Holy Saturday (April 4). If you were there

Prepare to Listen.  Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.
 
Prayerfully Read John 19:38-42
38After these things, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, though a secret one because of his fear of the Jews, asked Pilate to let him take away the body of Jesus.  Pilate gave him permission, so he came and removed his body. 39Nicodemus, who had at first come to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds.  40They took the body of Jesus and wrapped it with the spices in linen cloths, according to the burial custom of the Jews.  41Now there was a garden in the place where he was crucified, and in the garden there was a new tomb in which no one had ever been laid.  42And so, because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.
 
Prayerfully Wonder
“Were you there when they laid him in the tomb?”  According to John’s account, only Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus could say, Yes.  Although John doesn’t mention them, we know many women disciples would also say, Yes.  The Twelve?  No!
 
Neither Joseph nor Nicodemus knew Jesus well.  Joseph was a “secret disciple” and Nicodemus came to Jesus only once, at the beginning of his ministry.  Neither followed him while he was alive.  But they were at his tomb; they laid him there.  They gave Jesus a burial fit for a king, embalming his body with 100 pounds worth of spices.  Mary anointed him with one pound and some protested the extravagant waste.  I wonder what they’d say about 100 pounds!  They wanted to be sure the body would last a long, long time.  They probably never knew that Jesus said he’d rise again on the third day.  Why did they spend so much time and money on Jesus?  What did they think about him?
 
If, as some suggest, we’ll be remembered, not so much for what we owned or even did, but for who we were, what our behavior revealed about our character, I wonder what Joseph and Nicodemus were remembering about Jesus’ character as they laid him in the tomb.  Perhaps they would say he was everything they’d hoped for and expected of their Messiah, the fulfillment of what they’d learned from the prophets, that he’d restore Israel.  But he died, and with him their hopes.  They laid him in the tomb, never dreaming they’d hear from him again.  But they would remember him.
 
What if you were there?  What would you be remembering about Jesus, something that most affected your llife?
 
Prayerfully Respond
Lord, help me remember you, think about you often for who you were then and still are today and help me grow more like you, bit by bit.  Amen.
 
Live obediently.  Be there and remember.