Love Never Budged (Part A)

Jesus, again, the fulfillment of all the sacrifices and offerings in type. And everyone missed it.

No one connected this. They loved him. They grieved over him. They followed him. They tried to understand what he was saying. And they did not understand that he is the sacrifice. That he is going to rise.

There were some shadows of hope, but really not much. You have your Bibles. Let's turn to the Gospel according to Mark. The Gospel according to Mark, chapter 15.

We'll take verses 42 through 47. Now when evening had come, because it was the preparation day, that is the day before the Sabbath, Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent council member who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, coming and taking courage, went into Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Pilate marveled that he was already dead. And summoning the centurion, he asked him if he had been dead for some time. So when he found out from the centurion, he granted the body to Joseph. Then he bought fine linen, took him down, and wrapped him in linen. And he laid him in a tomb, which had been hewn out of rock, and rolled a stone against the door of the tomb. And Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of Joses, observed where he was laid.

Love never budged. That's the title of this message. After Jesus had breathed his last while still on the cross, his body at least, there remained the work of removing his body to the grave. After all, what would happen to someone who was crucified and died on the cross? What happened to their bodies? Aaron would just take them and discard them if the family asked.

They might say yes and grant it to them. In this case, the centhedron may have asked for the body or saw to it that it was dishonorably treated. And so here amongst the grieving, confused, and shattered hearts of the disciples, their faith was battered. It was severely injured.

And a man steps forward. We know him as Joseph of Arimathea. And he asked for the body while it still hung on the cross, because even though their faith had been greatly wounded and their hearts were broken, their love never budged.

It never flinched. The love was still there. In fact, I believe in Joseph's case at least, and perhaps Nicodemus, the faith, the love intensified for Jesus.

And hopefully we'll see some of that in this consideration. We look now at verse 42. Now when evening had come, because it was the preparation day, that is, the day before the Sabbath.

We stop there mid-sentence. There is so much going on here culturally and traditionally. These activities are swirling around the Passover while again Christ is still on the cross. Mark mentions this verse 42 for his Roman audience who were unacquainted with the Jewish customs. It is potentially confusing to get into it from the pulpit.

It's a little easier if you're writing it, but just to speak it. For example, he says here now when evening had come. Well, the Jews, they counted early evening and late evening. Early evening began at 3 p.m. and lasted to 6 p.m.

So you have all of these twists and turns going on here that we might lose sight of. So suffice it to say that Christ, who is the Passover, he died at 3 p.m. His body is likely removed before 6 p.m., before sundown. And that's what is moving Joseph when he steps forward to get the body of Christ down before others can get to him. Now, it's also important to understand that while he was on the cross, the daily sacrifices were offered and the Jews would have their morning sacrifice where they would sacrifice the animal then offer it to the Lord and then they would have the evening sacrifice and offer that to the Lord. Well, here on this day, being a high day, there would also be the Passover sacrifices. Well, Christ, of course, he is the fulfillment of all of these sacrifices. He is the daily sacrifice and he is the Passover for us.

It gives a little bit more thrust to when Jesus says, take up your cross daily and follow me, being a daily sacrifice for Christ. Well, here, sunset, remember, is going to mark the change of days. So, for the Jew, it is now Thursday. At sunset, that will start their Friday, still our Thursday.

See, this is where it gets a little confusing. I believe in a Thursday crucifixion. Some even go so far back as a Wednesday, but I don't think you can make that work. The Friday is out if you consider that Jesus said that as Jonah was in the belly of the fish, so will the Son of Man be in the belly of the earth three days and three nights. Well, to get that three day and three night, you can only do it on a Thursday crucifixion in spite of what tradition may declare. Many great Bible commentators still hold to a Friday crucifixion because it's not that important of a matter. I'm making it more important by staying on it, perhaps.

But it's good to know these things. I think it makes us better at approaching the scripture, looking for the truth and for what it's really saying. Anyway, they had to hurry to get the body of Christ off the cross, wanting to fulfill the requirement in Deuteronomy. A person that was hung on a cross was accursed, and they were not to remain there overnight, and so they are certainly mindful of this also. John writes in the 19th chapter, he says, because it was the preparation day that the body should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath, for that Sabbath was a high day.

Continuing, John does, the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away. So when the Jews talked about Sabbath, it's not only a Saturday. Saturdays were a Sabbath, but their high days, their holy days, if it fell on a Tuesday or a Monday or any other day, that day was a Sabbath too. And because this is the Passover, beginning at Thursday sundown, starts that high day, the Passover. Now you have over a million people coming into Jerusalem, offering up sacrifices. They can't wait until the last minute to start slaughtering the sacrificial lambs. This has been going on while Christ is on the cross in preparation.

And so again, a lot of activity taking place. This Christ on the cross at the time of the sacrifices of the animals matches what was going on when the Jews were being brought out of Egypt on the first Passover. You remember they sacrificed the animals, they put the blood on the doorpost, and the angel of death would pass over. All of that having significant meaning to sinners, which we are. There are two types of sinners. Those sinners that are lost and those sinners that are saved. The saints and the aunts. And that's what we should preach. Well, Jesus again, the fulfillment of all the sacrifices and offerings in type, and everyone missed it.

