August 17, 2025 • 27 mins
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Have you ever wondered what happened in those three days between the cross and the resurrection? Mark's gospel provides a fascinating glimpse into this often-overlooked period, revealing unexpected heroes and profound theological truths.
The moment Jesus breathed His last, the massive temple veil tore from top to bottom—a divine statement that access to God's presence was now available to all. No more barriers, no more distance. While the male disciples had scattered in fear, faithful women including Mary Magdalene stayed to witness both Jesus' death and where His body was laid, becoming essential witnesses for the resurrection story to follow.
Perhaps most remarkable is Joseph of Arimathea, a wealthy member of the very council that condemned Jesus. Taking an enormous risk that jeopardized his social standing and possibly his life, Joseph approached Pilate to request Jesus' body, providing his own expensive tomb for burial. This seemingly simple act of devotion fulfilled ancient prophecies that the Messiah would make "his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death" (Isaiah 53:9).
Meanwhile, Jesus' enemies inadvertently strengthened the resurrection account by demanding guards and an official seal for the tomb. Their attempt to prevent what they called a "deception" made it impossible for disciples to have stolen the body, creating perfect evidence that resurrection truly happened. This reveals a profound truth about God's sovereignty: nothing can sabotage His divine plan. Whether through willing obedience or hostile opposition, God's purposes are accomplished.
The message for us today? A simple heart to honor God, like Joseph demonstrated, can accomplish far more than we realize. You don't have to overthink God's will—often it's right in front of you in the simple acts of obedience and honor. What might God do through your life when you simply wake each day with the desire to honor Him?
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:10):
Mark, chapter 15, verse 38, should be where we
start, and we are just going tojump right in on how about that?
Notice verse 38.
Let's read our passage fortoday and then we'll talk about
it.
Then the veil in the temple wastorn in two, from top to bottom
(00:35):
, and when the centurion whostood opposite him saw that he
cried out like this and breathedhis last, he said truly, this
man was the son of God.
There were also women lookingon from afar, among whom were
Mary Magdalene, Mary, the motherof James, Celeste and Joseph
(00:55):
and Solomon, who also followedhim and ministered to him when
he was in Galilee, and manyother women who came up with him
to Jerusalem, Verse 42,.
Now, when evening had come,because it was the preparation
day, that is, the day before theSabbath, Joseph of Arimathea, a
(01:18):
prominent council member whowas himself waiting for the
kingdom of God coming and takingcourage, went to Pilate and
asked for the body of Jesus.
Pilate marveled that he wasalready dead and, summoning the
centurion, he asked him if hehad been dead for some time.
So when he found out from thecenturion, he granted the body
(01:39):
to Joseph.
Then he brought fine linen,took him down, wrapped him in
the linen and he laid him in atomb which had been hewn out of
the rock and rolled a stoneagainst the door of the tomb and
Mary Magdalene and Mary, themother of Joseph, observed where
Jesus was laid.
(02:00):
So there's our passage fortoday, and it's a little bit of
a mean one.
I really was tempted just tokind of read it and move on to
the resurrection.
Last week we saw Jesus breathedhis last.
He died on the cross for oursins and it is finished.
The debt was paid in full and Ijust want to get to the
(02:21):
resurrection.
I mean that's where it's atright.
You know you have the cross andyou go to the resurrection.
I mean that's where it's atright.
You know you have the cross andyou go to the resurrection and
you see the victory and you'reyay.
But here Mark seemed to have areason to give us a little bit
of a meanwhile.
A little bit of a meanwhile, asJesus was dead.
These are the things that wenton in that in-between time.
(02:45):
So Jesus we see in verse 37,breathed his last and, as with
anyone who breathes their last,Jesus' spirit left his body.
That's what we call death andthis is just a common thing for
(03:09):
all people when your spiritleaves your body, there's no one
there.
It is just an empty shell.
Now, the Hebrew tradition wasthat your spirit lingered for
three days, just kind of hoveredaround to see what might happen
, and then, after three days,death was a certain thing.
(03:31):
That was their tradition, andso, during this time, it is
meaningful for that reason, butalso others.
It's important for us torealize, though, that this is
actually how death works, Notthat the spirit hovers around,
but that when your spirit leavesthe body, there's no one there.
(03:56):
Let me just get to Scripturehere.
2 Corinthians 5.8, importantverse 2 Corinthians 5.8.
Paul says this to the people inCorinth I'd rather be absent
from this body and present withthe Lord.
That's an important thing forus to realize that, when we die,
(04:16):
we go right to be with Jesus,we go right to the Lord.
There's no in-between, there'sno hovering around or any of
that.
We're right with the Lord.
There's no in-between, there'sno hovering around or any of
that.
We're right with the Lord.
That's a great hope, that's awonderful thing that none of us
should be scared of.
To be with the Lord a farbetter thing.
But here Jesus, he, that's alittle more questionable.
(04:49):
Where was Jesus during this time?
1 Peter 3.18,.
You can read it later.
1 Peter 3, starting in verse 18, Peter says this for Christ
also suffered once for sins, thejust for the unjust that he
might.
Now this is the interestingpart Verse 19.
(05:20):
When once the divinelongsuffering waited in the days
of Noah, while the ark wasbeing prepared, in which a few,
that is, eight, souls were savedthrough water.
