John 19: 28-42 it says after this Jesus knowing that all was now finished said to fulfill scripture I thirst a Jar full of SAR wine stood there so they put a sponge full of the SAR wine on a hiss of branch and and held it to his mouth when Jesus had received the sour wine he said it is finished and he bowed his head and gave up his Spirit since it was the day of preparation and so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath for that Sabbath was a high day the Jews asked pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away so the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who had been crucified with him but when when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead they did not break his legs but one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear and at once there came out blood and water he who saw it has borne witness his testimony is true and he knows that he is telling the truth that you also May believe for these things took place that the scripture might be fulfilled not one of his bones will be broken and again another scripture says they will look on him whom they have pierced after these things Joseph of arima who was a disciple of Jesus but secretly for fear of the Jews asked pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus and pilate gave him permission so he came and took away his body Nicodemus also who earlier had come to Jesus by Night came bringing a mixture of mirr and alows about 75 lbs in weight so they took the body ofes Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices as is the burial custom of the Jews now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden and in the garden a new Tomb in which no one had yet been laid so because of the Jewish day of Passover since the tomb was close at hand they laid Jesus there may God add his Blessing to his word this afternoon so we are now in the last segment in our series about the state of Christ's humiliation next Sunday we will be beginning with the state of Christ's exaltation so just a recap of what we have covered before we finally end this brief series about the state of Christ's humiliation first we studied Philippians 2: 6-8 and learn of the state of Christ's humiliation in that study we learned that Christ emptied and humbled himself self of his Divine Privileges and humbled himself by taking form of a man and he was obedient to death second we studied about how Christ humbled himself in his Incarnation and birth in that study we reiterated and really established the deity of Christ if you still remember John 1: 1 and 2 that Christ was from eternity pre-existent coexistent and self-existent and being the Son of God he became the son of man who became flesh and tabernacled with us we also learned that he was born of a lowly woman who is Mary and saw the abasing lowly circumstance surrounding his birth he was born in a manger born into a poor family there was no pump and Majesty in his birth he was not born a royalty then third we studied how Christ humbled himself in his life we learn that he subjected himself to the law because he was born under the law to redeem those who are under the law in his entire life he struggled with indignities Psalm 22:6 tells us that he was degraded derided and despised Jesus also struggled with inducements specifically The Temptations of Satan in his most vulnerable and weakened state so that he can sympathize with us and help us who are also being tempted moreover we learned that he also struggled with infirmities he experienced being hungry thirsty tired and grief and all the common conditions of the nature of man and even the extreme infirmities as what we have learned from Isaiah 52 and then last week we studied how Christ humbled himself in his death we looked into the last hours of his life life the external and internal conflicts that he went through before finally being crucified on the cross and so this afternoon we will take a look at the last part of Christ's humiliation which is his burial or remaining in the state of death question 50 of the Westminster larger catechism asks the question wherein consisted Christ's humiliation after his death and the answer goes Christ's humiliation after his death consisted in his being buried and continuing in the state of the dead and under the power of death till the third day which had been otherwise expressed in these words he descended into hell so let's begin with our study first uh Christ's humiliation after his death consisted in his being buried so let's look into that first Christ's humiliation after his death consisted in his being buried so if you check the scriptural references for this point in our catechism the divines use 1 Corinthians 15: 3-4 as a proof text just to Simply point that Jesus was buried in our confession the one that we read earlier this morning uh chapter 8 section 4 they use Matthew 27: 60 where Joseph of arimaa laid Jesus on his new Tomb as a scriptural reference reference for this particular point so for this first point the main idea that I simply want us to be really convinced of which I believe is also the point that the divines want to emphasize here is that Jesus truly died thus he needed to be buried now not just to fulfill scripture because there are prophecies pertaining to his burial but more significantly his burial also serves as the god ordained necessary evidence that convincingly proves that Jesus also truly resurrected so let's turn to the passage that we just read uh a while ago and we'll go through the events as to how Jesus was buried so Bic a John 19 and we'll just begin with verse 31 one since it was the day of preparation and so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath for that