THE FAMILY ALTARY - F.W. Herzberger (1922)
April 7.
"And after this, Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus,
but secretly for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate that he might
take away the body of Jesus; and Pilate gave him leave. He
came therefore, and took the body of Jesus. And there came also
Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought
a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pound weight.
Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes
with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury. Now, in
the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the
garden a new sepulcher, wherein was never man yet laid. There
laid they Jesus, therefore, because of the Jews' preparation day;
for the sepulcher was nigh at hand." John 19:38-42
In a garden, the garden of Eden, man fell away from his
God and brought sin and death into the world. In a garden,
the garden of Gethsemane, our blessed Lord began His atoning
Passion for the sin of the world. In a garden, the garden of
Joseph of Arimathea, sin, and guilt, and wrath were buried with
our Lord Jesus Christ. The handwriting which accused us was
nailed with Him to the cross. He has buried it with Him in
His hillside grave, where it will remain forever, and never again
testify against us. That is a glorious, happy truth for which we
cannot -thank Him sufficiently through all eternity. Hear it, all
ye troubled, agonizing souls, filled with fear and dread on account
of your sins : The grave of your Savior has swallowed up all your
guilt and punishment. No one, neither God nor man nor Satan,
can longer accuse and condemn you for your sins. For what does
the grave of your Savior witness so undeniably and comfortingly?
Why, that He is really and truly dead, which means that He has
obtained for you a real and true redemption from the wages of
sin, which is death. "Who is he that condemneth?" Paul there-
fore exults. (Rom. 8, 34.) It is Christ that died for us, "and
was buried according to the Scriptures." (1 Cor. 15,4.) How we
ought to thank Him and adore His self-sacrificing love ! "0 Love !
0 Love! how strong art Thou! In*shrpud and grave Thou la/st
Him low Whose word the mountains rendeth!" But the greatest
love we can show our crucified and buried Lord is to do what
Paul admonishes, Rom. 6, 3. 4 : "Know ye not that so many of us
as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death?
Therefore we are buried with Him by Baptism into death, that,
like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the
Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life/'