So here Peter gives us kind ofa you know, does it help us?
I don't know if it helps us.
It's kind of an interestingbackground.
What happened to Jesus after hedied on the cross?
(05:41):
Well, Peter here gives us thisidea that he went and preached
to spirits in prison.
Now, listen, this is all wehave on this.
There's a little more maybe inEphesians 4.9.
That says that he went to thelower parts of the earth, but
(06:01):
other than that we really don'thave any information.
What happened, what Jesus wasdoing during these three days.
And it's an interesting passagebut honestly probably brings a
little more confusion thananything else.
The best we can do is feel thatJesus went to paradise, this
place of the righteous dead.
(06:22):
In the parable.
There, in Luke 16, rich man andLazarus.
We see this little glimpse ofparadise, as Lazarus is there
with Abraham and you can readabout that.
But it seems that that's whereJesus went because of what he
(06:43):
told our friend the thief just afew moments before this Today
you will be with me in paradise.
So he wasn't lying.
He was going to paradise, thisplace of the righteous dead.
But what he did there we reallycan't quite pinpoint.
He preached perhaps, maybesomething like this Guys, it's
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done, it's done, Salvation hasbeen won, Forgiveness is taken
care of.
The good news he preached tothose who are waiting.
But what can we build off ofthat?
Not much more than that, whatJesus was doing.
But here Mark gives us a littlebit of what was going on here
(07:26):
on earth after Jesus died, andthat's what we're looking at
today.
Mark gives us really just somestuff that happened on Friday.
But what happened during thosethree days and three nights as
Jesus was in the tomb, threenights as Jesus was in the tomb?
(07:51):
Notice?
Well, the disciples.
We should think about them fora second.
What are the disciples up to?
Well, they've left us there inthe garden.
You remember when Jesus wastaken?
Most of them were scattered.
Strike the shepherd and thesheep would be scattered.
Most of them were scattered infear.
They went and hid in Jerusalem.
That's really where we findthem after.
Jesus rises from the dead ishiding in the room.
(08:14):
They're scared to death,they're probably a little
discouraged, but they're nothere, Aside from Peter, who
stuck around a little longer todeny Jesus, aside from Peter,
who stuck around a little longerto deny Jesus, and John, who
was there at the cross and wastold by Jesus to take care of
Mary, Jesus' mother.
Those are the only disciplesthat we have anything about.
(08:38):
Otherwise they're scattered.
Notice, though, what happens inverse 38.
Let's just go through thesethings.
Verse 38, the veil of thetemple was torn in two from top
to bottom.
Now, the veil was a thickcurtain that separated the Holy
of Holies from the holy place.
(09:00):
The Holy of Holies was wherethe ark was that box that
contained, at times, the actualpresence of God.
Only the high priest, you know,once a year into that, and he
was probably freaked out when hewould go into the Holy of
Holies there on the Day ofAtonement.
It was a fearful thing to gointo the presence of God.
(09:22):
Well, there was this curtain,this veil, that separated that
holy place, from the holy ofholies, when Jesus died.
We're told here that that veilwas torn from top to bottom,
just ripped in half top tobottom, because it was God that
was doing it, not us.
(09:43):
Right, and really to say comeon in, the way has been made
clear.
There's no need for anothersacrifice, there's no need for
another priest, it's open and asthe author to the Hebrews tells
us, then we can come boldlybefore the throne of grace.
Jesus opened the way for usthere.
(10:05):
Beautiful thing that we're toldthat the veil was torn from top
to bottom.
We can go in with all of ourconcerns, right there into the
presence of God.
Now notice who else is there inverse 38.
There's a centurion who stoodopposite of Jesus and when he
cried out, breathed his last, hesaid truly, this man is the son
(10:26):
of God.
A centurion, he saw a lot ofthings in those moments.
We're told in other places.
There was an earthquake thatshook the whole town, that there
was darkness We've read aboutthat.
There was all sorts of stuffthat went on.
And this centurion looks up ashe breathes his last.
(10:47):
He cries out, it is finished.
He says this was the Son of God.
A little picture of things tocome there in the Gentile world.
Now notice, though, who else isthere.
It's some women in verse 40 and41.
A group of really brave women.
Mary, who was, we see here, fromMagdala?
(11:07):
We read in another place thatshe had seven demons cast out of
her under Jesus' ministry.
So God had done some greatthings in her life, and she was
there to see the cross.
Mary, the mother of James andJoseph Now, we're not 100% sure
who this is, but Jesus actuallyhad half-brothers named James,
(11:28):
who became a leader in the earlychurch, and Joseph's.
So perhaps and we know she wasthere this is Mary the mother of
Jesus.
And then there's also Salomehere, Some ladies that followed
him from Galilee.
Now notice, they're there for areason as well.
(11:49):
We see in verse 47 that MaryMagdalene and Mary, the mother
of Joseph observed where Jesuswas laid.
So this is important for futureevents when Jesus rises from
the dead.
There was no confusion as towhere he was laid because these
two Marys, they knew the spot,they saw the spot, we're told.
(12:11):
Very important.
Then we read in verse 42 of aman named, not in 42, but 43,
but a man named Joseph.
He was from Arimathea.
Arimathea, possibly, a placeknown as Ramah, where the
prophet Samuel came from.
It's in the modern West Bankterritory, Lots of stuff going
(12:35):
on there.
