Robert E Rasmussen.com

The burial of Jesus Christ is often passed over as an incidental detail, a mere pause between His death and resurrection. But it is extremely important. Here are some ways to reflect on it.

 Jesus’ body was buried, confirming loss and spreading sadness.

Obviously Jesus did not conduct His own burial. Passively, His lifeless body was released by Pilate, taken and wrapped by Joseph and Nicodemus, laid in the new tomb, and sealed behind a large stone (Matt. 27: 57-60; John 19:39).

His death dealt the blow of extreme sadness to His followers. Jesus’ disciples experienced the crushing disappointment of their master’s crucifixion. The women who were a part of Jesus’ ministry attended to His corpse by preparing spices to lay in the tomb (Luke 23:56). For them it was a time of grieving the loss of a friend and teacher who had instilled so much hope in their hearts.

Saturday, the Sabbath, was an unwanted rest. The disciples must have sat and stared at the ground. The women tried to stay busy gathering embalming spices. The Pharisees made sure no one tampered with the corpse, so they posted a guard by the entrance to the tomb (Matt. 27:66).

Though Jesus had told His disciples that He would rise again, that expectation seems to have been lost in the trauma of recent events (John 20:9).

Today the disciple abides in Jesus through seasons of waiting, grieving, and hoping.

Like the burial of Christ, the burial-like experiences of the disciple would be easy to discount as a relatively insignificant result of crucifixion. But experience shows this is far from the case. The season following our surrender and sacrifice proves to be a time in which God puts a great deal of attention.

CONFIRMATION OF DEATH. Burial times cause the disciple to confirm the death of that which has been surrendered. Spiritual gains can be forfeited if not reinforced over time. The commitment to put to death a sinful behavior must be followed through by continuing to keep that behavior in the tomb of renunciation.

GRIEF.   Another characteristic of such seasons is grieving the loss of what has died. There is much sadness in the world, and it is the lot of the disciple to experience such loss and feel its pain. One calling of discipleship is lament – to mourn what has broken down and to yearn for what could be.

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This is hard!

About now you may be wondering if this trail is still the one you want to travel! Maybe you think I am selecting only the most difficult scriptures while ignoring all the easy ones. That is a fair assessment. Jesus was harshest with the people in the dominant, religious class. He was much easier on poor people. Is that you? Then take a break from these harsh passages – you already know them from personal experience.

You may have signed on with Jesus before realizing all of these teachings about surrender and sacrifice. Like me in my childhood, you may have just wanted to escape hell and have eternal life. And perhaps you would like to stay at that level – grateful for the hope of eternity but not interested in a fanatical Christian life. That is possible to do; some will be saved but have no or few good works to show for it (1 Cor. 3:11-15).

My counsel to you is to embrace both the comforting and hard teachings of scripture. Jesus does not call you to an easier life but to an abundant one. Not a happy life but a joyful one. You must not leave the trail, so stay moving forward on this one. Take advantage of the many teachers and writers who encourage you along the way. My service to you is to help you get your bearings, reorient your direction, and keep following Christ. Onward then!

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There are many practices which can help you at the marker of sacrifice. Confession of all known sin, especially in the presence of others you trust, can bring wonderful cleansing if you mean it from your heart. Naming the sin or practice for what it is can clarify the issue which needs to be sacrificed. Renunciation – a turning away from that which you were doing or thinking – can help you put to death that which you are leaving at the cross. Consecration is a holy confirmation of a decision to repent. These acts could be observed in some ceremonial or formal way to add importance. A communion service can be an important time to confess and solidify the work of sacrifice in your life.

There are very likely attachments in the spiritual realm which must be dealt with. You may have given place in your heart to a spirit of lust, greed, power, or such as these. This is a larger subject than we can deal with here, and one that is often dispelled or ignored, but I encourage you to discuss this with a godly believer who can draw on passages such as Ephesians six. There are some good books on this subject; just be sure to choose balanced writers and not extremists.

Confusion may figure into this part of the trail. Satan is a beguiler and deceiver. Your circumstances may be so complex that confusion becomes a byproduct. Stress may cause you to function at less than your normal capacity. Your health may suffer, even severely. What a guide we have in Jesus. Who can know all that caused Him to cry out, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” You can be sure He will not be condemning of you when you are confused.