No one connected this. They loved him, they grieved over him, they followed him, they tried to understand what he was saying, and they did not understand that he is the sacrifice. That he is going to rise. There were some shadows of hope, but really not much. And we get that from when the disciples were on the road to Emmaus talking to Christ, not knowing it was the risen Lord. And they say, today is now the third day. We had hoped.

But that hope was so far in the back because of the grief, the sorrow, the shock, the suddenness of everything that was going on around them. And these things are recorded for us so that when it is our turn to struggle in life, to struggle in faith, we look to the Scriptures and we see how we are supposed to behave, what God is looking for from us. Hopefully, the Scripture is real to us, and hopefully Jesus is real to us. I think that most of you older Christians, Christ is very real to you. But how about you younger Christians? I mean, you got so much happening in your life, so many distractions, so many things to do, so many things to not want to do. But there they are.

You have to face them. But are you facing those things in life with or without Jesus? Is He real to you? When you pray to Him, are you just mimicking something you've learned from your parents or watched other Christians do?

Or are you genuinely in dialogue with God, the one who said in the beginning, let there be light? In verse 43, Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent council member who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, coming and taking courage, went in to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Arimathea, that is a Greek form of the Hebrew, Rama. Rama is that Old Testament city where Samuel, the great prophet, was born. And here, Samuel's Old Testament town passes into the New Testament as Arimathea. And if I were a Jew living at this time, knowing these things, I would have a warm heart over making this connection that this man that steps forward was from the same place that Samuel lived.

That would mean something to me. Going back to Jesus being real to you, meaning something to you, I bet the devil is real to you when you're afraid, when something is coming against you. I bet you Satan is real to you. Well then, let Jesus be more real to you, because he is superior, of course, to Satan. He is not the opposite of, and may we never lose sight of that. It's so easy to have faith when everything is going right, when the trouble comes. Or, on the other side of that, things can be going too well, and who needs Christ then?

These dangers we are aware of, and we prepare for them. It says here that Joseph of Arimathea was a prominent council member. He was a top dog in the Sanhedrin, that governing body of religious leaders in Israel amongst the Jews.

He is rich, we know that. We know that he is a secret disciple, and we know that he never sided against Christ. Luke tells us in the 23rd chapter of his gospel, he had not consented to their decision and deed.

He wasn't one of them. He was on the council to serve God and to serve the people, but he was not against Jesus Christ. Now, when we talk about the Jews, there are two types. There are the righteous Jews and there are unrighteous Jews, just like with Gentiles. There are righteous Gentiles, there are unrighteous Gentiles. So, it is not coming against the race of the Jewish people when we say, just in speaking, for example, the Jews that had him crucified.

Well, so did the Romans, so did the Gentiles. Ultimately, who was responsible for the crucifixion of Christ was Christ himself. He is the author and finisher of our faith, and there'd be no faith worthwhile if we could not get to be with him for all eternity, and he is the one that made that so. Ergo, the tearing of the veil in the temple when he gave up his spirit. So, here is Joseph, and he openly now breaks ranks with his colleagues. He is no longer a secret disciple.

He will not be bullied by them anymore. He had hoped that Jesus was indeed the Jewish Messiah, but now, what's going through his head now? As he goes to speak with Pilate to ask for the body of Christ, what's he thinking? Is he settling in his head that, okay, this wasn't the Messiah, but he indeed was a prophet worthy of the highest honors?

I think that's closer to what was going on in his head. It says here in verse 43, who was himself waiting for the kingdom. That's not a casual statement. Because of the status of a man like Joseph of Arimathea, most of the disciples probably never got to talk with him or be around him.

Just a social gap between the two. And I'm sure when they wrote this, they were delighted that such a man could love the Lord. If he could do it, what was the excuse of the other ones? If other people your age can love Christ, then what's your excuse if you don't? Because I just want to play. I just, you know, I'm angry at something.

I'm not getting my way in life. Whatever it may be, it's not a good enough reason to turn your back on Christ. Whatever reason these men had for turning their back on Jesus was not good enough for God. And they have, where are they now? Well, we know where Joseph of Arimathea is and Nicodemus.

Where are the rest of them? A question mark that you don't want to go to your grave with on your life. Well, when Joseph went into the presence of Pilate, he contracted defilement. This was the place where the other Jews didn't want to go before the Passover feast. This made it impossible for him to take part in the feast as a righteous Jew would.

That defilement deepened with contact the dead body. Joseph had so now loved the Lord, ritual meant very little to him. However, now that he is defiled from celebrating the ceremony of the Passover, I don't think there could have been a greater celebration of the Passover that he and Nicodemus engaged in in taking care of the body of the Passover lamb, Jesus Christ. This was a greater honor than sitting at a table eating a lamb to take care of the Lamb of God. And so they dared ceremonial defilement in order to take the Holy One of God and properly take care of what remained with tender hands.

Risking at the same time being alienated from their colleagues, their social status could have been lost, they could have incurred a great many problems for doing what they were doing. And so again, what did these men feel? Joseph and Nicodemus as they attended to the body of Christ.

