Tender Care

Tender Care
Words of Faith 4-25-24
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2024
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL
www.faithfellowshipweb.com
<>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <><

Mark 15
[42] It was Preparation Day (that is, the day before the Sabbath). So as evening approached, [43] Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Council, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for Jesus' body. [44] Pilate was surprised to hear that he was already dead. Summoning the centurion, he asked him if Jesus had already died. [45] When he learned from the centurion that it was so, he gave the body to Joseph. [46] So Joseph bought some linen cloth, took down the body, wrapped it in the linen, and placed it in a tomb cut out of rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. [47] Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where he was laid.

The preparation and care for the body for burial was a matter of great reverence. We get a picture of this in the tradition of Judaism and the extreme reverence for the body when a person dies. Through the years, Jewish communities have developed a little-known and somewhat secretive group called the Holy Society or Chevra Kadisha, which prepares a body for burial. This ritual of cleansing is performed always by males for males and by women for females. It is considered to be particularly meritorious for a person to be a part of such a group. Members of the Chevra Kadisha take this unique honor with serious humility, fasting annually on the anniversary of Moses' death to atone for any disrespect they may have shown to the dead. The Chevra Kadisha are held in special regard for their lovely reverence and have been called "those beautiful Jews who show what it means to be a Jew."
It was Joseph of Arimathea who fulfilled this role for Jesus.
Roman Crucifixion stood brutally juxtaposed to such tender care of the dead among Jews. Crucifixion showed deliberate disrespect for the body, usually resulting in death after about three days. After this, the body was often left to decay and eaten by animals and birds. When Joseph of Arimathea went to Pilate and requested Jesus' body for burial, he sought to give tender care and reverence to the body of Jesus.
Joseph was a wealthy (Matt. 27:57), reputable member of the Sanhedrin. He had not approved of the Sanhedrin's decision to kill Jesus (Luke 23:51). He was personally waiting for the kingdom of God (Mark 1:15), which suggests he was a devout Pharisee. He regarded Jesus as the Messiah, although, so far, he was a secret disciple (John 19:38). His request was a dangerous one because it made his commitment to Jesus public.
It is likely that Joseph had servants help him to accomplish a proper burial before sunset, a time span of about two hours. Nicodemus, a fellow Sanhedrin member, also helped in this tender task (John 19:39-40). After Jesus' body was removed from the cross, it was probably washed (cf. Acts 9:37) before it was wrapped tightly in strips of linen cloth with aromatic spices placed between the wraps in accordance with Jewish burial customs (John 19:39-40). Then, the body was carried to a nearby garden and placed on a stone shelf inside Joseph's own previously unused tomb (Matt. 27:60; John 19:41-42) hewn out of rock.
Joseph of Arimathea was one of the "beautiful Jews" like Nicodemus. We might wonder, if we had the opportunity to care for the body of Jesus, would we be as tender and reverent?

But we do have the opportunity. We have the privilege to give tender care to the Body of Christ not as preparation for burial but as preparation for life. But do we take the same sort of care that Joseph and Nicodemus did?
One of the most painful realities of modern Christian culture is the fact that Christians often treat the Body of Christ with great disrespect. There are those that hack at limbs or displace members sometimes in an effort to get our way. There are others that "market" their church not to the lost but to the walking wounded of other churches.
Some will gossip about parts of the Body that are different from their own. Others will neglect one part of the Body in order to give undue honor to another. We even allow competition between churches to divide and fracture a Body in which "no bone was broken" by Crucifixion. Some will prey on wounded sheep rather than seek the Biblical mandates for restoration and reconciliation.
The Apostle Paul was very clear. "Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ (Galatians 6:1-2).
Don't misunderstand. I am not suggesting that there should be compromise of the essentials of the Gospel. But Christians often divide over nonessentials that have more to do with style than truth. If only we could recover the tender care that was rendered to the Body of Christ by Joseph. Such care required great courage from Joseph and requires great courage today.

Lord, show me how I can nurture and strengthen Your Body. Show me how I can tenderly care for Your Body in life, even more than it was cared for in death. Show me how I can build bonds of love and increase communication with those who are born again in Christ but express their faith differently. Lord, teach us the tender care that gives reverence to Your Body. In Jesus' name, Amen.

<>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< ><> <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <><
© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2024
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)
2820 Business Center Blvd.
Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
SUBSCRIPTIONS - To receive the Words of Faith devotion five days a week, send an e-mail message addressed to join-words-of-faith@hub.xc.org. To stop receiving Words of Faith, send an e-mail message addressed to unsubscribe-words-of-faith@hub.xc.org. The daily devotion and archive are posted at https://www.faithfellowshipweb.com/blog
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The Words of Faith devotion is published five days a week by E-mail, excluding Federal holidays. Please feel free to forward this devotion to a friend who might be blessed by this devotion. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2024 Jeffrey D. Hoy. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to forward this copyrighted material or use portions of it with appropriate notation of the source for non-profit purposes.