Loading...Meditation April 14, 2017
The Rev. Rebecca S. Myers, LSW
Newport Ministerium Cross Walk – Noon
Audio of Paul Robeson singing this hymn
Were you there when they laid him in the tomb?
One person who was there when Jesus was laid in the tomb was Nicodemus. We first meet Nicodemus in Chapter 3 of the Gospel of John. Remember, Nicodemus is a Pharisee, a man who strictly observed traditional and written religious law. Nicodemus comes at night. Is he sneaking around, hoping no one will notice?
While he approaches Jesus with respect, most believe he also felt superior to Jesus – a know-it-all. But Jesus puzzles Nicodemus when Jesus says Nicodemus must be born again – born again of the spirit. It is in this conversation with Nicodemus that we hear Jesus say probably one of the most familiar passages of scripture:
‘For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
17 ‘Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
We hear about Nicodemus again in Chapter 7 of John’s Gospel. Jesus goes to Jerusalem for the Festival of Booths, even though he knows the religious authorities are looking to kill him…are truly upset by his teaching. The chief priests and Pharisees sent the Temple police to arrest Jesus, but the police never arrested Jesus. Nicodemus points out to his colleagues that “Our law does not judge people without first giving them a hearing to find out what they are doing, does it?” Of course Nicodemus’ colleagues argue with him on this point, but we see that Nicodemus is still drawn to Jesus just like he was on that dark night.
In Chapter 19 of John, we hear how Joseph of Arimathea, a secret disciple of Jesus, gets permission from Pilate to remove Jesus’ body from the cross. And who assists Joseph, but Nicodemus. Nicodemus brings a mixture of myrrh and aloes weighing about a hundred pounds.
Joseph and Nicodemus “took the body of Jesus and wrapped it with the spices in linen cloths, according to the burial custom of the Jews. 41Now there was a garden in the place where he was crucified, and in the garden there was a new tomb in which no one had ever been laid. 42And so, because it was the Jewish day of Preparation, and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.”
Despite Jesus’ shameful crucifixion Nicodemus, a Pharisee, helps the secret disciple, Joseph of Arimathea, to put Jesus in a tomb. Together they provide Jesus with some dignity and respect according to the custom of their time. They bring spices and linen. While hurrying because the Sabbath will begin, they nonetheless lovingly prepare Jesus body and lay it in a tomb.
Were you there when they laid him in the tomb? May we follow the example of Nicodemus, who kept coming to Jesus…kept following and questioning and learning and in the end was there to lay him in the tomb.