But Joseph was from there andwe read here in verse 43 that he
was a prominent council member.
In verse 43, that he was aprominent council member, he was
a member of the Sanhedrin, thatgroup of Jews that just a few
moments before this petitionedPilate to crucify Jesus.
(12:56):
He was part of that rulingcouncil.
So he was a very powerful guy.
We're told in other places thathe was actually rich.
In fact, let's turn to Matthew27, verse 57.
(13:28):
Matthew 27, verse 57.
And we'll probably stay hereeven for the rest of our time
Little different details here.
Matthew 27, 57.
We read this Now.
An evening had come.
There came a rich man fromArimathea named Joseph, who
himself had also become adisciple of Jesus.
This man went to Pilate andasked for the body of Jesus.
Then Pilate commanded the bodyto be given to him and Joseph
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had taken the body.
He wrapped it in clean linencloth and laid it in his new
tomb, which he had hewn out ofthe rock.
He rolled a large stone againstthe door of the tomb and
departed.
So here we read this idea thatJoseph, a rather wealthy guy.
(14:14):
He comes and asks for the bodyof Jesus.
His intent is to put it in hisown tomb a fancy tomb, Now.
He obviously had itcommissioned there in Jerusalem,
where the resurrection wassupposed to start.
So a lot of people would havetombs in Jerusalem because, man,
(14:36):
if the resurrection startsthere, that's where I want to be
.
And Joseph had his own tombready to go.
It was carved out of a rock.
That's a big deal to carve atomb out of a rock.
Fancy schmancy, right.
And notice he comes to Pilate.
That took some guts as a memberof the council.
(15:00):
He was putting all of hisstatus on the line there to do
this to go to Pilate and ask forthe body.
Consider, though, theimportance of what Joseph was
doing.
We don't read much about him,but consider the importance of
what Joseph did.
The first thing was he wantedto honor Jesus.
(15:24):
If Joseph hadn't asked forJesus' body, what would have
happened to the body?
Now, this is a little gruesome,but it's part of the story.
As a criminal crucified for acrime, he might have been left
on that cross for days.
Rome knew how to make a point.
Days Rome knew how to make apoint, and all of that to say
(15:53):
look, don't mess with Rome, orelse we crucify you and we leave
you there.
And Rome would do that fromtime to time.
If they were feeling kind,though, they would take the body
of the criminal and they wouldtake it to the city dump, a
place known as Gehenna, there tothe east in the valley of
Jerusalem, and they would takethe body to the dump where there
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was a continual fire burning, afire that never stopped, and
there they would burn the bodyif they were feeling kind.
So if Joseph hadn't have comeand asked for the body of Jesus,
he might have been left out,exposed to the elements, or he
might have been taken to thedump and burned.
(16:37):
But Joseph there, really, as acourtesy, wants to honor Jesus
by giving him a proper burial.
But there's more than that.
Joseph was fulfilling prophecyIn Acts, chapter 2, Peter points
this out.
It's from Psalm 16, verse 10.
(16:58):
Peter says about Jesus that Godwould not allow his Holy One to
see corruption, that Jesus'body would not see corruption.
That was prophesied in Psalm 16, verse 10.
But also Isaiah 53, we'vetalked a lot about it lately so
(17:22):
distinct when it comes to thecross, Isaiah 53, that modern
Jews will not read the chapterIsaiah 53.
But in Isaiah 53, verse 9, itsays this and they made his
grave with the wicked, but withthe rich at his death.
So prophesied about the Messiah.
(17:44):
He made his grave with thewicked, he was crucified and he
died between two thieves wickedpeople.
He died amongst them, but withthe rich at his death.
Now Joseph comes in and hefulfills this.
He's a rich guy, he's got asmancy tomb and he puts Jesus in
(18:06):
his own tomb to fulfill whatIsaiah said so many hundreds of
years beforehand.
So it seems just like what's onhis heart, but in this he's
really doing the will of God.
We have to admit he's doingexactly what God wanted him to
do.
(18:26):
Now pause for a second and let'sjust think about this.
How do you know what the willof God is?
That's a daily question foreach one of us.
I can look around and I can go.
You guys are all wondering whatGod's will is for your life
right now.
I'm sure of it.
How do you do it?
Well, pray about it, Know whathe says in his word, for sure,
(18:47):
but there's a part of it thatreally just comes to doing
what's on your heart.
Now pause for a second there.
Our hearts are pretty wicked.
Jeremiah lets us know that theheart is deceitfully wicked
above all things.
Who can know it?
So doing what's on your heartcan sometimes go wrong, in the
sense of we do a lot of evilthings.
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I just was following my heart.
You're like, yeah, your wickedugly heart.
But in so many ways God alsogives us a heart for other
things.
There are times in your lifewhere you just God, I want to do
what you want me to do, I wantto go where you want me to go,
and your heart is just drawn tosomething it's not sinful.
(19:28):
You've looked at the word right, you know it's not sinful.
It's not something he's beentelling you not to do, but you
just go.
This is what's on my heart, LikeJoseph, right?
Did Joseph understand why hewas doing what he was doing?
Probably not.
He just said I'm a disciple ofthis man, I'm a disciple of
(19:49):
Jesus.
I can't let him just his bodysit out to rot.
I want to give him a burial.
