Amy C Walters

Jesus’ Death and Burial | Luke 23:44-56

Jesus’ death and burial is a dark time for Jesus’ followers. But even in this darkest hour, we see a new follower move forward with faith, a secret follower move forward with courage, and some distant followers move forward in obedience.

This story is a dark moment for Jesus’ followers. They have been following him for a long time, placing all of their hope in him, and now he’s been crucified. What will they do now? Luke shows us how some of Jesus’ followers move forward even in the darkness. 

First, we look at a new follower, the centurion. The “when,” “who,” and “how” of this new follower is really unexpected. 

He’s a Roman, so that makes him a Gentile, an outsider to the people of Israel. We know that other soldiers mocked Jesus, so we would expect the centurion to join in on that ridicule. He’s also the one overseeing this execution. He is part of the machinery of the Roman system that made Jesus’ cruel death happen. And yet we’re told that this centurion, “seeing what had happened, praised God and said, ‘surely this was a righteous man.’” 

Why would the centurion praise God for the death of a righteous man? Maybe for the death of a wicked man that makes sense. But the death of a righteous man seems regrettable. It appears that other people who had witnessed this execution felt that way. We’re told that they “beat their breasts and went away.” Beating your chest is a sign of grief and sorrow. That response makes sense. But the centurion worshiped.

I think two things he’s seen have led to this. First, just before the centurion’s comment, he heard Jesus shout, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” This is not the desperate pleading of a man whose life was robbed from him. This was the perfect trust of a man who willingly offered his life. 

Second, there’s a difference between innocence and righteousness. Innocence has to do with behavior and legal standing, but righteousness has to do with character.

The centurion recognizes that Jesus is righteous. Another way of saying that is that he is approved by God. So an innocent victim who has been robbed of his life is someone to mourn, but a righteous man who has given his life is someone to worship.

Luke notes that the centurion praised God. This is not just a throwaway comment. Several times in the book of Luke, he states that someone has glorified or praised God. And Tim Keller notes that almost every time it’s used, the speaker has had an encounter with God’s saving power. 

All of this comes because of what the centurion saw of Jesus in those hours on the cross. Just that small glimpse of Jesus was enough for the centurion to take a step of faith.

Think back to all that you have seen of Jesus in your own Bible reading or other teaching and messaging you’ve heard. What have you done with it? Have you taken a step of faith to worship Jesus as your Savior?

Or do you think you need more information? Do you need more convincing? For the centurion, what he saw was enough, and he moved forward.

Next, Luke shows us a secret follower of Jesus, Joseph of Arimathea. We’re told that Joseph is a member of the council, the same council of religious leaders that just condemned Jesus to death. 

We would expect Joseph to go along with his fellow religious leaders. The interactions between Jesus and the religious leaders have been tense at best. Jesus has called them hypocrites, and they have mocked him while he was dying. 

But Joseph is different from those other religious leaders. We’re told that he is good and upright, and that he is waiting for the kingdom of God. So even in this dark moment, he has not given up on the kingdom of God. Even when his hopes and expectations for what that kingdom would look like don’t match recent events, he’s still looking for it. Even when his co-workers feverishly work to build their own kingdom, he’s working for God’s. 

It must have weighed heavily on Joseph what the council has done. He didn’t go along with their decision, but he’s still part of that group. He could have wallowed in that guilt and remorse. But instead, this secret follower of Jesus takes steps of courage. 

He goes to Pilate to ask for Jesus’ body. He takes it down from the cross, he wraps it in linen, and he places it in a tomb. 

What does Joseph risk in doing all of this? What does it cost him?

Joseph risks the attention of Pilate, the man who was just handed Jesus over to be executed because of pressure from the crowd. What might Pilate do to him? 

Joseph risks the anger of that crowd, specifically the rest of the council. He already knows that they are capable of sending a man to his death. What will the council do to Joseph when they find out that he has crossed them? 

Taking Jesus down from the cross would have been a messy job. Jesus’ body is bloody and torn, and that would have gotten on to Joseph. And touching a dead body would have made Joseph ceremonially unclean. That means he can’t participate in other events in the Passover celebration that weekend. 

It even cost Joseph to buy the linen that he wraps around Jesus. And the tomb that he lays Jesus in was expensive.

Doing all this would reveal Joseph’s secret that he is a follower of Jesus. And he moves forward even in this dark time with steps of courage. 

Finally, Luke shows us some Jesus followers who are described here as “distant.” We’re told that “those who knew Jesus, including the women who had followed Jesus there from Galilee, stood at a distance watching these things.” 

These women are a long way from home. It’s about 80 miles between Galilee and Jerusalem, and you can’t just hop on a bus or a plane. 

They’re a long way from the cross, watching from a distance. Maybe they’re hanging back out of fear, or maybe it’s that they just don’t want to see what’s happening. It’s like watching an accident where you cover your eyes, but you peek through the gap in your fingers. 

And these women are a long way from hope. They have loved Jesus, supported him, and followed him for so long. They had placed so much hope in him. And now they were following him to the tomb where his body would be buried. What would they do now?

They continue to follow. They follow Joseph as he carries Jesus’ body to the tomb. They see where that tomb is and how his body is laid in it. They go home and ready the spices and perfumes that will prepare his body for burial. 

But then we’re told that they rest on the Sabbath “in obedience to the commandment.” I wonder if that was hard. If they were thinking, “I just want to get this over with. I don’t want this hanging over my head, still having to go and see his lifeless body.” But they are obedient to the command and they rest on the Sabbath.

Now I don’t know about you, but I tend to give myself a pass when I’m struggling and in a dark place. I tell myself that I don’t have to follow all the rules in those moments. I eat some junk food to help me feel better. Maybe I do some retail therapy and spend some money to help myself feel better. I break some rules in those dark moments. But these women, even in this dark time, they move forward with steps of obedience.

Our key truth for today is that Jesus’ followers move forward with faith and courage and obedience. 

Even in the darkest times when we don’t know where to go from here. 

Even when our deepest hopes and expectations seem dashed to pieces.

Even if everyone else we know and work with and associate with has gone a different direction. 

Scott Hubbard writes, “God’s kingdom often advances the most in the midst of unexpected, unlikely obedience. The tree inches upward unseen from the mustard seed. The leaven spreads silently through the lump. And in the midnight of our obedience, the darkness of the tomb awaits the moment when lungs will fill again with hope.” 

I don’t know what you’re feeling or experiencing right now. You may feel as hopeless or weary or burdened as the centurion or Joseph or these women. But keep moving forward, taking small steps of faith and courage and obedience. Because this story is not over yet.