Friends may seek to comfort you, but few can walk where you are walking. Their attempts to help you through this time may seem hurtful. They may share scriptures with you intending to encourage you, but it will seem like they are belittling the seriousness by throwing a verse at it. Try not to judge or resent their efforts. Likely, they mean well. When they have their death-like experience, you will be more sensitive to them as a result of your season of sacrifice.

What should you do when, even while you are trying to sacrifice all to God, someone or something comes along and adds offense to an already horrible time? How can you avoid a setback at a critical season? The only advice I can offer is to admit to God in prayer that you have reached your limit. Tell Him you want to extend grace to others, that you know Jesus said “Father forgive them for they know not what they do,” but that God will have to give you grace enough because you don’t have it yourself. Cast your care on the Lord, for He cares for you.

Review some of the scriptures we have shared above. Meditate on them, and pray them back to God. Above all, remember that Jesus meets you at your Golgotha. He knows the pain of sacrifice, and since the Spirit of God dwells in you as a believer, you have the holy presence of Christ with you. The One who prayed, “Into Thy hands I commit My spirit” is there to help you commit your spirit into the loving hands of your Father in heaven.

I cannot say how long your season of sacrifice will last. It may be as brief as a minute or a day. It may be of the sort that extends for months or years. But of this I am sure: God does not leave anyone hanging any longer than needed. Crucifixion is not the end, but a passage to what is next. So don’t lose heart. God is able. He will take glory from your sacrifice, and move you on to the purposes He has in mind for you.

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Practical counsel for the disciple at the place of sacrifice

Has God put a challenge before you that seems insurmountable? As difficult as it is and will be, there is a positive aspect to appreciate. At least you know where you are on the trail, and you know what to do. Not only that, but you know that the One who came to this place first is staying with you right now.

Maybe you are at a different expression of Golgotha. Has God asked you to surrender something you treasured? If you truly surrendered your will to His, then you now have the task of laying it down at the foot of the cross and leaving it there. To sacrifice is to fully place your life into God’s hands, commit yourself to whatever He demands.

If you surrendered a sinful habit, the call to sacrifice means that you must now stop that habit. If God’s will confronted an addiction in your life, now you are at your own Golgotha where you must put that addiction to death. Pour out the alcohol, smash the syringes, burn the magazines, give up your smart phone or video games. Jesus said that if your eye offends you, pluck it out. If your hand offends you, cut it off. Crucifixion does whatever it takes.

I love accountability and I wish it worked. But if you have not gone to the cross and let your heart be broken before God, you can have a hundred godly believers holding you accountable and you will still find a way to sneak back to your addiction. Your sacrifice must be honest and complete, otherwise call it a wound because it isn’t a crucifixion.

If God asked you to surrender an inappropriate relationship, Golgotha demands that you break it off, not temporarily, but a clean break. No strings attached. Soon you are going to have to bury the corpse of Golgotha. So you better completely kill what God has asked for, because you don’t want to be buried alive.

Am I being harsh? Jesus was harsh. She who loses her life for Christ ends up keeping it. But she who tries to keep life will end up losing it. That’s harsh, but its truth. Many believers today are trying to have a bit of sacrifice with a bit of self. They are either miserable or desensitized to the things of God’s Spirit.

Did you surrender something or someone you treasured as much or more than God? That was an idol. You did wonderfully to say “nevertheless, not as I will.” But don’t leave that idol to reappear. Your work, ministry, or dream project may be an idol. Your hobby, your art or music, your games. Your spouse or girl or guy friend could have become on par with God in your life. God is calling you to sacrifice anything that competes with Him. Should you quit your job? Maybe. Kill your girlfriend? No! But you must lay them down at the foot of the cross and give them to God, inviting Him to resume first place in your life.

Dealing with these issues cannot be accomplished in a sentence prayer. You need to search out your heart in all honesty before God. “Repentance” is a change of mind, a turning around to face a different direction. “Mortify” means to put to death. Addictions, idols, chronic attitudes of self-centeredness typically take a long process to root out and destroy. I suggest you find a mature Christian friend or two, or a counselor who knows the Word, to help you work through your call to sacrifice and put God in first place again.

As it was with surrender, sacrifice may be a threshold to greater days. You may be at the point of finally putting to death an attitude, a relationship, a job, a location that has held you back from living in free and fulfilling service for God. Sacrifice is always hard, but it is always the next step toward joy in Christ.