Sabbath was a high day the Jews asked pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away now whenever John uses the word Jews here say young gospel he usually refers to the Sanhedrin who were the enemies of Christ so these Jews because it was the day of preparation meaning it is a Friday and they needed to prepare for the Sabbath and next day which is not just any ordinary Sabbath by the way for our Texas it is a high day notice Bibles for that Sabbath was a high day it was a special Sabbath and it is considered a double holy Sabbath because it falls on a Passover which is a very important day which they were very religious in obeying its regulations and so because this is Passover Sabbath the Jews asked pilate to expedite the death of those who were crucified by breaking their legs so Passover what they had in mind in this request is is found in Deuteronomy 21:22 to 23 which says and if a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he is put to death and you hang him on a tree his body shall not remain all night on the tree but you shall bury him the same day for a hanged man is cursed by God you shall not defile your land that the Lord your God is giving you for for an inheritance so they did not want to defile their land because of bodies still hanging on the cross now the only basis for taking down bodies of crucified individuals is if they were already dead and so the Jews requested pilate here to break their legs to make them die quickly the Romans usually use a large wooden hammer and smash the legs until the bones are really broken so that the crucified person's body will slump on the wrist and suffocate the internal organs since the legs can no longer support them this process would bring excruciating pain and other than breaking the legs the Romans would then bring the death stroke where they would Ram a spear into the heart thereby making the victim die quickly and so when the Jews requested this K pilate pilate approve of this verse 32 and 33 so the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who had been crucified with him but when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead they did not break his legs verse 34 but one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear and at once there came out blood and water here we see that even in the death of Christ prophecy is being fulfilled Psalm 34:20 he keeps all his bones not one of them is broken verse 36 of John 19 confirms this saying for these things took place that the scripture might be fulfilled not one of his bones will be broken another prophecy is found in Zechariah 12:10 it says and I will pour out on the House of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of Grace and please for mercy so that when they look on me on him whom they have pierced they shall mourn for him as One Mourns for an only child and weep bitterly over him as one weeps over a firstborn verse 37 of John 19 says and again another scripture says they will look on him whom they have pierced and so Jesus was truly dead on the cross Jesus Christ his heart was pierced and water and blood gushed out which really showed that Jesus was also truly human and he was truly dead now once the crucified person is dead what usually happens is the body will be taken off the cross and be thrown into a common criminals grave it is most likely a pit somewhere probably G or Valley of hom where the city dump of Jerusalem was they throw the body there to be consumed by the always burning fire and so most likely crucified body and to be burned by the fire or consumed by the fire or to be eaten by wild anim animals and this is what would have been done to Jesus Isaiah 53:9 says 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 so even here K Isaiah 53:9 first part Isaiah already said they made his grave with the wicked so most likely body but isah 53:9 continues they made his grave with a rich man in his death Jesus's grave as I've said would have been assigned with the wicked but he won wind up with the rich but how none of his 11 disciples were Rich most of them were fishermen if we talk about the gal Galilean women who were there they don't have any resources to bury Jesus they don't have any property or graves in Jerusalem Jesus needed to be buried by Sundown remember so he needed to be buried by Sundown so that prophecy will also be fulfilled that he will be buried for three days so how will this be now Jesus in a rich man grave and also also fulfill prophecy three days buried enter Joseph of arimaa John 1938 after these things Joseph of arimaa who was a disciple of Jesus but secretly for fear of the Jews and Je Sanhedrin asked pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus and pilate gave him permission so he came and took away his body Matthew 27:57 gives us another detail about this man Joseph of arimaa Matthew 27:57 when it was evening there came a rich man from arimaa named Joseph who also was a disciple of Jesus Joseph was not just a rich man he was not just a secret disciple of Jesus before for now he boldly presented himself to be Jesus's disciple here but Joseph is also a member of the San hedrin the ruling Council who condemned Jesus to death but Luke 53:51 would tell us that he was not he was one who did not consent to the decision and action of the council and so this good and just man came to pilate to take Jesus's body the word ask Bibles is not really a good translation a better word would be Joseph beg pilot for Jesus's body they ask Not only was Joseph the and not only was Joseph the only member of the council who did not consent to their decision and action there was another one Tas verse 39 John 19 character Nicodemus also who earlier had come to Jesus by Night came