The Garden Tomb

 

THE GARDEN TOMB
John 19:38-42
 
When Jesus was crucified He was crucified in a garden and also in that garden there was a tomb where Jesus was buried. It’s rather interesting to me that at the place of the death and burial of our Lord Jesus Christ we are told there was a garden. 
 
In many ways the whole story of the Bible can be told around gardens. For instance, it was in a garden that sin was born. It is now in a garden that sin is buried. In a garden Adam ruined the human race. In a garden the Lord Jesus Christ redeemed the human race. 
 
So, in that garden there was a cross and a tomb. These are the two great symbols of the Christian faith. The cross and the tomb. These two symbols tell us about man’s two great problems. It really doesn’t matter when people live—what era or where they live—all people everywhere and in all ages have had to do battle with two great problems. 
 
Many things change in this world but these things do not change. And while it is true that in many ways we are living in a different world, in many other ways, in the basic ways that really matter, we are in a world where the problems are all the same. 
Man only has two problems.
 
The problems of man are two-fold—the problem of
sin—what can I do with my sin? And the problem of death—how can I deal with the reality of death?
 
Sin tells us about our great failure because the Bible says all of us have sinned and come short of the glory of God. So, this morning you and I have to come to grips with our great failure—sin. Then of course, our great fear is death. All of us have to come to some terms with death. What are we going to do about death? Are we ready to die? 
 
So, all of the problems of the world are represented in this garden where there is a cross where God dealt with our sin. There is a tomb where God dealt with our problem of death.
 
The Bible tells us about this tomb as you put all of the gospel accounts together. You learn it was a new tomb. It was hewn out of a rock. It was a borrowed tomb—owned by a man named Joseph of Arimathaea. Nobody had ever been placed in that
tomb at this particular time. They normally didn’t have doors over the tombs in that day. Rather there would be a groove in front of the tomb. They would take a large stone, kind of like a cart wheel, probably weighing over a ton, and they would roll that stone in front of the tomb. That was probably the way the tomb of the Lord Jesus Christ was.
 
 
 
 
I want to visit that garden tomb with you for just a few minutes. At the garden tomb we find that it is-
 
I.         A Place of BURIAL.
 
Jesus was buried in this garden tomb. Burial places can be very meaningful and significant. If you visit Washington you can go to the eternal flame, the burial place of John Kennedy. Some of you, in recent days, have visited a very special burial place. There amid fragrant flowers and the green, green grass you have deposited the body of someone who was very special to you. It may have been a husband or a wife. It may have been a son or a daughter, a brother or a sister. It may have been a
mom or a dad. It may have been a little country cemetery. It may have been in a large memorial garden. But I have a feeling that for most of you today there is a special burial place.
 
I’ve decided when I die, I want to be buried at Wal-Mart so Lisa will come and visit me all the time. 
 
I can’t get real thrilled about buying a burial plot. I’m thinking about renting one. 
 
If your hearts are hurting and if your minds are filled with many questions, the place of burial of the Lord Jesus Christ has something to say about that very special burial plot in your life.
 
There were some people involved when the Lord Jesus was buried in this garden tomb. 
The Bible tells us about them in verse 38 and 39. One of them was a man named Joseph of Arimathaea. He was a wealthy man, a member of the Jewish Sanhedrin, the Supreme Court of the Jews. He was a disciple of the Lord Jesus. 
Yet the Bible says he was a disciple secretly for fear of the Jews. For some time now he has been kind of an underground disciple.
 
We have a lot of people like that today. They are underground with it. If you talk with them one on one they will say oh, yes, I believe in Jesus. Yes, I have accepted Jesus as my Savior. But they have never gone public with it. They have never become open in their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
 
Now, Jesus has died on the cross. The cross has a way of doing something to you. Joseph now boldly goes to Pilate and requests the body of the Lord. Somehow his love burns the bushel of his secrecy and now openly and unashamedly he claims the body of our wonderful Savior. 
 
We are living in a day when all kinds of things are coming out of the closet. All kinds of perversions are parading themselves and boasting themselves and vying for time and attention. Isn’t it about time that God’s people came out? Isn’t it about time that God’s people began to fly the flag of their faith and belief in the Lord Jesus Christ?
 
