SOME FUNDAMENTALS - THE BURIAL OF CHRIST

The enemies of Christ insisted that His death should be by the most ignominious means possible, that is, that He should be crucified. This fulfilled what the Lord had Himself said earlier: "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, thus must the Son of man be lifted up", John 3: 14. But when we come to His burial the designs of men were not carried out, for the scripture written over a thousand years before had said prophetically, "Men appointed his grave with the wicked, but he was with the rich in his death", Isa 53: 9. So Joseph of Arimathea, a rich man God had in reserve for this purpose but a secret disciple, emboldened himself and went in to Pilate and begged the body of Jesus. The request was granted and he with Nicodemus (who first came to Jesus by night) bound up the body of Jesus with fine linen and a mixture of myrrh and aloes, and laid it in the new tomb which Joseph had previously hewn in the rock. They then rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb and went away. Thus was the Son of God buried. The love which lay behind this action was fully appreciated in heaven, as was that of the woman previously who had poured out the alabaster flask of very costly ointment upon the head of Jesus. She had beforehand anointed His precious body for the burial (see Mark 14: 8).

It is not always realised that, like the death of Jesus, His burial was vicarious, that is, for others. No doubt this would have become very clear to Joseph. He would know that it was for him that Jesus died on the cross, but it was for him also that He was buried. Indeed He occupied the very tomb that he had prepared for himself. There was no reason in Himself for Jesus to die - He was the only man who had the right to live. There was no reason in Himself for Jesus to be buried - there could be no corruption with Him - but it was necessary to clear the ground for God, and it was necessary for us. In the death of Jesus we see the first order of man terminated under the eye of God and in His burial that order of man is put out of God's sight for ever.

The believer concerned about his sinful state and the sin which still works in Him is to realise that not only did Christ die for him but was buried for him. He now apprehends also by faith that he died with Christ and was buried with Him. His baptism is a public testimony to this (see Rom 6: 4 and Cor 2: 12). The death and burial of Jesus have severed the believer's links with a world of sin, and he now lives a new kind of life in the light of Christ risen. God is no longer looking for anything from the old order of man which has gone in the death and burial of Christ, but the believer learns to rely on the power of the Holy Spirit within to set him free practically from the power of sin and the flesh and so he now serves God in happy liberty.

W.E.Ellis

THE CHILDREN'S LIFE

The second miracle that the Lord did in Galilee, as told us at the end of chapter four of John's gospel, was to heal the son of a king's servant. The father had taken a long journey to where Jesus was and it must have been a very happy message brought to him the next day as he returned home that "Thy child lives". Actually he knew this already the previous day because Jesus had told him so and he believed the word of the Lord. The message did, however, make his faith stronger and as a result he believed also in the Person of the Lord. A miracle was thus called a "sign" because by it the glory of Jesus shone out.

You will also notice that the whole household of the courtier believed. This would doubtless include the child who was healed, the mother, with any other children in the home, as well as the servants who worked there. After the first sign that Jesus did, his disciples believed on Him; now, after the second, there was a whole house full of believers - a bright spot in a place where so many rejected Him. Later, salvation came to the house of Zacchaeus, and you will be able to think of other complete households mentioned in the Acts and the Epistles where real life was enjoyed.

This miracle took place when the Lord was some miles away from the home where the child was. Thus it was also a sign that He had power to heal and to give life when not present to ordinary eyesight. The apostle John wrote his gospel so that we might have life in believing in Jesus, in heaven, as the Christ, the Son of God. He also wrote his epistle so that we should know by enjoyment that we have "eternal life". This is quite separate and different from our ordinary life except, of course, that both are Godgiven.

The last chapter of the Bible speaks much about the tree of life and the water of life - earthly words which have a heavenly meaning. The life that the believer has, as born anew, must be fed and refreshed. Every thought we have of Jesus is a fruit of that tree and the Holy Spirit as living water will keep our minds pure and fresh. Do you enjoy what is "really life" in "the land of the living"?

J.C.Evershed