Christ Has Died

There is no credible historical or religious writing that makes any allusion to any other fact than that Jesus Christ died on the cross and was buried in a nearby tomb. He was not miraculously raised up to Heaven, he was lowered down from the cross, likely by his friends and followers, or by workers hired by Joseph of Arimathea. Joseph was a rich man who also had become a follower of Jesus and believed in his teachings. Joseph had stepped forward to donate a nearby tomb which he owned as the final burial place of Jesus, and thus had asked for the body. His wealth and his status in the community as a member of the 'Sanhedrin', a local governing council, impressed Pilate enough that he granted Joseph permission. When you think about this particular act, think a little more deeply. Roman law at the time was actually against this very type of action, because the authorities feared that such a tomb would become a shrine of pilgrimage. There has been some speculation through time that Pilate granted the request simply because of Joseph's status in the community, or possibly some bribe or payment from Joseph. There is also speculation that it was a simple matter of conscience. Pilate believed that Jesus was innocent of any crime, let alone one for which he should have been put to death. He stated this numerous times in the hours leading up to the crucifixion. At least a part of his decision to allow the burial at Joseph's tomb may have come simply from feelings of guilt. Approval for this act of charity was granted by Jesus' family as well, and so the cross was lowered and the battered, bloody, and lifeless body of Christ was removed from it. We think about the drama surrounding Jesus' passion and many of the events surrounding his death and resurrection, but we rarely contemplate the most minute details as Joseph and his friend Nicodemus would have dealt with them in the aftermath of the crucifixion. The reality would be that men had to remove the long nails from Christ's hands and feet. They would have had to untie his arms. Someone would have had to remove the mocking crown of thorns from his head. His body would have then been wrapped and carried away towards Joseph's tomb, which was not far from Golgotha. Items involved in the crucifixion such as the nails, the rope, the crown of thorns, and even the cross itself on which Christ hung were most assuredly taken by some of Jesus' followers or by others who believed these artifacts would have some material value as souvenirs, if not by Joseph and Nicodemus themselves. Before being laid in the tomb, Joseph and Nicodemus would have had the body brought to a room where they cleaned it, prepared it for burial with myrrhs and aloes, and wrapped it in a linen cloth. Jesus' mother Mary, and his close friend and follower Mary of Magdalene, were both present throughout the entirety of the process as he was lowered from the cross, transported to the burial place, prepared for burial, and finally laid in the tomb. It was likely their intention to both ensure that he receive proper treatment, and they also planned on returning to the tomb at some point to apply further oils and spices to the body, a process that normally took place over a few days. Finally, Christ's body was carried into the tomb, likely with a small, somber ceremony of simple witness and prayer possibly only involving Joseph, Nicodemus, and the two Mary's, as Jesus' other followers had fled into hiding. A large stone was then ordered to be rolled into place to seal the tomb. On the following day, the chief priests and Pharisees went to Pilate and asked that guards be posted at the sealed tomb for three days, because they understood the significance of the belief that Christ was the Messiah, and that it was foretold that he would rise on the third day. The officials feared that Jesus' followers would come by night, remove the body from the tomb, and then claim that Jesus had risen from the dead in fulfillment of the prophecies. Pilate granted this request, and either Roman centurions or Temple guards went to the tomb, ensured that it was secure, and then stood a vigilant watch. All through the day on Saturday, and through Saturday night into early on Sunday morning, Jesus' battered, cold, dead, wrapped body lay in that tomb in utter darkness.

