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"And after this Joseph of Arimathaea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus: and Pilate gave him leave. He came therefore, and took the body of Jesus.

And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight.

Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury." (John 19:38- 40 KJV)

Upon His death, Nicodemus came to Jesus’ tomb and he and Joseph of Arimathaea, wound the body of Jesus with linen clothes and 100 pounds of myrrh and aloes. This amount of burial myrrh and aloes would have been an extreme amount even for a wealthy person. The usual custom was to use 20 pounds.

Think of this with me. If any of you have ever bailed hay on a farm, you know that a bail of hay weighs around 60-70 pounds. This bail being compacted and compressed into some sort of shape by a bailer. In Jesus’ day, there were no such machine. They would have had to carry this in a sack of sorts. Imagine the scene of Joseph carrying the roughly 175 pound body of Jesus and Nicodemus carrying the huge sack with 100 pounds of myrrh and aloes for the burial.

Putting myself into this text, I find two men who loved Jesus. Enough that they would risk their own life to see that the Lord would receive the very best burial they could give. So, Joseph donates his very expensive tomb and Nicodemos, not wanting anyone to smell the decomposing body of Jesus, brings 100 pounds of costly burial aloes. When people walked by the tomb, he wanted them to only notice the beautiful smell of the myrrh and not the rotting flesh of a dead God.

I’m not sure where these two were doctrinally at this point, but I do know that they heard the truth preached to them by the Lord himself. However, I’m not so sure they got what Jesus tried to get them all to understand. “(John 2:19 KJV) Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”

People often quote John 11:35, “Jesus Wept." Recently at a funeral of 2 friends, the minister referred to the Lord as a mourner who also wept at the funeral of His friend Lazarus. I don’t believe Jesus wept because his friend was dead. He sure was not too concerned when they told him about Lazarus being sick a few days prior. I am certain that the reason Jesus wept at the tomb of his friend is because of the unbelief of those whom Jesus had spent much time with, trying to convince them that He was the Resurrection. How many funeral processions did Jesus stop to raise the dead? He had proven to all of them that He was able to raise the dead. I believe He went to the tomb of Lazarus hoping to find Mary and Martha sitting in wait, full of faith that regardless of how long it took, Jesus would show up and when He did, He would raise His friend to life again. Jesus did not weep for Lazarus’s death, he wept because of the faithlessness of Mary and Martha. Hear his rebuke to them, (John 11:25 KJV) “Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:”

With that in mind, lets get back to Joseph and Nicodemos. You gotta love these guys. They really do mean well. They so want the body of Jesus to be preserved and any death odor to be abolished, that they wrap it in 5 times the amount of spices as was customary. Can you imagine how huge the totally wrapped body of Jesus must have been with 100 pounds of spices in the wrappings. It must have been a sight.

But hey, when you have a dead God, it’s important to make sure that he doesn’t appear to be dead, right? After all, they couldn’t have Jesus’ dead body stinking up the place. So they did what a lot of people do, they tried to cover up the fact that their God is not living. They build huge cathedrals to worship him in, but never do let Him into their heart. They go to church with fake smiles on their faces, while all the time they have incredible turmoil in their life and their souls are in despair. Oh, they would never say their God is dead, but the very fact that they are faithless and unbelieving of His word, brings Jesus to tears even as Mary and Martha’s faithlessness did.

What do you do when God is dead in your life? Do you hide the fact? Do you create a façade that say’s “God is alive in my life when you know He is not?” Do you cover the fact with a plastic grin? Or an arrogant attitude that says, “Nothing could possibly be wrong with my relationship with God!”. Can I say something to you? I would have told the same thing to Joseph and Nicodemus. It doesn’t matter how much perfume you put on that dead body. If it doesn’t come alive pretty soon, it’s going to stink and everyone’s going to know it.”

Evidently Joseph and Nicodemos did not have faith that Jesus would rise on the third day as He said He would. If they had, they would have laid him out for all the world to see. Imagine, the lifeless stiff body of Jesus coming alive after being dead for three days. What a miracle that would have been! What a testimony for all of Israel and Rome to witness! Jesus coming alive after all they did to kill him! Honestly, I believe he would have rather they left his body there on the ground by the cross, rather than bury the possibility of a miracle, in a tomb for no one to witness.

You see, that’s what the resurrection is all about. It doesn’t matter how much comes into your life to destroy you. Or who or how many who’ve tried to hide your potential for greatness. Sin can do it’s worst, but when it’s all said and done, there is Resurrection Power available to you through Jesus Christ. He told Mary and Martha, “I am the Resurrection and the Life”. Not only could He be resurrected. But He was the resurrection. This is important to remember when some part of your life is dead. Jesus is my resurrection! He is my hope! That first Resurrection morning, is repeated every time a person comes to an alter and allows the Holy Ghost to give them Life. Each sinner who speaks in tongues for the first time, experiences the Resurrection anew.

We celebrate the Resurrection once a year. But we should know that Heaven celebrates it every time a sinner comes to repentance. We get excited over the holiday that is Easter, but the angels get excited over every single sinner who is filled with “New” life. (2 Cor 5:17 KJV) “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

That’s what Jesus is about, Life. Abundant Life. He’s not about the dead stuff in our life. He is not about covering up a dead soul with false, but politically correct religion. He is the Resurrection and the Life. He is the newness of life that comes when a person experiences Acts 2:38 salvation. If you are wondering if you have a dead god or a live God, ask yourself this question. “Am I trying to cover stuff up in my life? Or am I allowing the Resurrection Power of Jesus Christ to bring Newness of Life to my soul."

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Christian leaders are besieged with challenges. Who then do they turn to for counsel, verification, and guidance? Quite often confidentiality is a problem among peers. A seasoned and professional mentor or coach is invaluable in helping guide and validate a leader’s choices and decisions.

Many leaders and even pastors do not have a wise or seasoned elder pastor or confidential authority figure to turn to. Quite often finding solace among peers or elected leaders has proven disappointing.

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