Jesus Is Buried

³⁸ •After these things Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took away his body. ³⁹ •Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight. ⁴⁰ So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. ⁴¹ Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. ⁴² So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there. 

It all started in a garden. I don’t mean my garden, I mean THE Garden. Adam and Eve were placed there by God as caretakers, in other words GARDENERS. They were to tend the plants and animals and by this work of cultivation and care, life on earth would continually flourish and grow. There’s a difference between a jungle and a garden; a garden is a lush place that receives the Gardener’s care. And most often, it produces an abundance of fruit that you wouldn’t otherwise see. This was Adam and Eve’s vocation, to tend God’s creation. 

Genesis doesn’t really give us a timeframe between when God made them and when they gave in to the serpent’s deception. It could have been one day, it could have been centuries or even millennia. It doesn’t even matter, because until they took those wicked bites, the passage of time did not mean death or decay; it meant GROWTH. It was not until they ushered death into the world that the passage of time meant an inevitable march toward death. The world which Adam and Eve inhabited prior to the Fall was much like the world we await when Jesus returns: world without end. 

It started in a garden, and it’s brought to conclusion in a garden, or at very least near one. John says that the place where Jesus was crucified had a garden, and in that garden was a brand-new tomb, one that had never been used before. This tomb belonged to Joseph of Arimathea, an up-and-coming somebody in Jerusalem, quickly becoming established as a person of importance in his new place of residence. He’d been a follower of Jesus, but secretly thus far because of the fear of damaging his reputation among the Jews. There’s a garden here, which means that there’s somebody tending to it. This wasn’t a discount burial plot; it was costly. Perhaps Joseph was willing to allow Jesus’ body to rest there because deep down he knew it wouldn’t be there long. Or perhaps not. John doesn’t say. 

Jesus is laid to rest in a garden tomb. The Word by which the Universe was brought into existence (John 1:1) is Himself planted in the garden to bring about a whole new creation. John had said earlier that without Him, nothing that has been made was made. Jesus is the Word of the Father that brought to completion every single let there be… of Creation. And now He’s dead. The author of life, lies dead in a garden tomb. They have anointed his body with all sorts of other plants in preparation for His burial, but quickly as the festival Sabbath sun was setting. 

John’s Gospel begins with direct reference to Genesis 1. John’s intention is to clearly demonstrate Jesus’ role in the Creation in the beginning, and to connect Jesus’ ministry, suffering, death, and resurrection with the New Creation which He’s bringing about. In other words, Palm Sunday marked the beginning of a brand-spanking-new Creation week. Jesus begins in His triumphal entry into Jerusalem. And wouldn’t you know it, John is the only one of the 4 Gospel writers that includes the detail that they were holding palm branches (more plants) as they welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem.  If Genesis 1 is the account of the week of creation, Holy Week is the same for the new creation that is emerging right here and now through Jesus’ work. “And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation. (Genesis 2:2-3, ESV)

Sin and death had been defeated forever. Jesus’ death had taken the punishment and penalty for all sin, not just sin as “deeds” or actions, but sin as the disease that has ravaged creation since Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden. They’d tried to cover up their shame with plants, but God clothed them with skins. It takes a death to cover sins. This is what Jesus gave. It started in a garden, and it’s completed in a garden. The place where Jesus was crucified is called “Golgotha” or “Calvary” (Latin) meaning, “The place of a skull”. Some scholars had surmised that it was called the place of a skull because of some rock formation that looked like a skull. But that doesn’t make much sense if there’s a garden there. It’s not necessarily some barren wasteland. The early church fathers, however, they knew why this place was called the place of a skull. This was the place where Adam was buried. Adam, the first gardener, was buried in this place in fulfillment of the curse that he had brought upon himself and on all creation. Adam died, and Jesus is crucified in his graveyard. Jesus’ death has undone Adam’s death. Adam and Eve rebelled in the garden, and Jesus is planted in the garden as the seed of a brand-new creation. Death has been undone. Death has been defeated… In the garden. 

Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” (John 12:24 ESV)

Prayer:

Lord Jesus Christ, the Word by which all creation exists and Author of Life, you were crucified to defeat sin and death on our behalf. By your death, you have undone the death brought about through our rebellion. You were planted in a garden to bring about life and salvation; to renew your whole creation and make us new. Keep us in the sure confidence that because You live, we shall live also. Amen.