I want to honor him like thewonderful person that he is,
like the righteous person thathe is.
I want to do this and look athow much of that, though, was
exactly what God wanted him todo.
So so many times we justoverthink it.
(20:09):
We go, God, I just don't knowwhat you want me to do.
I don't know what you want meto do.
I don't know what you want meto do, and it takes prayer, and
it takes time sometimes, but somany times, it's what's right in
front of us, it's what we go,but this is what I want to do,
man.
I want to help that person, man.
I want to go there and tellthese people that God loves them
, and it's exactly what Godwants you to do.
(20:30):
We don't have to overthink it.
We just step out and do it, andGod's big enough to change our
direction.
If that's not what he wants,Just let him do it.
Joseph here.
I think it's just so sweet tosee Joseph does what's in front
of him, he does what's on hisheart, and he really does.
The will of God.
Now look at verse.
We're still in Matthew 27.
(20:51):
The will of God.
Now look at verse.
We're still in Matthew 27.
And look at verse 62.
On the next day, which followedthe day of preparation, so I
guess we'd call this Saturday,right the Sabbath, the chief
(21:13):
priests and Pharisees gatheredtogether to Pilate saying Sir,
we remember, while he was alive,how that deceiver said After
three days I will rise.
Therefore, command that thetomb be made secure until the
third day, lest his disciplescome by night and steal him away
and say to the people he hasrisen from the dead.
(21:35):
So the last deception will beworse than the first.
Pilot said to them you have aguard, go your way, make it as
secure as you know how.
So they might.
Made the tomb secure, sealingthe stone and setting the guard.
So here we see another group ofpeople.
It's once again the chiefpriests, the Pharisees, the
(22:00):
religious leaders, and they havea concern.
They say oh, we remember, Jesussaid in three days he would
rise again.
Now this shoots all of thethings that they've been saying
for the last couple days.
It shoots it down, right,Because one of the things that
they were telling Pilate was oh,he said he's going to destroy
(22:21):
the temple and build it in threedays.
They knew exactly what he wasgoing to say better than anyone
else, right, they knew he wastalking about his body and so it
was all just a lie, it was alljust cover up and they have this
fear.
They said well, he said he wasgoing to rise in three days.
This deceiver.
Think about that too.
(22:42):
How often we put on otherpeople what we're trying to do.
Right, they were really tryingto deceive.
If anything was going to happen,they wanted to deceive people
into thinking it wasn't theresurrection for sure.
But this deceiver, Jesus thedeceiver.
He said that he would riseagain.
Well, we can't let that happen.
(23:04):
So check out their heart.
It's evil, it's wicked.
But they say oh, Pilate, we'vegot to seal this tomb up.
But they say oh Pilate, we'vegot to seal this tomb up.
We need a guard to make surethat his disciples don't come
and steal the body and say thathe rose again.
So give us a guard.
He says you got a guard, Gomake it secure, Put a seal on it
(23:27):
.
And they did.
They put the governor's seal onthere.
You break this seal, you'redead meat.
The guards that they put wereunder a commission that if
anything happened to that tomb,they would have been put to
death.
That's how it worked in theRoman world.
If you messed up on yourcommission to take care of
(23:48):
something, you would pay for itwith your life.
So look at this, what they'redoing, they're making the tomb
secure, they're sealing it up sonobody can come and steal it.
Not going to happen.
This is their heart.
And I like to just point outeven in their wickedness, even
(24:10):
in their just deception, theywere sort of doing the will of
God.
Right, you look at this, theywere doing the thing a favor.
Here we're going to make it assecure.
Those disciples won't be ableto come and take the body away,
which is what they would saylater happened.
That the disciples came andstole Jesus' body Another lie.
(24:32):
But they made it proof thatthat's not what happened.
Jesus' body wasn't stolen byhis disciples.
They couldn't face off with,you know, these Roman guards and
tear open that seal and pushopen that rock.
They couldn't do that.
Jesus couldn't have, you know,just passed out, as some say,
(24:53):
the swoon theory and pushed thatrock aside and fought off those
Roman guards and gone off intothe wilderness.
There's only one explanationfor what happened Jesus really
did rise from the dead.
Set up by these chief priestswho say give us a guard, put a
seal.
(25:14):
They're making it so sure thatwhat actually happened was that
Jesus rose from the dead.
Now that's not the way you wantto do the will of God in
wickedness.
But I do think it's a greatcomfort to know there is no way
to sabotage the will of God Now.
Sin, just living a life ofwickedness, is going to cause us
(25:36):
hurt for sure.
But you cannot sabotage thewill of God, no more, especially
if your desire is to do whatGod wants you to do.
God, I want to do, I just don'tknow what it is.
I want to do what you want meto do.
Step forward and see whathappens.
You cannot undo the will of God.
(26:01):
It's impossible.
And so here we see that we takegreat comfort in that.
I love you.
Just see, in this whole thingI'm going to land on Joseph.
A simple heart to honor God, andyet his life says so much.
I mean, he had it all.
He was a ruler there and he putit all on the line for Jesus.
No big deal, I'll do it.
He honored God with his actionsand fulfilled amazing prophecy.
(26:25):
He secured a way for Jesus'body not to see corruption and
to be risen again.
He was part of the process.
