Sanctification through the burial of Christ, Luke 23:50-56

As I have alluded to many times before, Luke has an interesting way of arranging and presenting his historical account in such a way as to present an underlying allegory or symbolism that teaches a fundamental doctrine or principle of Christianity.  And in today’s passage, I think we see that illustrated in the burial of Christ.  The symbolism in this passage of the burial of Christ presents for us the doctrine of sanctification.

The doctrine of sanctification is one of the most essential doctrines of the gospel, but unfortunately also one of the most overlooked doctrines.  Modern churches today  tend to eschew teaching sanctification for fear of appearing legalistic.  But I would simply remind you of what the author of Hebrews has to say about how important a doctrine it is; Heb. 12:14 says, “Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord.”

Yet in spite of that declaration, I would dare say that the majority of people in church today would be hard pressed to be able to aptly define sanctification. I believe that this account of Jesus’ burial by Joseph of Arimathea will enable us to come to a Biblical understanding of this essential doctrine.  So to that end we will look at three principles of sanctification presented in this passage; sanctification realized, sanctification symbolized, and sanctification multiplied.

First though, let’s establish the context of this account.  As Jesus hung on the cross, we have seen several reactions to the crucifixion.  We saw out right scorn and ridicule and hatred from various members of the crowd.  But we also have seen at least two conversions; that of the thief on the cross, and the centurion.  Both of these men were saved as a result of the effect of the crucifixion.  However, the thief on the cross was a deathbed confession, if you will.  He went to Paradise within hours of his salvation.  And as to the centurion, we don’t have any more information available in scripture as to what became of him after the cross. 

And there were two other groups represented there that day; the crowd which went away, returning home, lamenting the death of Jesus, and the women and acquaintances that stood afar off, watching from a distance.  Now of the two latter examples, you will remember we said the crowd symbolized people who had an emotive response to the death of Christ, but they went back to their previous way of life.  They were not saved, but they went away sad, without hope.  And then there were the women and acquaintances that stood at a distance.  You will recall that I identified these people as being disciples but wanting to stay as far away as possible from the cross and still be ok.  They are examples of people today that want the assurance of Christianity, but they don’t want to get too carried away with it.  Don’t let it become embarrassing.  Don’t let it dominate your life.  It’s what we used to call in management the 20% that will get you the 80%.  Doing the least possible for the greatest possible result.  That categorizes most Christians, I am afraid.  Walk down the aisle, say a prayer and then you’re good to go to heaven when you die.  Maybe try to come to church now and then if it doesn’t interfere with your golf game.

So that’s where we left it last time.  Though we have seen some people saved, seen the thief enter into Paradise, we’ve seen nothing of sanctification.  Everyone has either been just saved or saved but standing afar off or even deserting Jesus.  So the Holy Spirit prompts Luke to introduce to us a new character by the name of Joseph of Arimethea as an illustration of the process of sanctification realized. That introduces the first point; sanctification realized.

Now perhaps we should start with an explanation of what sanctification is and how it fits into salvation.  There are three stages to salvation.  The first is justification; the act of grace, whereby God imputes to the sinner Christ’s righteousness in response to his faith.  God transfers our sin to Christ and Christ’s righteousness to us.  That is called justification. 

The second stage of our salvation is the process of sanctification; the act of dying to sin and living for Christ.  That is what is so vividly illustrated in baptism.  We are buried with Christ to sin, and raised with Christ to new life in the Spirit.  We are dipped under the water as a symbol of death, being buried, and raised up out of the water as symbolic of a new life in the Spirit.  We die to the old man, and are raised as a new creation.  Old things are passed away, all things become new. 2Cor. 5:17 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”  We die to the old way of life, and start living out what we have been reckoned to be spiritually.

The third stage of our salvation is glorification.  The act of being transformed from our old body to a new body at the resurrection of the dead or when Christ shall appear.  This is when this fleshly body will be changed, when this mortal shall put on immortality, and we shall live forever with the Lord, when we shall see Him face to face and be made like Him, to receive our inheritance to rule with Christ.

Now those three stages of salvation must happen or there is no salvation.  You can’t eliminate any one of them.  For instance, you can’t eliminate glorification.  Paul said in 1Cor. 15:19 “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.”  If there is no eternal reign with Christ, then we are of all men most to be pitied.  Glorification is absolutely essential to salvation or there is no hope in this life. And the same can be said about the other two; justification and sanctification.  We must first be made holy so that we can then live holy lives.  One cannot exist without the other. 

