Wed.’s Devo - God’s Divine Plan

Read Luke 23:48-56 The people who saw these signs: the darkness in the middle of the day, the lightnings, and the thunderings were overcome with grief. One man who was there was Joseph of Arimathaea. He went to Pilate and begged to have Jesus body. When he received permission he took his body, wrapped it in linen and laid it in a sepulcher that was cut out of rock. No one had ever used this sepulcher before. Why was this significant? In Genesis 50:24 Joseph made his sons Ephraim and Manasseh promise to not leave his bones in Egypt but to take them with them when they left to go to the promised land. Just as Joseph’s tomb was emptied to take his bones to the promised land, Joseph of Arimathaea’s tomb would be emptied to take Jesus’ bones to the promised land of heaven. It was also important that Jesus be in a tomb that none else had been in because Jesus was about to do what had happened in no other tomb, and he needed a new tomb to do a new thing in. It had to be hewn out of rock because Jesus was the rock and he just went back to lie in the center of who he was. He is the Rock of all Ages. He needed to be wrapped in linen because linen is the symbol of righteousness that the priests wore. Jesus was a king and a priest and he was righteousness personified. As it was closing in on the sabbath, so they had to finish the preparation. The women that were followers made a mental note of which tomb his was laid in so they could return after the sabbath. On the sabbath they would be at home inside staying clean. Everything about Jesus death was calculated by God. Lord, you do all things well and in order. I know it didn’t seem that way to those living at the time but we can see it looking back. Help us to realize that that is what you are doing in our lives and one day we will look back and see your divine plan. We are so grateful!