Just a simple heart to honor God, and I really think that that's
a great place to come in thismeanwhile, here for this week,
is just honor God with thethings that you do, the things
(26:46):
that you say.
Honor God.
God, I'm waking up today and Ijust want to do what you want me
to do.
I want to be where you want meto be.
I want to have a good attitude.
God, I'm waking up today and Ijust want to do what you want me
to do.
I want to be where you want meto be.
I want to have a good attitude.
Oh goodness, I want to have agood attitude and see what God
might do.
It doesn't take much.
Just see what God may do.
So, God, help us.
(27:08):
We have the ability.
I have the ability to messthings up and misrepresent you
all the time.
That's not what you want, but,God, so much you want to do
through our lives and in ourlives as we just simply have a
heart to honor you.
You know, I just pray from thismoment, every moment this week,
(27:31):
we would just want to honor you.
I just pray from this moment,every moment this week, we would
just want to honor you againwith our words and our actions
and even the secret things ofour heart.
God, help us to honor you.
Mark, chapter 15, verse 38, should be where we
start, and we are just going tojump right in on how about that?
Notice verse 38.
Let's read our passage fortoday and then we'll talk about
it.
Then the veil in the temple wastorn in two, from top to bottom
(00:35):
, and when the centurion whostood opposite him saw that he
cried out like this and breathedhis last, he said truly, this
man was the son of God.
There were also women lookingon from afar, among whom were
Mary Magdalene, Mary, the motherof James, Celeste and Joseph
(00:55):
and Solomon, who also followedhim and ministered to him when
he was in Galilee, and manyother women who came up with him
to Jerusalem, Verse 42,.
Now, when evening had come,because it was the preparation
day, that is, the day before theSabbath, Joseph of Arimathea, a
(01:18):
prominent council member whowas himself waiting for the
kingdom of God coming and takingcourage, went to Pilate and
asked for the body of Jesus.
Pilate marveled that he wasalready dead and, summoning the
centurion, he asked him if hehad been dead for some time.
So when he found out from thecenturion, he granted the body
(01:39):
to Joseph.
Then he brought fine linen,took him down, wrapped him in
the linen and he laid him in atomb which had been hewn out of
the rock and rolled a stoneagainst the door of the tomb and
Mary Magdalene and Mary, themother of Joseph, observed where
Jesus was laid.
(02:00):
So there's our passage fortoday, and it's a little bit of
a mean one.
I really was tempted just tokind of read it and move on to
the resurrection.
Last week we saw Jesus breathedhis last.
He died on the cross for oursins and it is finished.
The debt was paid in full and Ijust want to get to the
(02:21):
resurrection.
I mean that's where it's atright.
You know you have the cross andyou go to the resurrection.
I mean that's where it's atright.
You know you have the cross andyou go to the resurrection and
you see the victory and you'reyay.
But here Mark seemed to have areason to give us a little bit
of a meanwhile.
A little bit of a meanwhile, asJesus was dead.
These are the things that wenton in that in-between time.
(02:45):
So Jesus we see in verse 37,breathed his last and, as with
anyone who breathes their last,Jesus' spirit left his body.
That's what we call death andthis is just a common thing for
(03:09):
all people when your spiritleaves your body, there's no one
there.
It is just an empty shell.
Now, the Hebrew tradition wasthat your spirit lingered for
three days, just kind of hoveredaround to see what might happen
, and then, after three days,death was a certain thing.
(03:31):
That was their tradition, andso, during this time, it is
meaningful for that reason, butalso others.
It's important for us torealize, though, that this is
actually how death works, Notthat the spirit hovers around,
but that when your spirit leavesthe body, there's no one there.
(03:56):
Let me just get to Scripturehere.
2 Corinthians 5.8, importantverse 2 Corinthians 5.8.
Paul says this to the people inCorinth I'd rather be absent
from this body and present withthe Lord.
That's an important thing forus to realize that, when we die,
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we go right to be with Jesus,we go right to the Lord.
There's no in-between, there'sno hovering around or any of
that.
We're right with the Lord.
There's no in-between, there'sno hovering around or any of
that.
We're right with the Lord.
That's a great hope, that's awonderful thing that none of us
should be scared of.
To be with the Lord a farbetter thing.
But here Jesus, he, that's alittle more questionable.
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Where was Jesus during this time?
1 Peter 3.18,.
You can read it later.
1 Peter 3, starting in verse 18, Peter says this for Christ
also suffered once for sins, thejust for the unjust that he
might.
Now this is the interestingpart Verse 19.
(05:20):
When once the divinelongsuffering waited in the days
of Noah, while the ark wasbeing prepared, in which a few,
that is, eight, souls were savedthrough water.
So here Peter gives us kind ofa you know, does it help us?
I don't know if it helps us.
It's kind of an interestingbackground.
What happened to Jesus after hedied on the cross?
(05:41):
Well, Peter here gives us thisidea that he went and preached
to spirits in prison.
Now, listen, this is all wehave on this.
There's a little more maybe inEphesians 4.9.
That says that he went to thelower parts of the earth, but
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other than that we really don'thave any information.
What happened, what Jesus wasdoing during these three days.
And it's an interesting passagebut honestly probably brings a
little more confusion thananything else.
The best we can do is feel thatJesus went to paradise, this
place of the righteous dead.
(06:22):
In the parable.
There, in Luke 16, rich man andLazarus.