So as Luke comes to the end of the crucifixion, I believe he includes this account of Joseph of Arimethea in order to illustrate how sanctification is realized.  Because in all the other examples we have seen here, sanctification is not evident.  But as we have said, it is essential and I think he sees  the burial of Christ as a perfect metaphor for what comprises sanctification.

Now in vs. 50 he introduces Joseph of Arimethea.  Nothing has been known of this man before this text.  And yet  all the gospel writers include him in their accounts.  Each of the gospel writers include something about him which helps us to get a complete picture of who this guy was. If you put them all together we understand first of all that he was rich. He donated a private tomb in a garden for the burial of Jesus.  This would have been an appropriate burial site for a king or very wealthy individual. And furthermore, the gospels tell us he was a prominent member of the Sanhedrin.  The Sanhedrin was the 70 members of the Jewish ruling society that made up what was like the high court of Judaism.  They were the ones that had conspired to put Jesus to death along with the High Priests.  But what Luke and the others tell us was that Joseph did not consent with their plan of action.

But what is most significant about this man was as Luke said he was a good and righteous  man who was waiting for the kingdom of God. Luke says good in the sense of spiritual goodness, and righteous – “dikaios”, the  same exact word used in verse 47 of Christ. “Certainly this Man was righteous.”  Jesus was righteous and Joseph was righteous.  Jesus was righteous by nature, and Joseph was righteous by grace.  We don’t know when it happened, but it was the same righteousness.  If you’re righteous, you have the same righteousness as Christ does.  That’s what Paul says in Philippians 3:9, “not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith.” So, Joseph is righteous as Jesus is righteous, only in Joseph’s case it’s a gift of grace. Joseph has been justified by faith through grace.

But there is a caveat that John adds in his gospel.  He says in John 19:36 that though Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, he was a secret one, for fear of the Jews.  Joseph may have been justified, but he was still holding back in his discipleship.  He was following from afar.  He might even have been at the cross with those women, those acquaintances that stood afar off at the crucifixion.  He feared the Jews, that would be the Sanhedrin.  He was afraid of being ostracized.  Like a lot of Christians, he wasn’t open about his faith at his work.  He was afraid of what it might cost him.  He didn’t want to be seen associating with Jesus openly, because it might cost him politically, or socially, or economically.

But there is something that happens to this man as he witnesses the crucifixion of Christ.  When so many others abandoned Jesus in this hour, this man found himself drawn there by the sovereignty of God.  And as he witnessed the death of Christ I think he was convicted by the Holy Spirit.  As he saw Jesus die on the cross, it prompted him to ask himself if he was willing to die for his faith as well.  Not necessarily to die on the cross, but to die to the fear of criticism, die to the fear of losing prestige, power and social standing, to die to the allure of the world.

I don’t know what it is, but there is something about a person that goes bravely to their death that sometimes serves as a catalyst for those that are holding back in their faith.  If you read Fox’s Book of Martyrs there are several documented examples of people witnessing the execution of a Christian who came to the knowledge of saving faith in that moment, and then take their place alongside the victim to be burned at the stake as well.  They were inspired by the commitment of the martyr.

Somehow, as Joseph witnessed the courage of Christ on the cross, the compassion of Christ for His enemies, and the conquest of Christ in His victory cry, “Tetelestai!”  “It is finished!”  He was moved to a realization of his need for a greater consecration of his faith in his own life.   Mark says that immediately upon the death of Christ, Joseph mustered up his courage and went to see Pilate to ask for Jesus’ body.  That was a greater act of courage than what we might imagine.  Undoubtedly he met some of his colleagues there from the Sanhedrin who had just been asking Pilate to break the victims legs so that they  would not hang there on the Passover. His courage to walk into Pilate’s praetorium meant an end to the secrecy of his discipleship, and probably meant an end to his position as a judge in the Sanhedrin as well. And not only that, but he had to identify himself as a friend of Jesus to the Roman governor, the very man who had sentenced Jesus to death. 