It was a gruesome task. What was happening in their heads? They labored to lay Christ to rest in spite of the misery in their hearts, the hopelessness on their faces, the loss of excitement in the tone of their voices. They too were severely injured.

Their money and their status did not protect them from how they were feeling at this moment. Of all possible disappointments, to be disappointed in Jesus Christ is the worst. And if you serve Christ enough, there will be those times where you are disappointed with what Christ has allowed or disallowed. You will struggle with this whole concept of the sovereignty of God. If God is sovereign, why doesn't he do more? Why doesn't he?

Why doesn't it go on and on? Hope was dead in their hands for the time being, but they didn't know that. They didn't know that he was going to get up. Hope gone from their hearts, but love, love never budged because they're still so concerned about him. They're risking ritual and status and perhaps even more just to get their hands on the lifeless body of Christ.

That's love. There was nothing else to drive them. There was no other reason, nothing to push them forward. That should be ministry for us all. What motivates us to serve? Well, we want to do well. We don't want to let down our fellow servants. That's part of it.

But the greater part is the love of Christ. And if it's not, it needs to be. Maybe you say, but I don't feel it like I used to feel it.

And you're still doing it? Yes. Why? Because I love the Lord, but I don't feel it. That's war, and that's good war. That's how we beat back the devil.

We don't wait to feel good about it. We go by faith. The just shall live by faith. It does not say the just shall live by feelings.

And what would get done then? Well, there are things in life that can bring profound misery and disappointment with God's way, and we accept that. And if we love Him, we won't budge.

We won't move. Those who become apostates have run out of love. There is this love that stands and takes what life throws our way because of Christ. Now, people who don't have Christ can take what life throws at them, too. But it only carries them through one lifetime, and it dies when they die.

You see, the world, they're accomplishing a great many things, building things and developing things and discovering things. And yet, what does it really matter? I mean, if you walked up to Abraham, he said, do you know they actually went to the moon and landed and walked on the moon? Well, Abraham, he had a conspiracy theory. No, he didn't. No. But what did it matter?

I mean, did they get up there? Okay, so you go to the front of the line and going into heaven. What does it profit a man if he gains the world? It's not about that.

I mean, there have to be things on earth to keep us busy, else we get into trouble. When it comes down to it, it comes down to, do you love the Lord? It says here in verse 43, coming and taking courage. How much thought went into his taking courage, knowing the consequences? There would be, evidently, a need to be courageous at this point. Otherwise, we would not have read these words.

They would not have been necessary to write. Mark and the other apostles, writers of the gospels, when they put this in there, they were saying, this man was in danger. It took courage to do what he did. John's gospel, chapter 19, verse 38, Joseph of Arimathea being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews. Again, using that, quoting that scripture, he's talking about the Jewish leaders.

It's not an ethnic slur at all. Knowingly putting himself in harm's way for the body of Christ, for a dead body. John, in his letter, maybe he was thinking of Joseph when he said, there is no fear in love.

Perfect love casts out fear. You see the connection between what this man is doing and love? It was not his duty as a council member of the Sanhedrin. There was no sense of, well, it's a decent thing to do, otherwise he would have asked for the bodies of the two other outlaws, too.

Well, the two outlaws, not other outlaws. Christ was no outlaw. His sole purpose, his sole focus was Christ and his love for Jesus. And though he may have been a secret disciple prior to the crucifixion, watching how Jesus handled it all and how he was, how Christ was handled by his enemies, just made this man love him more. The Roman mind had a different view.

A king should not be treated this way because that's a carnal view. Joseph knew, he knew better by what he heard preached because he knew enough of the scripture to make at least sound conclusions concerning the righteousness of Jesus. It's just the whole Messiah thing escaped them. Who else amongst the disciples would be granted an audience with Pilate? I mean, John may have wanted to meet with Pilate to ask for the body, but Pilate would never meet with a man like John. He was not, he did not have the social clout to merit an audience. But here is Joseph.

He has it. He can get a meeting with the governor and he does get it. He went into Pilate and asked for the body of Christ. Whatever shame they had in mind to handle the body of Christ with before Joseph showed up was blocked by the father.

God would not allow it. So God provides this servant, Joseph, it is a divine appointment. And we read this and we're supposed to say, there comes a time when God needs a specific individual. Will there come a time when he needs me? Will there come a time when he wants me to do something and I am handpicked for the task? Will I notice it?

Will I act on it? Or maybe I'll live my life in such a way God can't ever ask me. Maybe my Christianity is too shallow.

Maybe I don't have enough desire for Jesus Christ. Thanks for tuning in to Cross Reference Radio for this study in the book of Mark. Cross Reference Radio is the teaching ministry of Pastor Rick Gaston of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville in Virginia. To learn more information about this ministry, visit our website, crossreferenceradio.com. Once you're there, you'll find additional teachings from Pastor Rick. We encourage you to subscribe to our podcast. When you subscribe, you'll be notified of each new edition of Cross Reference Radio. You can search for Cross Reference Radio on your favorite podcast app. That's all we have time for today, but we hope you'll join us next time as Pastor Rick continues to teach through the book of Mark, right here on Cross Reference Radio.