Acts 13:26-29; Ps. 22:1-18, The Gospel of God’s Grace (B)

2)    v29: Jesus was buried.  The main point of Jesus’ burial is that He was truly dead.  But Paul says it differently: “when they had fulfilled all that was written concerning Him, they took Him down from the tree and laid Him in a tomb.”  Who are “they”?  We can all take credit for putting Jesus on the cross, since He died for our sins.  But in the context, “they” has referred in vs. 27-28 to “those who dwell in Jerusalem, and their rulers.”  The reason he put it like that is he is telling these things to the Jews of the diaspora.  The point is not to lay extra blame on the Jews of Jerusalem.  It is simply that that’s where it happened, and if you have read the gospels, especially John 5-12, the Apostles highlight the conflict between Jesus and the Jews of Jerusalem. 

When the time came to take the body of Jesus down from the cross, remember that it was Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus who took the lead.  Both were part of the Jewish leadership in Jerusalem, but also men who had come to believe in Jesus. Furthermore, remember that the Romans were involved in the whole process.  There would have been no crucifixion with Rome.  If the Jews had done it, Jesus would have been stoned.  Thus, when Isa. 53 prophecies the suffering of the Servant, it’s the Romans who do most of the fulfilling work.  And it is Pilate, the Roman governor, who makes the legal decision.  These details are of no concern to Paul.  In Scripture, the promised Messiah is from Israel, offers Himself to Israel, and must be received or rejected by Israel. 

Having considered those at the center of the rejection of Christ, Paul’s point is that Jesus did not die until “they” had done all that was prophesied that “they’ would do.  It was not until He had become a reproach of men, despised by the people, ridiculed and mocked (Ps. 22:6-8).  It was not until His bones were disjointed, His heart melted like wax, His strength dried up, and His tongue unable to speak (22:14-15).  It was not until His hands and feet had been pierced, His dignity gone, and the soldiers had gambled for His clothing (22:16-18).  It was not until He had borne our sins in His body on the tree, as Peter put it (1 Pt. 2:24), not until He had borne our grief and sorrow brought on by sin (Isa. 53:4), having been wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities (53:5), not until He had suffered so as to make reconciliation and healing a reality for those who would believe in Him (53:5), not until three hours of darkness had revealed that the Father had forsaken Him on the cross (Ps. 22:1), that they took His body down from the cross and buried it in the tomb of a rich man (Isa. 53:9). 

Cemeteries are awful places, but they are profound.  Every person in a cemetery is dead.  Their earthly lives are finished.  There are no exceptions.  Jesus’ body was laid in a tomb, but not until every purpose of His earthly life was accomplished.