So, Joseph said I’ll go get the body of Jesus. I’ll be a secret disciple no more. 
In a little while we will have what we call in our church an invitation time where people are invited to go public with their faith in the Lord Jesus. Today would be a great day for you to get on the line. 
It will be a wonderful opportunity for you to go public in your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
 
Joseph was there. Nicodemus was there. We know a little more about Nicodemus. He is mentioned three times in the Gospel of John. Every time we are told that he was the one who came to Jesus by night. In John 3 he came to Jesus and Jesus said to him what Jesus says to everyone of us—ye must be born again. It’s not enough
just to join the church. You must be born again. It’s not enough to just be religious. 
 
You have to be born again. It is not enough to just believe something in your head. You must receive the truth in your heart.
 
Now, it’s Nicodemus coming forward. Evidently the boldness of Joseph affected Nicodemus. That’s the way it works. When one Christian dares to be bold for the Lord, it emboldens other Christians. 
 
So, here’s Nicodemus and Joseph and their hands join around the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. From that time to this time, thousands of people have been making friends around the cross and the tomb of the Lord Jesus Christ. It’s a wonderful place to make friends.
 
Some preparations were made. At this point in time, from now on, the Lord Jesus will be in the hands of His friends. For a period of hours He has been in the hands of His foes. 
 
For quite a time the enemies of the Lord Jesus have had their way with Him. Now, Jesus is in the hands of His friends. They will extract the nails. They will lovingly take down the body of the Lord. They will wash with tenderness and care for that body, washing the blood off the body. I have a feeling many a tear dropped on the body of our Lord from the eyes of those who were attending to His burial.
 
The Bible says that they took some linen cloths, which was the customary way of burial. In the folds of that cloth they put a number of spices—almost a hundred pounds in weight of these beautiful, fragrant spices. That’s the way they buried the Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
Then they took the stone and rolled it in front of the tomb and put a seal on it. They put a twenty-four hour watch on it. The Roman soldiers were there so nobody could meddle with the tomb. It’s as if the whole weight of the authority and military might of the Roman Empire were leaning against that tomb. 
 
It’s as if all of the machinery of the religious bureaucracy in Jerusalem was pushing against that stone. It’s as if all the demons of hell have gathered at that stone and they are seeing to it that Jesus
Christ is indeed dead and buried.
Nobody doubts that. No doubt about that today. In an earlier day there were some who doubted that Jesus ever lived. No intelligent person believes that today. There were some who even suggested that maybe Jesus really didn’t die. 
 
No intelligent person suggests that today. It is pretty well agreed that Jesus, in that garden, when they took Him down from the cross, was buried in a tomb. He was dead and buried. So, a Pharisee
went home making preparation for going to church the next Sunday morning and with a sigh of satisfaction said, “He’s dead and buried.”
 
Pontius Pilate, glad to be through with his ordeal, goes home and says to his wife that night, “Jesus is dead and buried.”
 
The Roman soldiers who had been there that day, go back to the barracks. They are getting ready for a night of drinking and partying and revelry. One of them is trying on that robe of Jesus that he won in a gambling bout. The other one is washing off the
spear that he had used to gouge the side of the Lord Jesus. He is getting the blood of Jesus off his spear. They say to one another, “Well, another day’s work is over. He’s dead and buried.”
 
The disciples of the Lord Jesus, with their hearts broken, walk away saying, “He’s dead and He’s buried.”
 
The dear mother of the Lord Jesus Christ, a sword piercing through her own heart, the mother of Jesus must have said, “He is dead and He is buried.”
 
No doubt about it, the garden tomb is a place of burial. 
 
And It reminds us that that’s something we ought to give some thought to. These two problems that you and I have—we need to think about them. Thank God for the beautiful music, the wonderful ongregational singing and everything. 
 
But before we leave this place you and I need to give some thought to our sin problem and our death problem. What are you going to do about your sin? Have you been forgiven of your sin? What are you going to do about death? Are you ready to die? You need to give some thought to your burial.
 
