Symbols of Holy Week Day 14

The Empty Tomb

Archaeologists tell us that burial of the dead may be the earliest human religious practice for which they have evidence. All the reasons for ancients to bury a corpse may be unrecoverable, but we do have some clues. The Egyptians apparently believed that an in-the-ground burial was a type of gateway for the person to enter the afterlife, which was in the “underworld.” They buried their kings with things they believed would be needed in the afterlife, including slaves, animals, foods, even boats and chariots.

In the Jerusalem of Jesus’ day, a family might own a tomb used for members of that family. This might be a cave-like structure carved from the limestone of the region (a relatively soft stone). In this family tomb there would be niches, a shelf where a newly passed person’s body could be laid. After a time, the bones would be clean and would be collected and put in an “ossuary,” a bone box also carved from limestone. Such ossuaries might hold the remains of several people, freeing up the niche for a new burial. Bodies were wrapped in graveclothes (shrouds) and packed with spices to mitigate the odor of the body’s decay. Since touching a dead body rendered a person “unclean” under Jewish law, contact was limited and quickly accomplished.

In Jesus’ case, his body was put in a “new tomb” belonging to one of his private disciples, Joseph of Arimathea. John tells us that Joseph was assisted by another secret adherent, Nicodemus.

The detail that this was a “new tomb” means there were no other human remains in it, no ossuaries. Jesus’ body would be the first one laid on the niche.

The Jews of this day believed that limestone did not transfer “uncleanness” in a ritualistic way. It is not surprising, then, to read that the tomb of Joseph was closed by a carved stone rolled into place at its doorway. Because the chief priests and Pharisees feared the disciples of Jesus might break into the tomb and steal the body, thus faking Jesus’ resurrection, the Romans agreed to post a guard and “seal” the tomb, presumably with some type of wax seal that would be broken if the entrance stone were disturbed in any way.

All of this is to say that there was no backdoor escape from this new tomb. Such would only have been a way for looters to break in.

There was no easy way to remove the stone securing the front of the tomb. When the women go to the tomb to further care for Jesus’ body on Sunday morning, a big concern for them was how they would roll the stone back and gain access. They know that three people would not have budged the stone.

There was no mistake concerning the body of Jesus, confusing him with one of the several other bodies in this tomb. There were no other bodies in it, nor any other human remains of any kind.

The open, empty tomb was not what any of Jesus’ disciples expected to find. John, an eyewitness to the empty tomb, admits that only later did he and the others begin to understand the significance. He of all people knew that Jesus had died on Friday, as he probably was one of those who helped take the body down from the cross. He records that he went inside the open tomb and saw for himself it was empty. He records this simply, “He saw and believed” (John 21:8). He did not see the Risen Christ. He saw the tomb was empty.  There could be no other explanation than Jesus was indeed risen.

In one of my favorite Easter songs, Bill Gaither put it this way:

God sent His son, they called Him Jesus;
He came to love, heal and forgive;
He lived and died to buy my pardon,
An empty grave is there to prove my Savior lives!

As we celebrate Resurrection Sunday today, may we chant with the church through the ages:

The saying that is written has come true:
Death is swallowed up in victory.
O Death, where is your sting?
O Grave, where is your victory?
Alleluia, Christ is risen!
Thanks be to God!
Alleluia, Christ is risen!
Thanks be to God!
Alleluia, Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Mark Krause
Wildewood Christian Church

Symbols of Holy Week Day 13

The Roman Centurion

Mark wrote his Gospel account in Rome for a Roman audience. He had gone there with Peter, and tradition says that his material reflects the “reminiscences” of the great Apostle’s preaching. Mark lays out his premise in the first verse:

John Wayne as Longinus the Centurion in “The Greatest Story Ever Told”

The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God.

He plans to show the reader that Jesus was indeed the Jewish Messiah, but also to prove to his Romans that Jesus was the “Son of God.” He has confidence that even hardened pagans will conclude Jesus is the Son of the Most High God. In his plan, Mark includes three great confessions of Jesus as God’s Son.

1. In Jesus’ opening scene, John baptizes him in the Jordan River. Mark records a voice from heaven (which we are to understand as the voice of God) saying, “You are my Son, whom I love, with you I am well pleased” (Mark 1:12). The first confession is by God from heaven itself.

