Day 30

We are not only united to Christ in His death and resurrection, but also in His burial.

‘Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the thirdday according to the Scriptures.’ (1 Corinthians 15:3-4)

Jesus should never have been buried. Having died as a criminal, His body became the possession of the Roman authority. In Jerusalem, bodies of criminals were thrown into a gorge on the south side of thecity wall known as the Valley of Gehenna. In Jesus’ day, the Valley of Gehenna was a garbage dump. The bodies of dead animals and criminals were incinerated with the garbage. The bodies of the twothieves crucified with Christ would have been disposed of here. But Jesus had a wealthy friend who rescued His body. This was prophesied years in advance by Isaiah, when he wrote, ‘He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death’ (Isaiah 53:9).

Paul states in Romans 6:4, ‘We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death.’ It is important to know we were ‘buried with him,’ because burial is final. We speak of something being ‘dead and buried’ when there is no hope of it coming back. The burial of Christ says that He took my sin to the Cross; He died my death and was buried. It is over. We must see ourselves united to Christ in His burial. Our sin is dead and buried.

You have accepted that you have died with Christ, but do you know the implications of being buried with Him too?