bringing a mixture of mirr and alows about 75 PBS in weight so they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices as is the burial custom of the Jews now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden and in the garden a new Tomb in which no one had yet been laid so because of the Jewish Day of preparation since the tomb was close at hand they laid Jesus there amazingly by God's Providence pilate granted Joseph the permission to take Jesus's body for in truth if you remember stud last Sunday he had no right to Jesus's body and pilate was done dealing with the Jews or with the Sanhedrin and here comes another member of the Sanhedrin begging or asking for Jesus's body and amazingly because relph of Jesus from the cross and just to quickly note for us just a footnote for us this afternoon what Joseph and Nicodemus did here was a very remarkable yet costly commitment they knew that they will lose their Sanhedrin rights it would be the end of their wealth and status because of what they did here they would be alienated and ostracized but they did this anyway they they stepped out from being secret disciples and gave Jesus a dignified burial they did this they did this not for a risen Jesus at least not yet but for a dead Jesus and here we see their love and devotion even at the loss of all their Earthly benefits in life furthermore in a ceremonial sense by going to Pilot by entering Gentile pretorium and also by carrying the dead body of Jesus this made Joseph and Nicodemus polluted for the Sabbath and could not celebrate the Passover but nevertheless they did this along with other women they buried Jesus in the new Tomb owned by Joseph of arimaa so again Jesus's burial testifies that he really died this testimony of our Lord's death is significant for it leaves no doubt that Jesus suffered the full curse of our sin and the full wrath of God Jesus truly died because death is the wages that Sinners pay and death is required for atonement Hebrews without the shedding of blood there can be no forgiveness and so the burial of Jesus authenticates that Jesus truly died it gives us the assurance that the demands of God's law were fully met in Christ and we are on a solid foundation in our relationship with the father as his adopted Sons and Daughters our peace with God is secure quoting Matthew Henry he said in the Garden of Eden death and the grave must first death and the grave first receive their power and now in a garden tomb they are conquered disarmed and Triumph over Jesus was TR truly Jesus truly died and was buried so that he might remove the sting of death for us now I'd like for us to turn to to Matthew's account because I mentioned earlier that the burial of Jesus not only proves that he is dead but also serves as the god ordained necessary evidence that convincingly proves that Jesus also truly Resurrected so Matthew 27 and we'll read verses 62-66 Matthew 27 62-66 it reads the next day that is after the day of preparation the chief priest and the P Pharisees gathered be before Pilate and said sir we remember how that impostor said said while he was still alive after 3 days I will rise therefore ordered the tomb to be made secure until the third day lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people he has risen from the dead and the last fraud will be worse than the first pilate said to them you have a guard of soldiers go make it as secure as you can so they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard now imagine brothers and sisters if did this did not happen imagine if this did not happen and we would be preaching about the resurrection of Christ a lot of Skeptics perhaps will easily say that the resurrection never happened and they would say that what happened was simply grave robbery which is rampant so perhaps Skeptics would say but in God's wisdom and Providence working in the lives of evil scheming men he allowed this to happen he allowed the Tomb of Jesus to be really secured the stone being sealed and there were guards by doing this by doing this the only explicit clear truthful undeniable explanation that is left for Skeptics and the unbelieving as to why Jesus's body is not in the Tomb on the third day is he resurrected from the dead Jesus truly resurrected from the dead thus the burial of the Lord Jesus Christ not only authenticates that he truly died but likewise it undoubtedly proves that he truly resurrected from the dead you see even in his death his enemies wanted him quickly dead because of their hypocrisy to celebrate the Passover Sabbath their hatred of him continued that they asked pilate to break his leg and expedite his death his body was supposedly be thrown into the common burial area for criminals to be consumed by fire or eaten by scavengers or wild beasts what humiliation indeed what humiliation that our Lord submitted himself into second Christ's humiliation after his death consisted in his continuing in the state of the Dead Christ's humiliation after his death consisted in his continuing in the state of the dead now there are three uh scripture references that the divines gave us but I think the main scripture here is Psalm 16 so I'll just read the three Psalm 16:10 it says for you will not abandon my soul to shol or let your Holy One see corruption and this text is quoted by Peter in his sermon in Acts chapter 2 acts 2:2 24-27 God raised him up losing the pangs of death because it was not possible for him to be held by it for David says says concerning him I saw the lord always before me for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken therefore my heart was glad and my tongue rejoiced my flesh also will dwell in Hope for you will not abandon my soul to Hades or let your