We see this little glimpse ofparadise, as Lazarus is there
with Abraham and you can readabout that.
But it seems that that's whereJesus went because of what he
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told our friend the thief just afew moments before this Today
you will be with me in paradise.
So he wasn't lying.
He was going to paradise, thisplace of the righteous dead.
But what he did there we reallycan't quite pinpoint.
He preached perhaps, maybesomething like this Guys, it's
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done, it's done, Salvation hasbeen won, Forgiveness is taken
care of.
The good news he preached tothose who are waiting.
But what can we build off ofthat?
Not much more than that, whatJesus was doing.
But here Mark gives us a littlebit of what was going on here
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on earth after Jesus died, andthat's what we're looking at
today.
Mark gives us really just somestuff that happened on Friday.
But what happened during thosethree days and three nights as
Jesus was in the tomb, threenights as Jesus was in the tomb?
(07:51):
Notice?
Well, the disciples.
We should think about them fora second.
What are the disciples up to?
Well, they've left us there inthe garden.
You remember when Jesus wastaken?
Most of them were scattered.
Strike the shepherd and thesheep would be scattered.
Most of them were scattered infear.
They went and hid in Jerusalem.
That's really where we findthem after.
Jesus rises from the dead ishiding in the room.
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They're scared to death,they're probably a little
discouraged, but they're nothere, Aside from Peter, who
stuck around a little longer todeny Jesus, aside from Peter,
who stuck around a little longerto deny Jesus, and John, who
was there at the cross and wastold by Jesus to take care of
Mary, Jesus' mother.
Those are the only disciplesthat we have anything about.
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Otherwise they're scattered.
Notice, though, what happens inverse 38.
Let's just go through thesethings.
Verse 38, the veil of thetemple was torn in two from top
to bottom.
Now, the veil was a thickcurtain that separated the Holy
of Holies from the holy place.
(09:00):
The Holy of Holies was wherethe ark was that box that
contained, at times, the actualpresence of God.
Only the high priest, you know,once a year into that, and he
was probably freaked out when hewould go into the Holy of
Holies there on the Day ofAtonement.
It was a fearful thing to gointo the presence of God.
(09:22):
Well, there was this curtain,this veil, that separated that
holy place, from the holy ofholies, when Jesus died.
We're told here that that veilwas torn from top to bottom,
just ripped in half top tobottom, because it was God that
was doing it, not us.
(09:43):
Right, and really to say comeon in, the way has been made
clear.
There's no need for anothersacrifice, there's no need for
another priest, it's open and asthe author to the Hebrews tells
us, then we can come boldlybefore the throne of grace.
Jesus opened the way for usthere.
(10:05):
Beautiful thing that we're toldthat the veil was torn from top
to bottom.
We can go in with all of ourconcerns, right there into the
presence of God.
Now notice who else is there inverse 38.
There's a centurion who stoodopposite of Jesus and when he
cried out, breathed his last, hesaid truly, this man is the son
(10:26):
of God.
A centurion, he saw a lot ofthings in those moments.
We're told in other places.
There was an earthquake thatshook the whole town, that there
was darkness We've read aboutthat.
There was all sorts of stuffthat went on.
And this centurion looks up ashe breathes his last.
(10:47):
He cries out, it is finished.
He says this was the Son of God.
A little picture of things tocome there in the Gentile world.
Now notice, though, who else isthere.
It's some women in verse 40 and41.
A group of really brave women.
Mary, who was, we see here, fromMagdala?
(11:07):
We read in another place thatshe had seven demons cast out of
her under Jesus' ministry.
So God had done some greatthings in her life, and she was
there to see the cross.
Mary, the mother of James andJoseph Now, we're not 100% sure
who this is, but Jesus actuallyhad half-brothers named James,
(11:28):
who became a leader in the earlychurch, and Joseph's.
So perhaps and we know she wasthere this is Mary the mother of
Jesus.
And then there's also Salomehere, Some ladies that followed
him from Galilee.
Now notice, they're there for areason as well.
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We see in verse 47 that MaryMagdalene and Mary, the mother
of Joseph observed where Jesuswas laid.
So this is important for futureevents when Jesus rises from
the dead.
There was no confusion as towhere he was laid because these
two Marys, they knew the spot,they saw the spot, we're told.
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Very important.
Then we read in verse 42 of aman named, not in 42, but 43,
but a man named Joseph.
He was from Arimathea.
Arimathea, possibly, a placeknown as Ramah, where the
prophet Samuel came from.
It's in the modern West Bankterritory, Lots of stuff going
(12:35):
on there.
But Joseph was from there andwe read here in verse 43 that he
was a prominent council member.
In verse 43, that he was aprominent council member, he was
a member of the Sanhedrin, thatgroup of Jews that just a few
moments before this petitionedPilate to crucify Jesus.
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He was part of that rulingcouncil.
So he was a very powerful guy.
We're told in other places thathe was actually rich.
In fact, let's turn to Matthew27, verse 57.
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Matthew 27, verse 57.
And we'll probably stay hereeven for the rest of our time
Little different details here.
Matthew 27, 57.
We read this Now.
An evening had come.
There came a rich man fromArimathea named Joseph, who
himself had also become adisciple of Jesus.
This man went to Pilate andasked for the body of Jesus.
