• Arabic Corner
• Audio
• Bible Study
• Coptic Reader
• Children's Corner
• Deacons
• Evangelism & Apologetics
• Evangelism Pamphlets
• Interesting Facts
• Literature
• Pigori Productions
• Priests Corner
• Questions & Answers
• Reading Recommended
• Saintly Studies
• Servants Guide
• Sunday School Curriculum
• Sunday School Curriculum-Special Needs
• Youth Corner

There Will I Be Buried

Keraza Magazine issue 15-16 April 22, 2016

When the saintly fathers at the council of Nicaea set down the terminology of the Creed of faith, by revelation of the Holy Spirit, they were not content to mention the crucifixion, Passion, and resurrection of Christ, but were also careful to mention that He was buried: "He suffered, was buried, and arose..." due to the importance of that stage in redemption.

In those days, Romans commonly left the body of the crucified on the cross to be eaten by birds of prey and decompose, or the body was thrown into a large hole designated for the bodies of criminals condemned to be crucified where they were covered with quicklime, in order for the bodies to disintegrate and the hole to become a public grave for the bodies of those criminals. Usually, the crucified took three to seven days to die on the cross, at least thirty-six hours. This is the reason Pilate wondered that Jesus died so quickly, and confirmed his death through the centurion, and also why the soldiers broke the legs of the other two thieves to accelerate their death.

Consequently, the anticipated fate for the body of Christ, after His crucifixion, was either to remain on the cross to be eaten by birds of prey, or to be cast into a public tomb set aside for criminals. But, Christ, Who never cared during His lifetime where He might lay His head, very carefully sought a tomb for His body to be buried at His death. The obvious question now is: Why did God move Joseph of Arimathea, giving him courage to dare and request the body of Jesus from Pilate, then made Pilate permit this, such that the body ended up being buried in "a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid?" (John 19:41).

1. He was buried so that His tomb becomes clear evidence of His resurrection throughout the ages. How else was the world going to confirm His resurrection if He were buried with criminals in a public tomb, or if He were left on the cross for the birds of prey to eat Him?
   
   
2. Jews were careful to be buried in the family cemetery with their fathers and ancestors. Therefore, the Holy Bible intentionally meant to show that He was buried in a new tomb in which no one had ever been buried, to assure that Christ is "without father, without mother, without genealogy" (Hebrews 7:3). But He is the first-fruit of the departed, who made us of His household, and therefore, allowed us to be buried with Him, not in a stone tomb, but in baptism, to cry out with Ruth: "Where you die, I will die, and there will I be buried" (Ruth 1:17). Our old man must be buried with Him in His new tomb, to also walk in the newness of life.
   
   
3. Pilate is said to have "granted the body to Joseph" (Mark 15:45); it would have been more probable for him to have asked Joseph for a fee to give him permission to take the body, but the Greek word used here means that he granted it to him free of charge. Perhaps this is symbolic of Christ’s free gift to His people, resembled in Joseph. He granted us His body on Covenant Thursday, at His burial, and He continues to grant it to us every day on the altar in the Eucharist.

Bishop Youssef
Bishop, Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States