The Burial of Jesus Mk 15L42-47

GOSPEL OF MARK SERIES.

The Bible: Gospel of Mark icon.

During 2019, each week, I will write a weekly post about the Gospel of Mark, as I review and explore each of the 16 chapters and how it may be applied in our daily lives. If you are following this series for the first time, you will find this series under Scripture- New Testament- Gospel of Mark. 

Click here to read the first post in the series. I have written this series in different years (2012, 2015, 2018) with some irregularity, but am determined to complete this series this year since I am more than half way through this Gospel.

My goal is to understand and pray the Gospel of Mark. I hope you will join me on this journey as we travel through the liturgical season.  In today's post we explore chapter 15:42-47 1which is called the burial of Jesus.

THE BURIAL OF JESUS.

 It was a Roman practice to let the bodies rot on the crosses or be eaten by wild animals.  However, for the Jews, this type of practice was unthinkable since a death was incomplete without a proper burial especially if the person lived according to the law as it was interpreted by the Book of Deuteronomy (Deut 21:22-23).

A prominent member of the Jewish Sanhedrin, Joseph from Arimathaea, the location of which is unknown, comes forward to perform this last act of piety for the dead Jesus. One interesting observation here- the Jewish people could have asked for Jesus to be released but instead asked for Barabbas, a common thief and criminal. Added to that, they. Although incited by the Roman officials cried out crucify Him.  Yet now, they afford Jesus a proper Jewish burial. Remember a proper Jewish burial was for someone who lived according to the law.  If they thought Jesus did not, then they could have agreed to the Roman tradition.  Just an interesting observation.

Since Joseph is not a disciple of Jesus, Mark again draws attention to the desertion of Jesus by all His disciples.  He was waiting expectantly, Mark notes, for the coming of the kingdom of God, suggesting it is more than Jewish piety or respect for the law that inspires Him to go courageously to Pilate and ask for the body of Jesu who faithfully proclaimed the coming of the kingdom of God.

The truth that Jesus really died on the cross, against some early doubters, is reinforced by the action attributed to Pilate.  He calls the centurion who was in charge of the execution to verify from him that Jesus is truly dead.

The devotion and care of Joseph, the non-disciple, is detailed for us in several ways.  He buys a piece of fine lines as a shroud for the corpse of Jesus.  He provides a tomb cut from rock. He rolls a stone, not doubt with the help of servants, across the entrance of the tomb.  These devout actions of Joseph also highlight the extreme poverty in which Jesus dies.

The faithful women stand silently watching all that Joseph does and where he hastily buries the body of Jesus, because it is already evening and Sabbath rest begins at sunset.  The women see that the corpse of Jesus is buried without the customary anointing of ointments and spices.

REFLECTION QUESTIONS.

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In our journal and/or our discussion group we may wish to reflect on this passage as follows:

• Name the key points that you have learnt about the person of Jesus in this passage of scripture?

• Imagine that you are these solders.  What do you see and hear and feel? What can I learn from this?
• Are there any present-day situations which have all the hallmarks of a similar execution (e.g. the assault on the beliefs of the Church and its constant persecution by the media or when Judges do not speak up for the right outcome out of fear of the crowd?
•  Imagine being the women from Galilee and share their feelings as they watched the burial of Jesus by others.  What questions do I want to bring to Jesus? 
• Imagine being Joseph who was a non-disciple fronting Pilate for the body of Jesus. What would he have felt going to Pilate and what would you want to say to him’.?  In what ways do we offer help to non- disciples of Jesus in our lives?
•         Imagine being Pilate who was conflicted about handing Jesus over to the Romans.  Does his act of handing the corpse of Jesus to Joseph without causing problems serve as some form of repentance for what he did? How do we right wrongs?
  
• ·         What is reading the Gospel passage with the eyes and ears of disciple mean to me?

• How does Jesus make clear His teaching to me in this passage?         
• Consider a situation in your life today where the teaching of Jesus needs to be applied.
  
• Consider how much my faith means to me and what does my faithfulness/unfaithfulness to my church/parish mean to me and others?

• What are the areas in my life I need to bring to Jesus in the light of this teaching?
  
  
• Am I willing to look into myself with honesty and ask how much do I grasp what it means to be a true disciple of Jesus in the light of this teaching?