The Place of the Skull

Golgotha is a real place, once a hill in Jerusalem where Jesus Christ was nailed to a cross and died for our sins. Be it in Latin, Greek, or Aramaic, the word or term that we know today as 'Golgotha' means 'the place of the skull'. That is also how it was described in all four of the Biblical Gospels. There are many important places in human history where events have taken place that have shaped humanity. There are none more important than Golgotha, for it was here that Jesus died so that you and I, and indeed the entire human race, might have the chance at eternal salvation. Jesus had been arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, had to endure six separate hearings or trials in one overnight and morning period, been beaten, whipped, and mocked, and had a crown of thorns embedded into his forehead. The Romans had hoped that this unmerciful treatment would satisfy the Jewish leaders' appetite for Jesus' blood, but it did no good. Their cry continued to be "Crucify him!" And so that is what Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor over Judea, ordered to be done. It is very hard to imagine how we can now refer to the remembrance of these events as 'Good Friday', for there was nothing good about the way that Christ was treated. With his back, arms, and legs scarred and bleeding from the beating, he was forced in the morning sun to carry his own cross up the rugged embankments of the hill known as Golgotha. When he reached the exact place that the execution was to take place, his hands and feet were tied and then nailed to the cross. His cross was then raised up and placed into a holding 'ring' which had been struck into the stone for support. Here hung the Son of God, who had come down to Earth as man to achieve this very purpose, in the hot baking sun for three hours. Then at noon the sky went suddenly dark. As Jesus hung on the cross during this period of darkness, God withdrew Himself, and Christ bore the full weight of the sins of all mankind, you and I and all men throughout history, utterly alone. At approximately 3:00pm, Christ uttered his final words: "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit." He breathed his last and gave up his spirit. A great earthquake rocked the land as tombs were split open and the Temple veil was torn from top to bottom. Taking in this dramatic site, a stunned and awed Roman centurion stated "Truly this was God's son!" His body was then taken down and away by Joseph of Arimathea, to be prepared for burial in a nearby tomb belonging to Joseph's family. The place where Christ was crucified and buried now lies fully within the boundaries of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. The church was built by the Roman emperor Constantine, who had converted to Christianity in the 4th century and whose mother, Helena, had researched and discovered the exact site of Christ's crucifixion, which had occurred some three hundred years earlier. Sometimes called by the gentler name of 'Calvary', it is a menacing name, Golgotha, "the place of the skull", and it was the site of one of the most important events in human history. We should recall those events today with awe, with acknowledgement of the guilt that we all share in creating them, and with thanks for the sacrifice made by our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. NOTE: As always, the title of this article is a link to further information, this time to a site devoted to information and pictures of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.

The Greatest Question Ever Asked

About a half century ago, literally on the other side of the world, the Reverend Billy Graham was delivering one of his typical fire and brimstone sermons 'Down Under' in Australia. The theme of his sermon that day revolved around what he called "the greatest question ever asked by any man." That questioner to whom he was referring was a bit notorious. It was Pontius Pilate, the first century Prefect of the Roman province of Judaea who has become legend for having condemned Jesus Christ to death by crucifixion. While being questioned by Pilate, Jesus stated "...for this I came into the world, to testify to the Truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me." Pilate responded with his simple question that has resounded through history as that greatest ever to be asked: "What is truth?" However, Pilate asks his question dismissively of Christ. As he asks the question, he waves Jesus off and walks away, as if to say 'yeah, right' or 'gimme a break'. But it is not as if Jesus Christ had never answered this question, for he had done so on numerous occasions previously, and none more famously than is presented in the Gospel of John. In John 14:6, Christ proclaims that he is "the Way, the Truth, and the Life." Today's world is full of what have become known as 'relativists' who claim, as the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche said: "You have your way. I have my way. As for the right way, the correct way, and the only way, it does not exist." In philosophical circles, this has become known as 'Moral Relativism', that what is right for you is right, and what is right for me is right. There is one huge problem with all of this, of course. No two individuals, or groups of people, or religions can always both be 'right' in a relative way. If I claim that a certain patch of land is mine, and you claim that same patch of land is yours, then we have a legitimate dispute that cannot be resolved by any claim that we are both right. The fact is that, as Reverend Graham put it on that evening in Australia, when Jesus Christ makes the statement that he is "..the Way, the Truth, and the Life" he did not stop there. His statement finished with "No one comes to the Father except through me." This leaves you, that means anyone reading this, anyone who has been in existence since that time who has heard that claim, with only two choices. Either Jesus Christ was everything that he said he was, or he is a liar, a fraud, and a scoundrel. Your choice. That is the basis of the entirety of man's decision making process since the time of the beginnings of Christianity. The great joy is that so many have come to understand the ultimate truthful answer, that Jesus Christ is indeed the Way to a personal relationship with God, that he is the Truth of existence in every word that he ever spoke, and that he is the Life that we all seek in eternity. Christianity rose from the humble beginnings of a few dozen close followers to the largest belief system on the planet in just over two millenia. It did so despite being the direct target of those who would have stamped it out wholly and utterly, at times when it appeared the odds of its survival were insurmountable. It ultimately grew strong and prospered because at its very heart is that ultimate Truth that is the answer to the greatest question that any man has ever posed. The answer to Pontius Pilate's question of "What is truth?" is Jesus Christ. If you haven't come to that realization yet, I implore you to look closer. Get yourself a Bible, turn to the New Testament, and read Christ's words. They will inspire you if you have never taken that time before, and the more you read, the more you will understand. The more you understand, the more the Holy Spirit will fill your life. The more the Spirit moves within you, the closer you will get to understanding and accepting that Truth. And as we have come to know, the Truth shall set you free.