2. At the midpoint of the book, Mark offers his version of the Transfiguration of Jesus. The central message in this story is said by a voice from a cloud (again, presumably the voice of God). The voice says, “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him” (Mark 9:7). This second confession is also from God but goes one step further than the first. The disciples (and the readers) should now have seen the validity of the confession at the baptism where God declared Jesus to be his Son. Jesus’ teachings and miracles in chapters 1-8 have confirmed this in many ways. The glory of the transfigured Christ was a spectacular confirmation of what the voice said.

3. At the end of the book, at the cross, when Jesus “breathes his last,” the circumstances of his death bring an unlikely person to faith as a confessor, the Roman centurion overseeing the executions on that day. Mark tells us:

When the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, saw how he died, he said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!” (Mark 15:39)

Centurions were the most respected Romans in foreign service. “Centurion” was a military rank (roughly equivalent to our “colonel”), but in peacetime they had various responsibilities in the community where they were stationed. They were leaders of men and had been proven in battle. They had shown administrative ability and were not known for being corrupt or for taking bribes. In the New Testament, several centurions seem to have had the respect of the Jewish community and the early church. The residents of Rome would have admired and even envied a centurion. He was brave, strong, and could retire as a rich man. Centurions had instant and widespread credibility.

The third confession of Jesus as the Son of God by the centurion brings the Roman reader to the place Mark intended from the first. Mark began by affirming Jesus as the Son of God. He records two times where God spoke from heaven to confirm this divine truth to Jesus’ followers. Finally, the esteemed Roman comes to the same conclusion. Mark wants the Centurion’s faith to become the faith of his readers. In some ways, this is the faith climax and point of the entire book.

“Truly this man was the Son of God.” In the darkness of Good Friday, this statement stands for eternity as the faith statement of a man we should hear. Jesus is the Son of God. Listen to him. Love him. Believe in him.

Prayer: Humble us, O Lord, to be like this man who was overwhelmed by Jesus’ grace and power in death. Give us faith to look forward to his resurrection and the overwhelming truth that truly Jesus was the Son of God. In his name we pray, Amen.

Mark Krause
Wildewood Christian Church

Symbols of Holy Week Day 12

The Holy Lance

John includes many details from the crucifixion of Jesus that are not found in the other gospels. To me, his version has the ring of an eyewitness account, although it was probably committed to writing fifty or sixty years after the events.

“The Strike of the Lance,” J.J. Tissot, 1886-94, in the Brooklyn Museum

One of these includes the “Holy Lance,” the spear used by the Roman executioners to confirm the death of Jesus. According to John, there is an urgency to have the three crucified men dead before the sun set on Friday, because sundown marks the end of the day for Jews and, therefore, the beginning of a new day. That day coming would be Passover Sabbath, an especially solemn occasion. Being able to deal with the dead bodies before the Sabbath began would be a type of courtesy to the Jews of Jerusalem (and again the irony is thick).

The soldiers proceed to each crucified man and break the legs of the ones still alive, a traumatic injury designed to hasten death. When they come to Jesus, though, the man with the club perceives that he might already be dead. Rather than smash his legs, the soldier shoves a spear into his body, probably just under his ribcage. What comes out is “water and blood” or bloody water. This is a sure sign of death, even if they did not know the anatomical cause. Likely, the spear head pierced the engorged “pericardial sac” surrounding the heart and filled with water-like fluid, and out came the flow John describes. The eyewitness nature of this seems to testify that John was there when this happened.

The lance itself has lived on in church tradition, sometimes called the “Spear of Destiny.” Most famously, in 1098, the spear head was supposedly discovered in a church in Antioch of Syria. It was given to the Crusader army of Bohemond. The powers of this legendary spear were said to give the European Crusaders the victory in the battle of Antioch, their first step in retaking the Holy Land from the Muslims. Today, several churches and museums claim to have the true spear. None of these has been confirmed by scientific or historical analysis. To me, it is unlikely that the spear survived because there would be no reason to see it as anything special by the Roman who possessed it.