We visit the garden tomb because it is-
 
II. A Place of BATTLE
 
Think about this for a moment. It is indeed a place of battle. It doesn’t appear in the text that I have read to you today, but from other verses of Scripture in the Bible we are aware of the fact that a great battle took place in this garden area. There was a battle fought on the cross. There was a battle fought at that tomb. Jesus had been in a running battle with the devil from the very outset. 
 
The devil had the word that Jesus was the Savior of the world—that He was going to solve the sin problem. 
 
So, the devil said, “Huh, I’ll show Him, I’ll kill Him.” So, from the very beginning there were skirmishes
along the way. When Jesus was born the devil tried to kill Him, but he couldn’t do it. Then, in the garden of temptation, for forty days and forty nights without anything to eat, the devil came and tempted the Lord trying to keep Him from solving the sin problem. 
 
All along the way the words of Simon Peter to Jesus—when Jesus turned to Simon and
said, “Get behind me Satan.” It was a running battle. All of that was just the preliminaries. The main event was in the garden, at the cross and the tomb. Who are the principles of the battle? 
On one side there is the devil and all of his demons. He brings with him to the ring of the battle that day sin and all of its horrible offspring, and death with its dreadful sting. On one side there is the devil and all of his forces. 
 
On the other side is the Lord Jesus Christ who never sinned. The only One who ever walked on this earth and never one time sinned. The absolutely perfect sinless One. The one who had said, “They will kill me, but when it’s over I’ll come back from the dead three days later.”
 
Jesus said a lot of astonishing things if you think about it. One time here stands Jesus Christ in the lowly robe of a Galilean peasant, a carpenter. He extends His arms and says, “Come unto me all ye that are weak and heavy-laden, and I’ll give you rest.” 
 
What an astonishing claim for a Nazareth carpenter.
We know it’s true. For all of these centuries people have been coming unto this carpenter—the Lord Jesus and finding rest. Some of you this very week have had a heavy heart and a burden and a problem in your life. You didn’t know what to do and then you realized what you needed to do was come to Jesus. You came to Jesus and you
found rest for your weary soul. What an astonishing thought!
 
I guess the most astonishing thing Jesus ever said was, “Kill me and three days later I’ll come back from the dead.” Jesus kind of laid His battle plan out there in front of us. Jesus announced ahead of time how the battle was going to go. 
 
There are two basic movements to the battle. 
 
First of all, the devil claims Jesus. The devil says, “I’ll kill Him. He’s going to be the Savior of the world. I’ll show Him—I’ll kill Him.”  You know the devil does have the power of death according to the Scriptures (or he did). 
 
Hebrews 2:14 says that the devil had the power of death. In the Garden of Eden God said to Adam and Eve, “In the day you eat thereof you will surely die.” The Bible declares the principle in Romans 6:23—For the wages of sin is death.”   Sin and death always go together in Scriptures. Study it sometime. 
 
When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of
Eden, the devil by the very virtue of the Word of God could demand the death of Adam and Eve. 
 
From the garden of Eden until 2010 the devil has had the power of death in terms of being able to demand the wages of sin, which is death, over the human race.
 
Here’s the devil. He has the power of death. We all battle death. Death is a terrorist. 
 
We read about these terrorist all around the world. Death strikes unexpectedly and decisively. Death walks the corridors of our hospitals and walks into a room and leaves its calling card and a precious family member is taken. In the middle of the night
death steals upon your porch and rings the door bell and walks in and a precious mother of dad is taken. Death wins a battle. We grapple with that. We all face our own mortality. We do everything in the world to delay this battle. None of us wants to face
death in battle. 
 
So, we eat right.   You have to count fatgrams and count calories. Then you have to exercise. We have all kinds of exercise studios. I saw one on TV last night. I said, “Man, I would like to try that. That’s get in shape instantly.” But the more I watched the ad the tireder I got, so I flicked to another station. But we exercise and we jog. We’re
trying to beat old death. But it’s a losing battle.
 
