimes and inciting a mob to call for His death. They spent the remainder of the day on Calvary mocking Jesus as He died.

The Religious Leaders of the Jews didn’t spend much time in godly preparation for the Sabbath.

55 And the women who had come with Him from Galilee followed after, and they observed the tomb and how His body was laid. 56 Then they returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils. And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment.

Joseph and Nicodemus weren’t the only ones present that Preparation Day. There were also a group of women who had followed Jesus from Galilee. They too spent some of the day on Calvary watching Jesus suffer and die. They likely watched Joseph take down the body of Jesus and they followed to the tomb. They saw how Joseph and Nicodemus began the process of embalming His Body. They saw where and how the two men laid the body.

It must have been a heart-breaking and emotionally exhausting Preparation Day for them. Still, they returned to the places they were staying and prepared spices (aromatic, fragrant herbs, probably in dry form) and fragrant oils (sweet smelling ointments) with which they planned to care for the body of Jesus. It was a warm climate, and corpses would quickly break down and begin to smell. They figured that Jesus body would be no different.

These women spent the Preparation Day watching the Lord Jesus die and then preparing to care for the corpse of the Lord. It was a labor of love.

Well, does that about cover all the activity that took place on the Preparation Day? Well, that about covers the human activity that took place on the Preparation Day…which we call Good Friday.

What did you do on Good Friday? Did you prepare? Was it just like any other day? Did we merely go about our lives following the desires of our hearts? What about Saturday? Did we set aside some time to prepare for worship today? Did we take time to examine our hearts in preparation for receiving the Supper of the Lord?

But wait, there was another who was making preparations that day.

Earlier in His Ministry, Jesus had said (John 5:17):
“My Father has been working until now, and I have been working.”

Even though few noticed or understood what was happening, our gracious God was also working on that Preparation Day. He was finishing up a plan designed by His own love before time began (2 Timothy 1:9, Titus 1:2). It was a plan that involved sending His own Son into the human race to keep and fulfill the demands of His own Law and provide perfect righteousness to humankind. It was a plan that required that His own son make the once for all sacrifice to atone for every human sin.

While Joseph and Nicodemus made plans and the Religious Leaders poured out hateful words; while the women watched with broken hearts, the Son of God from the darkness certified the job complete (John 19:30):
“It is finished.”

For (2 Corinthians 5:19,21): “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not charging their trespasses to them…He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

No one noticed, but in the latter hours of that Preparation Day our adoption papers were drawn up (to make us children of God and possessors of an eternal inheritance). They awaited one final verification, a stamp of approval, a receipt.

While most everyone rested on the Sabbath…God prepared to present his gift to the world.

Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. 2 But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. 3 Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.

In the early morning hours of the first day of the week, the day we know as Sunday, God dispatched an angel to the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea. The Gospel of Luke doesn’t mention it, but that angel descended from heaven and rolled back the door of the tomb and sat upon it.

God presented His gift – eons in the making – to the world. It is an empty tomb…which stands forever as the proof that our sins are forgiven and we have been reconciled to God.

Joseph and Nicodemus prepared Jesus body to rest in the tomb…but He didn’t stay there. He arose from death.

The Religious Leaders even prepared for this eventuality having the tomb sealed on the Sabbath and guarded by soldiers. They stopped nothing. The angel only opened the door to reveal what was already done. Christ had arisen.

The women came ready to finish embalming a corpse and found that their preparations had been for nothing. There was no body to be embalmed. If they were disappointed to prepare for nothing…their disappointment didn’t last long. They saw a living Jesus in no need of embalming. Their preparations had been unnecessary!

Oh well. What’s the old saying? “The best laid plans of mice and men…”
How about: “Man proposes; God disposes.”

Christ is risen. Hallelujah.

Let us therefore joyfully prepare our hearts each and every day and for every day of worship knowing that He lives. Moreover, as we sorrowfully confess our sins, let us look again toward the empty tomb and trust in His completed work.

Let us live each day in hope, as if he died for us yesterday, rose again today and is coming back tomorrow.

Hallelujah! Amen!