In this article, Bruce Pass unfolds the event of Jesus’ burial and uncovers what it means for us.
When we rejoice at Easter time, we celebrate the fact that Jesus died in our place for our sins and rose from the dead so that we might live forever with Him. But that’s not the whole story of Easter. Jesus didn’t just take our place on the cross, He also took our place in the grave.
I wonder if we tend to miss this moment in the Easter events. We rightly talk about Jesus’ death and resurrection, but rarely do we talk about His burial. But the Bible doesn’t let us forget it.
In the opening verses of 1 Corinthians 15 we have one of the very earliest records of what Christians believe – a creed of sorts, the basics of the Gospel. It contains an intriguing comment.
Paul writes: “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve” (1 Corinthians 15:3-5).
“That he was buried”. Did you notice that? It states not only that Christ died but also that he was buried. When you think about it, this seems like an odd detail. Logically, there would seem to be little difference between dying and being buried. Both communicate the fact that Jesus really died.
Now, why would the early Christians especially remember Jesus’ burial? If we can answer this question, we’ll see part of the significance of Easter and especially Holy Saturday.
Buried according to the scriptures
Paul includes the specific detail of Jesus’ burial because it contains a precious and essential truth of the Gospel. We find a clue to what this truth is in the repeated phrase, “according to the Scriptures”.
With this phrase, Paul is referring to the teachings of the Old Testament. He’s telling us that the Old Testament can explain the significance of Jesus’s burial.
The passage Paul has in mind is undoubtedly Isaiah 53:9 where we read, “He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.”
Buried as a sinner
Here is the significance of Jesus’ burial. In the same way Jesus dies as a sinner for us, Jesus is buried as a sinner for us. “He was assigned a grave with the wicked”. The biographies of Jesus, the Gospels, give us unique insights into this grave.
Mark tells us that it belonged to a prominent member of the council that condemned Jesus (Mark 15:43). Matthew tells us this man was rich (Matthew 27:57). And importantly, the Gospels note that this man was also a follower of Jesus (John 19:38).
A better burial
It’s in this last detail that we come to the precious significance about this grave of wickedness. It was the grave of one of Jesus’ followers. Jesus is buried in the wickedness of His followers so that His followers need not be buried in their wickedness. Instead of being buried in our sins only to face the judgement of God, we are offered a better burial.
Because Jesus was assigned a grave with the wicked, those who put their trust in Him will be buried in His righteousness. And because of this we may be raised in righteousness! This is the precious promise of Holy Saturday.
And this is the marvel of the Gospel.
Bruce Pass is a Lecturer in Christian Thought and History at Brisbane School of Theology and Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the University of Queensland. He holds degrees in music and theology and is married to Kate and they have three children.