It’s like jogging. Life is like running.  You are jogging along. You start off—you’re young and you’re perky. You are picking up and putting it down. You’re really moving along. You look behind you and way behind you there’s another runner. You don’t think much about it. You just keep on
going. 
 
As you get a little older your pace slows down. It takes you a little longer. You look back and you see that same runner still back there, but he’s a little closer. He’s gaining ground. You pick up the pace and work at it a little bit harder. You try a little bit more. You push it and give it all you got. 
 
You look back and it’s not doing any good. That runner is getting closer and closer. That runner is death. Every day it’s gaining ground on you.
 
At the cross and at the tomb the devil claims Jesus. When Jesus died on that cross I have a feeling that the devil said, “Ha, ha, I got Him. I killed Him. I knew I could get Him and I got Him.”
 
There’s a second movement to this battle. Not only did the devil claim Jesus, but at the tomb and at the cross Jesus conquers the devil. Think about it. 
 
They put him in the grave. He was dead. No question about it. He’s in the grave for three days and three nights and it’s shouting time in hell. The demons of hell are having a party. They got Him, the devil killed Him, we won the battle, the battle is over. 
 
But on that Sunday morning there is movement down in another world. The Lord Jesus Christ goes walking through Paradise. He did go to Paradise because He said to the thief on the cross, “Today
you will be with me in Paradise.” Paradise was the abode of the Old Testament believers. 
 
All of those who looked forward to the cross, just like you and I look backward to the cross—all those Old Testament saints were in Paradise. 
 
So, that Easter Sunday morning the Lord Jesus Christ went walking through Paradise and said, “Come on with me, boys, I’m going to take you out of here.” They all lined up because the Bible says that He led captivity captive. 
 
But he said, “Now fellows, on the way out I want to take a little stroll by Gehenna and the abode of the wicked dead and the demons that are incarcerated here because I’ve got an announcement to make.
 
The Lord Jesus Christ goes walking by the abode of the wicked dead and the abode of the demons. He says to them, “Boys, I have an announcement to make to you. Your plan didn’t work. I’m coming out of this tomb.” About that time the devil is standing in front of that tomb. The stone has already been rolled away. 
 
Not to let Jesus out, but to let the witnesses in. the devil stands there and says to Jesus, “You can’t get out of here. I’m not letting you out, I’ve got the key. 
 
Billions have come into my house and none of them
have ever returned because I have the keys of death, hell, and the grave. You are not coming out of here. You belong to me. I have conquered and won the battle.”
 
The Lord Jesus Christ looks at the devil and I can almost imagine with a smile and with a resurrection laugh upon his lips. He says, “Oh, but devil, you didn’t understand. You thought when you put me to death on the cross that you were winning. 
All in the world you did is just let me die for the sins of the world. You put me in this tomb, but I have news for you, devil, I’m alive forever more. I’m coming out. 
 
Give me the keys.” Up from the grave He arose! With a mighty triumph o’er His foes.! He arose a victor from the dark domain and He lives forever with His saints to Reign! Why? Because He arose, He arose, Hallelujah, Christ arose!
He won! He won! He won! That means I won. It means you won.
 
There’s not a battle you’ll ever face that you can’t win if you are matched up with the Lord Jesus Christ. You have a battle with a rebellious child? You can win that battle if Jesus is on your side. 
 
Some of you facing suffering and sorrow and a bad medical report from your doctor. If you have by faith been matched up with the Lord Jesus Christ
you can win that battle of suffering. You can win that battle of disease.
 
Some of you have a heart that is hurting because you’ve lost a loved one or are about to lose a loved one. I have news for you. You can win that battle over sorrow and suffering if you are hooked up with the Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
I don’t know if it will be today. I don’t know if it will be tomorrow. I don’t know if it will be 5 years from now. I’m going to win that battle over death. I don’t know how it will be. I’ll die and you’ll read in the newspaper –Terry Tolbert dies. That would be a lie. 
 
I won’t be dead. They will roll my coffin in here and you’ll come walking by and somebody will look over and say, “Poor old Tolbert, he’s dead.”
 
If you do I’m going to raise up and say, “That’s a lie!” 
 