So not only does he identify with Jesus life and teaching, but he identifies with His death.  And I think this is the picture that Luke wants us to see.  The way of sanctification is the way of death.  Dying to the world.  Dying to whatever it is that separates us from Christ. Col. 3:3 says, “For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” Therefore, Paul says in vs. 5, “consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.”  Joseph realized that only by dying to the world could he gain the sanctification that comes from following in Christ’s footsteps and so he courageously stepped out in faith and asked for the body of Christ.  And what we can take from his example is that sometimes the process of sanctification can take a while.  That’s why we call it a process of sanctification. There may be times when there seems to be little evidence for a person’s salvation.  But if God is in them, then there will come a time when God moves them to a greater consecration of their lives.

Then look at vs. 53 and we see sanctification symbolized.   “And [Joseph] took it down [that is the body of Jesus] and wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid Him in a tomb cut into the rock, where no one had ever lain.”  I want you to think about the physical act of Jesus dying for a moment.  Picture Jesus hanging there on the cross.  Around 3pm He cried out, “Father, into your hands I commit My Spirit.”  And he breathed His last.  Jesus died.  His last breath went out like a sigh and He was dead.  His lifeless bloody body hung there by nails.  Just try to imagine that for a moment.  The Son of God, lifeless, dead, hanging there.  A corpse on a cross.

What a tragic, horrible picture.  It would be the saddest picture that ever existed except for one thing: Jesus wasn’t there anymore.  Look back in the text at what He said, “Into your hands I commit My Spirit.”  He released His Spirit from His body.  What was hanging there was the flesh and blood that once clothed that Spirit, but Christ’s Spirit was alive and in Paradise.  1Peter 3:18-20 says, “For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit; in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison, who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water.”  What Peter is talking about is that immediately upon His death, just as Jesus told the thief on the cross, His Spirit was in Paradise. 

Paradise was described by Jesus at an earlier time as Abraham’s bosom, the place where Lazarus went after dying to be comforted with his people, even as his master, the rich man was sent to Hades.  And Jesus related how there was a great chasm between the two destinies.  Some think that Paradise is the  upper chamber and Hades the lower chamber,  and that somehow in this spirit world they are able to communicate and observe, but they cannot cross over.  Peter says though Jesus’ body was hanging upon that cross, and then laid in a tomb, yet in His Spirit He was alive and He went and made proclamation to the spirits in prison.  Jude says specifically that these spirits were the disobedient angels that were bound in the lower dungeons of hell until the judgment day.  Jesus went and proclaimed victory over sin and death to these fallen heavenly hosts. Col. 2:15 says, “When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.”

There is much that we could say of Jesus in the lower regions of the earth but I cannot take the time to discuss it all today.  But I want you to consider the symbolism of His burial.  And one thing that is touching on our discussion of sanctification is the picture of Jesus being dead in the flesh, and being made alive in the Spirit. That is the picture of sanctification.  When we enter into the process of sanctification, we consider our bodies as dead, voluntarily crucifying our flesh and it’s passions, so that we might be made alive in the Spirit to walk in the Spirit. 

When you are born again, the Holy Spirit is given to you in full measure.  So there is no process of getting more of the Holy Spirit.  We don’t need to seek what some call a second baptism.  Because the very nature of salvation is that we are baptized with Christ into death. 1Pet. 3:21 “Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you--not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience--through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”  Peter’s not saying water baptism saves you.  He makes that clear.  But it is a reference to the mortification of the flesh as we appeal to God for forgiveness of sins.

So the way to a sanctified life in the Spirit is not to get more of the Spirit, but to crucify more of the flesh. Scripture speaks of that crucifying of our flesh as either circumcision or baptism.  In Col. 2:11-14 Paul uses both metaphorically; “and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ; having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.”  Sanctification then is the putting to death the deeds of the flesh so that we might live in the Spirit and do the deeds of the Spirit.

Note also vs. 54, “It was the preparation day, and the Sabbath was about to begin.”  It is noteworthy that God planned it so that Jesus body was in the tomb on the Sabbath Day.  This is a pivotal point in the gospel.  It is the last day under the old covenant, and so you see everyone trying to make all these preparations for the Sabbath so that they don’t do any work on it.  Technically the Sabbath started at sundown on Friday evening.  And so they are all working to get Jesus off the cross and buried and then get home before sundown so they don’t break the Sabbath.  But look at what Jesus is doing.  His body, which represents the old man under the first covenant, is dead in the tomb, resting.  His body is keeping the last Sabbath under the law.  But in the Spirit Christ is alive and moving.  He is about the Father’s business. He is the perfect picture of dying to the flesh and being alive in the Spirit.