Yet John’s account of the spear is significant to us for at least three reasons. First, the wounded side was an identifying mark on the body of the risen Christ. When Thomas expresses doubt about Jesus’ resurrection, the Risen Christ invites him to stick his finger into the wound in his side (John 20:27). Just seeing this removes all doubt from Thomas that Christ is risen from the dead.

Second, the church saw the piercing of the spear as a fulfillment of prophecy (Zechariah 12:10). There is a sense that the nail prints of the hands and feet were a type of piercing, but the spear thrust was the ultimate. Revelation 1:7 pictures the returning Christ as confronting “those who pierced him,” a reference to the Romans who were the agents of Christ’s death. Moreover, for John, this confirms his presentation of Jesus as a fulfillment of the type of the Passover Lamb, a sacrificial animal that was supposed to be flawless and not to have any bones broken (John 19:36).

Third, the spear detail in Christ’s passion confirms he was truly dead. There was no mistake committed by these trained executioners. They wanted no chance of releasing a man for burial who was merely unconscious. Jesus was not revived from a coma by the cool dampness of the tomb. All such theories are nonsense. Jesus was dead, stone cold dead. People in the ancient world were not fooled easily, and especially not these professional killers. The body taken down from the cross was a corpse, Jesus who died for us.

So, it is not the spear that is significant. It is the piercing that confirmed Jesus’ death. That atoning death is at the center of our faith, for while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us! Praise be to God.

Prayer: Father, the details of Jesus’ death are horrific and sad. But the consequences of his death are the basis of our hope. As we contemplate Jesus’ willing sacrifice for us, may we be grateful and give praise to him who is our worthy Lamb. We pray these things in his name, Amen.

Mark Krause
Wildewood Christian Church

Symbols of Holy Week Day 11

The Wooden Cross

In March of this year, Virginia abolished its death penalty. One commentator claimed that Virginia had executed more people than any other state in the union, over 1,300. In the news coverage, images were posted of both the old wooden electric chair once used and the padded table used more recently for lethal injections.

Christ Carrying the Cross, El Greco, 1587-97

That wooden chair and padded gurney are not things to be cherished. Whatever your views on capital punishment, they represent death. They do not stand for a noble death, but a criminal’s death.

When we visited the Tower of London many years ago, the Yeoman Warder showed us a wooden “chopping block” and a “heading axe” used to execute many famous Brits, including Anne Boleyn. I have no idea if these were authentic, but they represent a gruesome piece of history.

Jesus was executed on a Roman cross. Scholars have disagreed as to whether this was a T shape or a ✟ shape, but all agree that it was made of wood, two heavy pieces of lumber. Depictions of thin, towering, artistic crosses are misleading on this count. The victim of a crucifixion was barely above street level, making face-to-face contact possible. The beams used to make the cross had to be heavy and were recycled many times for crucifixions. There was nothing clean or dainty about them!

In Jesus’ day, the type of execution said a lot about the status and criminality of the victim. Drinking poison had been practiced by the Greeks, a gentleman’s agreement to self-execute. A noble Roman might be beheaded (as citizen Paul apparently was), a terrifying but quick death. The Jews themselves practiced stoning, a slower death that allowed the killing to be done by a group that maintained some distance.

The law of Moses saw “hanging” by the neck as a way to execute the worst offenders. Deuteronomy 21-22-23 pronounces that anyone who dies hanging from a tree is cursed. Paul, in Galatians 3:13, applies this curse to Jesus, contending that being nailed to a wooden cross constituted “hanging from a tree.” The wood itself, according to Paul’s interpretation, is part of the curse. Far less cursed would be the man whose brains were bashed out by stoning, I guess.

Consider two things about Jesus and his cross. One, it was massive, so big he had to have help carrying it to the place of execution. Two, he, as a Jew, knew that crucifixion was more than torture and pain. It was a stain on his life and a source of disrepute for his family. Yet Hebrews tells us he endured the cross and despised its shame. He knew death by crucifixion had nothing noble about it. Yet he died for us! There is no greater love, I think.

Prayer: Lord, if we are ever tempted to pull back from our identity as disciples of Christ, point us to Jesus’ example. He was the one who despised the shame the world directed toward him. May we never be ashamed of Jesus. We pray in his name, Amen.

Mark Krause
Wildewood Christian Church