Holy One see corruption acts 2:31 he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ that he was not abandoned to Hades nor did his flesh see corruption as what we have read from these three passages that the divines used to support their second second statement here we can observe that the common point that they are driving at is Jesus went to shol or Hadis after Jesus died he did not resurrect immediately but continued to be dead Jesus truly experienced the whole measure of human suffering in tasting death in tasting the grave for a season indeed he truly and fully bore the wages of sin Genesis 3:1 19 tells us the effect of the fall into sin Adam and Eve after they fell into sin so Genesis 3:19 this is what the Lord said by the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground for out of it you were taken for you are dust and to dust you shall return the burial of the Dead is the going down to the ground as ordered and ordained by God to the sinner's humiliation Jesus and being our representative was buried and remained dead as part of his humiliation on our behalf to remove the Terrors of the Grave for the redeemed and to sanctify the grave for us John Pearson wrote while the sufferings of Christ were finished on the cross yet as though a sinner his soul went to the place where Sinners go when dead being necessary to undergo the full penalty of death yet as then raised there from as no sin was in him and so in going back s psalm 16 they David who is the author of this Psalm takes comfort that his flesh his body and soul will rest that is die and rest in the grave in Hope in Hope man God will not leave his soul under the power of death but David trusts that he will upon death immediately enter into the fullness of life and joy in God's presence in heaven in the promise of God not to leave his holy Saints in corruption as bodies rot and disintegrate in the grave David looks forward to the day in which God would resurrect his body to life David had this hopeful Assurance because what he wrote Finds Its fulfillment in the Lord Jesus Christ being the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep Jesus was raised from the dead and so so will be Those whom he at he atoned for in his death upon his death the soul of Jesus went immediately to heaven in the fullness of the presence of God and his body was not left to rot in the grave but was resurrected to life and shortly ascended to God's right hand in the same way brothers and sisters this two is our joyful hope this two is our joyful hope question 86 of the larger catechism asks the question what is the communion in glory with Christ which the members of The Invisible Church enjoy immediately after death and the answer goes the communion in glory with Christ which the members of The Invisible Church enjoy immediately after death is in that their souls are then made perfect in Holiness and reive into the highest heaven where they behold the face of God in light and Glory waiting for the full Redemption of their bodies which even in death continued United to Christ and rest in their graves as in their beds till at the last day they be again United to their souls because Jesus died and was buried we are assured that the wrath of God against sins of all his people was fully appeased Believers need not fear then of God's judgment because Jesus Christ Our substitute our mediator has fully satisfied the Wrath and Judgment of God we can now truly live the new life in being in Union with Christ third Christ's humiliation after his death consisted in his being under the power power of death till the third day now there are several passages that we can point out as to why Jesus was under the Dominion of of the power of death until the third day all of them fulfills Jesus's prophecy about his resurrection first is in John 2: 19 John 2: 19 Jesus answered them destroy this Temple and in three days I will raise it up another passage is Matthew 16:21 from that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and on the third day be raised and then Matthew 12:40 for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish so will the son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the Earth as a proof text the divines use this verse can Matthew 12:40 which the Lord replied to the scribes and Pharisees when they asked him for a sign Jesus said verse 39 of that chapter an evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah now if you recalled the story of Jonah if you have read the Book of Jonah Jonah performed no signs meaning Miracles perform to Jonah Jonah simply spoke to Nineveh but his being in Nineveh is significant for Jonah was considered good as dead or presumed dead after being gone for three days after the sailors threw him overboard we know that he was inside the belly of the big fish in that duration of time time but after 3 days he showed himself alive in Nineveh the sign of Jonah that the Lord refers to here is Jonah himself the sign that the scribes and Pharisees and the rest of Jesus's adversaries will behold is that like Jonah Jesus will be visibly seen alive three days after his death his resurrected life will indicate that truly he is the Lord and the Savior who gives eternal life the three days were likewise significant because when Jesus died on a Friday it was the day when the Passover Lamb was sacrificed his death represents the death of the perfect unblemished spotless sacrifice for sins and then his resurrection on the third day took place when Israel celebrated the Feast of first fruits thus as Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:20 but in fact Christ has been raised from the dead the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep in remaining