I’ll be more alive than I’ve ever been in all of my life. I’m living in a dying body. One of these days I’ll have a brand new body and I’ll never die no more. 
 
“I’m going to live forever. I’m going to die no never. Jesus died on a cross for me and I’m going to live
forever.”
 
Visit the garden tomb. There’s a burial there. Visit the garden tomb. There’s a battle there. Visit the garden tomb. There’s-
 
III. A BLESSING there.
 
Have you ever thought about the nearness of the tomb and the cross? Right there where the cross was, the tomb also was in that garden. The cross and the tomb belong together in the Gospel. 
 
The good news of the Gospel is that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures. He was buried and He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. The very fact of the cross and the tomb being together is the good news that Jesus Christ not only paid for our sins on the cross, He put away our sins in the tomb. 
 
That means our sins have been buried. They are forgiven and they are forgotten. One of the problems couples have in their marriage is they can’t ever seem to bury the past. 
 
Every time a fuss comes up they start digging up all of that old past. Aren’t you glad God is not like we are in our fusses. Aren’t you glad God doesn’t keep dragging up the past? The Lord God knows enough about me and you to put us in hell forever. 
 
But when Jesus died on that cross and when He was buried it means our sins have been forgiven
and forgotten and God will never, ever bring up your sins against you anymore.
 
The nearness of the tomb! The emptiness of the tomb!
 
John does not stop in John 19 he goes on to John 20. There we discover the marvelous news that this tomb of the Lord Jesus Christ is an empty tomb. A lot of ways people have tried to account for the tomb. They say the body was stolen. 
 
That’s why the tomb was empty. The disciple were in no mood to steal it. If they had stolen it why
didn’t they come and arrest them for it. The enemies of Jesus stole it. Well, if they had stolen it when those preacher were shouting at the top of their voice that He’s alive, why didn’t they just get the body and put it on a cart and stop Christianity before it got off the launching pad.
 
Somebody else said that they went to the wrong tomb. If they went to the wrong tomb, why didn’t the enemies of Jesus go to the right tomb and stop it, then?
Somebody said that Jesus didn’t really die. He just swooned on the cross. Think about it! He just swooned on the cross? Are you going to tell me that for six hours Jesus has been nailed on the cross, blood pouring out of Him. 
 
Now they put Him in the coolness of the tomb and it revives Him. Somehow He’s able to push almost 100 pounds of spices off of him and then get up on feet that have been pierced with nails and somehow is able to move a stone that must have weighed over a ton. And somehow elude those soldiers and walk a mile and ½ in that condition and somehow get through a locked door and convince those disciples that He was alive?
 
If you believe that you remind me of a little boy who had a baby brother born and somebody said, “How do you like your little brother?” He said, “He’s alright, but his head is not tight enough yet.”
 
No. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the most documented, clearly attested fact in human history. The living Jesus says to the tomb, “Prevent me.” He says to science, “Explain me.” He says to technology, “Duplicate me.” He says to history, “Repeat me.” He says to unbelief, “Disprove me.” 
 
But He says to me and you, “You believe me and
whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord Jesus shall be saved.” That’s good news! Think about it. This living Lord Jesus Christ—only a living Savior can save. 
This room, as I am speaking to you, is just filled with music. If you had a receiver you could turn that radio on and you could hear the music. The music is here. All you need is a receiver. If you have the
receiver then you have a choice to make. You can either turn it on or you can turn it off. 
 
You have to understand that what you do has nothing to do with whether the music is here or not. It is a fact that the music is here. Whether you hear it or not is dependent upon whether you turn it on or turn it off. 
 
God has given every one of you a receiver. It is faith. You have the ability to flip the switch of faith and turn on the music of the living Lord Jesus. 
 
Keep in mind that what you do has nothing to do with the facts. Jesus Christ is alive whether you believe it or not. It’s a fact. But you, by your receiver of faith, can turn the switch and when you do all the living Savior is and all He does can come
flooding into your life. 
 
The Bible says if thou shall confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
 
We come to the invitation time now. What have you done about your two problems of sin and death? Have you been forgiven of your sin? Are you ready to die?