As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him. Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb.
The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. “Sir,” they said, “we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first.”
“Take a guard,” Pilate answered. “Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.” So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard. - Matthew 27:57-66
They were only prepared for a dead body. Joseph asked for Jesus' body, wanting to make sure that it was treated properly and put in the tomb. It doesn't record what Joseph was thinking. We can only guess. On the eve of Sabbath, he made his own tomb available to hold the corpse. Joseph thought to honor a dead holy man.
Mary Magdalene and the other Mary wanted to know where the dead body was placed so that the would know where to go when they returned to perfume the body once Sabbath was complete. They thought to honor a dead friend.
The Pharisees wanted to make sure that the body stayed in the tomb. They sought to quiet things down so that the wouldn't get worse.
Pilate just wanted to forget about the body. He sought peace with angry people and was willing to sacrifice his integrity to get it.
No one was prepared for a back-to-life Jesus. We known what to do with corpses. But we don't know what to do with the re-living Jesus. So much of our lives are spent thinking about, planning for or ignoring our impending death. Medicine, hospitals, living trusts, wills, beneficiaries, cemeteries, ghosts...they are all artifacts of how people die. But where are the artifacts of how people live again? What if we lived...forever? What if we lived healthy and vibrant...forever? Do we get bored or is there still delight? I want to have the chance to find out. What is my life and attitude if those things aren't so prominent? God knows.
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