Greetings friend, welcome back!
We are continuing to look at the benefits of the gospel from Colossians chapter 2 and seeing how to apply them in our lives to find freedom and to change and grow.
Today, we want to see that our old man, that man with a nature that loved to sin, was not only cut off and put to death but also buried with Christ. Then, by God’s grace and power, we were raised up with Christ, with a new nature and a new life. It is so important to know that our identity in Christ is that our old person is dead and buried, and our new person has risen.
I’m sure you know that everything in Scripture has meaning and significance. The burial of Jesus is in the heart of the gospel (1 Corinthians 15:1-5) as confirming proof that Jesus died. So, let’s look for a moment at His burial, and our burial:
Matthew 27:57-60 ESV When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who also was a disciple of Jesus. (58) He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. (59) And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud (60) and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut in the rock. And he rolled a great stone to the entrance of the tomb and went away.
Question 1. What does Matthew 27:57 say about the man named Joseph?
Joseph was a wealthy man from Arimathea; he was a disciple of Jesus. He must have genuinely treasured Jesus, which means he had no doubt experienced the love Jesus poured out at the cross. The only real and lasting reason why people treasure Jesus is that they have experienced, by the Holy Spirit, the deep and amazing love of Jesus Who gave Himself up for us to die on a cross in our place. “He gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds” (Titus 2:14).
Friend, have you found what Joseph found? That Jesus treasured you in life and death, and that He gave Himself to free you from every kind of sin, and to cleanse you and make you His own? Oh, how He does love you!
And Joseph treasured Jesus back; both in life and in death, and so he came to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus, then wrapped it in a clean linen shroud (burial cloth) and buried it in his own tomb.
This was to fulfill the Old Testament Scriptures which say: “And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth” (Isaiah 53:9 ESV).
Jesus died between two wicked criminals and was buried in the grave of a rich man. His burial is essential, both in confirming that He was dead and in fulfilling the Old Testament prophecies concerning Him.
So, here is the truth: when Jesus died on the cross as payment for your sin, God viewed you as having paid for your sin in Christ. It’s just as if you were in that Garden of Gethsemane and had died on Calvary’s cross. What Jesus did on the cross, He did for you and you did in Him.
Everything Jesus did He did for you, and this includes His burial. Jesus was buried the day before the Sabbath (Mark 15:42) and rested in the tomb for three days. Because Jesus was buried He rested on the Sabbath, God sees you as having kept the Sabbath commanded in Exodus 20:8, “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.” There Jesus lay on the Sabbath, in a borrowed tomb, resting from all His work of salvation which He accomplished on the cross, fulfilling the command to rest on the Sabbath day and keep it holy.
When you put faith in Jesus, you are viewed by God as a true Sabbath keeper. “All who believe enter that rest” (Hebrews 4:3). You rest from your works, and you rest in Jesus’ finished work. “For whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works, as God did from His” (Hebrews 4:10 ESV). Jesus was buried and rested on the Sabbath, and God now views you as being a true Sabbath keeper. What Jesus did in burial, He did for you, and you did in Him.
Question 2. Why is it important to know that your old self was not only crucified with Christ but also buried with Him?
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