{"id":37559,"date":"2025-09-28T22:00:26","date_gmt":"2025-09-29T05:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/?p=37559"},"modified":"2025-09-23T16:22:45","modified_gmt":"2025-09-23T23:22:45","slug":"mark_15_42-47","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/mark_15_42-47\/","title":{"rendered":"God uses the one who…"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mark 15:42-47\u00a0 (CLICK HERE FOR BIBLE VERSES)<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Mark 15:42-47.\u00a0 With an open mind and a humble heart, read this passage and see what sticks out to you in this passage.\u00a0 Is there a verse, a phrase, or a lesson you think the Holy Spirit may be highlighting for you in this passage?\u00a0 After you\u2019ve thought about the passage yourself a bit, read the GAME sharing below.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Mark 15:42-47 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n42\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0It was Preparation Day (that is, the day before the Sabbath). So as evening approached,
\n43\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Joseph 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.
\n44\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Pilate was surprised to hear that he was already dead. Summoning the centurion, he asked him if Jesus had already died.
\n45\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0When he learned from the centurion that it was so, he gave the body to Joseph.
\n46\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0So 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.
\n47\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where he was laid.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 42-43:\u00a0 According to scholars, usually crucified criminals were not buried.\u00a0 Rather their bodies were left to rot on the cross.\u00a0 However, in Jewish culture, giving a dead person a proper burial was the right thing to do.<\/p>\n

Notice it wasn\u2019t Jesus\u2019 family or Jesus\u2019 disciples who buried Jesus\u2019 body.\u00a0 Where were they anyway?\u00a0 Most of them were still hiding in fear.\u00a0 But where fear leaves a gap, courage comes in and fills it.\u00a0 Enter Joseph of Arimathea.\u00a0 Joseph of Arimathea boldly asks Pontius Pilate for Jesus\u2019 body and arranges for Jesus\u2019 burial.<\/p>\n

Who was Joseph of Arimathea?\u00a0 Joseph was a leader in the Jewish community, a member of the Jewish council, and possibly a secret follower of Jesus.\u00a0 Given the apparent distance between him and Jesus, no one would have ever guessed that Joseph of Arimathea would be the one to bury Jesus.\u00a0 And yet God used Joseph of Arimathea to do just that.<\/p>\n

Keep in mind that Jesus probably lost his father, also named Joseph, early on in life.\u00a0 It\u2019s probably for that reason that his father does not appear in the gospels when Jesus starts his public ministry.\u00a0 To me it\u2019s touching to think that when Jesus\u2019 dad Joseph was not around to give his son a proper burial, another man, also called Joseph, steps up to the plate and stands in the gap for Jesus.<\/p>\n

Joseph takes Jesus\u2019 body and in accordance with Jewish burial customs, wraps his body in 75-100 pounds of linens and spices and places the body in a tomb.\u00a0 A stone is rolled in front of the tomb and, according to Matthew 27, Pilate put a Roman seal on the tomb and posted a guard to make sure that no one tampered with Jesus\u2019 tomb.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?<\/p>\n

1. Any argument that Jesus did not die on the cross but rather \u201cswooned\u201d or \u201cfainted\u201d should be put to rest when you consider not only what Jesus endured before the cross and on the cross, but even in burial.\u00a0 Consider that\u00a0Jesus was sentenced by the Roman government to die.\u00a0 If there is anything the Roman government was good at doing, it was killing people!\u00a0 His executioners were professional killers under official orders to make sure Jesus died.\u00a0 In addition to Jesus being flogged and crucified, a spear was thrust into Jesus\u2019 side, likely puncturing his heart, bringing a flow of blood and serum, to confirm his death.\u00a0 Whereas executioners would normally break the crucified person\u2019s legs to speed their death, in this case they did not need to because they confirmed that Jesus had already died.\u00a0 After being tortured and taken down from the cross, Jesus was then wrapped in 75-100 pounds of linens and spices, unable to move, with little air, with no medical attention, no water or food, and placed in a tomb by himself for 3 days.\u00a0 How plausible is it that Jesus could then recover, move the stone in front of his tomb and overcome guards all by himself?\u00a0 Thus the theory that \u201cmaybe Jesus didn\u2019t really die and just passed out\u201d is wishful thinking.\u00a0\u00a0Jesus died and was buried. In dying on our behalf, Jesus stood in the gap for us, making possible the forgiveness of our sins and bridging the impassable divide that stood between us and God.<\/strong><\/p>\n

2. You might not feel like you\u2019re the closest to Jesus.\u00a0 Like Joseph of Arimathea, on paper you might not seem like the first choice to serve Jesus.\u00a0 But as long as you are willing to use what you have to serve Jesus and bold enough to respond when an opportunity arises, God can use your life to make a significant difference to serve Christ and his body, the church.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

3.\u00a0\u00a0Where fear leaves a gap, courage comes in and fills it.<\/strong>\u00a0 When someone needed to die for our sin, Jesus stood in the gap for us.\u00a0 When Jesus needed someone to bury him, Joseph of Arimathea stood in the gap for Jesus.\u00a0 Like Jesus, and like Joseph of Arimathea,\u00a0who is someone you can stand in the gap for today?<\/strong>\u00a0 You can stand in the gap for them by praying for them and reaching out to them.\u00a0 Do it today!<\/p>\n

Lord Jesus, thank You so much for standing in the gap when I needed a Saviour.\u00a0 Thank You also for every person who has ever stood in the gap for me when I needed someone.\u00a0 Like Joseph of Arimathea, I pray I would courageously stand in the gap for someone today and use what I have to serve You and Your body, the church.\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n

copyright \u00a9 2022 Justin Lim. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Mark 15:42-47.\u00a0 With an open mind and a humble heart, read this passage and see what sticks out to you in this passage.\u00a0 Is there a verse, a phrase, or a lesson you think the Holy Spirit may be highlighting for you in this passage?\u00a0 After you\u2019ve thought about the passage yourself a bit, read the GAME sharing below.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Mark 15:42-47 (NIV)
\n42\u00a0\u00a0It was Preparation Day (that is, the day before the Sabbath). So as evening approached,
\n43\u00a0\u00a0Joseph 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.<\/p>\n

On verses 42-43:\u00a0 According to scholars, usually crucified criminals were not buried.\u00a0 Rather their bodies were left to rot on the cross.\u00a0 However, in Jewish culture, giving a dead person a proper burial was the right thing to do.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37561,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37559","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37559","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37559"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37559\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37562,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37559\/revisions\/37562"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37561"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37559"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37559"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37559"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}