Scripture

Our verse for today comes from Mark 15:46, ” Then he bought fine linen, took Him down, and wrapped Him in the linen. And he laid Him in a tomb which had been hewn out of the rock, and rolled a stone against the door of the tomb.”

Background

What an unsettling image that is, Joseph of Arimathea, the member of the Sanhedrin who did not agree with their condemnation of Jesus, holding the dead body of the Son of God. Beaten, bloodied, punctured in the side, with holes in His hands and feet, the body was no longer Jesus the Christ, at least not the Jesus it was a few days before. It was different, in ways I’ll never understand or fathom. What had been both man and God, Jesus and Emmanuel, was now dead in Joseph’s arms. But Joseph, whose mind was a million miles removed from trying to grasp the spiritual and biological significance of a dead Savior, took the body and cared for it. He wrapped it up in special cloths and laid it peacefully in a new tomb. Jesus probably looked the best He had looked in a while. Surely Joseph cleaned up the wounds and wiped away the blood and dirt. The anguish and pain, the emotion and distress that He had felt for who knows how long, was finally gone from His brow. But He was dead. Well-dressed, at least for someone in that state, but powerless to even lift a finger. That’s what I call unsettling.

Application

But how is that different from some of us today? We don’t have a dead Savior in our arms, but we do have a living Spirit of God in our hearts. And we certainly dress Him up and make Him look good, perhaps better than most others make Him appear. But He’s also powerless in our lives. We go through our days, living out our lives, and Jesus is not making one little difference in us or the people around us. It’s just like we’ve wrapped Him up in fine linens and laid Him in a tomb somewhere. We know where He is and how to get to Him, but there He lies, powerless to us. Now, isn’t that unsettling? A risen Savior, powerful enough to conquer death and the sins of the world that killed Him, dressed up pretty and doing absolutely nothing. He’s got to be more than just someone we took off of a cross and dressed in fine linen. He rolled the stone away and is able to do much more through you. So let Him do all that He will in your life.

Charge

As we seek Him today, look and see if you still have Jesus tucked away in a tomb somewhere. Stop hiding behind impressions and presentation, and let the living God come out through your life.