dead and being under the power of death until the third day the hope of the psalmist and even our hope now is grounded in Jesus's own experience so psalm 139:8 if I make my bed in Shion you are there Jesus descended into death he made all the darkness his own death captured Jesus as he fully entered it but then in the great reversal Jesus conquered death in his resurrection Christ filled that Darkness with the light of his presence he dis hel the Gloom of the Grave forever for those who trust him and and are in Union with him so when we consider the thought of Crossing into death ourselves brothers and sisters we can hold fast to the truth that even dark darkness is not dark to Christ and for those who are in Christ that even though we walk in the Valley of the shadow of death we will fear no evil for for our great Shepherd is with us and he has been in the grave before us Romans 6:9 tells us that death no longer has dominion over Christ this expression means death tried to bind Christ death tried to hold Christ but it wasn't possible for he was sinless and God raised him up Christ burst through the bonds and thereby conquered death victoriously on our behalf just as death then no longer has dominion over Christ so does death also no longer have any Dominion of those who are in Christ This is how we are united in Christ even in his burial Jesus does not simply know what it is like to die but he also knows what it's like to be dead our great high priest indeed can sympathize with us so when a loved one is on a Brink is on the brink of dying or when we are on our own Death Beds we can draw so much comfort in knowing that Jesus has already been there find comfort that Jesus Christ who experienced death for you is now ascended on high and is even now preparing for for his imminent return and then fourth Christ humiliation after his death can be otherwise expressed as he descended into hell nowo excited excited statement now I'd like to touch on this last statement of our catechisms answer which is actually the banner statement of question 50's answer what I mean by that is if we are to read question 50 again it would go like this wherein consisted Christ's humiliation after his death bner statement answer he descended into hell divines he descended into hell if G summary statement blanket statement Banner statement humilation in Christ in his after his death he descended into hell we find this clause in the Apostles Creed and athanasian Creed so what does it really mean when we confess this now there are a lot of interpretations about this Clause there are a lot of scriptural references being thrown to use to support it but to make it simpler for us this afternoon you may dig deeper in studying this for yourself but for the purpose of our study this afternoon this is what I have to share the scriptures give no divine revelation about any literal Descent of Jesus Christ in uh descending into hell between his death and Resurrection the scriptures give no divine revelation about any literal Descent of Jesus Christ into hell between his death and Resurrection in fact if you check our catechism they did not give any scriptural reference for this last statement they only gave scriptural references up until that line where Christ is under the power of death until the third day scriptural reference when Paul summarized the gospel in 1 Corinthians 15 he mentions the death burial resurrection of Christ but mentions nothing about any literal descent into hell in the gospel accounts in all four gospel accounts we read nothing about Christ Christ's literal descent into hell though we can read about his burial but there is no record of his literal descent into hell so how are we to understand this so that when we confess the Creeds we will not cringe but instead confess it joyfully with all our our hearts now the scriptures use the language descent and Hell figuratively to describe the state of Christ's humiliation the scriptures use the language descent and Hell figuratively to describe the state of Christ's humiliation in particular it describes his suffering his death and his burial as the lowest point of his humiliation as he suffered the full wrath of God and the humiliation that he conflicted with externally and internally all the way to him being crucified and being taken away and buried in the Tomb when we go back to the text that we read today we will exactly see this Acts 2 verse 24 P God raised him up losing the pangs of death because it was not possible for him to be held by it phras losing the pangs of death is found in the Old Testament in psalm 18:4 to5 so Psalm 18:4 to5 it says the cords of death encompassed me the torrents of Destruction assailed me the cords of sheld entangled me the snares of death confronted me this portrays death as a powerful threat or danger that terrorizes David the psalmist God's servant who wrote The Psalm the word pangs in Acts o in the Greek is a metaphor for extreme painful anguish or suffering it is likened to birth pains and is often used to describe the anguish of God's judgment therefore when Christ descended into hell it poetically metaphorically means that in his death on the cross he went through the pangs of death the cords of death the torrents of Destruction the cords of shol Christ went through the extreme anguish of God's judgment Christ suffered hell on the cross and he died he descended into hell he descended into the most abasing humiliating state that he went through extreme hellish anguish he was truly obedient to the point of death even death on AC cross and even down to the Grave to cite another passage that we tackled earlier Psalm 16:10 it says for you will not abandon my soul to shol or let your Holy One see