Jesus Is Laid in the Tomb
Reading – John 19: 38-42
Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jewish leaders. With Pilate’s permission, he came and took the body away. He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about thirty-five kilograms. Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs. At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was near by, they laid Jesus there.
Reflection
Jesus’ disciples place his body in the tomb. Jesus had no grave so was given one by a disciple friend, Joseph of Arimathea. We pray for those whose poverty is so immense they struggle to give their loved one a funeral. Pray for those who have no funeral; pray for those who die and no one mourns.
Prayer:
We adore you O Christ and we bless you, because by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world.
Final Prayers
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven, Give us this day, thy daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever and ever Amen.
Lord Jesus Christ may your death be my life, and in your dying may I learn how to live. May your struggles be my rest, your human weakness my courage, your shame, my honour, your passion, my delight, your sadness my joy, in your humiliation may I be exalted, in a word may I find all blessings in your trials. Amen