Rest in Peace Jesus
St. John 19:31-42
Good Friday 2015 – Redeemer
His breath came in ragged gasps. There was blood everywhere. The death rattle had started in his lungs. Those who were experts in death told you it wouldn’t be too long now. But it was already too long for you. Lord, how long? Please end His suffering. Give Him peace.
We can only imagine how Mary, the mother of our Lord, prayed for her Son’s suffering to end. Why was all this heaped upon Him? Was the whip necessary? Did they really need to bath him with their spit? Why must His suffering be a public spectacle? O Father in heaven, please end His suffering..
Do you know who else wanted the suffering over? The Jews – the Pharisees, the High Priest. They wanted this whole Jesus affair over. There was, of course, the Jewish law to observe. A dead body left unburied made the surrounding area unclean and profane. Also these Jews wanted their day off – the Sabbath was coming and no work could be done on it. By keeping their laws they could have peace on the Sabbath. But they also simply couldn’t wait for Jesus to be dead and buried. They weren’t concerned about His suffering, but theirs. This man had been a threat to their way of life, to their peace with Rome, to their power in Jerusalem. When He was dead and buried and shut away they would have peace.
For two other men, the death of Christ would bring no peace. Nicodemus, one of those Pharisees, who had come to believe in Jesus secretly, would no longer hide his faith. His friend Joseph of Arimathea, also came out of the shadows to walk into Pilate’s palace and ask for Jesus’ body. By claiming Jesus as their friend, by honoring His body with burial in a tomb, these two men gave up all claim upon peace. If their teacher had been killed for what He said and did, how would these disciples be treated for what they said and did?
So as the tomb of Jesus is sealed, everyone in his or her own way is saying, “Rest in peace – Jesus.” For Mary her son’s Suffering is over. For the Jews it was “Good riddance Jesus!” Joseph and Nicodemus realize that while Jesus rests from His labors, they will now have no rest.
Do you know what is ironic about this text? Those who sought their own peace, the Jews, were ever restless, while and those who forfeited their peace, Nicodemus and Joseph, rested in Jesus.
The Jews never got their rest, even after Jesus was in the grave. Remember they made sure to speak to Pilate and have a guard stationed at the tomb, because they feared His body would be stolen and the disciples would lie about the resurrection. Some of them might even have feared that Jesus had been telling the truth. What if He was the Son of God? What if He did rise? And when the tomb was found empty on Sunday morning and the soldiers were walking around stunned and stupefied – what did these Jews do? They bribed the soldiers to lie about what happened. And that didn’t give them any peace either.
If you try to bury your sins and keep Jesus in His tomb, in some dark corner outside of your life where you don’t have to see him, you will not have peace. You might be able to hide your sins from me or your family, but you know them. Your conscience convicts you. You can pretend to have peace like the Jews, but your conscience will never give you rest. God’s Law will keep nagging you. You’ll spend your life trying to keep your sins in the dark or trying to keep Jesus at a safe distance and God’s Word far away. You’ll live like the Jews, outwardly righteous, handsome and above average in the eyes of the world, but inwardly fearing that your sin might escape the darkness where you’ve hidden it. Your manufactured peace will give you no rest.
Joseph and Nicodemus will have no earthly peace, but they have the peace that passes all understanding. After Jesus died, Joseph and Nicodemus, had no more secrets. They were disciples of Jesus. They believed in Him. Even if He appeared to be a failure they hung their lives on His death. Now it’s obvious they didn’t believe in His promised three day resurrection – or else they wouldn’t have wasted their hard earned money on 75 pounds of burial spices and fine linen, but wherever Jesus was going they were going with Him.
You know of course, which men in this story had real peace, the men with Jesus. There is only one place you want your sins to be – on Jesus. That’s the blessed news we’ve heard today in God’s Word, in hymn and song and psalm. Our sins are on Jesus. He is suffering death and hell for us. God the Father has turned His back on His only begotten Son so that He can turn His face in gracious favor and love toward you. Jesus takes your sins to hell and in His God-forsaken death, God’s anger consumes Jesus instead of you. Jesus takes your sins to His grave and there they are laid to rest – dead and buried, never to rise again. You cannot put your sins to death, but Jesus does. You cannot put God’s anger to rest, but Jesus does. You cannot pay the price for sin and live, but Jesus does.
Rest in peace Jesus. Sin is forgiven. Death is dead. Take your Sabbath rest. Help us to believe that death isn’t the end of suffering – you are. Help us to believe that death doesn’t bring peace, but you do. Grant us the faith of Nicodemus and Joseph, to come out of the shadow of sin and death and hang our lives by faith on you. They didn’t know when they buried you, but we know – the grave did not hold you, death did not swallow you. Your work is over. The sin of the world, our sin is taken away. It is finished. Grant us to rest in your peace Jesus. Amen.
Pr. Bruce Timm
3 April 2015 anno Domini