corruption Peter quoted this Psalm sermon Acts 2 if you read closely Psalm 16:1 it doesn't imply at all that the psalmist was sent to shol or that the psalmist went to shol rather it implies deliverance from shol Bas Psalm 16:10 you will not abandon my soul to Shel or let your Holy One see corruption does that imply no it implies that he was being delivered from shol it implies a poet EC metaphoric state of like being in Hell or in the place of the dead and God delivers him implication Psalm 16:10 Peter aptly applies this verse Acts when he spoke about Christ's Resurrection therefore the hell that Christ descended into implies the abandoning or the forsaking of God while he was on the cross until he drank the last drop of the cup of God's Wrath for the sins of the people that he represented yet God did not totally abandon him in that state because even if his body was buried in the grave it did not see Decay for he was raised to life acts 22: 29-33 makes this so clear Peter say sermon Brothers I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried and his tomb is with us to this day being therefore a prophet and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his Descendants on his throne he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ that he was not abandoned to Hades nor did his flesh see corruption this Jesus God raised up and of that we are we all are witnesses being therefore exalted at the right hand of God and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing so when we recite the clause in the Creed that goes He descended into hell it simply communicates in a poetic metaphorical sense the painful anguish sorrows and grief that was inflicted upon Christ as he died in the place of his people people it aptly depicts the utter abasing degradation that Christ willingly went through on our behalf in a state of humiliation most especially his death and his burial Joel B in volume two of his reformed Systematic Theology wrote Christ's descent into hell consists of his extreme humiliation in both soul and body climaxing for his soul in the suffering of God's Wrath on the cross and for his body in death under God's curse burial and continuation in death for a Time its metaphorical interpretation is consistent with the biblical use of these terms The Descent aptly summarizes his passion death and burial for in it we confess that Christ experience the greatest degree of humiliation in both soul and body when we recite the cross of the Creed we are affirming the biblical teachings of Christ's utter humiliation in his Soul's spiritual anguish prior to death and in his body's death burial and continuance in the grave until the third day it should make us Marvel at the depths of humiliation to which Christ voluntarily went for us to close I'd like to I I like the practical application of the proper interpretation of this Clause that William Perkins proposed this is what William Perkins said Christ's descending into hell teaching every one of us that profess the name of Christ that if it shall please God to afflict us either in body or in mind or in both though it be in most Grievous and tedious manner yet must we not think it strange strange for when God's hand is heavy upon us anyway we are not to despair but rather think it is the good pleasure of God to frame and fashion us that we may become like unto Christ Jesus as good children of God no matter how low God May humble us his children God will never abandon us into the hellish depths and conditions by which Christ went through to redeem us when he suffered under the father's wrath and curse where he died and was buried for our sake in the death and burial of our Lord Jesus Christ we can actually already see glimpses of God's favor towards his son that anticipates his exaltation his burial did not push through to the criminals grave and be left to be burned and rotten or be eaten by scavengers but he was lovingly taken off the cross buried in a rich man's tomb his body did not see Decay but was preserved from corruption to be raised on the third day and while his body laid in the Tomb of Joseph his Spirit was in Paradise received by the father's joy and rejoiced with the spirits of Those whom he had redeemed including the penitent thief on the cross brothers and sisters Christ conquered the power of death Jesus won the victory over death for just as the grave could not hold our savior so will it be unable to get a hold of us we who are in Union with Christ already have our victory over sin and death when we who are dead to sin and alive in Christ die our souls being made perfect in Holiness are received reive into the highest Heavens where we behold the face of God in light and Glory waiting for the full Redemption of our bodies the final application of our Salvation which is our glorification the body of the Christi is not buried but only sown as we await our Resurrection death is the final stage of sanctification where the believer in Christ is freed from this sinful flesh death now becomes a portal that the righteous in Christ enters death is a mere servant that ushers the redeemed sinner to Christ into a life eternal with their savior where there is no sin or sorrow but only Blissful joy in Christ oh death where is your sting grave where is your Victory death is swallowed up in Victory because of Christ we need not fear death for Christ has destroyed the one who had the power of death Satan and has delivered all those who were subject to the fear of death let us then as Believers of the Lord Jesus Christ today be steadfast immovable always abounding abounding in the work of the Lord because our labor is not in vain like the Apostle Paul may we also say to live is Christ and to die is game