Then Pilate commanded the bodyto be given to him and Joseph
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had taken the body.
He wrapped it in clean linencloth and laid it in his new
tomb, which he had hewn out ofthe rock.
He rolled a large stone againstthe door of the tomb and
departed.
So here we read this idea thatJoseph, a rather wealthy guy.
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He comes and asks for the bodyof Jesus.
His intent is to put it in hisown tomb a fancy tomb, Now.
He obviously had itcommissioned there in Jerusalem,
where the resurrection wassupposed to start.
So a lot of people would havetombs in Jerusalem because, man,
(14:36):
if the resurrection startsthere, that's where I want to be
.
And Joseph had his own tombready to go.
It was carved out of a rock.
That's a big deal to carve atomb out of a rock.
Fancy schmancy, right.
And notice he comes to Pilate.
That took some guts as a memberof the council.
(15:00):
He was putting all of hisstatus on the line there to do
this to go to Pilate and ask forthe body.
Consider, though, theimportance of what Joseph was
doing.
We don't read much about him,but consider the importance of
what Joseph did.
The first thing was he wantedto honor Jesus.
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If Joseph hadn't asked forJesus' body, what would have
happened to the body?
Now, this is a little gruesome,but it's part of the story.
As a criminal crucified for acrime, he might have been left
on that cross for days.
Rome knew how to make a point.
Days Rome knew how to make apoint, and all of that to say
(15:53):
look, don't mess with Rome, orelse we crucify you and we leave
you there.
And Rome would do that fromtime to time.
If they were feeling kind,though, they would take the body
of the criminal and they wouldtake it to the city dump, a
place known as Gehenna, there tothe east in the valley of
Jerusalem, and they would takethe body to the dump where there
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was a continual fire burning, afire that never stopped, and
there they would burn the bodyif they were feeling kind.
So if Joseph hadn't have comeand asked for the body of Jesus,
he might have been left out,exposed to the elements, or he
might have been taken to thedump and burned.
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But Joseph there, really, as acourtesy, wants to honor Jesus
by giving him a proper burial.
But there's more than that.
Joseph was fulfilling prophecyIn Acts, chapter 2, Peter points
this out.
It's from Psalm 16, verse 10.
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Peter says about Jesus that Godwould not allow his Holy One to
see corruption, that Jesus'body would not see corruption.
That was prophesied in Psalm 16, verse 10.
But also Isaiah 53, we'vetalked a lot about it lately so
(17:22):
distinct when it comes to thecross, Isaiah 53, that modern
Jews will not read the chapterIsaiah 53.
But in Isaiah 53, verse 9, itsays this and they made his
grave with the wicked, but withthe rich at his death.
So prophesied about the Messiah.
(17:44):
He made his grave with thewicked, he was crucified and he
died between two thieves wickedpeople.
He died amongst them, but withthe rich at his death.
Now Joseph comes in and hefulfills this.
He's a rich guy, he's got asmancy tomb and he puts Jesus in
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his own tomb to fulfill whatIsaiah said so many hundreds of
years beforehand.
So it seems just like what's onhis heart, but in this he's
really doing the will of God.
We have to admit he's doingexactly what God wanted him to
do.
(18:26):
Now pause for a second and let'sjust think about this.
How do you know what the willof God is?
That's a daily question foreach one of us.
I can look around and I can go.
You guys are all wondering whatGod's will is for your life
right now.
I'm sure of it.
How do you do it?
Well, pray about it, Know whathe says in his word, for sure,
(18:47):
but there's a part of it thatreally just comes to doing
what's on your heart.
Now pause for a second there.
Our hearts are pretty wicked.
Jeremiah lets us know that theheart is deceitfully wicked
above all things.
Who can know it?
So doing what's on your heartcan sometimes go wrong, in the
sense of we do a lot of evilthings.
(19:08):
I just was following my heart.
You're like, yeah, your wickedugly heart.
But in so many ways God alsogives us a heart for other
things.
There are times in your lifewhere you just God, I want to do
what you want me to do, I wantto go where you want me to go,
and your heart is just drawn tosomething it's not sinful.
(19:28):
You've looked at the word right, you know it's not sinful.
It's not something he's beentelling you not to do, but you
just go.
This is what's on my heart, LikeJoseph, right?
Did Joseph understand why hewas doing what he was doing?
Probably not.
He just said I'm a disciple ofthis man, I'm a disciple of
(19:49):
Jesus.
I can't let him just his bodysit out to rot.
I want to give him a burial.
I want to honor him like thewonderful person that he is,
like the righteous person thathe is.
I want to do this and look athow much of that, though, was
exactly what God wanted him todo.
So so many times we justoverthink it.
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We go, God, I just don't knowwhat you want me to do.
I don't know what you want meto do.
I don't know what you want meto do, and it takes prayer, and
it takes time sometimes, but somany times, it's what's right in
front of us, it's what we go,but this is what I want to do,
man.
I want to help that person, man.
I want to go there and tellthese people that God loves them
, and it's exactly what Godwants you to do.
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We don't have to overthink it.
We just step out and do it, andGod's big enough to change our
direction.
If that's not what he wants,Just let him do it.
Joseph here.
I think it's just so sweet tosee Joseph does what's in front
of him, he does what's on hisheart, and he really does.
The will of God.
Now look at verse.
We're still in Matthew 27.