It reminds me of John 5, when Jesus was accused of breaking the Sabbath because He was healing on the Sabbath, and Jesus answered them, ““My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working.”  The principle of the Sabbath as a day of rest is this; the rest that is found in Christ is resting in the finished work of Christ for our justification, and resting in the power of Christ working in us for our sanctification, and resting in the hope of resurrection for our glorification.  It’s not that we don’t keep the moral laws of God anymore.  We never could.  But now the law of God is written on our hearts and on our minds so that our desire is to please God, so we keep His commandments not because of the law but because of love.  Jesus said, “if you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” 

Heb 4:9-11 says, “So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His. Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience.”  Our Sabbath rest is found in diligent obedience to the Spirit of God.  The Spirit of God convicts us and leads us through the Word of God.  Vs. 12 continues to that effect, “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

Finally, one more point; sanctification multiplied.  Besides the obvious benefit of sanctification to the one being sanctified, there is another benefit and that is to the people to whom you influence by your consecration.  We already saw that multiplication effect on Joseph as he witnessed the crucifixion of Jesus which was the ultimate act of sanctification.  But now Joseph as well multiplies that effect by influencing others through his sanctification.  One person in particular is of special note, but we have to look elsewhere to see it. John 19:39-40 “Nicodemus, who had first come to Him by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds weight.  So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen wrappings with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews.” 

You remember Nicodemus in John chapter 3 who came to Jesus by night, secretly, so as not to be seen, to enquire of Jesus the way of salvation.  And though John did not indicate in chapter 3 that Nicodemus was saved on that occasion, yet obviously he was later converted.  John also said he was a ruler of the Jews.  That would have most likely made him a member of the Sanhedrin as well.  I cannot help but imagine that these two men were companions in their secret discipleship.  And now that Joseph has bravely come forward to claim Jesus’ body, Nicodemus is also inspired to join him in preparing Jesus body. 

And notice also the women that follow them to the tomb and watch their preparations of His body and where they laid Him.  They go back home to prepare more spices for His embalming that they will do on Sunday morning after the Sabbath.  I believe the devotion of Joseph and Nicodemus were an encouragement to these women as well as they see them take a bold stand for Christ.

And folks, I would just offer their example to you today as an encouragement as well.  If our goal is to see the kingdom of God multiplied on the earth then we need to see some men and women come out of the shadows and make a public stand for Christ. The best way to be a testimony for the gospel is to live a sanctified life as an example to others. Let me warn you though it’s not going to come without a cost.  These men put their lives, their careers and their finances on the line for the sake of the kingdom of God.  They took their eyes off the reward of the world and were looking for the reward in the kingdom of God.  The sacrifices of their careers, the sacrifice of their positions in society, the myrrh and spices that they bought, the linen wrappings and the tomb in a garden that no man had ever been laid all came with great price.  But if it were possible to question these men today even in their rest in Paradise if the reward of a sanctified life were worth it, I’m sure that they would say it was worth it all. 

In Hebrews 11 we see several OT saints lifted up as examples of sanctification for us to follow.  Heb. 11:24-26 identifies one of the most famous, “By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter,  choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin,  considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the reward.”

I pray that the death of Christ will have a similar impact on your life even as it was on the life of Joseph of Arimathea.  Maybe you have been saved at some point of your life, but you have languished in your zeal for the Lord.  Maybe you have been embarrassed to take a stand as a Christian.  Maybe you have been too attached to the things of this world.  I pray that today you will consider the sacrifice of Christ on the cross and the example of the saints that have gone before us and decide that starting today by the grace of God you are going to renounce the world and consider the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasure of this world.  To take up your cross and follow Jesus, no matter what the cost.

In closing, I would like to read to you chapter 12 of Hebrews which exhorts us to live a life of sanctification.  Heb. 12:1-14 “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,  fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin; and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, "MY SON, DO NOT REGARD LIGHTLY THE DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD, NOR FAINT WHEN YOU ARE REPROVED BY HIM; FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES."  It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.  Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble, and make straight paths for your feet, so that the limb which is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed. Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord.”