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The will of God.
Now look at verse.
We're still in Matthew 27.
And look at verse 62.
On the next day, which followedthe day of preparation, so I
guess we'd call this Saturday,right the Sabbath, the chief
(21:13):
priests and Pharisees gatheredtogether to Pilate saying Sir,
we remember, while he was alive,how that deceiver said After
three days I will rise.
Therefore, command that thetomb be made secure until the
third day, lest his disciplescome by night and steal him away
and say to the people he hasrisen from the dead.
(21:35):
So the last deception will beworse than the first.
Pilot said to them you have aguard, go your way, make it as
secure as you know how.
So they might.
Made the tomb secure, sealingthe stone and setting the guard.
So here we see another group ofpeople.
It's once again the chiefpriests, the Pharisees, the
(22:00):
religious leaders, and they havea concern.
They say oh, we remember, Jesussaid in three days he would
rise again.
Now this shoots all of thethings that they've been saying
for the last couple days.
It shoots it down, right,Because one of the things that
they were telling Pilate was oh,he said he's going to destroy
(22:21):
the temple and build it in threedays.
They knew exactly what he wasgoing to say better than anyone
else, right, they knew he wastalking about his body and so it
was all just a lie, it was alljust cover up and they have this
fear.
They said well, he said he wasgoing to rise in three days.
This deceiver.
Think about that too.
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How often we put on otherpeople what we're trying to do.
Right, they were really tryingto deceive.
If anything was going to happen,they wanted to deceive people
into thinking it wasn't theresurrection for sure.
But this deceiver, Jesus thedeceiver.
He said that he would riseagain.
Well, we can't let that happen.
(23:04):
So check out their heart.
It's evil, it's wicked.
But they say oh, Pilate, we'vegot to seal this tomb up.
But they say oh Pilate, we'vegot to seal this tomb up.
We need a guard to make surethat his disciples don't come
and steal the body and say thathe rose again.
So give us a guard.
He says you got a guard, Gomake it secure, Put a seal on it
(23:27):
.
And they did.
They put the governor's seal onthere.
You break this seal, you'redead meat.
The guards that they put wereunder a commission that if
anything happened to that tomb,they would have been put to
death.
That's how it worked in theRoman world.
If you messed up on yourcommission to take care of
(23:48):
something, you would pay for itwith your life.
So look at this, what they'redoing, they're making the tomb
secure, they're sealing it up sonobody can come and steal it.
Not going to happen.
This is their heart.
And I like to just point outeven in their wickedness, even
(24:10):
in their just deception, theywere sort of doing the will of
God.
Right, you look at this, theywere doing the thing a favor.
Here we're going to make it assecure.
Those disciples won't be ableto come and take the body away,
which is what they would saylater happened.
That the disciples came andstole Jesus' body Another lie.
(24:32):
But they made it proof thatthat's not what happened.
Jesus' body wasn't stolen byhis disciples.
They couldn't face off with,you know, these Roman guards and
tear open that seal and pushopen that rock.
They couldn't do that.
Jesus couldn't have, you know,just passed out, as some say,
(24:53):
the swoon theory and pushed thatrock aside and fought off those
Roman guards and gone off intothe wilderness.
There's only one explanationfor what happened Jesus really
did rise from the dead.
Set up by these chief priestswho say give us a guard, put a
seal.
(25:14):
They're making it so sure thatwhat actually happened was that
Jesus rose from the dead.
Now that's not the way you wantto do the will of God in
wickedness.
But I do think it's a greatcomfort to know there is no way
to sabotage the will of God Now.
Sin, just living a life ofwickedness, is going to cause us
(25:36):
hurt for sure.
But you cannot sabotage thewill of God, no more, especially
if your desire is to do whatGod wants you to do.
God, I want to do, I just don'tknow what it is.
I want to do what you want meto do.
Step forward and see whathappens.
You cannot undo the will of God.
(26:01):
It's impossible.
And so here we see that we takegreat comfort in that.
I love you.
Just see, in this whole thingI'm going to land on Joseph.
A simple heart to honor God, andyet his life says so much.
I mean, he had it all.
He was a ruler there and he putit all on the line for Jesus.
No big deal, I'll do it.
He honored God with his actionsand fulfilled amazing prophecy.
(26:25):
He secured a way for Jesus'body not to see corruption and
to be risen again.
He was part of the process.
Just a simple heart to honor God, and I really think that that's
a great place to come in thismeanwhile, here for this week,
is just honor God with thethings that you do, the things
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that you say.
Honor God.
God, I'm waking up today and Ijust want to do what you want me
to do.
I want to be where you want meto be.
I want to have a good attitude.
God, I'm waking up today and Ijust want to do what you want me
to do.
I want to be where you want meto be.
I want to have a good attitude.
Oh goodness, I want to have agood attitude and see what God
might do.
It doesn't take much.
Just see what God may do.
So, God, help us.
(27:08):
We have the ability.
I have the ability to messthings up and misrepresent you
all the time.
That's not what you want, but,God, so much you want to do
through our lives and in ourlives as we just simply have a
heart to honor you.
You know, I just pray from thismoment, every moment this week,
(27:31):
we would just want to honor you.
I just pray from this moment,every moment this week, we would
just want to honor you againwith our words and our actions
and even the secret things ofour heart.
God, help us to honor you.
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